The Hophornbeam or Ironwood as it is often called, is one of 8 to 10 species of trees in the Birch tree family with the name of Ostrya, which is derived from Greek, and means "Bone Like". It is native to the eastern half of North and Central America, Southern Europe and Southwest and Eastern Asia, and prefers open, well drained soil.

The Hop Hornbeam gets its name from the hop-like fruit that grow in clusters on the tree. Each seed inside a small inflated bract.

The wood is tough and strong and sometimes used in too handles or mallets.

Amongst foresters the Hornbeam family of trees are often considered "Weed Tree"


Trees pg. 62 A Golden Guide by St. Martins's Press

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hophornbeam

I chose the Red Cedar as my first tree mostly because it is a special tree to me.  I can't answer why, I have just always had an attraction to them.


Cedar Trees as we know them, and as picture here from our backyard, really aren't Cedar.  They are a variation of the Juniper. 

Juniperus virginiana has many names it goes by: Among them  are Cedar, Red Cedar and Pencil Cedar.  It is a native tree to North American, and it's range is From Maine through Southern Ontario and South Dakota and as far south as Florida and Southern Texas.  It is a fairly slow growing tree and can grow easily in the poorest of soils.  Often reffered to as a pioneer invader, which means it is one of the first trees to repopulate an area after some form of damage has occured. That is one o the reasons it is so widely seen along roadways.

It has bluish purple berries that make
up the seed cone, with about 3-4 seeds
within the cone.  An important food source for birds in the winter the cones also are used to flavor Gin and make a tea for kidney ailments.


Cedar wood is soft and very aromatic.  Generally used as liners in closets or in some form of clothes chests.  It is also resistant to most pests, which is another reason it is used for clothing storage.

Besides colthing storage, Cedar was commonly used for fence postsand for roofing shingles, because it does not rot and it holds up to contact with the bare soil very well.  Today cedar is used as an outdoor projects wood.  It is light and durable.  many bird feeders are cedar, as well as a lot of the squirrel gadgets. 

Native Americans used cedar poles to make their hunting territories and to make their bows.

Cedar is also burned as an incense.  Native American cultures used it as a way of opening up channels to the spirit world, and is often used in prayer and in ceremonies.





References.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana

"Listen to the Drum"  By: Blackwolf & Gina Jones http://www.hazelden.org/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?a=b&item=4071

Here is something that I am gonna try over the course of my studies that should be fun, educational and interesting:

In May when Wild Rose and I went to West Tennessee to celebrate Beltaine with some folks she knew, I got into a conversation with Rev. Tim, he is the Druid acquaintance I had made that day. Anyway, we were talking about trees. Although Druids have their list of sacred trees, Rev. Tim personally considers all trees to be sacred. While keeping that conversation in mind, and the thought that ADF suggests you keep a nature journal (also a suggestion that John Michael Greer has for the AODA, another druidic group here in America) I think I will set out to identify all the trees here on my property. Spend some time to understand them, their symbolism, uses habitat and such.

There are many that I know exist on my property, but there is a lot more that I don’t know about. The list of trees that I already know exist here is:

Oak

Maple

Cedar

Hickory

Sassafras

Beech

Sycamore

Sumac

Red bud

Cherry

Polpar

I think that is all I can come up with. What I plan on doing is picking a tree a week to learn some things about and write about it. As I get to new trees I will have to learn to identify the first, then learn something about them. Should be a fun project, and it would be curious to see just how many different trees I have here in my little woods.

Here is my latest set of runes I made for myself last week. Since my last blog about runes I haven't gotten any beter at using them as a divination tool, and maybe divining just isn't for me. But, I am fascinated by them, and I think will always be trying to incorporate them into my life some how.. They are everywhere within our house. Blessings above door and windows, mantles, and even just part of the decor.

This set replaces my old set,still made from the same Birch tree as the last set, which I volunteered as a Yule gift, when I didn't have the extra time to complete the original gift I was making. Istead of burning the rune into the birch disks I used a small router bit and a dremel to engrave them in. I think I like the wider engraving better after all, but I was fond of the burned in ones I made before.

Aftewards I finished them the same. Lots of sanding until a glass like smoothness was reached andthe rubbing them in with lemon oil.

The cloth is a design that I cme up with on the computer and my girlfried, Wild Rose and her daughter did the cross stitching fo me. Just one more piece to be done, by putting a border on it and this project is complete.

Hey all, I am back again at Covenspace.  Has been a long while, I know.  Had som computer issues, and a forgotten password, plus my main blo at the time was on yahoo 360, but I have since let it go too.  So here I am, back again

Got a lot of things going on wth me spiritually, and that was my intent all long with this blog site, so I will soon have much to say.

But for now, I just wanted all to know that I was back!!