IVY ~ Gort

30th September ~ 27th October

Ivy is a climbing plant that stays evergreen throughout the year. It bears flowers when most other plants have already fruited and are well on the way of retreat. It is often found growing in spooky places, abandoned ruins, dark woods, graveyards or dead and dying trees. Yet, Ivy itself stays ever green. It is a plant of the Underworld Gods, sacred to Dionysus and Osiris, both deities of resurrection that signify the undying life-force of nature. Ivy is toxic, a property that at one time may have played a role in the preparation of the potent ritual brews used in the ecstatic rites of Dionysus. Woven into a wreath it was worn in such Bacchanalian rites, reputedly to protect against the after effects.

Ivy symbolises endurance in this world and the world beyond, which is why it was also sometimes worn at wedding rites to symbolise undying love beyond the boundaries of time and space.

In the Celtic Tree Calendar it signifies the eleventh month, the time when the green life-force of nature is on the retreat and only evergreen plants such as Ivy remind us that it is not truly dying- just gone to rest in the Underworld.

Wear Ivy Tree Wisdom Perfume to attune to the powers of strength and endurance that help us overcome the limitations of time and space. Ivy serves as a reminder of the immortality of the soul. It can be offered as a token of undying love in times of separation, or to affirm the bond of love beyond this world.