Poplar: Edadh
by Blayze

Sink your awareness down into the earth. Become aware of your breathing. Enter a trance state (using usual breathing techniques…)You find yourself standing at the foot of a large hill - all around you is darkness pierced only by the brilliant light of the stars… twinkling like jewels embroidered into the velvet cloak of the night sky above you.By the light of the stars you can see that a path winds in a spiral about the hill. You move to the left and begin to walk along the path - ever twisting and spiralling to the left. 

You begin to feel the ground slope beneath your feet as you slowly walk the spiral path. Your awareness shifts with each turn as you sink deeper and deeper into trance.You are aware moonlight growing brighter as you near the summit of the hill and you realise that the moon is rising to hang just above the hill itself. Bathed in the moonlight is a tall, ancient stone that stands in the centre of a flat plateau. 

The spiral path winds ever towards the stone in the centre, one half of which is in shadow, the other illuminated by the silver light of the moon.Gradually you find yourself walking in a ever tightening spiral as you move closer and closer to the stone… always and ever moving to the left. At last you come face to face to with the towering and ancient weathered rock. 

By the light of the moon you see that there is an image carved upon its surface… A straight line runs from an inverted V at the base to the top of the stone. Halfway up the line you see four horizontal lines biscecting the vertical line. This is the Ogham Edad - the Poplar, carved into the single upthrust spur of living rock.You feel the power awakening in the stone and sigil as the moon continues to rise. The Ogham stave glows and you run your hand along its length. You feel the energy tingle through you from the tips of your fingers to your feet upon the earth. 

Suddenly everything shifts and you find that you have passed through the stone into another realm. Mist envelopes you and you experience a moment of disorientation, but you can now feel the stone standing at your back.

All around you is shrouded in mist. You feel a cool breeze upon your skin and there is the hint of early morning sunlight that is filtered by the mist. The ground is soft and damp underfoot. You begin to walk forwards, away from the stone, and as you walk the mist begins to shred away. You find yourself walking towards a wide stream that tumbles through a grassy meadow. You see that the waters of the stream actually split and loop around very low mound, the far bank of which is still shrouded in mist. This mound forms a small natural island, caught in the loop of the stream. On your shore tall poplar trees are dotted along the edges of the water... spreading their branches wide with  their leaves quivering in the breeze.  As you move closer to the bank you see that rocks create small rapids along the length of the stream as it splits and loops its way around the island.  

Before you cross the stream you walk up to the nearest poplar. You see that from the base of the tree, suckers have been sent out and lots of small seedlings are growing from the boggy ground. Look at the mighty tree, growing so tall towards the sky. It stands in the midst of earth, water and sky. It is power that sends out the shoots of memories of where it came from and where the future lies. The new shoots green against the silver of the tree.

Also scattered around the base of the tree are thin fallen branches where the wind has overwhelmed the quivering of the tree-tops. Yellowed leaves cling stubbornly to the branches upon the ground.

You look at the fallen branches and one long, quite straight branch catches your eye. You pick it up and find that it is as tall as yourself. From your feet upon the ground to the crown of your head, this stick is your perfect measure. The bottom of the branch has a clean break where it has been separated from the parent tree. You look at the base of the branch and can clearly see the star shaped pith that runs through the centre of the branch, up its entire length.

You place the branch upon the ground once more and begin to take off your clothes. You place your clothes and your possessions at the foot of the poplar tree.  Take up the branch again and now lie naked upon the ground amongst the shoots of young poplar. Place the branch upon the length of your body. The branch then holds your inner strength, your height, your magic, but it is also your measure, your fe, the length of wood that will measure your coffin. As you lie upon the ground with the weight of the branch upon you, think of all that you have achieved in your journeys with the trees. Think about what you have learned and what you can do with that knowledge. The poplar, so similar to the birch can be used to remind you of your beginnings and to celebrate your journeys to come. You have the knowledge and the experience to be one with the trees, but you also have the responsibility to use them wisely.

When you are ready, stand up and hold the branch in your hand. Even though it will measure you for the next life some time in the future, for now this branch will aid you in continuing your magical journey. You can use it to help you across the rocks in the stream. To find the sure footing, to find your balance as you move across the waters.

And so you begin to cross the stream, walking carefully over the rocks. You move forward with positivity and determination. The branch allows you to find the cunning crevice that will either suck you down or provide a place for the branch to propel you forward. With it you can test the path and the waters as you head into the mists of the unknown.

As you step foot on the bank of the island, hold up the branch in front of you. Hold it vertically as you would a shield. You feel a cool wind upon your skin and the branch stretches in front of you, thickens and widens and becomes a solid leaf shaped shield before you. Level with your solar plexus is the star of the poplar's heartwood, it is now the boss of your shield. Gather your courage from deep within and channel this into the shield. You take a step forward into the the mist which writhes away before the shield. 

You find yourself standing upon the low island that sits within the loop of the stream. Mighty poplars ring the shore and there is a luxurious undergrowth of saplings from small shoots to thin and flexible young trees growing higher than your head. Before you are two black poplars, standing tall amongst the white. Step between these two trees, guardians and gateway of the mighty ring that forms the island's border.

You can see in the centre of the ring of trees there is a large tree stump. It has been cut cleanly off about waist height. Before you move towards the centre, walk around the ring of poplars holding your shield before you. Walk around the entire ring, showing your shield to the trees. When you arrive back at the black poplars, place your shield horizontally between them. Sealing the gateway once more.

Now walk towards the tree stump in the centre. Its top is flat and smooth with the beautiful star of heartwood in the centre. Nestled amongst the roots of the stump is a small stone bowl. There is also a pouch embroidered with poplar leaves. Inside the pouch is a flint and some tinder. Place the pouch upon the tree stump and take the stone bowl to the edge of the ring of trees. You will see some dried leaves and buds where branches have fallen to ground. Walk around the ring and fill the bowl with the dried leaves and buds. When you have filled the bowl, make your way back to the centre and the tree stump.

With the flint and tinder, light a small fire in the stone bowl, using the leaves and buds as fuel. The leaves begin to smoulder. Blow on them to give life to the flame. The flame rises up and then settles down to burn lightly. The leaves and buds give off small clouds of smoke then smoulder again. Now you have a bowl of smouldering leaves to use as your incense. Place the flint and tinder back in the pouch and then at the base of the tree stump once more.

Climb up upon the tree stump and sit with the base of your spine in the centre of the star. Feel energy rise up through the core of your being. Hold the stone bowl in your hands and breathe in. Close your eyes and feel the breeze upon your naked skin. You feel a trance state begin to settle upon you.

As you sit upon the tree stump, holding the stone bowl of smouldering leaves, begin to listen to the quivering leaves of the poplars around you. At first all you will hear is their rustling, but slowly you begin to hear them speaking to you. The messages carried within the leaves. The leaves speak to you of the spirit, of courage and self knowledge. They speak to you of protection and how this may be achieved.

Gradually the leaves burn away and there is no more smoke. The sounds of the rustling leaves of the trees around you fade once more into the back ground. You hold the stone bowl up before you. Suddenly the wind picks up and a cacophony of sound envelops you. You open your eyes and see a leaf being buffeted by the winds. It comes close to you and then lands within the bowl.

You take this leaf and you place it upon your tongue. You feel the power of the whispering trees flow through you so that now you can speak in return. Eloquence is now yours, a gift from the Queen of the trees and the fae. You take the leaf from your tongue and place it back within the bowl. Begin to speak to the trees, words of beauty and of the spirit. Give these words back to the trees. 

When you have finished speaking, thank the trees and their Queen for your gift. Know that both the ability to listen to the trees and to speak with eloquence to them will never leave you. Place the stone bowl upon the star in the centre of the tree stump.

Walk around the ring of the trees once more until you come to the black poplars. Thank them for guarding this place and take up your shield. Hold it before you. As you step from the ring of trees onto the shore, the shield becomes a staff once more.

Again use this staff to aid you in crossing the stream. You can hear the messages of the bubbling waters as you walk and leap across the stones.

You arrive back on the original shore. You go to the tree where you placed your belongings and your clothes. You lean the staff up against the tree and then put on your clothes and belongings. The power of the staff is within you, the shield yours to call upon when needed. The staff itself will remain by the poplar tree until it is needed upon your death from one world and birth into the next.

Make your way from the shore to the standing stone. 

Finally you return to standing stone. But this time a spiral is carved into its surface. Move to the stone and begin to trace the spiral as it twists to the right. You become aware of mist forming around you once more and again a feeling of disorientation. As the mist begins to clear you find that you are once again standing upon the hillside under the fading light of the setting moon. By the light of the stars you begin to walk the spiral path out from the centre, ever moving to the right. You begin to feel the path sloping downwards as you tread the spiral path around the hill. As you walk you feel yourself becoming heavier and heavier, you begin to be aware of other sounds…. Slowly you reach the bottom of the hill and sit at its base. You become aware of the feel of your body, the shape of your skin and your breath. You feel the blood flowing through your veins . You become aware of the sounds around you… When you are back… open your eyes