Month 3: Dec 27th – Jan 23rd
- Holiday: None
- Celtic Tree Oracle Card Properties: Oracle – Teacher
- Horticultural Note: Alder’s are often the first trees to grow in a forest after a fire and are most often found close to a water source. They have wide and rounded leaves that come to a point, with feathered edges. The trunks are slender and they grow fairly tall. Alders have catkins and little cones they drop for reproduction. They are a member of the birch family so their bark can appear “mottled” as lichen covers nearly all of its bark. Some species of Adler grow to trees and some exist as bush.
- Totems for this Month: Birds (e.g. wrens, ravens, crows and kingfishers), Dragons, Bran & Branwen
- Author, Sharlyn Hidalgo on Alder: The Adler month marks the beginning of the Celtic solar year. Nobility, strength, and great competency are seen in the alder; it is said to represent deep winter. A time of year to come indoors and get all cozy and comfy. It is a time to go within to sleep and dream, to read, write and rest. The alder possess a strong male energy that will offer backbone and strength when dealing with challenges. It also has female qualities as it nurtures the ground through its roots that provide exceptional nitrogen replacement in soil allowing other trees to grow above and beyond her – the mothering quality of self-sacrifice for the growth and goodness of others.
