The Elder Mother is a tree of beginnings and endings, of birth and death, so the Elder is a spirit of transformation and the crossing of thresholds. Generally seen as an old woman, the Elder Spirit advises on what to cast away and what to take up. Presents us with a mirror in which we must see ourselves truly reflected if we are to die with dignity and without regrets. Death of the old is necessary for the new to emerge. If we resist the changes we may experience emotional and/or physical pain. Death is getting down to the bare bones. It asks us to look at our true inner yearnings for emotional and spiritual peace.
The bark, leaves, flowers and berries all being used in herbal medicine to treat many ailments including bruises, wounds, colds, hay fever, respiratory illness and fevers. Its berries are particularly potent and the Druids regarded any that remained on the tree in December as a gift from the Earth Goddess. These were gathered and made into a sacred wine which was drunk to aid clairvoyance. Its wood protect against enchantment and negativity, and whistles or flutes made from elder aid in spirit contact.
Funerary flints have been found in megalithic long barrows in the shape of elder leaves and in others an elder leaf shaped portal has been carved out between two slabs of stone showing that its association with death goes back beyond the Celts into pre-history.
