Holly. Folklore, Myth and Magic of the Holly Tree.

[@TheStoryCrow]

To support my work as a folklorist and storyteller, please consider making a small donation on Patreon: patreon.com/TheStoryCrow?Link&

[@lotteke]

Did you know, the holly only protects itself where they need, if you look at higher branches, the leaves are quite smooth! I only just found your channel but you have sparked the art and fun of storytelling in me again! Thank you!😊

[@TheStoryCrow]

Yes! Quite right. Forgot to talk about that. Perhaps why Holly is also associated with protection - for the birds ☺️

[@GramaSagefeather]

So much information packed into this sharing. The dog definitely seems to be telling you to talk about the hounds, or canine place in these folktales 😊🐕🐺

[@SaturnaliaJones]

That's a wise old canine soul if I've ever seen one. Just found the channel and I'm hooked!

[@TheStoryCrow]

He looks like a dog, but really he’s a wizard. 🧙‍♂️ 🐕

[@aprilflynn]

Yes, I was thinking that dog seemed to be waiting very patiently to tell you something important.

[@FreeYourMind-e9h]

Thanks for the tip about Jan 6. That is Three KIng's Day? Is there an older significance? It's nice to connect with something so ancient and deep and integral to being alive on earth. An antidote for a time when what is "true" and "real" can be hard to ascertain.

[@МарияПешкова-ж3э]

January 6th and 7th is also christmas on the balkans but idk if its related

[@TheStoryCrow]

I don’t actually know. The dates shift depending on locality probably. I’m just going on what my elders taught me 😂

[@TheStoryCrow]

Bloody gregorians messing everything up with their calendars 😂

[@elizabethflynn8455]

In Ireland it's called Womens Christmas. A gathering of women who bring bits and pieces left over and make a feast, tell stories and pass on hints on crafts. Male children under 7 can attend but over that, the boys go off with the mentor the duration. I love it.

[@МарияПешкова-ж3э]

@@elizabethflynn8455 omgggg that sounds so cool! all womens christmas literally heaven😂 im from serbia and here on 7th of january is božić, christmass basically, people partake in all sort of ritual stuff, for example there are bonfires at churches where people gather and they take oak branches from the churches and make crowns out of them and put on the doors for protection. Theres also this cake baked for divination, people put coins in it or a ring, and depending on what piece of cake u get u will have money in the next year or love or ect.

[@BeatrixBetwixt]

It snowed in my neck of the woods last night and today I’ve been watching your videos. Really enjoy listening to you, your a wonderful storyteller. Plus your pup is cute♥️☺️

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thanks, that means a lot. Yeah he is a pretty cute doggo 🐕☺️

[@ixchelssong]

In front of the house where I grew up, we had a holly tree (Ilex americana) so I've always felt attached to it. Also, in the area I grew up, the ground was sandy, which our holly likes. So my girl scout troop visited a holly farm nearby and saw rows of it growing in sand.

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thanks for sharing. I like American holly 🇺🇸 ☺️

[@stevecampeau2415]

Loving this channel, what a find! Keep up the good work 😁

[@apcolleen]

Such a big puppy 💙

[@valeriewatson5260]

Love your passion which is incredibly addictive ! Fascinating as always I have a huge interest in paganism, druids and folklore, so this was great Thank you for taking the time…. Hope your feet warmed up! 😊 Looking forward to your Yule presentation 🌲🌟

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thank you 🙏🎄✨🦌

[@Kasiabethblue]

Lovely video. Definitely one of my new favourite channels here!

[@TheStoryCrow]

Welcome aboard! 🐦‍⬛🙏✨🍺

[@amykortuem5554]

The Holly and the Ivy has always been my favorite carol - thank you for this wonderful information about the holly. I live in Minnesota, USA, and holly does not grow naturally here, but I have always wanted a holly bush. I do bring holly into the house at this time of year, arranged with ivy and red roses. I usually wait to burn it on summer solstice, but shall now do it by January 6!

[@TheStoryCrow]

Hey, customs vary from region to region. I like the idea of a ceremonial burn on summer solstice and that has historical precedence too. You could combine and take the Holly outdoors on jan 6th, and wait to burn it and other seasonal mandala type plants on the solstice. I see nothing wrong with creating your own traditions with a mush mash of others 😊🙏

[@Epsci]

I was just drawing some holly for a commission, how funny! I really appreciate your plant lore videos. Cheers!

[@TheStoryCrow]

It’s a Yuletide Synchronicity! All hail the holly king. 👑 Also. Thanks for the tip 🙏☺️👍

[@xxWillowWandxx]

Wonderful as always 😊 i didnt know that about burn the holly you brought in by 6th january, I will be sure to do that before those peskie pixies start their mischief 😊

[@TheStoryCrow]

To be fair other people have other days, but that’s what it is in this neck of the woods. Watch out for them little folk 🧚‍♀️🎄✨

[@at_brunch3852]

😂

[@drowsyZot]

Love this, thank you! Also it just started snowing as I started watching, so it was very festive

[@TheStoryCrow]

Yuletide blessings ✨ ❄️ 🎄

[@vixendoe6943]

I am starting to commence my study of Celtic nature spirituality. I am finding so many channels like yours. Thank you for your content.

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thank you for watching and commenting on it 🙏🌳

[@mickmacgonigle5021]

Good luck with your srudies

[@markdpricemusic1574]

Always a pleasure, always an education! Many thanks!

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thank you too!

[@wild-radio7373]

🥰👍FANTASTIC!

[@carolescutt2257]

You are magical xx

[@TheStoryCrow]

So are you. So is everyone ✨🙏

[@Mrs.Cadoux]

Ive only just discovered you today. Chronicling our sacred trees is a beautiful project. Thankyou

[@TheStoryCrow]

Welcome 🙏 🌳

[@KimCrisp92]

Thank you for helping me to understand these things i have been curious about

[@kategreig38]

This series is fascinating ❤

[@Amanda1234-nqc]

I love nature ,to be honest. I'd be happy living in a field. You deserve a lot more subscribers. Thank you for your timeless knowledge and wisdom.✌️

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thank you 🙏✨ Field life is nice isn’t it ☺️

[@Amanda1234-nqc]

​@@TheStoryCrowAbsolutely. I love being in nature. I love taking care of it.

[@myhounddog]

Absolutely adorable Fur friend ❤ and really appreciate your channel ❤❤❤

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thanks hound dawg 🐕☺️🙏

[@Rockstar97321]

Merlin made his wands out of holly wood, and Hollywood still rules the world today.

[@Amanda1234-nqc]

Mesmerising the children.

[@mil_enrama]

In Texas where I'm from, we have a kind of holly called yaupon (yo-pon). Its berries are small and shiny (and very tasty for birds), and its leaves aren't spiky. It's used to make a caffeinated drink similar to yerba mate. When I was a child learning about fairies and folklore, I pictured yaupon whenever I read about holly. I wonder if the Indigenous peoples have any folklore about it.

[@TheStoryCrow]

Interesting!

[@donraeside]

What a delightful video! I meant to google holly tree and typed into the wrong open tab and saw this. What a pleasant accident!

[@TheStoryCrow]

Pleasant accidents are the best 😊

[@mariGentle]

Thanks

[@TheStoryCrow]

Hey! Thanks so much for the tip ☺️🙏

[@johnpowell4415]

Thanks for the series mate, much appreciated. Can you have a go at the same idea for mainland Europe? Like Germany's forests or Scandinavia? Fascinated with this, subscribed! Cheers from Australia

[@TheStoryCrow]

Alright mate I’ll have a bash! 🙏✨🐦‍⬛😉

[@SeanLigman-yo6yc]

The Spiris do Love to heat stories, especially Thier own. So when you do tell the tales of Them , the Ones around you stop and listen...never have any doubt of what we both believe. ..

[@TheStoryCrow]

Well stated.

[@heidimariebee]

Your beautiful dog is protecting you

[@nahannilove]

You are such a delight.. thank you for this lovely piece! Fascinating to me that my fiancé and i will wed on December 22nd and then have a ceremony with family on June 22nd. Other than the solstices we have an affinity for the number 22. Thanks to this I now know another symbolism to the Holly & Ivy reference.. how delightful to add to our tradition and modern ways of living with folklore and magic. ✨

[@TheStoryCrow]

Oh that is so lovely. I hope you have the best day you solar beauties ❤️ ☀️ 👰🏻

[@nahannilove]

@@TheStoryCrow aw thank you ✨🌚🌝✨

[@bessiemann7468]

I love Holly trees and the mighty Oak. Thanks for the tip of January 6 th First time subscriber

[@TheStoryCrow]

Welcome 🎄 💫 🦌

[@firecracker187]

Well done, my friend. As usual.. and still I giggle at your hair

[@firecracker187]

There's nothing wrong with your hair. Don't get me wrong. I just giggle at the fact that it's kind of all over the place which is the same way mine is.

[@TheStoryCrow]

Yes I really don’t bother much about it these days 😂

[@JennieJuniper]

Just wonderful! I saved this video so I could watch it properly in the early morning quiet, with a tea yesterday, your videos are always so interesting and enjoyable. Joined your patreon last evening!

[@TheStoryCrow]

Oh thank you so much 🙏 I’ll be posting some exclusive content on there shortly, so I’ll be sure to say hello 😊

[@allencampbell8308]

Been on a few mission trips. You're exactly right. Ones I went on were mostly about having some fun

[@loriberg-w2y]

Great show!

[@helena_irene]

Thanks!

[@TheStoryCrow]

Hey, thanks for the tip! 🙏☺️

[@JPLamoureuxsTravels]

Very interesting and well spoken, thats a great deal of knowledge to verse off the cuff, enjoyed that and have a sub buddy.. 😉👍🏼

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thanks for the sub! 👊🙏🦌

[@KittyKeypurr]

We've looooooads of holly here in Arkansas (usa) and it makes sense now 🤔

[@joshuabrigden4820]

Dog: ay mate, you gonna throw that stick? okay fine, ill wait.

[@TheStoryCrow]

He’s been waiting since the dawn of time the ancient being 🐕 🌎

[@joshuabrigden4820]

@@TheStoryCrow recently found and love the channel! Thank you!😀

[@TheStoryCrow]

Pleased to hear it mate, welcome 🙏

[@annaschull]

Thanks for your video❤ I was taken aback to see a beautiful dog in the first few moments. She/he looks just like mine, with the white flecks on the face and I’m wondering what breed? As it may help me identify my own dear dog 🙏

[@TheStoryCrow]

He is a wise old man in dog form. 🧙‍♂️ 🐕 Honestly it’s a mystery. He’s a rescue from Romania. But probably a mix of terrier, staffy, black lab and collie. Apparently any white on the tail means collie, and he’s got a good nose on him, hence terrier. But he’s a proper mongrel.

[@allisonshaw9341]

First time here. Native and Celtic ancestry (Scot, Irish, Welsh, Cornish), with some other ancestry in the mix. I enjoy learning different parts of the old lore. Wado (thank you). My great-grandmother was a traditional healer and used the holly native to our area in making medicines. Holly can be quite toxic and should not be used unless someone has been properly trained to do so, but the medicines are quite effective in treating several ailments or even as a cleansing tonic.

[@TheStoryCrow]

Sounds like you have a very interesting heritage. I often see a lot of similarity in Celtic and Native American folklore; we’re not all so different. Wado 🙏🌲✨🌳

[@allisonshaw9341]

@@TheStoryCrow The children of Natives and Celts were referred to as the "blessed blend" because they very often had the best features of both heritages.

[@joandrummond524]

Thank you once again love listening to you merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you and your family x

[@TheStoryCrow]

And a happy Yule time and Christmas to you and yours! 🎄🦌✨🍄❄️🔥🍺🎄

[@mariGentle]

Omg I love your channel, thank you so much for all this info delivered so beautifully ❤

[@TheStoryCrow]

You are so welcome!

[@robertgross1655]

🎩Hi great channel. Hope you are going to do a story about the hawthorn

[@TheStoryCrow]

I am! Probably when the blossom is out in the spring ✨🧚🏻‍♂️

[@indigoblue4791]

New sub. Excellent video, thank you.😊

[@TheStoryCrow]

Welcome! 🙏

[@helgardhossain9038]

I just found your channel today and I LOVE your explanation how trees are linked to our ancestors ... Please put on some decent leather shoes next time ... 😅

[@TheStoryCrow]

Thank you 🙏 I normally would, but I have to wade through a swamp to get to that Holly tree 😅

[@alexblue6991]

Did you make the yawara stick you have in your hand from the Holly tree

[@TheStoryCrow]

I didn’t know what a yawara stick was till I just googled it It’s an ogham stave from a holly yes, but not from that holly, from a certain holly tree in Ireland 🇮🇪 🌳

[@alexblue6991]

@@TheStoryCrow thanks I'm just back home I was looking in the woodlands walk with the dog for a Holly tree best wishes from Scotland

[@tracyluckey8356]

Will you be doing Maple trees ?

[@TheStoryCrow]

I wasn’t going to, because it’s not really considered native to my part of the world, and doesn’t feature in the Ogham. However, I did touch on maple folklore in a previous video, about the famous Sycamore Gap tree that was felled by a vandal. Sycamore is, of course, a type of Maple. So maybe that would interest you. Here it is : kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJDReJKkYpd2fZosi=VfWc8fP1VMK4Kud5 Enjoy! 🙏☺️🌳

[@JoRimp]

Hi there, I have been asked to make a pair of rings by my friends parents. I make rings out of wood and they would like the wood to have meaning. They appreciate paganism, but I don’t think that’s how they identify. Is there any wood you would recommend suggesting to them that I could use?

[@TheStoryCrow]

Well, ivy is often the symbol of romantic relationships, two souls entwined. So you could use that. Or apple, which could be said to symbolise love, relationships and youth. I’ve got videos on both trees. Happy carving! ☺️

[@nunyobidness2358]

Thanks for this. I thought you were joking when you said it symbolizes dogs but I stand corrected

[@TheStoryCrow]

I thought I was joking too 😂 🐕

[@darrenallen8576]

Where did you get the ogham info? I tried Google and keep getting different runes for the same tree thanks

[@TheStoryCrow]

The ‘ogham tract’ is one textual source, but there are others. Some medieval Irish, some older, some more contemporary. And yes, sometimes there’s multiple trees for the same letter / symbol as the meanings and tree names changed over time. It’s a bit of a labyrinth I’m afraid. Wikipedia has the most commonly used set of names and trees too upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/All_Ogham_letters_including_Forfeda_-_%C3%9Cbersicht_aller_Ogham-Zeichen_einschlie%C3%9Flich_Forfeda.jpg/1280px-All_Ogham_letters_including_Forfeda_-_%C3%9Cbersicht_aller_Ogham-Zeichen_einschlie%C3%9Flich_Forfeda.jpg

[@darrenallen8576]

Thanks

[@apcolleen]

When I moved into my new house in Atlanta I smudged the house but in the Atlanta way. I forgot about the outbuilding and I think I took a little too much. But then 6 months later a woman shows up and says hey my drug dealer you still live here and I said well if you find him let him know I'm out. Sadly he did not return the favor or she never found him.

[@NorvelCooksey]

I remember when we brought the Holly to the island

[@TheStoryCrow]

😉🌳

[@EndofanAge]

May not be native to Israel but it didn't stop them from using it in their endeavor on the west coast of the United States Hollywoodland

[@TheStoryCrow]

😅🫢

[@cygnusconstellation9]

💚🌲💚

[@voreshbo7031]

Holly-Wood /Hollywood

[@TheStoryCrow]

🤔😂

[@voreshbo7031]

@@TheStoryCrow 😆😅🤪🤣🫣😱🤯😵‍💫🫨🧐🤔🤓👁️🫀🧠❤️‍🔥 Its actually quite a interesting view or perspective, the holy wood, Hollywood, used for making wands, that again was solely for magic and magick decided and and industriolized and has been practicing the craft and casting 'its' own spells upon all who has watched a movie or thousands, imagine the power of propoganda or news, or even 'fictional' romantic flicks filled with subtle but numerous clips, Audio or visual , fast clips/cuts , for decades.... Just look at normal tell a vision today.... Or just look at how it has developed or decreased in sound mind from the early 70's 'till today dear friend. Its an awakening itself . One i am happy and relieved i came across. And it would be a great pain for me to not share to a person i sense and feel are true and passionate with a pure intent ❤️❤️❤️

[@brandyjean7015]

If you cover your head, your toes will stay warmer!

[@TheStoryCrow]

True that. I think the gum boots were mainly to blame though 😂

[@Foxiepawstotti]

These solar myths like Jesus' birth go back to the very first civilizations, like through Sumeria and Egypt they all have their own versions of the rebirth of the Sun, the sacrifice and so on endlessly back in time.

[@julieschneider7445]

Ahoy!

[@TheStoryCrow]

AHOY 🏴‍☠️

[@sweetpea782]

so its fall???? Same as usa.... We dummies in usa....we thought On!y our trees did that... Where's the north star??? Just kidding we know Our plane tilts like a plate We are all now in the cold zone... Like when we were kids 50 years Ago....winter was winter ice snow sleds Summer was sweltering pools Fire hydrants and popsicles made By family's everywhere... 50 year redoooo

[@TheStoryCrow]

I genuinely can’t tell if you’re joking about not knowing there is fall in Europe too 🫢😅😂🤣 Yeah, I remember the seasons being more distinct when I was a wee laddie. It’s disheartening to see the visible effects of climate change within a human life span

[@leestirling4623]

@@TheStoryCrow climate change is natural it always has been since the beginning. Please don't let the fear mongers mislead you .

[@KevinSmith-yh6tl]

​@@TheStoryCrow That guy probably isn't even American. More than likely Canadian. Anyway, I came across your channel and was going to sub, until your reply about The BOGGIEMAN in the room, "GLOBAL WARMING". I just wanted a relaxed place to go to ease my overburdened mind, and listen to stories of old. But I realize sooner or later your stories will include Diversified story lines, that have nothing at all to do with the original tale. Good luck to you.

[@ascendantindigo271]

Enki's son "Tammuz" was born on December 25th not Christ. Tammuz can be enunciated as Tamas hence the "Christ-mas" hidden meaning is "Tammuz is Christ". Happy Holiday Heresy...

[@TheStoryCrow]

Yup. And Mithras, Horus, Krishna and gods know how many other gods ‘born’ on that day, depending on who you ask 👍

[@daragildea7434]

The word Tinne does not mean Holly, it means Fire. The Irish for Holly is Cuileann. The Ogham is not a "tree alphabet", you have been misled and deceived.

[@TheStoryCrow]

Each to their own. I will address your point of view in a future video, because I feel you have, in fact, been deceived ☺️ But in short I’m afraid it very much is a ‘tree alphabet’ given that each letter (and symbol) is represented by a tree. Letters make up alphabets 🤷‍♀️ 🤣 The association with a tree to each letter long precedes Robert graves, if that’s where you were going 👍

[@TheStoryCrow]

Also, the original meaning of Tinne means a bar of metal, specifically iron. The associations with fire, as you say, and Holly should be obvious ☺️ 🔥 🔨

[@leestirling4623]

Yeh the ogham is a music system.