11/07/2025
Last week a dear friend and I sat with the Hawthorn in my yard - we were both feeling like some heart medicine would feel really nice. As we settled in we realized that the upper leaves looked very different from the lower parts of the tree, and with closer inspection it was obvious they were two distinct species. But they were both Hawthorn!
I was flabbergasted that I hadnโt noticed this before. Almost to the point that Iโm convinced I must have jumped timelines or something ๐.
We learned that one is the European Hawthorn and the other is the Cockspur Hawthorn, which is native to this area in the US. Were they grafted together? It didnโt seem so, as they are both joined deep at the base - seemingly growing from the same root.
The timing of this revelation feels synchronistic as I have been deep in ancestor work - hosting a community ancestor walk, making an ancestor altar with my kids, telling ancestor stories, and looking into my lineages in more depth. โTis the season, after all.
I canโt fully describe how heart bursting it felt to realize my sweet Hawthorn tree is actually a very tangible symbol of the lineages that reside within me - my European Celtic and my Pioneer/American lines. And they are growing so seemlessly together in harmony I hadnโt even noticed!
Some meanings this discovery holds for me:
* An Integration of lineages. The European species carries deep Celtic and Old World ancestry, while the native Cockspur Hawthorn holds the spirit of the New World. Their intertwining represents Old World and New World wisdom coming together and the merging of ancestral and present-day roots.
* A Bridge. Their shared base points to one source feeding two expressions, unity in diversity.