What are the magickal qualities/atttibutes of the Cottonwood Tree???

Question

I can find the powers of a billion other trees, but I am finding it difficult to find anything on the Cottonwood. Thank you. )O(

Answer 1

The Cottonwood belongs to the genus populus, as do aspens and poplars (Actually, I think they are all technically poplars, just called by various names).
I have not worked with cottonwood before. However, I do have some reference material relating to the poplar family.

This comes from Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs:
Poplar is feminine, ruled by Saturn and belongs to the element of water.
It is used for money and flying. The leaves and buds are carried to attract money. They are also used in flying ointments for astral projection.

I did find a recipe(on the net) calling for cottonwood in a simering potpourri, used for meditation and/or scrying, so it would appear that the cottonwood has most of the magical properties attributed to poplar.

Also, according to one elvish site, the poplar, aspen, and cottonwood are sacred to an elvish goddess Nienna. She is the goddess of joy and sorrow, memory and forgetting. Considered to be Goddess of the Dark Moon while Omulan is Goddess of the Full Moon, Nienna is the chief guardian of the souls of the dead, protecting them in their journeys between worlds and into new lives. She is also compared to the Oriental Kwan Yin, goddess of mercy and compassion.

"Aspen is, among the Elves, a favorite wood for shields and has innate protective powers against fear as well as physical harm."

Cottonwood root is used for Hopi dolls, as well. It could be just because the cottonwood grows in the area, but it may relate to the metaphysical properties of the tree. I just don't know for sure.

The dolls are representitive of tribal spirits, and were traditionally given to children to teach them about the pueblo spirits. The Hopi call the spirits Katchinas (Katsinas). I just thought it was interesting. That and the fact that the cottonwood can suck up to 10 times its weight in water and the Hopi live in the desert.

Info from The Herbalist:
Balm Gilead is of the poplar family. Both Balm Gilead and white Poplar have been used medicinally and the white poplar has been called Balm Gilead. Externally, a tea was used to wash cuts and scrapes. Internally, it has been used for colds.

Answer 2

Cottonwoods are attributed with wisdom, especially when in a moral dilemma or trying to seek out an answer to a problem.


Hope that helps.

Answer 3

i'm someplace between agnostic and polytheist. not wiccan, yet between the polytheisms that wicca frequently mines. i hit upon it a splash demanding, yet as long as wiccans understand that there is no such element as historical wiccan ideals, i think I should not be complaining. yet complaining is one in all my faults. "magickal" seems stupid. What you're probable searching for is symbolic suggestion. Do a information superhighway seek for "wood symbolism" and additionally you will detect a great variety of advice. a number of it's going to be wiccan, passing itself off as actual Celtic. (there is my hypocrisy back, attempting to apply the "no real Scotsman" logical fallacy). in any case, congratulations. And to stay in topic of your question: you probable do not choose any elderwood (Sambucus) around the toddler. An elder tree could be ok, inspite of the shown fact that that's known with the help of a few that spirit(s) guarding the tree take great offense at it being shrink down.