Hawthorn, guardian of the portal
Hawthorn is one of those trees that feels wrapped in springtime magic. Its delicate blossoms and lush leaves have long inspired not just admiration, but a little bit of awe—so it’s no wonder it carries such rich folklore and mystical associations. And, if you’re as fond of jewellery as I am, you might even find a little piece of that magic captured in a hawthorn-inspired pendant.
One of the most charming remnants of hawthorn lore is the old English saying, “Cast n’er a clout till May is out.” At first glance, it sounds impenetrable—what exactly is a “clout,” and why should you wait for May? In fact, “clout” simply means cloth or clothing, and the “May” in question isn’t the month itself but the hawthorn flowers that bloom around that time. The advice is practical as well as poetic: don’t leave your coat at home until the hawthorn is in full bloom because, well, you never know what the English weather might do!
Hawthorn has long been associated with fertility and love. Its blossoms were central to May Day celebrations—perhaps the ancestor of the modern Maypole. People wove garlands and crowns from its flowers and leaves, celebrating the first reliably warm days of spring. Women would even rise early to bathe their faces in dew collected from hawthorn trees, hoping to enhance their beauty. It’s a lovely, slightly mischievous reminder that nature and ritual have always danced hand in hand.
But hawthorn’s magic wasn’t all romance and beauty. There was a cautious side too. Bringing hawthorn inside the home was believed to invite illness, or even death. Modern science offers a curious explanation: the flowers release a chemical called trimethylamine, one of the first compounds formed in decaying flesh—perhaps the old superstition was a primitive warning about its strong, pungent scent when gathered indoors.
Hawthorn was also closely connected to the fairy realm. Known as the fairy tree, or affectionately as the gentle bush, it was thought to guard the entrance to the otherworld. People avoided naming fairies directly out of respect, and hawthorn’s presence was considered protective, a natural boundary between our world and the mystical.
All of this—love, fertility, protection, and a touch of enchantment—makes hawthorn a particularly special tree. It’s a reminder of the magic in the everyday, the little traditions and beliefs that connect us to the natural world. And if you’d like to carry a little of that magic with you, my hawthorn-inspired necklace is a delicate tribute to the tree’s folklore, capturing its charm and spirit in silver.
