Hickory
Keywords
Abundance, Balance, Discipline, Flexibility, Generosity, Protection,
Strength, Transformation, Unification
Historical
Background and Folklore
A member of the walnut family, hickory produces strong and flexible
wood that has a wide range of uses in sports equipment, cabinetry,
furniture, hammers, brooms and other tools. The wood is considered
an excellent fuel: One cord of it has approximately the heating
capacity as a ton of coal.
Hickory’s aromatic wood produces oily smoke and high heat
that has been popular for curing meat because it imparts a special
flavor. Nuts of the shagbark hickory are edible and have commercial
value. Medicinally, young shoots were used to treat convulsions.
In notes written in 1612, colonial English historian, William Strachey
mentioned a Native American myth about hickory smoke being used
to help departing spirits of the dead find their way. Hickory nuts
seemed to have been used in trade among various Native American
people as tribes outside the growth range of hickory trees had names
for the nuts and trees in their own languages. |
Zodiac:
Gemini, Virgo
Celestial Bodies: Jupiter, Mercury, Sun
Color: yellow
Gemstones: citrine, yellow topaz
Miscellaneous: solar plexus chakra; sabbat: Mabon/Autumn Equinox
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