The Celtic Tree Calendar

The Celtic calendar feels so right to me.

A calendar year that follows the waxing and waning of the moon?
It’s a yes for me.  A giant yes. It sits well with the base of my soul.

This lunar calendar is split into the 13 months that mirror the 13 moons that we see every year. The druids linked each month to a sacred tree, and out of this system came correspondences not only to sacred trees, but also to the ogham alphabet, power animals, and significant times of the year to do specific types of work.

There are a few different versions of the calendar, but all of them are very similar. Most modern day druids use this calendar, which has been altered over time to fit within our solar year calendar. (It now lines up with out 365 day year, so to speak, instead of changing each and every year with the lunar cycle. If the celtic tree calendar followed the moon cycles perfectly, the dates of the months would shift a little out of whack each year.)

Modifying it to line up with our solar calendar allows us to keep the overall “year” the same, while still following the 13 moons.

The celtic calendar is wonderfully magical, and offers so many gateways to further studies.

If you want to learn about celtic mysticism or druidry, I would suggest putting a big fat star beside the calendar as a reminder to come back and play with the trees a little. They offer wonderful advice, and are rife with teachings: From the wheel of the year and the mythology associated with the months, to the sacred trees and plants – you can springboard from its teachings to natural healing, sidhe correspondences, aromatherapy, the ogham, nature divination… the list is endless.

Root down, let your wings out ;) and enjoy your path of 13 moons and tree spirits!