A Lesson from Blackthorn

I love all the contrasts in this photo - white blackthorn blossom against black twigs, the softness of moss and sharpness of thorns, a muted palette of black/white/khaki with a bright splash of warmth and colour from the sun.

Blackthorn blossom is in full exuberant froth mode right now, brightening the hedges and thickets. It's strange in a way that a tree I experience as having a such a dark, Scorpionic energy to it can have such pretty, delicate flowers. Yet I've recently realised that this is part of blackthorn's magic. I've always associated blackthorn with protective, defensive magic (the ThriftWitch Home Protection Charm uses blackthorn). The thorns are so sharp and tough, it's used extensively as stock-proof hedging, and the hard wood was used to make shillelaghs (Irish fighting clubs) for self-defence. 

Just the other day, blackthorn taught me another lesson about self-defence. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and a thicket of flowering blackthorn was looking gorgeous. I decided it would make a great photograph. Yet somehow I couldn't find a good place from which to take the shot. From far away, the blossom lost impact through the camera lens. Closer to,obstacles in the way spoilt the composition. Finally I decided to clamber inside - no easy task, given those thorns - to get a shot of the mass of flowers against the blue sky. But once inside the thicket, the flowers became invisible against the brightness of the sky. No matter how I twisted and turned, I could not get a photograph of them. Frustrated, I climbed back out assuming I'd just picked a bad spot without flowers, but it was immediately clear that there was in fact an abundance of blossom - it just became invisible from inside the thicket.

And then I got it: blackthorn is the Queen of defensive magic. Hiding in plain sight is the very best kind of defensive magic, allowing the eyes of your enemies to pass straight over you, keeping you safe from harm with the minimum fuss and effort. 

What a wonderful reminder that we have many tools in our kit bag. Sometimes we need thorns, but sometimes it's much simpler than that.