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CELTIC TREE Calender & the   OGHAM
The Beth-Luis-Nion, named after its first three letters, just as we call our modern alphabet the ABC, has only thirteen consonants [corresponding to the 13 lunations or moon cycles of the year] and five vowels, as follows:
B L N F S H D T C M G P R ; A O U E I                                                                                                                            Robert Graves, in The White Goddess, adds four letters to the Beth-Luis-Nion, as follows:
B L N F S SS H D T C CC M G P R ; AA A O U E I II                                                                                                       The four added letters are 'doubles' of their accompanying letter. SS (or Z) follows S; CC (or Q) follows C; AA (or long O) precedes A; and II (or Y) follows I. The significance of the Beth-Luis-Nion alphabet is that it contains within it a series of references which would only be known to the initiated (specifically, Druidic initiates). The references as listed below are a greatly simplified version of the long, densely detailed description from Graves.
B is for Beth (beh), which means Birch.
It is identified as the tree of inception. Roman lictors carried birch rods at the installation of a new consul, which took place shortly after Midwinter. Moreover, there were 12 lictors assigned to each consul, making 13 in all. In Scandinavia, birch trees coming into leaf signified the start of the agricultural year.
                                                                                                                                                                                                    
L is for Luis (lweesh), meaning Rowan, also known as Quickbeam, Quicken, and Mountain Ash.
In Ireland, Druids lit fires of Rowan wood to summon the spirits of the dead to assist warriors in battle. In the romance of Diarmuid and Grainne, the rowan berry, apple, and red nut are all described as "food of the gods," suggesting that there may have been a taboo against eating them. [Red was also the color that guarded against evil and kept away faeries
F is for Fearn (farn), meaning Alder.
The sacred tree of Bran the Blessed. The tree was held in high regard by the Celts for the charcoal it produced. The tree stains reddish when cut, reminiscent of the shedding of blood. It also yields three important dyes: red from the bark, green from the flowers, and brown from the twigs.
N is for Nion (nee-n), meaning Ash.
This wood was important to the Celts for making spears, chariots, and oracles. In Greece, the ash was sacred to Poseidon, god of the sea. In Ireland, timber from the sacred ash of Killura was carried as a charm against drowning. The great sacred tree of Norse mythology is the ash, Yggdrasill, closely associated with Woden/Wotan/Odin, whose British counterpart is the magician-god/trickster Gwydion. In British folklore, the ash is the tree of rebirth and regeneration.
S is for Saille (sal-yeh), meaning Willow or Osier.
It is dedicated to the Goddess in Her death aspect, as represented by Hecate, Circe, Persephone, and others in Greece, and by Ceridwen, Morgana/Morgan/Morrigan and others in British mythology. The willow is traditionallu associated with witchcraft, so strongly in fact that the words wicker (meaning willow reed or osier), wicked, and witch are all etymologically related Willow has  ancient significance as a symbol of the rejected or disappointed lover-- it was originally intended as a charm and invocation to the Goddess
H is for Huath (hoo-ah), the Hawthorn, also called Whitethorn and May.
It is an unlucky tree. In the Irish Brehon Laws, it is also called _sceith_ which seems related to the Indo-European root _skeud-_ from which shoot, shut and scathe are derived. In the British myths, the hawthorn is also associated with chastity.
D is for Duir (doo-r or der), meaning Oak.
The word is very similar in Goidelic and Brythonic, and the word Druids is almost certainly derived from it [as is "door" . It is the totem-tree of the thunder god in all his manifestations-- Zeus, Jupiter, Thor in Scandinavia, Bel in Britain and Gaul. It is common knowledge the the oak was specially venerated by the Celts.
T is for Tinne, meaning Holly.
The Brythonic word is _kelynn_. It is the totem tree of the oak-god's twin (or alternately, his father), the holly-god or Green Knight, represented by Bran the Blessed in the British traditions and by Cronos is Greece and Saturn in Rome. He is the god of the waning half of the year [ie., winter], while his brother (or alternately, his son) Bel is the god of the waxing half of the year. When Christian mythology began subsuming aspects of earlier pagan mythology, St. John the Baptist (beheaded at Midsummer, the day of transition between the oak-king and the holly-king) became identified with the oak, which in turn lef to the identification of Christ with the oak's successor, the holly. . The word holy was also spelled _holi_, derived from Old Eng. _halig_. There has been an association of holly with holy ever since.
C is for Coll (kull), meaning Hazel.
In Celtic mythology, it is always associated with wisdom. Over Connla's Well in Ireland, hung the nine hazels of poetic art-- their nuts fed salmon swimming in the pool (the salmon themselves being associated with wisdom, specifically _ mystic wisdom. Then, as now, the hazel was the favored wood for making divining rods. The letter was used by the Bards to signify the number 9, a highly regarded number because it is the sacred 3, times three. White hazel wands were carried by Druids as a symbol of their authority. The tree was also called _bile ratha_ in Irish, meaning "tree of the rath." The _rath_ was the abode of the _sidhe_ or faery people.
M is for Muin (moon, like "foot"), meaning Vine.
The  was important in Mediterranean mythology, principally because it is the source of wine. The vine does figure in Celtic art  of the Bronze Age because onward, which suggests that its mythology was understood and to some extent,  in the Druidic culture.  A folk superstition persists in Devon and Cornwall that blackberries are unfit to eat after September because the Devil is in them. [a similar taboo exists against eating berries after Samhain, esp. in the west of Ireland, because they belong to the faeries then -.
G is for Gort (gurt) meaning Ivy.
Vines and ivy share the characteristic of growing spirally. Both are associated with resurrection. Ivy leaves, which are toxic, may have been chewed for their hallucinatory effects. Both holly and ivy are associated with the Holly-god, Bran, or Cronos, or Saturn, whose demise was celebrated by the Romans at Saturnalia or Midwinter festival.
P is for Peith, meaning Water-Elder     Peith is not the original letter [and besides, P is a borrowed sound in Irish.]. The original letter was NG, but , Graves substituted P for NG, with no explanation other than that the original NG." At any rate, Ngetal means Reed. The reed symbolized royalty.
R is for Ruis (rweesh), the thirteenth and last of the original consonants, meaning Elder.
Although the flowers and bark of the elder yield therapeutic substances ,and elder flowers and berries make good wine, the tree has a reputation for evil. It is associated with witchcraft and death, along with the yew, cypress and nightshade. The superstition that 13 is unlucky
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