If you walk down the residential streets of Kyoto,
outside many houses you can see a beautiful bush.
At first glance you may think it is Rowan,
but when you look at its beautiful red berries
there are not the tell tale pentacles at the stark.
The leaves are shaped like Rowan leaves and
turn red in the Autumn and Winter like the
Rowan’s also do. In June pretty white
flowers bloom.
The Rowan is an important tree for me.
My family name is originally Riley, but it
never really felt like my name and about 18
years ago I decided to legally change it.
I wanted something related to my Wiccan
beliefs and Rowan seemed perfect. The Rowan
tree is a tree of protection and
it has protected me through the years.
The Japanese word for Rowan is
Nanakamado, which I use here and
for my FB page connected to my spiritualty.
In Britain and especially in Scotland it is
ｔraditional to have a Rowan tree in front of
the house, to protect the house from
bad influences. In Kyoto the ubiquitous
南天 ( Nanten : South Heaven) does
exactly the same thing. There is another
pronunciation for it, Nan o Tenjiru,
meaning to change a difficult thing.
Now in the depths of winter this colourful
and beautiful tree is brightening up Kyoto.
Scotland and Japan are half a world apart,
but this beautiful synchronicity
is an exquisite wonder.
私の名字はRileyですが、18年前合法的にRowanに
なりました。ロワンは木の名前、日本語でナナカマドです。
ナナカマドの葉は美しい緑、でも冬にその
葉は赤になります。冬、赤い実が多いです。
葉と実は本当に日本の南天に似ています。
葉と実は本当に日本の南天に似ています。
スコトラントには古い家の前にナナカマドがいます。
伝統的にスコトラント人はナナカマドは
悪いことから守ってくれる木を信じる。
日本人の場合、南天は悪いことから守ってくれる木です。
不思議ね！
