Elder

The spirits of elder trees were especially vindictive as tree spirits go. Destroying an elder tree meant all kinds of bad luck. If elderwood was used to build a house, the occupant would complain of mysterious hands pulling his arms and legs. Burning elderwood would bring evil into the house. In Cornwall it was thought that burning elderwood would bring the devil to sit on the chimney. Sleeping under an elder tree brought dreams of death, and to dream of elder was to presage sickness. It was also said that anyone who accidentally found himself underneath an elder tree would be overcome with horror and delirium. Witches are supposed to lurk under its branches. The tree also has a strong association with fairies. The Welsh believe that dwarf elder will only grow where human blood has been shed, and their name for it means “plant of the blood of men”.

Elderberry wine was used to kill the boarders in Arsenic and Old Lace. Elder leaves mixed with tansy were once used as fly repellent.

The elder tree is one of the many trees claimed to have supplied the wood for the Cross, and that because of this it is doomed to be ‘small, crooked, and feeble’. It has also been credited as the tree upon which Judas hanged himself. Consequently, elderberries symbolize sorrow and remorse.

Like blackberry brambles, elder is considered protection against earthbound, “physical” spirits like vampires. This is older folklore than the lore about garlic. When you put elder on a threshold or windowsill, you can force a vampire to count over the thorns and the berries until morning comes, because these physical demons were fanatical about counting things.