Nature has this ability to highlight realities of life that are not always pleasant or even directly visible. The photo of Lotfi Bouslah of Lolo Pics shows a hawthorn branch and its appetizing red berries right alongside its large sharp thorns. This contrast merits a moment of pause and reflection. The hawthorn, with its scientific name of Craetagus is of the family Rosaceae and is a species of tree and bush originally from the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere of Europe, Asia, and North America. The nature photographer introduces the photo with the title : " Between pleasure and pain. " It is a perceptive title when one thinks of the history and symbolism of the hawthorn, a plant that is effectively a celebration of the tension between sorrow and pleasure. The species of hawthorn in Lotfi Bouslah's photos is Craetagus monogyna, that is found in Europe and in North Africa and that is a single seed plant. The photo shows the hawthorn in autumn, with its thorns very visible, side by side with its red berries. In springtime, the hawthorn shows white blossoms with red petals. The fruit it produces in autumn is edible for wildlife and also for humans, and on occasion is used in jams, syrups, or to make wine, and to add a touch of flavour to brandy. The robust thorns of the hawthorn are a quality nesting birds actually appreciate, because the thorns protect the nesting parents and their offspring from predators. The hawthorn plant has a long tradition of being a venerated tree and bush, as in Welsh tradition, where the hawthorn was considered a way to purify negativity, a healer of mental confusion, a plant that offers clarity, patience and tranquility. The hawthorn is known for its medicinal benefits : it reduces high blood pressure, stimulates the heart, helps with migraines and insomnia, and its berries are rich in vitamin C and B. Crushed, the berries can be used in cases of kidney troubles and to calm diarrhea and dysentery. In Welsh tradition, the hawthorn symbolized also duality and balance, masculine energy, as well as fertility, which underlines its importance as a representation of duality, the union of contrasts. It was believed the hawthorn was capable of purifying humans of their negative energy and thereby bringing love and happiness. The photo of Lotfi Bouslah is pretty symbolic, because it shows a branch that celebrates exactly that duality, this mystery of pleasure and pain that so often in life are entangled so much so that one does not feel able to assure one or heal the other. Our heart often is like the autumn hawthorn, that just like in the photo finds itself in the precarious situation to have to accept and negotiate pleasure and pain like the steps of two dancers at the edge of an abyss : we risk to lose pleasure, so precarious and capricious, if we reject without a cool head and without insight the revindications of sorrow. The photo leaves its mark : side by side, the formidable thorns and sensual red berries evoke the cruel reality of troubles, of sorrow, and the joy and hope of love and tenderness. The hawthorn is hardy, and tolerates the thorns alongside the berries. It is in all of our interests to follow its example of wisdom and strength.
Trudi Ralston
The information on Craetagus, the hawthorn, and its symbolic and medicinal significance, courtesy of Wikipedia.
For the identification of the hawthorn plant in his photo, I am indebted to Lotfi Bouslah.
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