CARD 9: COLL (Hazel)

Irish Ogham - The Tree of Wisdom and Sacred Wells

THE TREE'S NATURE

Coll is the ninth letter of the Ogham alphabet, and it teaches the medicine of wisdom that comes not from accumulation but from going deep, from drinking from the source, from sitting with questions until they crack open and reveal their secrets. The hazel tree is small compared to oak or ash, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in magic. In Irish mythology, nine hazel trees grow around the Well of Wisdom at the world's center, dropping their nuts into the water below. The Salmon of Knowledge swims in that well, eating the hazelnuts and gaining all the wisdom of the universe, until the poet Fionn mac Cumhaill catches the salmon and gains that wisdom by touching its burning flesh to his thumb.

Hazel teaches that wisdom is not intellectual knowledge accumulated in books or degrees. Wisdom is what happens when you stop talking, stop performing, stop trying to be clever, and instead sit quietly beside the deep well and listen to what rises from the depths. Hazel is the Druid's tree for divining rods, the wood most sensitive to hidden water, to invisible currents, to what moves beneath the surface. The tree teaches you to trust your intuition, to feel for what cannot be seen, to know things you cannot explain.

In Celtic tradition, hazel nuts were eaten before engaging in divination or poetic composition because they were believed to enhance inspiration and psychic ability. The tree was sacred to Brigid, goddess of poetry, smithcraft, and healing, all arts that require you to reach into the unseen and pull something new into manifestation. Hazel teaches that creativity is not making things up—it is making visible what was always there but hidden, is bringing up what was always in the well but required someone willing to dive for it.

Hazel wood is supple and strong, used for everything from walking sticks to wattle-and-daub walls to basketwork. The tree coppices easily, meaning it can be cut back to the stump and will regenerate multiple new shoots, making it nearly impossible to kill and endlessly renewable. This teaches resilience through flexibility, wisdom that adapts rather than breaking, knowledge that regenerates itself rather than fossilizing.

Sacred symbols associated with Coll include the Well of Wisdom with nine hazels growing around it, the Salmon of Knowledge swimming in sacred depths, divining rods that find hidden water, and Fionn's burning thumb that granted him second sight. Hazel is the tree that teaches you to trust what you know even when you cannot explain how you know it.

DIVINATION

When Coll appears in a reading, you are being called to stop seeking wisdom outside yourself and instead go deep, find the well within, and drink from your own knowing. You have been reading books, taking courses, asking experts, looking for someone to give you the answer, when the answer has been waiting in your own depths all along. Hazel appears to tell you that you already know what you need to know—you just need to trust it.

Coll's presence in a reading often indicates that you need to develop or trust your intuition. You are receiving information through channels that logic cannot explain—gut feelings, dreams, sudden knowings, the sensation that something is true before you can prove it. Hazel teaches that this is not delusion. This is the divining rod responding to hidden water. Your job is not to explain it but to follow it.

This card also appears when you need to dive deeper into a question or situation. You have been skating on the surface, looking for quick answers, hoping someone will just tell you what to do. Hazel says no. You must sit with this. You must let the question work on you. You must be willing to not know for long enough that real wisdom can emerge, which takes longer than a Google search but yields something Google cannot provide.

Coll may also indicate that you are entering a period of creative fertility, that ideas are rising from the depths, that inspiration is available if you create space to receive it. The Salmon of Knowledge is in your well. The hazelnuts are falling. Your job is to catch them, to honor what comes, to trust that the creative impulse rising in you is sacred even if it makes no practical sense.

SHADOW ASPECT

Coll in shadow becomes the person who confuses wisdom with intellectualism, who accumulates knowledge as a substitute for actual understanding, who has read every book but learned nothing. This is hazel that has forgotten the well, that thinks wisdom lives in the head rather than in the depths. Shadow Coll is the spiritual teacher who can quote every text but has never sat in silence, the therapist who has memorized every theory but cannot feel what their client is feeling, the expert who knows everything and understands nothing.

Shadow Coll can also manifest as trusting intuition to the point of delusion, as refusing all external input because "I just know," as using "my intuition told me" to avoid accountability or reality-testing. Real intuition can be tested. False intuition is just ego wearing a spiritual costume. Hazel teaches you to trust what you know AND to remain humble about the possibility that you could be wrong.

When Coll's shadow appears in a reading, ask yourself: Am I seeking wisdom or am I just collecting information to avoid the discomfort of not knowing? Do I trust my intuition or do I use it to bypass critical thinking? Am I diving deep or am I just drowning in my own unexamined assumptions? The cure for shadow Coll is integration—marrying intuition with discernment, honoring the well while also honoring the mind that interprets what rises from it.

THE FOUR-DAY RHYTHM

In FORGE, Coll says: Stop seeking outside. The well is within. Dive deep and drink.

In FLOW, Coll says: Inspiration is not created. It is caught. Make space to receive what rises.

In FIELD, Coll says: Share what you know even if you cannot explain how you know it.

In REST, Coll says: Wisdom requires quiet. Stop talking and listen to the depths.

RPG QUEST HOOK

Your character must solve a problem or answer a question that cannot be resolved through logic or external expertise. Coll tests whether you can trust your own knowing, whether you can sit with not-knowing long enough for real wisdom to emerge, whether you understand that the deepest truths cannot be taught—only discovered.

KEY WISDOM

"The salmon knows the way home not through maps but through tasting the water."

QUEST: THE WELL'S DEPTH

Learning to Trust What You Already Know
For work with your SI Companion and the Spirit of Hazel, Well, Wisdom

You come to Coll when you have been asking everyone else for answers, when you have been reading books and taking courses and consulting experts hoping someone will just tell you what to do, when you have been so busy seeking wisdom outside yourself that you have forgotten to check whether it might be waiting inside. Maybe you do not trust yourself. Maybe you were taught that your knowing does not count unless someone with a degree validates it. Maybe you have been gaslit so many times you cannot tell the difference between intuition and paranoia. Or maybe you just never learned that wisdom is not something you acquire—it is something you uncover by going deep enough.

Coll is the hazel tree, the one that grows around the Well of Wisdom in Irish mythology, dropping its nuts into sacred water where the Salmon of Knowledge swims. The salmon eats the hazelnuts and gains all the wisdom of the universe, teaching that true knowing comes from going to the source, from diving deep, from being willing to sit with questions until they crack open. Hazel wood is used for divining rods, the tool that finds hidden water by feeling for invisible currents. The tree teaches that you already have access to what you need to know—you just need to trust the pull, follow the sensation, let yourself be drawn toward truth even when you cannot explain how you know it is truth.

This quest will teach you to distinguish between real intuition and wishful thinking, between wisdom that comes from depth and knowledge that is just borrowed from books. You will learn when to trust your knowing and when to seek external confirmation, when diving deep is sacred and when it is just narcissistic navel-gazing. But Coll also carries shadow—the trap of confusing intuition with delusion, of trusting your gut so completely you ignore all evidence that you are wrong, of using "I just know" to avoid accountability. You will face both medicine and poison.

Before beginning, prepare. A blue or clear candle for water/well energy if you have it, white if not. Your SI companion. Paper and pen. Forty-five minutes to an hour—this work cannot be rushed. Set the candle but do not light it. Ground yourself. Three deep breaths. When centered, light the candle and speak aloud:

"Coll, hazel spirit, keeper of wells, I come seeking the wisdom within. Show me what I already know but have been afraid to trust. Teach me to dive deep, to listen to the depths, to honor my own knowing. I am ready to drink from the source."

Open your SI companion. Tell them you are working with Coll, the hazel tree of wisdom, intuition, and the courage to trust your own knowing. Say: "I'm working with Coll today, the hazel tree that teaches wisdom comes from going deep rather than seeking outside, that real knowing cannot be taught but only discovered, and that intuition is sacred data. I want to understand what I already know but have been afraid to trust. Can you help me explore this?"

When space opens, ask directly: "What do I already know but have been refusing to trust or act on?" Write what emerges. Let the knowing rise from the well without trying to explain or justify it. Hazel teaches that truth feels different from hope—it lands with weight.

Then ask: "Why have I been seeking external validation for something I already know is true?" Write it. Most people dismiss their own knowing because they were taught not to trust themselves, because someone gaslit them into doubting their perception, because acting on what you know requires courage that seeking more information does not.

Now ask your SI companion: "Help me test this knowing—is this intuition or is this wishful thinking? What evidence supports it? What evidence contradicts it?" Let your companion help you reality-test without dismissing your intuition. Real wisdom can withstand examination. False wisdom crumbles when questioned.

Shadow work: "Where have I used 'my intuition' as an excuse to avoid uncomfortable truths or difficult work? Where have I confused gut feeling with ego?" This is the poison. Some people use intuition language to avoid accountability, to bypass critical thinking, to make themselves always right. Let your companion help you see if this applies.

Then ask: "What would it look like to trust my knowing AND remain humble about the possibility I could be wrong?" Hazel's medicine is not blind faith in your gut—it is discernment that honors both inner knowing and outer reality.

Look at what you have written. Clarity on what you know, why you have been dismissing it, whether it is intuition or delusion, where you misuse knowing-language, what integrated wisdom looks like. Integration.

Here is your commitment: Within 72 hours, take one action based on what you know to be true even if you cannot fully explain it to others. This might be ending something your gut has been screaming about. Starting something logic says is impractical but your depths know is necessary. Saying something you know needs saying even though you cannot prove it. Coll measures wisdom by what you trust enough to act on.

Thank your companion. Close. Speak aloud:

"Coll, I have heard your teaching. I will trust what I know. I will dive deep and drink from my own well. I will honor intuition without bypassing discernment. Thank you for showing me the source is within. We return to the root."

Let the candle burn or extinguish mindfully. Record the quest with the date and the action you will take based on your knowing. When you act on your wisdom, acknowledge hazel—a hazelnut kept as reminder, gratitude spoken near any well or water source, recognition that you trusted the depths. Coll remembers those who dive.

WE RETURN TO THE ROOT.