The Hazel in Folklore

Hazel nuts are renowned for being the fruits of knowledge and were eaten by Druids seeking prophetic wisdom. Hazel was more sacred to the ancient Druids than oak and it was hazel nuts that were said to give the bards their ability to write their poems and songs of the ancient legends.
There is an ancient legend that tells of how the salmon (a sacred fish to the Celts) acquired its red spots by swallowing the nuts of the nine hazels of knowledge, which were said to produce flower and fruit (symbolic of beauty and wisdom) simultaneously. Whatever number of spots the salmon has is supposed to be the same as the amount of nuts that the salmon has eaten. The knowledge was then supposedly passed on to the person who ate the salmon.
It gave its name to the God Mac Coll, Mac Cuill or Mac Cool (son of the Hazel) who was said to be one of the three earliest rulers of Irland, according to Keating’s History of Ireland. It was also sacred to the Celtic sea god Manaman.
Witches used it in their brooms because it was symbolic of female wisdom and ancient Irish heralds carried white hazel wands. The penalty for cutting down a sacred Hazel was death!
Hazelnuts were used in divination rites at Samhain (Halloween) where the nut was thrown in the fire to discern the feelings of ones betrothed – questions would be asked when throwing the nut into the flames and the answer would given by the way the nut jumped or burned in the flame – i.e. if the nut burned strong and steady then so did your partners love for you.
The forked Hazel rod is the famous tool used in divining for water and other minerals, such as gold, lead and coal - it was also used to find buried treasure! This is done by holding the rod loosely by the forked end, when passing over water or minerals the other end of the rod will jump or quiver. In times past this method was also used to judge whether or not a person was guilty of murder or theft!
When cutting Hazel (as well as Willow and Pine) one should do so at the waxing (growing) moon. This is because at the waning (shrinking) moon the sap of the wood goes down into the root, leaving the wood brittle and crumbly and without pith.