The leaves of the Betula, or birch tree, are among the first to appear, following clusters of catkins into the sunlight. Each leaf ignites — a small exclamation — a heart aflame with ziggle-zaggle energy, shimmering into life. Soon seasons turn, the seeds take wing and fall as glowing embers on the ground. For the Celts it is the time to take up their birch broom made from the tree’s branches and sweep away the old year. And as the Betula leaves are sent whirling on the wind — for an instant! — they are alive and ablaze again, once more.