Eadha is the tree of whispering leaves. All of the huge family of poplar trees, which include Aspens, have a stem to twig attachment that makes the leaves shiver or tremble in the least breeze and causes an unceasing whispering noise throughout the stands of these trees. This aspect of Eadha represents both the voice of our doubts nagging at our unconscious and also the soft voice of the Great Mother calming our fears. The message of Eadha is that there are threats that we should fear, but also that we can encompass them.

Eadha is the shield tree which is one of the magical weapons with NgEtal, Tinne, and Ioho. The Ogham identification poem says, "I am the Shield for every head." Poplar wood, which is light, was used for shields in the time when shields were used in war, but Eadha could be used both then and now on the mythic plane as a spell-working barrier. The card reversed has much the same message but warns that fearfulness can overcome us unless we guard against it.

The whispering of the aspen leaves is also oracular, and tells us to be alert for quiet messages from the other world, or for intuitive messages or feelings from our unconscious mind. Eadha councils us to trust those messages, and to rely on all of our senses and intuitions even when not strongly voiced. This is the meaning of the rune paired with Eadha, the Rune Eh. Eh's primary meaning is unconnected to the ogham, but its secondary meaning is to trust and cooperate with the natural world and to form a complete partnership with it.

The bird connected with Eadha is the whistling swan. These birds do not sing, but make a whistling noise while flying as the wind of their passage flows through their strong wing primaries in much the same way that the aspen makes a noise when the wind passes through its leaves. Swans, as one of the larger migratory birds, have long had a place in mythic symbology as struggling against misfortune and triumphing.

Eadha, like many of the oghams, sends a mixed message about the future. It does not foretell particularly good things, but this is what life sends us. Although we do not have to fear frost, starvation, homelessness, disease, or injury at the same level as the ancient peoples; these threats are still present to us as well as the general miseries that all people of all times face. The message of Eadha is "Don't be afraid."