Lore - Vegetables and other edible plants & Wild
Plants
Basil - according to the druids
Basil is a herb for purification, love and money. Put a piece of basil in each
of the four corners of your house at the beginning of each season to bring
wealth. If you grow basil in your garden, you need to shout and scream at it to
make it grow into a strong plant.
It also symbolizes love. At one time young girls would place some on their
windowsill to indicate they were looking for a suitor. In Tudor times, small
pots of this were given by farmers' wives to visitors as parting gifts. It is
also reputed that any man will fall in love with a woman from whom he accepts
some basil from as a gift. Can be used as snuff to cure headaches.
Beans
Scattering the flowers is thought to placate demons in many countries
particularly in the Far East, being associated with death and the spirits of the
dead. If one bean in a row should come up white instead of green, an English
tradition associates this occurrence with death, and in the south west it was
once believed that 3rd May was the best time to plant kidney beans to ensure a
successful crop. (My Grandad always said plant them on the 1st of May under
cover and then plant them out in the garden on the 1st of June).
Broad beans were thought to possess the soul of the dead, and when in flower it
was believed that accidents were more likely to happen. If it was a leap year it
was thought that the bean would grow upside-down. The shape of the bean was
thought to be associated with death and ghosts. Scattering some around the
outside of the house would stave of such attentions for 12 months.
Broad beans have also been associated with forecasting the future. A European
belief was that three beans should be prepared in different ways to produce an
outcome and then hidden on Midsummer Eve for the enquirer to find. The untouched
bean indicated wealth, the half-peeled bean indicated a comfortable life, whilst
the third fully peeled bean indicated poverty. The future was revealed by which
bean was found first.
The ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras (he of the theorem)
founded a religion one of the basic tenets of which was the sinfulness of eating
beans.
Blackberries and bramble bushes.
Creating a natural arch out of any forms of brambles and passing someone who is
ill underneath was reputed to cure the affected. Blackheads, rheumatism, boils
and whooping cough were also thought to be helped by eating the fruit.
This fruit has over time has also become associated with the Devil in France and
England. In France it was thought that the colour of the fruit resulted from
when the Devil spat on it, whilst in England it was thought that picking fruit
after 11 October (old Michaelmas Day) would bring bad luck as the Devil was
believed to have fallen into a thicket and had left a curse on the thorns which
had hurt him.
Caraway
Use to combat burglaries. Place among your valued possessions, if the thief
manages to get into the house then the caraway will transfix the person until
rescue arrives. For women worried about their husbands wandering off with other
women, placing some caraway in the pocket will do the trick - a similar
principle with pigeons - a little in their food and they'll never want to find
another coop.
Carrots
Carrots contain chemicals that are the precursors to retinol the chemical found
in our retina that is vital to us being able to see. So there is some basis of
truth in the belief that eating a lot of carrots will improve the
eyesight.
The story of WW2 British RAF pilots being fed on a special diet of carrots is
false however but typical of the claims made of this vegetable. Eating large
quantities of boiled carrots was thought to help asthmatics (by relieving
constriction of the bronchial tubes). Also thought to be an aphrodisiac (as is
just about everything else in the world that shape).
Trick - write the word "carrot" on a piece of paper and hide it. Ask
some-one to quickly answer your questions, ask "what is 1 + 1?",
"what is 2 + 2" etc. until the answer is 128, then ask them to name a
vegetable, they will almost always answer with "carrot" - reveal your
paper.
Chicory
Who needs a magic cloak like Harry Potter when there's chicory about, not sure
how you use it though. Can also be used to open locked chests on July 25th (St.
James's Day). Hold a golden knife and some chicory leaves against the lock, and
it will open - but only in silence, if a word is spoken "death will soon be
upon you". (How do stories like that start?). Early American settlers and
prospectors are said to have carried a piece of chicory with them for good luck.
Garlic In the Far East it is believed to have the power to bring back lost
souls being heavily used in religious ceremonies. It is also seen to be an
effective aphrodisiac.
Garlic juice is an antiseptic and antibacterial agent like many other members of
the onion family to which it belongs, used frequently through the ages to clean
wounds, particularly in battle.
Leek
An old Welsh tradition is to rub themselves with leeks before going into battle
to bring extra strength and power while providing protection from injury. So if
a Welshman smells of leeks, watch out!
Lettuce
A bit of a contradicting lore here, the Romans believed that the lettuce plant
was a powerful aphrodisiac. It was also served in quantity at feasts and
weddings for these reasons and also because it was thought to prevent
drunkenness.
In England on the other hand country people traditionally believed that planting
lots of lettuce in the garden could prevent conception!
Mushrooms and toadstools
Scientists suspect that lunar cycles affect their growth. Japanese believed that
mushrooms and toadstools were engendered by thunder. Greeks and Aztecs believed
they were engendered by lightning. It was thought that they sprang up overnight
and disappeared the next day. The Aztec's even had a mushroom and toadstool god
Tlaloc. He was represented wearing a serpent headdress.
Edible mushrooms were considered the food of the gods in ancient Greece and
Mexico. They were called Teonanacatl, Flesh of the Gods. In Central America,
where the rites of the sacred mushroom were conducted. Guatemalan mushroom rites
date back to at least 1000 B.C.
Toadstools have always been associated with fairies. A circle of taller, darker
grass within a ring of toadstools, sometimes accompanied by a ring of dark earth
is often called a Fairy Ring. They were believed to be caused by the path of
dancing fairies, elves, fire-breathing dragons, lightning strike or witches.
Stepping into a fairy ring could bring good or bad luck, cause or cure illness.
(Basically not a lot of use then!)
A fairy ring in a field beside a house was believed to bring good fortune. Harm
was believed to come to a cow that stepped within the circle or ate its grass.
It was also thought that you would become enchanted if you entered a ring during
a full moon.
Early Christians believed that mushrooms sprang up where St. Peter spat bread on
the ground, toadstools where the devil spat.
Peas
Finding a single pea in a pod when shelling them is a sign of good fortune.
Finding nine means that you can make a wish once you've thrown one of the nine
over your shoulder. Sounds like a good way of keeping someone going while
shelling peas to me and also bothering with the short skinny ones with not many
inside!
Pineapples
In 1493, Columbus came across the pineapple, Ananas comosos, on the island
of Guadeloupe. The natives who cultivated these fruits called them ananas and
believed that they had been brought from the Amazon many generations earlier by
the warlike Caribs. (This oral history may be true, as pineapple-shaped jars
have been found in pre-Incan burial sites in Brazil.)
A few explorers had observed that Indians used pineapple poultices to reduce
inflammation in wounds and other skin injuries. Native people also drank the
juice to aid digestion and to cure stomach ache. In 1891 an enzyme that broke
down proteins (bromelain) was isolated from the flesh of the pineapple,
accounting for many of the pineapple's healing properties. It has been found
that bromelain can also break down blood clots, which consist mainly of protein.
Research continues. This enzyme may well play a major part in heart attack
treatment in the near future, as well as in the treatment of burned tissue,
abscesses, and ulcers.
Parsley
Traditionally associated with death and disaster. Bad luck will come your way
especially if you cut some for your cooking and you are in love at the same
time, or transplant it, or give it away.
Like Rosemary, it is reputed to grow best if the woman of the household is
dominant. It was associated with death by the Ancient Greeks who dedicated it in
funeral rites and scattered it on graves. It was also woven into crowns for
victors of sporting games (and fed to the chariot horses before the races).
It is also believed that babies could be discovered in parsley beds, and that
unmarried girls could put matters to right if they chewed parsley three times a
day for three weeks. When scattered in fishponds it can reputedly heal sick fish
too. The Romans used to line their graves with Parsley to keep the Devil away,
and also to avoid their plants falling into someone else's hands as this was
considered to be like throwing luck away. In Britain it was also once believed
that to sow parsley was to encourage the conception of children so be careful
next time offers you some parsley seeds!
According to my granddad, parsley seeds take so long to germinate because they
have to go to the devil and back seven times first.
Rosemary
It is believed that this plant grows in abundance where the woman rules the home
but it is probably best to say that the strong flavoured evergreen shrub is
associated with remembrance, with sprigs often being placed in funeral wreaths
or carried at country funerals.
Bluebells
Fields of bluebells are dangerously enchanted by fairies, who are called to
their midnight dances and revels by the sound of bluebells ringing.
Dandelions
Apparently seen as a love omen in English country folklore. When I was a child
smelling a dandelion flower was to be avoided as it meant that you would wet the
bed.
Dandelion clocks of the fluffy seed heads can be used to tell the time - count
how many blows (o'clocks) to remove them all. Alternatively counting the number
of seeds left after you have blown on it will indicate how many years you will
have to wait until your wedding day.
Ferns
Also known as 'Devil Brushes' in England. It is believed that hanging dried
ferns in the house will protect all the inhabitants from thunder and lightning
damage. Be careful because it may rain when the ferns are cut or burnt.
The brackenseed of the plant is said to provide magical qualities if you place a
few in the pocket - invisibility being the most notable (probably need to keep
your fingers crossed at the same time).
Be careful when you go seed collecting because it is believed that treading on a
fern will cause the poor unfortunate traveller to become confused and lose his
way. Stomach ache is supposed to be alleviated by taking some crushed
brackenseed taken with water from a fern growing on a tree. (I wouldn't try this
one, bracken is very poisonous, the alleviation of pain may be permanent!)
Ferns are also favored by pixies, who can sometimes be found near them.
Mandrake (Mayapple)
Mandrake (so called because the root is said to shaped like a man - with two
legs) was said to scream when pulled from the ground and that the person who
pulled it would die. To avoid this, starving dogs were tied to the plant and
then tempted to pull it out with food.
St. Johns Wort
Now in many herbal remedies. Noted for its calming effect, valuable for nervous
disorders such as insomnia, depression and bedwetting. The oil has remarkable
soothing and healing action when rubbed into painful joints and strained
muscles. Celtic tradition held that the druids wore it in battle for
invincibility - that'll be why we're all ruled by druids then. Burn to exorcise
negative spirits.
The plant was believed to be able to move around to avoid having the flowers
picked it. If caught the flowers help ward off evil spirits by hanging over the
door. Originally known as the "sun god's flower" the Christians
dedicated Midsummer to St. John the Baptist and renamed the plant St. John's
Wort.
Considered a sacred fairy plant on the Isle of Man, where it is believed pixies
will have revenge on you if you tread on it.
Californian Poppy Eschscholzia californica (Family: Papaveraceae)
When the Spaniards who the first European explorers of California saw these
poppies emblazoning the hills, they called the land "The Golden West".
Not so much because of the wealth...that came later; but, because of the golden
poppies! The Spaniards named this poppy, "copa de oro" or cup of gold.
Some of these California poppies were taken to Russia by Adelbert Chamisso, a
botanist on a voyage to collect samples from the North American continent.
Chamisso named the poppy after a Prussian doctor on the ship whose name was Dr.
Elsholz, which was then Russianised to Eschscholz.
Now starting to be available in pink varieties as well as the usual yellow and
orange. California poppies may look fragile but are a very hardy variety of the
Papaver family. If you plant them in your garden, you will be assured of adding
beauty to the world. Sprinkle the seeds on the ground and rake in gently, and
you get your reward back in layers of gold. They self-seed fairly reliably too.
Primrose
Eating primroses is supposed to enable you to see fairies.
Touching a fairy rock with a primrose posy opens the way to fairyland and
fairy gifts.
Mistletoe
Supposed to give Protection and convey love. Anti-lightning charm, place a
branch above the doorway to your house to protect it during thunderstorms.
Supposedly extinguishes fires (can't find any details how though). Hang
Mistletoe and kiss the one you want.
It is a parasitic plant. When the host or main tree died off (lost its leaves)
in the winter it was believed that the mistletoe held the life of the main plant
within itself.
For the most effective magic it's supposed to be harvested from an oak tree
using a golden sickle on the sixth day of a full moon - seems like a good excuse
to me - "It would have worked but I only had my ordinary sickle on
me....."
Holly, Ilex
Like other evergreens, holly has represented immortality ever since people began
to look to plants for inspiration, it has been regarded as a plant of good omen
since Early Times (It is now widely accepted by scholars that "Early
Times" lies between the Late Eocene and "Donkeys Years Ago").
Holly has the advantageous property of looking as good in mid-winter as in
mid-summer, other evergreens can look a bit poorly in the winter even though
they perk up again when spring arrives - this amongst other things probably has
helped its position in folk-lore.
All evergreens shed their leaves through the year, they just don't do it all in
one go like deciduous plants. Holly tends to do this mainly in the spring, again
helping it look good through the winter.
Holly was taken into homes when winter began to shelter the elves and fairies
who could live with mortals at this time without causing injury (maybe they get
trodden on at other times?). Holly was regarded as an excellent form of
protection for all manner of things but specifically against evil spirits,
poisons, thunder and lightning.
There are records of gifts of holly being given at the Roman festival of
Saturnalia which lasted 5 days and ended with the winter solstice. More recently
the "Holly King" a tradition carried on in mummers plays would vie
with the "Oak King" for the hand of a fair maiden. At midsummer the
oak king was defeated by the holly king, at midwinter, the oak king was
victorious and so the seasonal tides flowed smoothly.
In some parts of Ireland, the holly from Christmas was kept and burned to help
cook the pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.
In rural areas of England, a bunch of holly was placed in the stable or cow shed
on Christmas Eve to bring luck and favour the animals.
Ivy - Hedera
Ivy is associated with Bacchus the Roman god (he of "Bacchanalian
pleasures" - drinking mainly) and is therefore thought to bring good luck,
fun and ecstatic happiness! Growing the plant on the outside walls of a house is
believed to be a strong deterrent against misfortune, but if a house plant dies
then financial strains may be approaching.
If a man places one of ten leaves gathered on the 31st of October (Halloween)
under his pillow it is thought he will dream of his future bride. Women are
advised to recite the following once they have collected the leaves "Ivy,
ivy, I love you, In my bosom I put you, The first young man who speaks to me, My
future husband he shall be".
In Shropshire it was believed that drinking from an ivy cup would cure a child
of whooping cough, whilst an alcoholic would be cured of the problem if he drank
from a cup made if ivy wood.
Christmas Plant Lore
Evergreen plants have been considered to be potent symbols of growth and
re-birth particularly in Europe and Western Asia for thousands of years. They
were used in winter festivities as a means of ensuring that life and growth
would return again in the spring.
The plants that we now bring into our homes at Christmas time are almost without
exception, taken from pagan midwinter feasts of Northern Europe rather than from
Christian origins and pre-date modern religious significance which has been
overlaid onto the older traditions.
One of the main differences is that we now bring such greenery into our homes
much sooner than used to be done. Theoretically it shouldn't be brought into the
house until Christmas Eve as this was considered bad luck. Although Christmas is
just far too exciting an event for most people who celebrate it to wait -
particularly if you have children!
Christmas Trees - Pine Trees
Unlike many other trees in folk-lore, pines succumb to the trait of all looking
very similar (and so to my mind dispelling the myth somewhat of myths about
magic and superstition itself - i.e. less to do with physical reality and more
to do with uninformed perception)
So there tend not to be beliefs surrounding the Scots Pine, Swamp Cypress,
Caucasian Pine and so on, but lore about "pines" in general whether
they are from Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia or Siberia.
Pines are evergreen and so are used to symbolize immortality and the birth of
light at the winter solstice. Great fires of pines were burned by druids in the
winter solstice to draw back the sun and is thought to have become the custom of
burning the Yule log.
The first record of a decorated tree at Christmas is from Germany, Strasburg in
1605 when there is a description of fir trees festooned with "paper,
apples, gold-foil and sweets".
They were brought to England in the early 1800's but it was Prince Albert the
consort of Queen Victoria who popularised the practice in Britain later in the
century by erecting a large Christmas Tree in Windsor Castle in 1841 as it was
the tradition in his native Germany.
Initially they were rather a luxury item only for the well-to-do, but as time
went on and people became more affluent and goods cheaper, Christmas trees came
into the reach of all.
They soon caught on and today, we can't imagine a house decorated for Christmas
without a tree as the center of it all.