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Sacred Druidic Herbs and Asprin

Pertinax

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As I move about the countryside , I find that my mind occupies two different temporal co-ordinates; the present and sometime circa 50 BCE to 125CE . These function as two fixed points between which strange things seem to happen as regards the flow and movement of medical thought, Great modern "discoveries" turn out to be not quite as modern nor undiscovered as first appears. The form and consistency of pre-prepared medicaments has certainly improved apace, but the mis-use and overuse of these same goods by industrialised and post-industrial populations seems to know no bounds.

 

I was examining some mature Hemlock which is (after a very wet summer) in a particularly ripe and robust condition, likewise the very ancient horsetail fern (a very primitive plant and a useful if slightly dangerous source of the mineral silica). However the one herb that has flourished mightily in the damp "meadowy" conditions has been Filipendula ulmaria or Spirea ulmaria. This is an attractive plant known commonly as Meadowsweet which , in the Middle Ages was very popular as a house rush (ie: as disposable flooring , to be swept up and burnt along with food scraps , fleas and the like when its fragrance faded). It was one of the sacred Druidic herbs along with water mint and vervain (mistletoe and the oak occupy a rather more specialised niche in the Druidic canon).

The Druids were aware of the curative power of the plant , the active principle being salyciylic acid (amongst others, but that predominates) which Hoffman of the Bayer chemical company synthesised into acetylsalicylic acid in 1897. Hoffman decided to call his new product Asprin after jumbling the older latin name "Spirea" . If you are familiar with the product "Germaline" you would recognise the smell and taste of Meadowsweet..because they are the same thing.

"http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=1864

And I add this quote especially for Lost Warrior:

"Magical Uses: used in divination, and in spells and charms for peace, happiness, love. It was a sacred herb of the Druids. Fresh meadowsweet should be arranged on the the altar when mixing love charms or performing love spells. Strew around the house for love and peace. At Lammas garlands of meadowsweet are worn to join with the essence of the Goddess"

 

I think that altogether has more romance than taking an asprin.

 

Post Scriptum: on the subject of Thin Ladies in 1694 from ther Ladyys Dictionary..

"Thin women are scragged, sad-looking and not comely".

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Nephele

Ah, meadowsweet -- or queen of the meadow -- one of my favorite wildflowers. Here's some more lore for you, Pertinax:

 

"If the Meadow-sweet, or Queen of the Meadow, be taken on St. John's Day, it will reveal a thief, says the Icelander, who calls the plant Mjadurt, or Mead-wort; if the thief be a woman the plant will float, if a man it will sink." (from Hilderic Friend's Flowers and Flower Lore, 1884).

 

Pertinax, your thoughts on Cicely Mary Barker's personification of the flowers/herbs/trees, through her "Flower Fairies" illustrations and poems?

 

q-300.jpg

 

-- Nephele

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Pertinax

Do you have a good source for these illustrations please? I was wondering if they followed the "Doctrine of Signatures" in some way, so far I can only see sympathetic use of colour. Certainly the actual herb renderings are excellent.

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Pertinax
Oh, that stuff grows around here somewhere! I know I've seen it, and always wondered what it was!! :)

Strew your bedchamber with it..its also called "Ladies Bedstraw"

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Nephele
Do you have a good source for these illustrations please? I was wondering if they followed the "Doctrine of Signatures" in some way, so far I can only see sympathetic use of colour. Certainly the actual herb renderings are excellent.

 

I lifted that pic from this website that sells antique prints of Barker's illustrations.

 

I'm not certain if Cicely Mary Barker was familiar with the Doctrine of Signatures, but she was very familiar with folklore about flowers, herbs and trees. She incorporated much of this into her poems which accompanied her illustrations.

 

Her Flower Fairies have lately been re-discovered, and publishers of children's books are now cashing in through the mass-marketing of Flower Fairy picture books, sticker books, calendars, etc.

 

I despise the mass-marketing, which focuses on the sugar-candy appeal of fairies and ignores Barker's attention to artistic detail and herbal folklore.

 

-- Nephele

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