Category: Folk Herbalism
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Vervain: The Druid’s Heal All
“An ancient Irish prescription calls for seven balls of ground ivy, vervain, eye-bright, groundsel, foxglove, bark of elder tree, and young shoots of hawthorn well mixed together. These are made into a potion with bog water and salt and boiled in a vessel with a piece of money and an elf stone. The elf stone […]
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Pine: Beacons of Hope and Divinity
“Down to as late as a century ago, the mountains of Cork and Kerry were covered with ancient forests of oak, ash, pine, alder, birch, hazel and yews of immense size, and afforded retreats to wolves, and numerous herds of red deer.” Owen Connellan, The Annals of Ireland, 1846
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Mistletoe: All Heal
“Au gui menez, ‘To the mistletoe go’, an old French phrase mummers proclaimed traveling door to door around Christmastime when they played tricks for small coins. The Gaelic words for mistletoe are Sú Darach, Uile-íce, Drualus which translate as Sap of the Druids, All Heal and Druid’s Herb respectively. Mistletoe is not native to Ireland […]
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Holly: Midwinter Sacred Tree of the Druids
“Of all the trees that are in the wood,The Holly bears the crown.”` Seasonal Carol Decorating homes with holly at Midwinter has its origins in Pre-Christianity. It was in fact a pagan practice. Holly was considered a sacred plant by the Druids. While other plants wilted in winter weather, holly remained green and strong, its […]
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Mullein: The Hag’s Taper
“A decoction of the leaves with the flowers is good against the diseases of the lungs, such as coughs and spitting of blood. It is also good for colic pains. Applied externally, the leaves are useful against swellings, ulcers, inflammations of the eyes, burns and scalds… Country people say that carrying it about one preserves […]