Category: Folk Herbalism
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The Folklore of Daffodils and the Return of Spring
“Life’s a dog and then you die? No, no. Life is a joyous dance through daffodils beneath cerulean blue skies and then, then what? I forget what happens next.” Edward Abbey I noticed that the first daffodils are beginning to emerge on our local fairy fort, Rathvilly moat, so I wonder if this is a…
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Yellow Flag: The Sacred Messenger of Spring
“An iris doesn’t compare itself to other flowers, it just blooms beautifully in its own way.” Anonymous
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Clover: The Sacred Three Leaf Cover Crop
“There was an herb called wood sorrel and it is said that there is a tradition connected with it. It was a sacred plant of the Druid before Saint Patrick came to Ireland. It is now called shamrock as Saint Patrick picked it at Tara and held it up as a symbol of the three…
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Chickweed: The Nutritive Star
“In olden times the people had great belief in the power of herbs for curing diseases. While the herb was being applied they always chanted some old rhyme. When one gets a sprained ankle he pulls chickweed and roasts it on red coals and then applies it to the ankle. I believe this old cure…
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Oh Rowan Tree
“The rowan tree’s graceful leaves and soft white flowers brush my arm like a whisper.” Lisa Ann Sandell, Song of the Sparrow One of the things I loved most about working in big national museums, was when people Iknew came to visit because it meant I could take them on a tour of my favourite…