It has been largely disregarded by conventional oncology ever since. But this theory is resurging as a result of research showing incredible clinical outcomes when cancer cells are deprived of their primary fuel source glucose. Their optimized, genetically-tuned diet shuns grains, legumes, sugar, genetically modified foods, pesticides, and synthetic ingredients while emphasizing whole, wild, local, organic, fermented, heirloom, and low-glycemic foods and herbs.
The archaic hunters and gatherers had been one with the forest, and they had lived in harmony with the forest spirits. In contrast, the forested wilderness was no longer very familiar to the Neolithic farmers and was, in fact, sinister.
As with the early Stone Age hunters, the goddess of the farmers appeared to the Neolithic people in visions and sent them their dreams. They also knew that the goddess could hear, feel, and mourn.
The fertility of the soil was dependent on her benevolence. Agriculture progressed in a continuous dialogue with her. Plowing and tilling the soil were considered an act of love; impregnating Mother Earth was the religion, and those who impregnated her were the worshippers. In fact, the word cultivate originally meant nothing more than service to the gods, honor, sacrifice, and nurturing.
The great Paleolithic Goddess: the Venus of Brassempouy, carved in ivory. But in spite of worship and ritual, discontent arose and the consciousness of the first farmers was seized with negativity. They defiled the forest, scorched the earth, and laid waste to the soil. The earth goddess became the lamenting mother. She mourned the countless children to whom she had given birth and who had fallen victim to the sickle, the ax, and the spade.
The creation myths of cultivators and farmers always place the violent death, murder, or sacrifice of a divine being at the beginning of their agricultural way of life. The feelings of gratitude and security that permeated the connection between the simple huntergatherers and the forest disappeared into feelings of guilt that had to be ameliorated with increasingly elaborate sacrifices, including gruesome, religiously institutionalized human sacrifices, head-hunting, and cannibalism.
The Christian concepts of the sacrifice of the innocent son of God and the mater dolorosa who mourned him and held him in her lap also have their roots in the myths of the sedentary Neolithic farmers.
The community was increasingly guided by the priests, who ruled over the ritual calendar and who determined when to sow and harvest and when to make offerings and sacrifices according to the position of the stars, and less by the shamans, who could talk to the forest and animal spirits. The unified world of the primitives was gradually separated into two realms: the cultivated land on one side and the wilderness behind the hedgerow on the other; the tame, working animals and the dangerous wild animals; the friendly spirits of the house and farm and the forest spirits one must be careful of.
The Power of the Wilderness The hedgerow that surrounded the clearing was by no means an impenetrable wall. People were conscious of the fact that their small islands of communities, which had been carved out of the primordial forest, were in and of themselves weak and powerless.
Thanks only to the boundless power of the wilderness were life and survival possible. From the wilderness came the firewood that burned in the hearth, in the heart of the farm, and with its help the meat was roasted, the soup cooked, and the cold kept at bay from body and soul. Deer, boars, and other wild animals that completed the diet came from the wilderness, as did the medicinal plants and mushrooms that the old women collected.
And in a few years, after the fertility of the soil had been depleted, the community had to turn once again to the primordial forest and clear a new place and make it habitable. But the expended earth was taken back into the fold of the wilderness, was overrun with fresh green growth, and her fertility was regenerated.
From the wilds came fertility. The human race also renewed itself from one generation to the next through a stream of energy that the dead mediated from beyond the fence. For a long time the hazel tree, a typical hedge tree, was considered a conduit for wild fertile energy from the dimension beyond. Hazel Tree Corylus avellana Man has always expected the hazel tree to protect him from the chaotic powers and energies of the beyond, energies such as lightning, fire, snakes, wild animals, diseases, and magic.
However, it is precisely the dimensions beyond that the small tree connects to. And the alchemist Dr. It then becomes clear why the magical stave with the snake coiled around it, the caduceus of Hermes the shamanic god of antiquity who crossed boundaries , was cut from a hazel tree. This stave became the symbol of trade, medicine, diplomacy, and the river of Plutonic energy that revealed itself in precious metals money.
When Hermes touched people with the hazel branch, they could speak for the first time. Dowsers still consider hazel branches to be the best conductors of energy. With them dowsers can detect the sensitive water veins in the earth, as well as precious metals silver and gold. The ancient Etruscans knew of dowsers aquileges who were able to find buried springs with hazel branches. Hazel branches still work today for this purpose, and are much faster and cheaper than technical instruments.
The ability to influence the weather is a shamanic trait recognized throughout the world. The ancient European shamans used hazel branches in order to make rain; such weather-makers still existed in the Middle Ages. The hazel bush Corylus avellana L. Hazel energy can also be used to subdue nasty weather. People today still know that the hazel has something to do with fertility. And as a sign that they were hoping for the best, the couple carried with them hazel branches pregnant with nuts.
Ethnologists trace them back to the fact that the youth escaped the suspicion of the guardians of public morals when they were out collecting nuts in the forest. More likely there is another explanation—people who are bound to nature determine themselves instinctively on and are part of the fertility rhythms of the forest. Our forefathers believed that the ancestral spirits conveyed the unspent energy from the wilderness and the beyond to the living.
It was the spirits who sent babies and who blessed the fields with fresh green life. Among the northern European heathens, many midwinter rituals included boys wrapped in fur pelts who raided the villages and flogged people and animals with hazel branches. The boys embodied the ancestral spirits. The Celtic god of winter, Green Man, who visited the houses, hearths, and hearts of the people during the winter solstice, also carried hazel branches, whose lash made everything fertile, prosperous, and rich with milk.
But the living could also send essential nourishment to those on the other side. The dead Celts, like the Chieftain of Hochdorf, Germany from the Hallstatt period , were laid to rest on hazel branches.
In November, on the ancient Celtic festival of the dead, children dressed as spirits of the dead and ghosts went begging from house to house. They were given the seeds of life—hazelnuts and apples—which lasted throughout the winter. The Germanic tribes, in particular the Alemanni, stuck sticks of hazel on grave sites.
It was believed that those who found the Haselwurm —a creature half human, half snake—and ate its flesh would attain extraordinary powers. Fertility is not the only gift from the other world. The kind of wisdom that far exceeds the boundaries of ordinary human understanding also comes from there. Celtic judges carried hazel branches.
The ancient heralds, who strode over borders like Hermes, also carried such staves so that their words would be intelligent and well chosen. The Germanic tribes stuck hazel branches in the ground around the Thingstead, the place where the tribal council was held and where duels took place. In this way the thunder-god, Thor, whose hammer symbolizes justice, was present.
The hidden treasures Thor found with his magic wand also belonged to him; presumably the handle of his hammer was made of hazelwood. The shamanic god Odin Wodan, Wotan , lord of the bards and magicians, also made use of the hazel branch. The hazel is also said to be the enemy of snakes.
Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, allegedly used a hazel stick to chase all the snakes off the green island. In the Black Forest region children who had far to travel were given hazel branches so that they would be safe from snakes. And if a circle is drawn around a snake with a hazel branch, the snake cannot escape.
In addition, the Haselwurm, a white serpent with a golden crown, was believed to live under a very old hazel tree, one that had been invaded by a mistletoe. Eye witnesses described this snake queen as half human, half serpent. She had a head like an infant or a cat and she cried like a child. Nevertheless, those who find this snake and eat of her flesh will receive wondrous powers: They will have command over the spirits, they will have the ability to become invisible, and they will know all of the hidden healing powers of all herbs.
One should go before sunrise on a new moon. And the right spells must be spoken: one that addresses the hazel branch and one that charms the snake.
So that the snake will remain quiet, dried mugwort must be strewn on the magical creature. This mysterious serpent is connected to the archaic brain stem, including the entire limbic system, which appears in the minds of those deep in meditation the crowned snake-head. The instincts are anchored here in this most ancient part of the nervous system. Sexuality, fertility, premonitions, and emotions have their physiological basis here as well.
The hazel is able to transmit subtle impulses to this center. Divine Visitors to the Small Cultural Island The gods also came from beyond, from deep in the forest.
They came to demand tribute from the people and to bless and inspire them. The spirit blessed the animals in the forest and those in the barn before he made the humans happy with visions of the newly ascending light of life. This light-bringing spirit lived on in the Christ child, who came at midnight, as well as in Santa Claus. The spirit comes from far away, from the North Pole or from the dark, saturnine conifer forests.
Often he flies like the shamans, with a sleigh drawn by reindeer, or rides an elk, or sometimes he even walks. A merry band of elves accompanies him. He slips down the chimney in the deep of the night to touch the sleeping people with his life-dispensing hazel wand and leave good fortune in their shoes, which have been set out.
Those from beyond, the transsensory beings, also came through the hedgerow so as to spend awhile with the humans during periods determined by the arc of the sun, the phases of the moon, and the weaving of the constellations. During the full moon of February the white virginal goddess of light left the caves with her bears and a retinue of elementary spirits.
For her appearance Stone Age people prepared themselves with a cleansing sweat lodge. Fermented birch sap sweetened with honey provided great happiness. Seized by the awakening spirit of life, stirred by the dancing and singing elemental beings, the people began to dance wildly and make faces. The disease-bringing spirits—usually crippled, knotty figures with angry expressions—were also honored and sent back into the woods with small offerings. These processions of horrifying and beautiful Perchten b who visit the human settlements during this time of year visually represent much transsensory wisdom.
The first day of February, known today as Candlemas, was celebrated as the Imbolc festival in honor of the birch goddess by the insular Celts. Birch Betula The spirit of the birch tree appeared to the archaic humans as a virgin veiled in light, full of magical and healing powers. It has always been endowed with qualities of purity, light, and new beginnings. The Celts saw Brigit, the muse of the seekers of wisdom, the healers, and the inspired bards, in the birch. She is the white virginal bearer of light who lets the days grow longer again in February.
During this prespring period, the primitive people tapped the birches and collected precious sap. The sap stimulates urine and bile, purifies and cleanses the blood, and strengthens the kidneys and urinary tract. The maidens are coming to you, bringing you cakes, bread, and omelets. The birch tree Betulaspp. Parasitical growths on the branches of the Moor birch Betula pubescens Ehrh. In the distant Himalayas the birch Sanskrit: Bhurga is worshipped as the radiant white goddess, whose vehicle is a white swan or a goose.
Saraswati—as she is called there—inspires the humans with wisdom and knowledge, with the arts of writing and oratory. She brings everything into flow, and brings the river of healing and poetic inspiration. She too appears to the people in February, when whole throngs of schoolchildren and their teachers get dressed up and carry her image through the streets. The first books in which the Vedic sages wrote their visions were made from the bark of birch trees. In Europe the birch was also considered to be a tree of learning.
During antiquity children were taught the joys of learning with birch whips. Like the white virginal goddess herself, the birch represents beginnings. She is young and fresh, like a blank page upon which the future can manifest itself.
Birch green symbolizes the promise of a new spring. At the start of the agricultural year, the northern European farmers placed birch branches on their fields and buildings.
The virgins are not spared, and are driven from their beds with laughter. The birch stands for the beginning of love. In pre-Christian times smitten boys would place fresh green birch twigs in front of the house of the one they were courting. The young people danced merry round dances beneath the maypole, which was a decorated birch tree. And when Freya blessed love with the birth of a child, the placenta was buried beneath a birch tree as an offering to the goddess.
The crib, the first bed of a new citizen of the earth, was to be made from birch wood as well. Naturally, the druids made the birch Beth into the first letter of their tree alphabet Beth loius nion and the first month of the tree calendar.
But because the Celtic calendar was a fluid moon calendar that went from new moon to new moon, such an exact calculation of time is doubtful. The Germanic tribes knew of a birch rune that transmits the feminine growing energy of spring.
At least that is what my friend Arc Redwood—an English gardener who carved this rune in wood, reddened it, and placed it in his garden like an idol—believes.
He claims this has caused everything in his garden to grow better. The birch tree is a sign of new beginnings not only in a cultural sense, but in nature as well. The cold-hardy tree was the first to seed itself on the ground after the glaciers receded. The Stone Age people were able to survive with its help. Archaeological digs show that Paleolithic huntergatherers used birch gum to secure their arrowheads and harpoons to the shaft.
Shoes and containers were made from birch bark, and clothing was made from the bast fiber. The Native Americans and Siberians still carry birch- bark containers like our Stone Age ancestors once did. Maple syrup can be stored for a whole year in such containers. The inner bark could be eaten in an emergency, and in the springtime people tapped the sweet sap, which was occasionally left to ferment into an alcoholic drink.
The birch is still the most important tree to the Ojibwa Indians. They decorate their wigwams and make everything from canoes to spoons, plates, and winnowers for wild rice from the birch bark.
They even make watertight buckets and cooking pots with the bark. Glowing hot stones are placed in the sewn and resined birch-bark pots for cooking. The birch tree stands for purity. The birch broom is occasionally used in England to fight against invisible flying astral spirits witches or the lice and fleas brought in by them. The old year is also swept away with a birch broom. In ancient Rome the lectors carried bundles of birch branches tied with red cord when swearing a magistrate into office.
A bundle of birch branches with an ax in the middle is known as a fascis, and is considered the sign of the cleansing rule of the law. If any of the inhabitants suffer from skin diseases, one of the family members takes it upon herself to make a pilgrimage to this chapel and pray for healing.
A broom made from birch branches must be brought along as an offering. Just a few years ago there were still dozens of such brooms in this chapel. Birch branches belonged to the inventory of the Stone Age sweat lodge, as they still do in saunas and Russian sweat baths. The whipping of the overheated body is considered to be healing and cleansing. The Native Americans of the Great Lakes region place birch bark, which contains volatile oils, on glowing stones to cleanse the lungs and skin during the sweat lodge ceremony.
The archaic peoples associated the birch with light and fire. They made brightly burning torches out of dried rolled birch bark. But this is not the only connection between fire and birch. The tinder polypore Fomes fomentarius , which grows mainly on birch trees, is more suited than almost any other material for making fires. For this a stick of wood, usually an ash branch, is spun so quickly that the fungus, which is used as the base, begins to glint and catch fire.
In the imagistic minds of the primitive peoples, this was a sexual act in which the birch fungus represented the feminine, firebearing womb—another connection to the light-bearing goddess!
Healers in the New World as well as the Old place small burning pieces of coal made of tinder polypore moxa, punk, touchwood on painful areas. Such pieces of fungus coal are found in the archaeological digs of the settlements of the Maglemose people, who lived more than ten thousand years ago in northern Europe.
Hildegard of Bingen reached back to this healing method from the Stone Age, prescribing charcoal made from birch bark for the back, limbs, and internal pain. The poison or the disease-bringing spirit was then able to exit through the resulting burn wound. With its help the shamans of the northern hemisphere climb up the inverted Tree of Life, all the way to the roots, in order to visit the gods and ghosts.
Thus we can understand why the northern Germanic peoples consecrated the birch not only to Freya, but to the storm god Thor as well.
Manabozo, the cultural hero of the Ojibwa, found protection from the projectiles of the thunder god in a hollow birch tree; since that time these Native Americans use birch incense to soothe or scare off the lighting hurler. In the Protestant regions, on Whitsunday Pentacost —the day when the Holy Spirit appeared to the faithful in the form of a tongue of flame—buildings and vehicles are decorated with fresh birch leaves.
The birch is the ultimate shamanic tree. The Eurasian shamans ascend the consecrated, decorated birch when they visit the spirit world.
Their masks are carved from birch bark; their familiars are cut from birch wood. The Siberians say that the cradle of the original shaman stood beneath a birch tree, and that birch sap dropped into his mouth.
The dead are also concealed and protected by the birch. The Ojibwa wrap their dead in birch bark. The Jakuten used it to surround the head of bagged bears.
The Celts placed a conical birch hat on the dead, as they did, for instance, with the Chieftain of Hochdorf or the warrior of Hirschlangen. There is an old Scottish ballad about dead sons who appeared to their mothers wearing birch hats on their heads; the hats are a sign that they will not hang around as ghosts, but will return to the heavens. In May, when everything is blooming and budding, the radiant sun god came from the heavens to celebrate with his beautiful bride, the flower goddess.
With great revelry the celebrants brought the sun god from the forest or the nearby holy mountain—later from the sacred grove or from a cavelike temple. The divine couple took tangible form in the maypole—usually a birch that has been stripped of its bark—and another one decorated with painted eggs, red ribbons dipped in sacrificial blood, flower garlands, and other votive offerings.
Sometimes the gods were also embodied in the lavishly adorned May Queen and May King, the prettiest maiden and the strongest boy in the village. They were usually received with frenzy and wild orgies. How could it be any other way?
The immediate presence of the divine robs humans of their reason! The heirs of the Neolithic and Bronze Age farmers continued to celebrate the May Queen, whom they decorated with flowering hawthorn. Again the people were nearing the divine: The sun god and the great goddess, pregnant with the powers of heaven, were seen in the ripening grains and fruits of the forest and field.
The mighty thunder god, Thor, who brings the summer storms, was also there. Dancing elves and throngs of ethereal sylphs and fiery salamanders appeared as well. And as usual when the numinous nears, humans fall into ecstasy. Mugwort Artemisia vulgaris was one of the most important ritual plants of the Germanic peoples. Fresh bundles of the herb were stroked over the sick person and then burned to dispel the spirits that brought disease. Mugwort is one of the most ancient incense herbs in Europe.
Mugwort is also considered to be an herb of Saint John. Elements of the archaic summer solstice customs have been retained throughout the agricultural regions, and if we reached into the deep layers of our own souls, we could paint a reasonable picture of what the celebrations were like.
Like the winter solstice, the summer festival lasted a full twelve days. The people took in the fullness of the light and the power of the fire and enhanced their experience with the solstice fire, with fire-walking, with burning brooms and torches, and by rolling wheels of fire down the mountains and hills.
With the fire they celebrated the apex of the year but at the same time they celebrated death, the sacrifice of the sun god, of fair Balder, as he is called in Scandinavia. In Wales and elsewhere nine types of wood were gathered for the solstice fire.
The celebrants jumped through this fire one after the other or holding hands; the goddess herself—Frau Holle, Artemis, Dea-Ana, or whichever name she was called by—was present in the mugwort. They jumped over the purifying flames wrapped only in a mugwort girth with a wreath of ground ivy in their hair and vervain in their hands, leaping from one season through to the next.
Ground ivy Glechoma hederacea L. Ground ivy is also said to have the power to protect milk from spells or free it from curses. The women of Aargau sew ground ivy into the hems of their skirts for fertility magic. The people of today, who largely shield themselves from nature, find it difficult to comprehend the ecstasy of midsummer, of being unconditionally swept along with the natural occurrences. As recently as the Middle Ages, the most incredible rumors could be heard.
It was as if one had stepped into a painting by Hieronymus Bosch—the sun produced three springs, water turned into wine, elves disclosed hidden treasure, horses could talk, music sounded out of the mountain, and ghost processions, water nymphs, and fairies became visible.
White maidens revealed themselves or else asked to be released from confinement, dwarfs celebrated marriage, serpents honored their king, the fern bloomed at midnight and carried seeds which bestowed invisibility and wealth on the one who found them , crabs flew through the air, and the Bilwisd rode a fiery buck over the fields.
What kinds of visions are these? Were they induced by the henbane beer that was drunk in copious amounts? Was the endless dancing, the hours upon hours without sleep responsible? The Slavs say that he is accompanied by good gnomes who help the mushroom to grow well. Saint Vitus was also invoked for fainting sickness and rabies, which occurred again and again in the Middle Ages.
For many years it was believed that witches picked their herbs at the summer solstice, and that they did it naked in the middle of the night. The farm women also made a bouquet of midsummer herbs, a summer solstice bundle, from one of the countless versions of nine herbs—a magic number. Love nests were also prepared in this way. The mugwort belt became the belt that John the Baptist was said to have carried through the desert.
The plants considered to be midsummer herbs differed from region to region, but they almost always included the following:. There are even different indications of the psychoactive species of ferns. The countless gold-yellow filaments burst out of the calyx like sun rays. They make the flowers, which open only during dry weather, look like tiny suns. The flower petals look as if they might be small airplane propellers and are reminiscent of swirling beams of light and of the light chakras.
As a medicinal herb, this plant of the Sunflower family has a soothing effect on the nerves, brings light into the soul, and chases away the darkness. Chamomile Matricaria chamomilla : The northern peoples saw the countenance of the sun god in this yellow Asteraceae with its white radiant crown ray flowers. It is a powerful medicinal herb with anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antiseptic, and soothing properties. Wild thyme Thymus serpyllum : Wild thyme is also anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, digestive, and expectorant.
It is a good herb for colds and lungs. The green fronds are woven into the midsummer belt or burned in the solstice fire. Stone Age magicians made use of these dramatic effects, just as the theater directors of the past century did. During the Middle Ages wise women used it against sorcery, spells, and the evil eye. Sitz baths and teas of mugwort— depending on the strength of the dosage—help to bring on missed menses, hasten birth or afterbirth, or expel a dead fetus.
The herb has also played an important role as an incense and for the blessing of shamans before entering the flight of the soul. It is strewn in the fields at midsummer in order to protect the crops from the grain demon, the Bilwis. If this energy vanished from the field, the grain would spoil. Later, during the harvest, the grain wolf slipped into the last sheaf. It was then decorated and carried triumphantly and with great rejoicing by the harvesters into the village.
It has antiseptic, anti- inflammatory, and regenerative properties. It is particularly good for bruises, sprains, bursitis, joint problems, and disorders of the lymphatic system. In small oral dosages it works as a vasodilator and circulatory stimulant; in strong doses it is poisonous and has an abortifacient action.
Arnica was used in weather magic as an incense during storms:. Chamomile Chamomilla recutita [L. Matricaria chamomilla L.
Arnica burn hot, that the storm might be not! It is one of the best wound-healing herbs, useful for cuts, phlebitis, herpes, ulcers, and inflamed nipples. The tea is an effective remedy for cramps, gallbladder complaints, glandular disorders, intestinal inflammation, and liver problems. Elder Sambucus nigra : The elder is a sacred tree, a ritual tree around which circle dances were performed. Wild thyme Thymus serpyllum L. On midsummer when the elder blooms, then love is even greater!
The flowers were dipped in batter and fried to make sweet elder cakes. The person who ate the most would be the best at leaping over the solstice fire. The spore powder was mainly used as a wound powder in folk medicine. Calendula Calendula officinalis L.
Bark, berries, leaves, and blossoms, Every part is strength and goodness, Every part is full of blessings! Oxeye daisy Chrysanthemum leucanthemum : This midsummer flower, also known as marguerite, was used as an oracle. The oxeye daisy has a medicinal action similar to that of chamomile, but much weaker. Vervain Verbena officinalis : Like arnica, vervain was placed around the fields to prevent bad weather and to ensure a good harvest.
It was sacred to the mighty hammer-god, who rules over lightning and thunder and who drenches the earth with fertile rain. It is one of the most important medicinal herbs for women and for wounds. Wood betony Stachys officinalis, Betonia officinalis : This nearly forgotten plant in the Mint family has become increasingly rare but was once considered almost a panacea. It was the most beloved of the bewitching herbs.
It was boiled in water and used to bathe children and pets who were possessed or bewitched; the bathwater washed away the bad magic. In addition, betony tea was also used for chest problems, vomiting of blood, lung problems, worms, fever, jaundice, spleen problems, gout, uterine bleeding, dizziness, spiritual and emotional confusion, and many other afflictions.
It was placed in the gables of houses to protect against lighting strikes and the machinations of giants. A brew of the roots was used as a shampoo to make the hair as beautiful and as full as that of the divine bushybearded, long-haired god. It is also alleged to be underneath a tangle of mugwort roots. Those who dared to pick up the red-hot coal with their bare hands would be spared bad luck and sorrows. Recently it has been thought that it was kermes lice, which contain a red pigment.
These fire spirits know well how to conceal themselves from the critical gaze of curious scientists. The August Festival During the dog days of August the grain—the staff of life—grows ready to harvest. Again the Divine draws near. As the noble matron with the horn of plenty or as the Madonna carrying a sickle, she reveals her presence in dreams and visions. Her womb produces berries, fruits, grains, and the most potent herbs. Her companion, the sun god, no longer shows his gentle, brightly radiating figure; he is now fiery, burns hotly, and is drying.
He symbolizes the receding year, the west where the sun sets in red-hot embers. Under his reign the grain grows golden, the fruit becomes sweet and red-yellow, the herbs become spicier and stronger than at midsummer. But the sun god is also the ruthless harvester, the reaper, the Terminator who finishes off the green and budding life with his heat. The northern Germanic peoples knew him as Loki, who killed the gentle Balder who was beloved by all , ultimately provoking the utter destruction of the apocalypse.
However, Loki is not the devil the Christians made him out to be. Lugh and the goddess of the earth celebrated a wedding during the full moon of August and invited the people to celebrate with them. The festival of Lugh Lughnasa was a fire festival during which huge piles of wood were ignited. This tradition endured among the insular Celts for many years.
During the three-day-long festival, water was taboo; washing and bathing were prohibited and fishing was not permitted not even with nets. Tansy Tanacetum vulgare L. Chrysanthemum vulgare [L. The aromatic herb was also used as an incense. The herb is used in folk medicine for worms. The volatile oil contains the neurotoxin thujone. Another part of the festival included the grain king grain wolf, grain bear being brought into the village in a festive procession and sacrificed.
The celebrants would be blessed with the sacrificial blood. The corpse was cut into pieces and buried in the fields in order to transmit its strength to the soil.
This was a kind of agricultural magic that was entirely alien to the huntergatherers! The Goddess, as the mother of the grain, mourned her sacrificed son, and thus turned into the mother of sorrow. Lughnasa was the occasion for blessing all the herbs that would be needed during the coming year for the health and well-being of the house and stable. It also made good sense to collect the plants during the dog days of summer because the aroma, taste, and medicine precipitates in the active ingredients mainly the volatile oil are manifestations of the powerful light and warmth the vegetation takes in during this season.
At other times of the year these characteristics are not yet fully matured or the active ingredients are decomposing. The women made these powerful herbs of August sacred to the Goddess, who was slowly retreating from the world of appearances. In the synod of Liftinea C. But the women did not want to abandon their herbs, and so they placed them under the dominion of the Mother Goddess and consecrated them to the dying Mary on the day of her Assumption.
During Lughnasa nine sacred healing plants were gathered: herbs that protected against witchcraft, firestorms, and hailstorms; herbs that were good for sex; and herbs that eased births. Some of the plants were placed in graves or in coffins with the dead. Yarrow was included in the medicine bundle along with mugwort, arnica, calendula, and sage. In addition there were such well-known herbs as lovage Levisticum officinale , which was valued as a culinary spice and an aphrodisiac, and dill Anethum graveolens , which was trusted to ward off any ill-willed spirits.
I will definitely recommend this book to science, non fiction lovers. Your Rating:. Your Comment:. Topol Submitted by: Jane Kivik. Read Online Download. Hot Life 3.
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