The Sacred Hearth

The word asparagus comes from the Greek and it refers to any young, tender shoot that can be eaten.

Asparagus was prized by the ancient Greeks over 2500 years ago. It was considered to be a cleansingi and healing herb and used it for many medicinal purposes. The Romans in their turn also prized asparagus and cultivated it (the Greeks wildcrafted it) from the and spread it throughout Europe on their conquests. Emperor Augustus coined the term “velocius quam asparagi conquatur” which means to do something quicker than you can cook asparagus. Similar to our phrase “two shakes of a lambs tail”. So much did the Romans prize asparagus, that in the first century, runners took asparagus from the Tiber River valley to the Alps so that it could be frozen and thus preserved for the Feast of Epicurus

King Louis XIV had asparagus grown in his greenhouses so that he could enjoy it year round, he dubbed asparagus the King of Vegetables. It was also popular in England and other parts of Europe and colonists brought it to America where Native Americans used it for medicine.

Asparagus was considered a phallic symbol banned from girls schools in the 19th century, but Victorian women were taught to detect the scent of this aphrodisiac on their husbands- a sure sign that he was behaving improperly!

Romans sent boughs of holly and gifts to their friends during Saturnalia.

Druids decorated their homes with holly in the winter to invite nature spirits to shelter there.

An edict of the Church of Bracara once forbid Christians to decorate their homes with holly, as it was a Pagan practice.

One legend says that holly first sprang from the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Its thorns and red berries represent his suffering and blood.

Holy planted near a home is said to repel poison and protect from witchcraft and lightening. The wood has the power to tame animals and the flowers to freeze water.

In NeoPagan lore, the Holly King rules the dark half of the year, often accompanied by a female Ivy figure. Some believe this figure to be the modern image of Santa Clause.

The name Crataegus oxyacantha comes from the Greek kratos, “hardness”, oxcux, “sharp” and akantha “thorn”.

In Teutonic lore, hawthorn symbolized death and was used in funeral pyres.

In ancient Greece, married couples were crowned with hawthorn blossoms and the wedding party carried torches of hawthorn. The tree was also associated with Cardea, the Roman Goddess of marriage and Childbirth.

During springtime festivals in England, large Hawthorn boughs were cut and stood up in the ground outside houses. They were called May Bushes and decorated with wildflowers. Although it was permissible to decorate outside with hawthorn blossoms, bringing them into the home would surely bring illness and death.

This tree was considered beloved by fairies who lived within. Cuttingi down a Hawthorn tree is very bad luck!

"Had I but a penny in the world, thou shouldst have it for gingerbread"- Shakespear

Garlic has been part of horticulture for at least 5000 years and was grown by the ancient Egyptians, Indians, Chinese and Babylonians.

Its image has been found in Egyptian tombs depicted as an offering to the Gods. The pyramid builders of ancient Egypt were paid partially in garlic and Egyptians swore oaths on cloves of garlic.

Roman soldiers at garlic before battle for strength and bravery.

It was used to maintain health during the plague, as well as to ward off evil spirits, vampires, the evil eye and various spells.

It was first brought to the Americas on Columbus's second voyage.

An Islamic legend claims that when Satan left the Garden of Eden, garlic and onions grew from his footprints.

Ancient herbals distinguish between Black Hellebore and White Hellebore. White Hellebore has been identified by modern scholars as a plant now known as False Hellebore. Black Hellebore, on the other hand has been identified as Helleborus officianalis, a native of Greece and Asia Minor.

The genus name, Helleborus comes from the Greek elein, meaning "to injur" and bora, meaning "food" alluding to the plant's poisonous nature.

Melampodium, an old name for Hellebore, refers to the ancient physician Melampus who used Hellebore to cure the daughters of the king of Argos of the madness of the maenads. Where they drunk? Did the herb make them vomit themselves sober?

Some have speculated the Alexander the Great died of Hellebore poisoning while being treated for an illness.

In Christian lore, the first Hellebore grew from the spot where a little girl's tear dropped onto the snow because she had no gift for the Christ child.

According to some sources, Hellebore was an ingredient in the legendary "flying ointmenti".