The Sacred Hearth

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.

Like many of the herbs I discuss here, the yew has a long and exciting history. Yew is very strong and resiliant was once considered the material for making longbows. Ideally, the wood for a yew bow was taken from the juncture of heartwood and sapwood, and the bow contained both. Fine bows were traded between the British Isles and the mainland during the Middle Ages and as supplies were depleted, a tax of four bowstaves per tun was imposed on every ship coming into English ports in 1472. In 1562, the Bavarian government sent a plea to the Holy Roman Empire to stop cutting yew, siting damage done to the forests. The great, ancient yews protected other trees in the forest from severe winds. Lucky for the yew trees and their neighbors, guns began replacing bows soon after.

Yew was (and is) also popular in England as a hedge tree, especially in church yards where they stood watch over the headstones, perhaps in reference to their symbolism of immortality, which is likely older than Christianity, or it may have been more practical. Planting trees known to instantly kill grazing animals would have discouraged herders from allowing their animals to trample sacred sites. Some yew trees still stand in church yards that are over 500 years old. Some claim a few of these yews are over 2000 years old and remnants of pre-Christian holy sites that were co-opted by the church. Old Irish tales speak of Baile who died of grief for Ailinn and from his grave a yew tree grew.

The traditioni of planting yews in churchyards and graveyards was immortalized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the following poem:

Old warder of these buried bones,
And answering now my random strokes
With fruitful cloud and living smoke,
Dark yew, that graspest at the stones
And dippest toward the dreamless head,
To thee too comes the golden hour
When flower is feeling after flower.

Yew poisoning seems to have been a popular choice for honorouble suicide among the ancient Celts. In their writings, Caesar, Florus and Orosius each recounted instances where Celtic individuals or groups took their own lives by yew poisoning rather than submit to their conquerors.

The Temple of Uppsala in Sweden was a temple devoted to the Norse Gods. There is little archaeological evidence for this temple, but there are a few written accounts from Adam of Bremens, the Norse sagas and Gesta Danorum. No one is sure what happened to it, though it may be speculated that the cathedral that currently stands in the town was built upon its ruins. According to legend, a great sacred evergreen stood in the temple. It is believed by some that this tree was a yew.

Yew are sacred in many Heathen and Druidic traditions. It is one of the five sacred trees of Irish mythology known as the Tree of Ross.

The world laurel comes from the Celtic lawr, meaning "verdant" and nobilis from the latin meaning "noble" or of high rank.

The Greek word for Bay is dhafni, after the nymph Daphne who was changed into a bay laurel tree by Gaea (or her father Peneus, or herself, depending on who's telling the story) to protect her from the unwanted advances of Apollo. The tree is sacred to Apollo and it is said that the Oracle at Delphi chewed the leaves and inhaled the smoke when seeking visions. It is also associated with honor and glory and kings, heroes, triumphant athletes, poets and other great men and women were crowned with it to signify their greatness in both ancient Greece and Rome. Garlands of bay laurel were traditionally bestowed upon the winners of the Pythian games in Greece and later the Olympic games (prior to the change, olive leaves were used).

Today, grand prix winners are given wreathes of laurel. The world laureate as in poet laureate and baccalaureate (lit "laurel berry") are additional reminders of the high status of this tree.

Laurel wreaths were worn for their protective properties. They were believed to protect against the anger of sky Gods and the Emperor Tiberius always wore laurel during thunderstorms to prevent his being struck by lightening. Doctors also wore laurel as it was considered helpful in curing nearly everything.

Ocimum is from the Greek, meaning "to be fragrant"
The word Basil comes from the Greek, meaning "King"
Basilisicum is from the Latin for Basilisk, a creature that could cause madness and death. It was carried or ingested as a charm against attacks. It may have been used to cure madness, or it may have been attributed with causing madness.

Basil may have been brought to Greece by Alexander the Great around 350BCE

African folklore claims that basil protects against scorpions, while Greek lore said that scorpions would breed in the presence of basil.

European lore claims that it belongs to Satan and you must cursei the ground as you plant it in order for it to grow properly. This is where the French idiom, semer le basilic "to sow the basil" came from, it refers to ranting.

Basil was used in English folk magic, like so many other things, to ward off harmful spells as well as to keep away pests.

Apparently, witches drank basil juice before flying on their brooms. Perhaps it aids in astral projection.

During Tudor times, small pots of basil were given to guests as a parting gift. Perhaps it would be useful in traveling spells.

Also, several sources say that if a gift of basil is given to a member of the opposite sex, he or she will fall deeply in love with the giver and be forever faithful. In Romania, this act is representative of an official engagement.

In India it is highly revered, Holy Basil being sacred to the Hindu religion as a manifestation of the Goddess Tulasi.
According to lore, the God Vishnu seduced her in her husband's guise and, horrified when she realized she's been unfaithful, however unknowingly, she killed herself.

Another version claimed that the mortal Tulasi, whose name was Vrinda, threw herself onto her husband's funeral pyre because she was so upset that he died.

Either way, Vishnu deified her and declared that she should be worshipped by wives and would prevent them from becoming widows. Her burnt hair was turned into the Holy Basil, which is called Tulsi in reference to her, is a Hindu symbol of love, fidelity, eternal life, purification and protection.

So important was this plant that in some Indian courts, people swore oaths by a basil bush. According to sources, some Hindu households keep their own basil plant, pray to it, and keep a lamp burning by it at night.

In Haiti, Basil is sacred to the goddess of love, Erzulie.

It is a symbol of love in Italy. A pot of basil placed on a balcony meant that the woman who lived there was ready to receive suitors.

Apples grow wild in most of Europe. They have a very long history and are revered by many people. They are mentioned in old Saxon manuscripts and twenty two varieties were mentioned by Pliny. Now there are more than two thousand cultivated varieties.

Once upon a time, in parts of Britain, people wassailed their orchard trees on Christmas Eve to ensure their abundant fruiting the next year. The farmer and his family and helpers would go out to the orchard with cakes and cider and throw cider over the trees and place the cakes in their branches. They’d drink to the health of the trees, saying something like this-
Here’s to thee old apple tree
Whence thou may’st bud
And whence thou may’st bud
Hats full! and Caps full!
Bushel- bushel bags full!
And my pockets full too!
Huzzah!
This is said to have evolved from customs involving sacrifices to Pomona.

In the Edda, an old Scandinavian Saga, Iduna kept apples that the Gods would eat to ensure their eternal youth. In Greek folklore, the Hesperides guard apple trees that will provide the same gift to those who eat of them. Although the Bible never actually says so, many people believe that the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was an apple.

The Trojan war was started when the Goddess Eris threw an apple into the midst of a party of Goddesses, saying that it was for ‘the fairest’.
The sacred Isle of Avalon is also known as the Isle of Apples.

Apples are believed to be the preferred food of the dead in many faiths and make great offerings.

The name Amaranth comes from the word amaranton, which means "unwithering", because the flowers maintain their shape and color when dried.

Amaranth was a staple in the diets of pre-Columbian Aztecs, who believed it had supernatural powers and incorporated it into their religious ceremonies. Before the Spanish conquest in 1519, amaranth was associated with human sacrifice and the Aztec women made a mixture of ground amaranth seed, honey or human blood then shaped this mixture into idols that were eaten ceremoniously. This practice appalled the conquistadors who reasoned that eliminating the amaranth would also eliminate the sacrifices. The grain was forbidden by the Spanish, and consequently fell into obscurity for hundreds of years.

In the Cusco area the flowers are used to treat toothache and fevers and as a food colorant for maize and quinoa. During the carnival festival women dancers often use the red amaranth flower as rouge, painting their cheeks, then dancing while carrying bundles of amaranth on their backs as they would a baby.

In India amaranth is known as "rajeera" (the King's grain) and is popped then used in confections called "laddoos," which are similar to Mexican "alegria."

In Ecuador, the flowers are boiled then the colored boiling water is added to "aquardeinte" rum to create a drink that "purifies the blood," and is also reputed to help regulate the menstrual cycle.