The Sacred Hearth

Cyclamen was prescribed by Dioscorides for just about everything from snake bite and other poisons to cataracts to boils. It was said also that a woman who walked over cyclamen while pregnant would abort and those who ate cakes made of it would fall violently in love. Added to wine, it ensured the drinker would be thoroughly drunk.

The name sowbread comes from its reported popularity as a food source among wild pigs in its native region.

The name Cyclamen comes from the Greek kyklaminos, meaning circlei. It may be a reference to the spiraling habit of the seed stem.

In the language of flowers, Cyclamen is a gracious way to say goodbye.

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.

N. alata
Native to Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, N. alata was introduced to North American and European gardens in the 1800s. Jean Nicot, from whom the genus name Nicotiana was derived, first introduced flowering tobacco to the French court.

Nicotiana tobacum and N. rustica

Christopher Columbus’s sailors were amazed when they discovered the Natives’ habit of smoking tobacco. The idea of ingesting smoke for pleasure was a foreign one to European culture and the Natives were mockingly referred to as chimneys.

According to legend, tobacco was first presented to Queen Elizabeth I by Sir Walter Raleigh after his famous adventures, and she bet him he could not tell how much smoke was in a pound of tobacco. He weighed the tobacco and then the ashes after smoking and declared that the difference in those weights was the answer. The Queen paid up saying that although she’d heard of many who had turned gold into smoke, he was the first she knew of who had turned smoke into gold. In 1618, Sir Walter became the first man to have a last smoke before his execution.

Other sources say that Sir John Hopkins, or a member of his crew, may have been the first to introduce it to European culture in the 1560s.

Thanks to John Rolfe, husband of Pocahontas, tobacco was soon the mainstay of the Virginia colony’s economy. Rolfe is also credited with breeding stronger, sweeter tobacco than the original variety used ceremonially by the Natives.

The Arab word tabaq meaning “euphoria producing herb” may be the origin of the word “tobacco”. The location, Tobago, in the West Indies, from whence tobacco was first discovered by Europeans may also be the origin of the name. The Spanish word tobacco originally referred to a pipe.

To dream of tobacco means that one will have success in business and failure in love.
To see it growing indicates a pleasant surprise.
To see the dried leaf in a dream indicates a good crop or coming prosperity.
To smoke it tells of good friendships.

It is believed that the West got its first taste of cardamom when Alexander the Great brought it back from India. It was used widely in Europe to treat digestive problems.

In Asia and Africa, cardamom has been used to flavor food for centuries and has also been used as an aphrodisiac. It is a very important part of Indian and Arabic cuisine.

Cardamom is an important ingredient in coffee in many cultures. For Arabic coffee, seeds are ground and added to coffee grounds before brewing, or pods are steeped in the coffee itself. In Bedouin traditioni, cardamom pods are placed in the spout of the coffee pot so just the right amount of cardamom flavor is added as the coffee is being poured. In Ethiopia, coffee beans are roasted together with cardamom seeds and other spices immediately before the coffee is prepared. Alli of these are parts of important hospitality traditions within their cultures.

St. John's Wort has been used in medicine for over 2.400 years. It was used in ancient Greece and prescribed by Hippocrates and others for insanity, among other problems. It was also used in the Crusades to treat battle wounds.

It is associated with St. John the Baptist. It was gathered on St. John's Day and soaked in olive oil to create an anointing oili called the "Blood of Christ". It is said that the red sap "bleeds" in August on the day when St. John was beheaded.

There is much folklore about this plant.

The ancient name Fuga Daemonum (Scare Devil) and the Latin name Hypericum ("over" + "apparition") attests to its usefulness in driving away evil spirits. The latter may also refer to the fact that it was hung over religious icons. It was hung in the home, and carried as a talismani. It was also used to protect from lightening strikes.

On legend says that if you step on a St. John's Wort plant, you will be stolen away by a faerie horse.

St. John's Wort was also used for divinationi of romance and longevity. St. John's Wort was hung over the beds of the members of a household. The sprig that was most wilted indicated who would die the soonest. Keeping a sprig under your pillow is said to grant you a vision of St. John, who will promise that you will live another year. If no such vision comes, however...expect you will soon die.

Alli of these should, of course, be done on Midsummer or St. John's Eve.

It is traditionally burned in the Midsummer Fires. Flowers brought into the house on Midsummer Day are said to protect the household from a myriad misfortunes, including invasion by evil spirits, the evil eye, illness and fire.