The Sacred Hearth

The Latin valere from whence the common name of this plant originated means "to be strong or healthy" and it may refer to the healing applications of the plant or it may refer to its strong odor. Indeed the ancient Greeks called this plant "Phu" (like phew!).
It was believed that this plant had the properties of turning anything bad into good.

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 word Rosmarinus is from the Latin meaning "dew of the sea".

Christian folklore says that rosemary will grow for 33 years, until it reaches the height Christ was when he died, and then it will grow no more. Apparently, Rosemary's flowers picked up their blue color and acquired their fragrance when Mary spread her blue cloak over a rosemary bush to dry while they were on their way fleeing to Egypt. I seem to remember a similar tale about Aphrodite, but I can't seem to find another reference to it.

Rosemary was used to ward off evil spirits and nightmares. The wood was used to make musical instruments.

Rosemary branches were often woven into wreaths worn by brides at weddings and decorated rosemary branches were presented as gifts to wedding guests. In Wales, it was distributed to funeral guests to throw into the hole as the coffin was lowered.
Rosemary was also given as a gift for New Years', along with an orange, stuck with cloves and it was used with holly and mistletoe to decorate for Yule.

An old saying says "Where Rosemary flourishes, the Woman rules" and in England it was believed that rosemary could not grow in the garden of the home unless the mistress was the master.

In France, Rosemary was burnt, along with Juniper berries in sick rooms and hospitals to purify the air.

During the Middle Ages, it was hung around the neck to protect from the plague. Carrying a twig protected from the evil eye.

Rosemary is believed to attract faerie and good energies. Rosemary in twigs hung over cradles prevented faeries from stealing infants.

A man who is indifferent to the fragrance of rosemary is unable to give true love to a woman and those who smell rosemary frequently will retain their youth.
It was an embalming herb and sacred in Egypt. It was also a sacred herb to the Greeks.

Cinnamon is a much beloved spice with a long and rich history. It was mentioned in Chinese books on healing more than four thousand years ago. It was also used in Egypt and Europe. In Egypt it was part of a mix of herbs and spices that was used to fill body cavities during mummification. In Europe it was such a hit that it was one of the sparks of the age of exploration.