The Sacred Hearth

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.

Astragalus has been used in China as a popular herbal tonic for centuries.

There are actually more than 1000 species of this plant worldwide, some are deadly poison so make sure you’re getting the right species!

In ancient Greek, astragalos referred to knuckle bones, usually from sheep, and gaming pieces made from them, as well as the milkvetch plant. I don’t know the connection.

Allspice was used by the Mayans as an embalming agent and by other native South Americans to flavor chocolate. The Arawaks used allspice to help cure and preserve meats (occasionally the meat was their fallen enemies). In the Arawak tongue, meat cured this way was known as boucans. Later settlers who cured meat this way became known as buccaneers, which eventually came to be the word 'buccaneers'.

Allspice was one of the many things discovered by Spanish explorers when they landed in the West Indies. They thought it looked like black peppercorns, so they named it Jamaican Pepper or Pimento, from the Spanish word "Pimenta" which means pepper.

The English named it "Allspice" because it is said to have the aroma of many spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pepper and juniper berries. There were several attempts to grow allspice in Europe, but the transplanted trees never produced much fruit.

Believed to have originated in Syria, angelica is now found just about everywhere. In ancient times it was used to ward off the plague and evil and as a cure for poison and… well, just about everything else.

It is believed that the plant's name was derived from the fact that, according to the old calendar, it usually came into bloom around the feast day of the Archangel Michael, who appeared in a vision to explain the plant's protective powers against evil.

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.

Solomon's Seal is named for King Solomon of Hebrew lore who was granted great wisdom by the Hebrew God and had a special seal that aided him in his magical workings, allowing him to command demons without coming to harm.

According to herbal lore, King Solomon himself placed his seal upon this plant when he recognized its great value. Those with imagination can see the seal on the root stock in the circular scars left by the stem after it dies back.

Solomon's Seal has also been traditional used to "seal" wounds.

You can estimate the plant's age by examining the rhizome. Each year the stem leaves on scar, or "seal" on the rhizome. Counting these will give you an idea of how long your plant has been alive.

The botanical name for tomatoes means “edible wolf peach”.
Tomatoes are native to Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador where they have been cultivated since time immemorial. Common folklore says that when Christopher Columbus first landed in South America he decided the Orinoco River in Venezuela (where he discovered tomatoes) was the gateway to the Garden of Eden.

Tomatoes were once considered a powerful aphrodisiac and associated with the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Their French name, Pomme d’amore (apple of love) and the Spanish name poma amoris, reflect this. Hungarians called it paradice appfel (Apple of Paradise). The Greeks called it pomadora, Golden Apple, and associated it with the Hesperides and the golden apples of Hera.

At any rate, it was about 150 years after their discovery before Europeans considered them safe for civilized consumption and even then they were only suitable as ingredients for sauce. Those who weren’t afraid they would succumb to uncontrollable lust at the taste feared their teeth might fall out.

In 1820, Robert Johnson of New Jersey announced that he was going to publicly eat a tomato. People came from miles around to see what they were sure was a foolish act that would end in a horrible death. He, of course, survived.