|
| |
|
You have arrived at our
Archive Site. We have recently remodeled and if you click the Home
button you will be transported to our new word press site. If you
are on a product page, all the BUY NOW buttons have been updated to go
directly to the new word press product page. Please update your
bookmarks to https://www.celticattic.com
Plant Lore
|
- The Night of the fairies
- Also known as Beltane and Walpurgis Night,
the festival of May Eve takes place midway between the Spring
Equinox and the Summer Solstice. In Ireland, this is the
time of year when the invisible fairies are in a celebratory
mood, and they dance to the music of fairy pipes all through the
night. According to folklore, the only way to see the
fairies is to carry a primrose and pick at them over its
petals. If you don't want fairies in your house on this
magical night (they're known to be mischievous), scatter
primroses in front of your door. The fairies won't come
in, for fear of being seen.
- Let's all go a-
- A favorite May herb is the English Hawthorn
(Crataegus laevigata), also called may, a shrub that blooms with
white flowers at this time of year. For many it is sacred,
perhaps from the tradition that Christ's crown of thorns was
made form its branches. It takes its name from the German
word for hedge (hage), because the Germans used the thorny shrub
to divide their fields: its flowers were gathered for May
Day celebrations. Since the 1700's the herb has been used
as a cardiac tonic, to regulate blood pressure and to treat
coronary insufficiency (the weakening of the heart muscle due to
aging).
|
|
