I love folklore, I guess because it seems so fantastic.
"In Norfolk, it was considered unlucky to cut holly, as distinct from breaking off berry-bearing twigs at Christmas time." (Vickery p 181).
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| holly, Ilex aquifolia |
"In West Sussex, if you found nine peas in the first pod you gather, it boded good luck." (Vickery p.277).
Pansy leaves are heart-shaped, so tea made from them will cure a broken heart. (Martin p. 11).
Whoever picks the first daisy of the year will be possessed by a "spirit of coquetry" beyond any control (Cunningham p. 98).
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| daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare |
Really? These relationships seem doubtful today. We call them folklore, and wonder how people believed them, if they did. And yet, sometimes knowing one of these stories shifts behavior; no need to pick that daisy, really.
I am not a folklorist; what I am is a trained scientist with a love of plants. Plant-related superstitions, called folklore to be polite, amuse me. They also give us a glimpse of earlier times, when the world held many mysteries.
Superstitition is defined as "widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief". Folklore is defined as "the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth." Dictionary at Google.
Our sources of folklore about plants come from asking people about the plants; they were written down by people who collected such tales. Often, the person reporting the plant lore is convinced. Many of the primary reports go like this:
"A holly tree should never be cut down...a farmer wanted a holly tree cutting [sic] down. He knew he shouldn't do it, so he asked one of his labourers. The labourer refused, in spite of being threatened with the sack. Eventually the farmer found someone to cut the tree down, who did not believe in 'Old Wives' Tales'. This person was dead within three months, even though before cutting the tree he was perfectly healthy. " (Vickery p. 181)
Presumably this is what an analyst would call a spurious correlation; the two happened together but not as cause and effect. If you do something worrisome, like cut down the holly tree, and wait a year, very likely some piece of bad luck will happen during that period, which can readily be seen as the consequence of cutting down the tree. The scientific method was worked out to distinguish between correlation and cause-and-effect.
Most of the folklore easily available to me is from England, published in English, or from Old English writings in translation. If you go back into the Middle Ages, invisible connections and forces caused all kinds of events. Evil spirits, the devil, elves, fairies, and others could injure people and their animals. It was dangerous to annoy any wild spirits, and, not so very long ago, people believed there were wild spirits everywhere. Thus, what is now superstition was a reasonable conclusion given the worldview of the time.
The holly tree stays green throughout northern European winters. For that reason, especially, it was held sacred by most European pagan religions and later by the Christians. Local people were upset if someone cut down a holly tree. Citing angry fairies as a reason to leave hollies alone was more powerful, and more frightening, than saying that it would annoy the neighbors.
Many of the superstitions seem to encourage good behavior. They preserve the first flowers of spring or protect trees. The "don't pick" or "don't cut" seem quite sensible rules, apart from the supernatural enforcement.
Some folklore grades into medical uses we currently consider valid. Chamomile tea attracts money and helps induce sleep (Cunningham). Drink a cup of dandelion tea daily and you will never have rheumatism (Martin).
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| chamomile (Matricaria) |
Many white flowers were considered bad luck:
lily of the valley flowers "cause misfortune if taken indoors" (Vickery pp. 220-221),
"...within three months the bridegroom was dead and needless to say snowdrops have never since been brought into the house" (Vickery, p. 335),
"[According to my Gran who lived in Wiltshire] hawthorn ...if picked would result in a dead child"(Vickery p. 166).
Folklorists suggest that this pattern was because white flowers were preferred for funerals and the sorrow and ill-luck of needing a funeral became associated with the flowers themselves. As in, Aunt May dropped in and said of your hawthorn bouquet, "it looks and smells like a funeral in here. Who died?"
Some plant folklore just seems carried over from another time, when charms worked:
"A nutmeg carried in the pocket is a cure for rheumatism" (Vickery p. 259.)
"Any part of snapdragon worn on your body will prevent people from deceiving you" (Cunningham p. 231).
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| snapdragon Anthirrhinum |
"Scatter powdered hellebore in front of you before you move and you shall be invisibile" (Cunningham p. 135 ).
Lots of actions were lucky or unlucky:
[Around Tutbury, Staffordshire in the 1950s] picking foxgloves was unlucky (Vickery p. 140).
If goldenrod springs up suddenly by the house door, unexpected good fortune will soon rain upon the family living there (Cunningham p. 127).
"It is unlucky to bring any species of cactus into the home "(Vickery p. 59).
"Brides once carried a clove of garlic in her [sic.] pocket for good luck" (Cunningham p. 123)
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| clove of garlic, Allium sativum |
"It is unlucky to bring pear blossom into the house. It signifies a death in the family." (Vickery p. 278).
"Cabbage should be planted in the garden the first thing after a couple has been married, if they wish to have good luck in their marriage and garden." (Cunningham, p. 61)
Considering the validity of these ideas in the modern world leads to evaluating the concept of luck. Is luck truly random? In that case, you cannot cause good luck or repel bad luck. Is it the work of unseen forces, perhaps including a person's subconscious? In that case, acts can cause good or bad luck. A third kind of luck was one you made. Medieval Scandinavians felt people by their bold actions created their own luck (link). That doesn't fit the kind of luck in the English folklore either. Luck is still out there, but why should garlic bring it?
Folklore is fascinating.
Comments and corrections welcome.
Plants named:
cabbage - Brassica oleracea
chamomile - the one above German chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla
daisy - either ox-eye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare or lawn daisy Bellis perennis
dandelion Taraxacum officinale
foxglove, Digitalis purpurea
garlic, Allium sativum
goldenrod, Solidago species
hawthorn Crataegus species
hellebore Helleborus niger
holly Ilex aquifolium
lily of the valley Convallaria majus
nutmeg Myristica fragrans
pansy Viola hybrids
pear, Pyrus communis
peas Pisum sativum
snapdragon Anthirrhinum majus
snowdrops Galanthus nivalis
References
Cunningham, S. 2003. Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. 2nd ed. Llewellyn Press, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Martin, L.C. 1987. Garden Flower Folklore. The Globe Pequot Press, Chester Connecticut.
Vickery, R. 1995, Oxford Dictionary of Plant-Lore. Oxford University Press. London.
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