T :
i' ;
xviii. p fa n t l0 oi*e, Tsegef^/, anel Tsijricy.
the field of comparative mythology of Max Müller, Grimm, Kuhn,
Mannhardt, De Gubernatis, and other eminent scholars, whose
erudite and patient investigations have resulted in the accumulation
of a vast amount of valuable information respecting the traditions
and superstitions connected with the plant kingdom. Mr. Kelly’s
interesting work on Indo-European Tradition, published some
years ago, dealt, among other subjeCts, with that of plant lore, and
drew attention to the analogy existing between the myths and
folk-lore of India and Europe relating more especially to plants
which were reputed to possess magical properties. Among such
plants, peculiar interest attaches to a group which, according
to Aryan tradition, sprang from lightning—the embodiment of fire,
the great quickening agent: this group embraces the Hazel,
the Thorn, the Hindu Sami, the Hindu Palasa, with its European
congener the Rowan, and the Mistletoe: the two last-named
plants were, as we have seen, employed in Druidic rites. These
trees are considered of good omen and as proteCtives against
sorcery and witchcraft: from all of them wishing-rods (called in
German Wiinschehuthen) and divining-rods have been wont to be
fashioned—magical wands with which, in some countries, cattle are
still struck to render them prolific, hidden springs are indicated,
and mineral wealth is discovered. Such a rod was thought to be
the caduceus of the god Hermes, or Mercury, described by Homer as
being a rod of prosperity and wealth. All these rods are cut with a
forked end, a shape held to be symbolic of lightning and a rude
effigy of the human form. It is interesting to note that in the
■Rigveda the human form is expressly attributed to the pieces of
Asvattha wood used for kindling the sacred fire—a purpose
fulfilled by the Thorn in the chark or instrument employed for
producing fire by the Greeks. Another group of plants also
connecited with fire and lightning comprises the Mandrake (the
root of which is forked like the human form), the Fern Poly-
podium F ilix mas (which has large pinnate leaves), the Sesame
(called in India Thunderbolt-fiower), the Spring-wort, and the
Luck-fiower. The Mandrake and Fern, like King Solomon’s
Baharas, are said to shine at night, and to leap about like a Will-o’-
the-wisp: indeed, in Thuringia, the Fern is known as Irrkraut, or
^ a froduofion. X IX .
Misleading Herb, and in Franche Comté this herb is spoken of as
causing belated travellers to become light-headed or thunder-struck.
The Mandrake-root and the Fern-seed have the magical property
of granting the desires of their possessors, and in this respecfl resemble
the Sesame and Luck-fiower, which at their owners’ request
will disclose treasure-caves, open the sides of mountains, clefts of
rocks, or strong doors, and in faél render useless all locks, bolts,
and bars, at will. The Spring-wort, through the agency of a bird,
removes obstacles by means of an explosion caused by the electricity
or lightning of which this plant is an embodiment. Akin to these are
plants known in our country as Lunary or Moonwort and Unshoe-
the-Horse, and called by the Italians Sferracavallo—plants which
possess the property of unshoeing horses and opening locks. A
Russian herb, the Rasrivtrava, belongs to the same group : this
plant fractures chains and breaks open locks—virtues also claimed
for the Vervain {Eisenkraut), the Primrose (Schlüsselblume), the Fern,
and the Hazel. It should be noted of the Mistletoe (which is
endowed by nature with branches regularly forked, and has been
classified with the lightning-plants), that the Swedes call it
“ Thunder-besom,” and attribute to it the same powers as to the
Spring-wort. Like the Fly-Rowan {Fl'ôg-r'ônn) and the Asvattha,
it is a parasite, and is thought to spring from seeds dropped by
birds upon trees. Just as the Druids ascribed peculiar virtues
to a Mistletoe produced by this means on an Oak, so do the
Hindus especially esteem an Asvattha which has grown in like
manner upon a Sami {Acacia Suma).
It is satisfactory to find that, although the Devil has had
certain plants allotted to him wherewith to work mischief and
destruction through the agency of demons, sorcerers, and witches,
there are yet a great number of plants whose special mission it
is to thwart Satanic machinations, to protea their owners from
the dire effeas of witchcraft or the E v il Eye, and to guard them
from the perils of thunder and lightning. In our own country,
Houseleek and Stonecrop are thought to fulfil this latter funaion ;
in Westphalia, the Donnerkraut (Orpine) is a thunder proteaive;
in the Tyrol, the Alpine Rose guards the house-roof from lightning ;
and in the Netherlands, the St. John’s Wort, gathered before