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appear. I f he is deeply attached to her, he will change the position
of the water pails; if not, he will glide from the room without
touching them. This spell is only effecitual when performed on
All Hallowe’en, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and Beltane, or
Midsummer E v e . Holly is under the dominion of Saturn.
H O L Y P L A N T S .—In England, the Angelica sylvestris, for its
“ angel-like properties,” was, says Parkinson, called Holy Ghost;
the Vervain is the Holy Herb, from its use on ancient altars; the
Holly was called by the monks of old Holy-tree; and the Hollyhock,
Holy Hoke or Hock (an old name for Mallow); the Anastatica
Hierochuntinais the Holy Rose of Jericho; the Lucern {Medicago sativa)
is _Holy Hay; the Holcus odoratus is the Northern Holy Grass ; the
Hierochloe borealis, the German Holy Grass; the Hemp Agrimony
{Eupatorium cannabinum) is Holy Rope, so called from its Hemp-like
leaves betokening the rope with which the Saviour was bound; the
seed of Wormwood is Holy Seed {Semen sandum) \ and Carduus
benedidus is the Holy Thistle.
H OM A .—Homa, or Haoma, is the sacred Vine of the Zoroastrians,
the first of the trees planted by Ormuzd in the fountain
of life, and from which one of their religious ceremonials takes its
name. This consists in the extraction of the juice of the Homa-
plant by the priert during the recital of prayers; the formal presentation
of the liquid extracted to the sacrificial fire ; the consumption
of a small portion of it by one of the officiating priests; and the
division of the remainder among the worshippers. The Iranians
describe two kinds of Haoma or Homa, the white and the yellow.
The former is a fabulous plant, the latter, which is used in religious
rites, and is extolled for its yellow colour, grows on mountains, and
was known to Plutarch. It has been attempted to identify the
Zoroastrian Homa with the Vedic Soma, but the Parsees deny that
their sacred plant is ever found in India, and those dwelling in
Bombay use the branch of a particular tree, having a knotted stem
and leaves like those of the Jasmine. To obtain supplies of the
Homa-plant for sacred purposes, a priest is despatched from time
to time to Kirman, in Persia, where he receives it in a dry state.
H O N E S T Y .—Honesty {Lunaria biennis) has a variety of
names. It is called Lunary and Moonwort, from the disk-like form
of its great flat seed vessels, or their silvery and transparent brightness.
This peculiarity accounts for its nicknames of White Satinflower,
Money-flower, and Silver Plate. The Lunaria biennis is
mentioned by Chaucer as one of the plants used in incantations:__
“ And herbes coude I tell eke many on,
As Egremaine, Valerian, and Lunarie,
And other swiche, if that me list to tarie,
Our lampes brenning bothe night and day,
To bring about our craft if that we may,
Our fournies eke of calcination.
And of wateres a^bification.”
A
p f a n t 15)01*65 l^egeqt)/, a n i. b ijrie / . 379
Drayton also refers to the virtues of the plant;—
“ Enchanting Lunary here lies,
In sorceries excelling.”
The poet likewise tells us that this Lunary was considered efficacious
in the cure of madness.
“ Then sprinkles she the juice of Rue
With nine drops of the midnight dew,
From Lunarie distilling.”
There is a popular superstition that wherever the purple Honesty
is found flourishing, the cultivators of the gardens are exceptionally
honest.
H O N E Y S U C K L E .—The Honeysuckle, or Woodbine {Lo-
nicera), is so called on account of the honey-dew found so plentifully
on its foliage. Originally, the word Honeysuckle was applied
to the Meadow Clover {Trifolium pratense), which is still so called
in the Western Counties. French Honeysuckle {Hedysarum coro-
narium) is a foreign forage-plant. Chaucer makes the Woodbine
an emblem of fidelity:
“ And tho’ that were chapelets on his hede
Of fresh Wodebind be such as never were
To love untrue in word, ne thought, ne dede,
But ay, stedfast, ne for pleasaunce ne fere,
, Tho’ that they shudde their hertis all to tere,
Would never flit, but ever were stedfast,
Till that ther livis there assunder brast.”
Caprifolium, a specific name of the Honeysuckle, was poetically
used by old botanists because the leaf, or rather the stem, climbs
over high places where goats fear not to tread : hence the plant is
sometimes called by country folks, Goat’s-leaf. One of its French
names, also, is Chevrefeuille, which country patois abbreviates to
Cherfeu, or Dear F lam e : hence the plant is presented by ardent
lovers to their sweethearts as an intimation of the state of their
affecffions. The French are fond of planting Honeysuckle in their
cemeteries, and Alphonse Karr describes it as a plant which seems
to devote itself to the tomb, the most magnificent bushes being
found in cemeteries. He further says: “ There is a perfume more
exciting, more religious, even than that of incense; it is that of
the Honeysuckles which grow over tombs upon which Grass has
sprung up thick and tufted with them, as quickly as forgetfulness has
taken possession of the hearts of the survivors.”— In olden times,
consumptive invalids, or children suffering from hectic fever, were
thrice passed through a circular wreath of Woodbine, cut during
the increase of the March moon, and let down over the body from
head to foot. We read of a sorceress, who healed sundry women,
3y taking a garland of green Woodbine, and causing the patient
to pass thrice through i t : afterwards the garland was cut in nine
pieces, and cast into the fire. Woodbine appears to have been
a favourite remedy with Scotch witches, who, in effecting magical
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