p l a n t b o r o , begeTju/, a n il b tjr ie /.
iJl
L ■
ill
very nasty drink, but has some intoxicating effecfl. The sap
referred to is sharp and acid, and[ according to Decandolle, would
be poisonous if taken in large quantities ; in many cases the nerves
are affedfed by it, as if by a narcotic ; but it is benumbing in its
influence, as it hinders the adtivity of the nerves, without inducing
sleep.” From this sacred plant, which has the mystic five white
petals, is obtained a milky exudation (symbolising the motherhood
of Nature), out of which is made the Vedic Amrita, a divine beverage
that confers immortality; and, probably on this account, the plant
itself is worshipped as a god. Thus we find it so addressed in a
hymn from the Rigveda, translated by Muir :—
“ We’ve quaffed the Soma bright,
And are immortal grown;
We’ve entered into light,
And all the gods have known.
What mortal now can harm,
Or foeman vex us more ?
Through thee beyond alarm.
Immortal god ! we soar.”
The Soma sap is used as the Soma drink for the initiation of the
Djoga ; it is said to produce the magical condition in which, raised
above the universe to the great centre, and united with Brahma,
the seer beholds everything. In the Hindu worship, libations
to the gods were of three kinds—butter, honey, and the fermented
juice of the Soma-plant. The butter and honey were poured upon
the sacrificial fire ; the Soma juice was presented in ladles to the
deities invoked, part sprinkled on the fire, part on the Kusa, or
Sacred Grass, strewed upon the floor, and the rest invariably
drunk by those who had conducfled the ceremony. The exhilarating
properties of the fermented juice of the Soma filled the worshippers
with delight and astonishment; and the offering of this
sacred liquid was deemed to be especially pleasing to the Hindu
gods. In the lunar sacrifices, the Soma drink was prepared with
mystical ceremonies, with invocations of blessings and curses, by
which the powers of the world above and below were incorporated
with it. According to their intended use, various herbs
were niixed with the principal ingredient. Windischmann remarks
that the use of the Soma was looked upon in early ages as a holy
a(5fion, and as a sacrament, by which the union with Brahma was
produced; thus, in Indian writings, passages similar to the following,
often occur: “ Prajapati himself drinks this milk, the
essence of all nourishment and knowledge—the milk of immortality.”
The Gandharvas, a race of demigods, are represented
in certain of the Vedic legends as custodians of the Soma or Amrita,
and as keeping such close watch over the divine beverage, that
only by force or cunning can the thirsty gods obtain a supply of
the immortalising drink. One of the Hindu synonymes of Soma
is madhu, which means a mixed drink; and this word is the methu.
of the Greeks, and the mead of our own Saxon, Norse, and Celtic
ancestors.
549
August the meadows are often
mddy with the Sorrel [Rumex Acetosa), the red leaves of which
jmint out the graves of the Irish rebels who fell on Tara Hill in
the “ Ninety-Eight; ” the popular and local tradition being that the
plants sprang from the blood of the patriots shed on that Occasion!
Sorrel is under the planetary influence of Venus.
. ^ ^ ^ ■ 7'H I S T L E .—-Theseus, king of Athens, is said to have
received as a gift frc^ the hands of Hecate, the Sow-thistle (Sonchus
eW^ws) and the Sea Fennel {Crithmum maritimum). L ke the
Sesame, the Sow-thistle, according to tradition, somet/mes conceals
marvelsor treasures , and m Italian stories are found the exclama-
t Y ’ 'a Sow-thistle,” used with the same magical results as
+ YYfh n Sesame. A Russian legend states
n p r f v t o f b t o b e p e c u l i a r l y h i s p r o -
p e r t ^ a l t h o u g h i n s o d o i n g h e i s m e r r o r ( s e e O a t s a n d R e e d ) .
o T v eM s? b y a s tro lo g e rs to b e u n d e r t h i
SO U T H E R N W O O D .—The Alrotanum (Southernwood) is
a species of Wormwood, to which the Greeks and Romans, and in
more recent times the Germans and French, attributed wonderful
to Pliny, it should be classed as an
aphrodisiac plant, for, if it be placed under a mattress, it will evoke
sensual passions. Gerarde says the same thing ; and addsThat “ it
elpeth against the stinging of scorpions,” and that, “ bein©
Strewed upon the bed, or a fume made of it upon hot embers it
in
“ branches of the long-lived hart,
With Southernwood their odours strong impart i
Ihe monsters of the land, the serpents fell,
Ely far away, and shun the hostile smell.”
Macer Floridus states that it will drive away serpents; and Bauhin
narrates that it used to be employed against epilepsy. ^From
an ointment made with its ashes, and used by young men to
promote the growth of a beard, the plant obtained^ the^n^me of
L a d s Love.— Astrologers place Southernwood under the rule
of Mercury, (S.ee also M u g w o r t and W o r m w o o d . )
S P E E D W E L L . ,—The Veronica Chamedrys appears in olden
times to have been called “ Forget-me-Not,” a name that has since
been universally applied to the Myosotis. Now-a-days it is sometimes
called by country folk Cat’s-eye, The plant derfves its name
of Speedwell from the fa a of its corolla fallii^g off and flying awTy
soon as it la gathered;. “ Speedwell ” being the old fashioned
S d p r ^ S n ri* I ” The bright blue blossom of the Gerto
H J V “ Peaces better known as Veronica, an
appellation denyed from Vera (Latin) and Icon (Greek), and signiying
true mjage., - ^W h e n our Saviour was on his way to Mount
to .
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