What herbs prevented evil on Midsummer's Eve?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
June 24, 2002
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In Medieval times, June 24th was considered Midsummer, celebrated with somergames--sports, folk plays, drinking, and dancing. The origins were agrarian; spring plowing and planting were over, harvest was months away. The celebration is probably as old as
agriculture.
According to Lawrence Clopper (Medieval Folklore, 2002), by the thirteenth century "reformist clergy were offended by the Midsummer festivals and other activities that were held in the churchyards and cemeteries. They thought drinking and feasting constituted the sin of gluttony and encouraged that of lechery." Midsummer became the nativity of St. John the Baptist. St. John's birth never rated high on the calendar, but Midsummer traditions remained.
Midsummer's Eve was said a night in which witches, fairies, and mischievous spirits gained power. Witches were said to use the dew of Midsummer's Eve to affect cow's milk. Cows were locked in barns before sunset and nettles (Urtica dioica or U. urens Linnaeus) were wedged into the barn doors to prevent witches
from releasing the cows.
Herbs were also hung over entrances. Mrs. Grieve in A Modern Herbal (1931) wrote, "Fennel was employed, together with St. John's Wort...as a preventative of witchcraft and other evil influences, being hung over the doors on Midsummer's Eve to warn off evil spirits."
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller) was believed to preserve eyesight and aid weight loss, but no one is certain why it was hung over the doors. St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum Linnaeus) was apparently so linked to Midsummer that it was renamed when the date became a Christian holiday.
In ancient Greece St. John's wort was called hyperikon. The derivation of the name is unknown, but Mrs. Grieve relates that hyperikon was believed "means 'over an apparition', a reference to the belief that the herb was so obnoxious to evil spirits that a whiff of it would cause them to fly."
Den Virtuella Floran has photographs of the nettles. To view Anna-Lena Anderberg's photographs of Urtica dioica, click on the link:
http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/urtica/urtic/urtidio.html
Click on thumbnails to enlarge the pictures.
To view Arne Anderberg's photographs of Urtica urens, click on the link:
http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/urtica/urtic/urtiure.html
Click on thumbnails to enlarge the pictures.
Garland Ranch Regional Park has photographs of fennel taken by Lee Dittman. To view the photographs, click on the link:
http://www.coestatepark.com/foeniculum_vulgare.htm
The Connecticut Botanical Society has a photograph of St. John's wort taken by Janet Novak. To view the photograph, click on the link:
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/hypericumperf.html
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