I felt pretty good. Almost elated. The pain in my jaw had gone away. I was talking to the ambulance attendant about how you can’t always rely on machines, which gave me a dire prognosis. That was his point. But it’s better safe than sorry. Then he checked the heart monitor again and gave me […]
Dittany of Crete in the Witch’s Garden, June 10
Dittany of Crete grows only on steep, rocky mountainsides and gorges on the island of Crete, in the Aegean sea. It’s a symbol of love, thought to be an aphrodisiac as well. Only the bravest, or those most foolhardy in love dare to collect it. Locally those who go to the effort to find it […]
Fuchsia adds a psychedelic note to the Witch’s Garden
Fuchsia is sometimes called Bleeding Hearts in Ireland, and across Ireland, Scotland and Britain it’s tied to the fairies. Children suck the nectar from the blooms, and make fairy people by plucking the petals and stamens. Fuchsia is a relatively new introduction to gardens, and I have to admit that rather than folklore or occult […]
Rue in the Witch’s Garden, June 10, 2020
Ruta graveolens, or Rue as it’s commonly called has been used for medicine and magic for millennia. But one use not commonly known about is its use in fighting Bubonic plague. Rue’s naturally pungent scent drives away bug, flies and in particular fleas, all of which helped fuel the spread of the plague. Its efficacy […]
Deadly Nightshade loving a little extra care in the Witch’s Garden, June 8, 2020
As I wrote at the beginning May, I had a surprise return of last year’s Belladonna plant. I’ve had mixed luck with Deadly Nightshade. Some have lived two or three years, while about half never made it beyond the first. This was a rather puny plant last year so I was surprised to see it […]
Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger): It gave oracles their sight and made witches fly, yellow blossoms on one of the darkest of plants inhabiting a deadly corner of the Witch’s Garden
The henbane’s first effect was purely physical discomfort. My limbs lost certainty, pains hammered in my head, and I began to feel extremely giddy….I went to the mirror and was able to distinguish my face, but more dimly than normal. It looked flushed and must have been so. I had the feeling that my head […]
From The History Trekker: A bedtime story for a forgetful country …
It was another spring, the night of March 5, 1770, in Boston, which was already a hotbed of unrest against a government which many felt was oppressive. The media is fanning the flames, and when an agent of the government kills an eleven year old boy, tensions escalated. That night in Boston, a private citizen […]
A strange account of the monster rattlesnake Big Jim, who from his lair on Rattlesnake Bluff terrorized the Skillet Fork and Wabash river valleys … (or Snakes on a Plain)
Rattlesnake bluff, home of the legendary rattlesnake Big Jim is a heavily wooded bluff overlooking the Skillet Fork River, in White County, Illinois. I’d figured that much out by poring over Google Earth for some time, trying to match up the satellite images with the historical record. Or what little record I had, and I […]
