Herbal Magick - Small Farm, Permaculture, and Sustainable Living

Herbal Superstitions A to Z
Many people continue to cling to the old belief that cutting
down any mistletoe-bearing tree is a most unlucky thing
to do. Some individuals who have done so are said to have met
with a violent death as a result. But whether such strange and
deadly occurrences are actually the effects of an ancient Druid
curse at work or merely odd coincidences, we may never know
for sure.
“Too superstitious…is their conceit…that it [mistletoe] hath
power against witchcraft, and the illusion of Sathan [Satan], and
for that purpose, use to hang a piece thereof at their children’s neckes.”
—J. Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum, 1640.
Molukka luk ka Be Bean a
The Molukka bean (or nut) is a variety of nut native to the
Molukka Islands, and popular as an amulet in the Western
Isles of Scotland (where they often wash ashore). When worn
about the neck, a white Molukka bean is said to turn black to
indicate the presence of a sorcerer or a person possessing the
evil eye. Some people believe that Molukka beans guard against
death in childbirth and drowning.
Moonwort ort
In the Middle Ages, it was popularly believed among the
peasantry of Europe that the fern known as moonwort possessed
the power to open or break locks, loosen iron nails, and
unshoe horses that tread upon it. An even more curious superstition
surrounding the moonwort holds that woodpeckers can
acquire the strength to pierce iron if they rub their beaks upon
a leaf of this plant. How this bizarre belief entered into the
annals of herblore is a mystery.
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