A day of lovely spring weather put me in the mood for a walk on Hampstead Heath, in North London. I saw the beautiful irises in the photograph above in the garden of a nearby house.It prompted me to choose Iris, the messenger between the gods and man in Greek mythology, as The Bad Witch's Goddess of the Week.
Cloaked in a robe of dewdrops reflecting the stars, the goddess Iris communicates messages via the rainbow, the bridge between heaven and earth. The word iris means "rainbow".
According to Cunningham's Encyclopaedia of Magical Herbs, irises can be used in magical purification rituals. The lovely blooms should be placed in the area to be cleansed. The three points of the flower represent faith, wisdom and valour, so can be used to induce these qualities.
In the language of flowers, the iris means good news. Irises are also associated with royalty and their shape is thought to be the origin of the Fleur de Lys of heraldry.
Links:
Encyclopaedia of Magical Herbs (Llewellyn's Sourcebook Series)
http://www.flowers.org.uk/flowers/facts/e-j/iris.htm
http://www.flowers.org.uk/flowers/facts/e-j/iris.htm
http://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/plantlife-discovering-plants-grow-wild-yellow-flag-iris.html
http://www.new-age.co.uk/flower-language.htm
2 comments:
Do you know any herbs that are good laxatives?
Quite a few plants and herbs have laxative properties - some quite violently purgative and laxative - so it is always best to talk to a qualified medical herbalist before taking any herbal remedy. People in northern Africa and southwestern Asia have used senna as a laxative for centuries.
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