Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-07-17
THE FLOWER GARDEN.


of the primitive faiths of mankind, and
some authorities are disposed to con-
slider this as a phase of ancestor wor-
ship, many different races having held
. that thew were descended from trees
4 he founders of the MieZtee monarchy
were said to be descended from two
majestic trees which grew IN q gorge
OF the mountain of Apoala, and the
Chiapanecas sprang, according TO their
traditions, from the roots of sllk-cot-
ton tree The English nursery fable
that babies are found IN the parsley bed
Is very probably the remnant OF some
such belief, while IN many places IN
Germany hollow trees Overhanglng
pools are known as the abode of unborn
infants. Similar stories abound IN the
folk lore of many countries There Is
even an apparent connection between
the belief IN the descent of the human
race from trees and the IDEA of the Tree
of Life In Genesis, the NggdrAsil, or
Tree of the Universe, whose fruit was
stars, of the Teutonic mythology, the
Tree of Life of the ancient Egyptians,
and the Tree of Life, OF Soma, of HIM
doc tradition 1t Is possible that our
own practice of speaking of the branches
of "A family, and the family tree, may
be only the revival of a similar biea.
There still stands, or was standing
until very recently, in Vienna the Stock
am Eiscn, the sacred tree INTO which
every apprentice drove a Nail before
setting out on his ''Wanderlahre- "
This was the last vestige of the sacred
grove around which the city originally
grew up. The Christmas tree, to which
still is given so prominent u place IN
our celebration of that day, Is almost
unquestionably a relic of the tree wOr-
ship of the ancient Germans. The
Bohemians still preserve the practice
of going into their gardens before sun
rise on Good Friday and falling on
their knees before a tree, saying: 81
pray, o green trees, that God may
make thee good" This Is obviously
Al altered form of a prayer originally
addressed to tue tree itself 1t would,
indeed, take too much space TO record
the customs which still linger IN differ
eut parts of the earth testifying to the
belief inculcated by primitive religions
in the divine nature of plants
Ii was only natural that such feelings
should give rise to countless supersti-
tions regarding the mystic powers of
various plants. The virtues of the ash
tree are perhaps most widely kno .yn
among them all. This banishes wicked
spirits as well as reveals hidden trea-
sures, and to this day twigs of the row
an tree are carried 10y Highland milk
maids to ward off evil influences, and
branches are hung over stables IN Ger
many To keep away witches. In fact,
the greater part of the superstitions
concerning plants relate to evil spirits
The thorns of the cglantine are said to
point downward because when the devil
was shut ont of heaven he tried To climb
back by a ladder made of these thOrns-
But his purpose was thwarted because
the eglantine was not permitted to grow
higher than n bush, and out of spite
the devil set its thorus backward. The
reason that parsley Is always such a
capricious plant IN terminating Is said
To he because the devil takes his 1.-THE
of il. 1t used TO be believed that evil
spirits lurked in lettuce beds, and in
Su.thit II Is said that fern seed brought
10y the devil between 10 and IL o'clock
ON Christmas night viii enable the re-
cipieut To do rs much work as twenty
or thirty ordinary men. 1t l. not well
to go too near an elder tree after dark, as
witches then meet beneath its branches.
TIL hareben IN some places Is known
as the witches thimble. and they are
with the foxglove, for which reason II
= called witches bells" Witches on
their midnight journeys frequently take
for their steeds the large ragwort,
which Is also called III Ireland the fair
les horse" Bulrushes and reeds are
used for the same purpose One of the
names of the MULLEN Is ''hag taper,
though as general thing flowers of a
yellowish or greenish color are sup
posed To be distasteful to evil spirits.
There are many plants which have the
power of revealing the presence of
witches. Thus any baptized person
whose ewes are Tuointed with the green
Juice of the inner bark of the elder tree,
can see witches IN any part Of the world
There are legion Of plants, such as
II. Johns wort, rue, juniper, and cycla-
men, which have the power of driving
witches of There are also many plants
with which the fairies especially have
TO do. In Wales the delicate white
flowers of the wood sOrrel are called
''lairy bells, " because they are believed
10 summon the sprites to their moon
light revels. Like the witches, fairies
have dislike to yellow flowers. In
many places they are supposed TO be
especially attached t. the hawthorn, or,
as 1t is called, the fairy thorn, and 1t Is
considered dangerous even TO gather a
leaf ''from certain old and solitary
thorns which grow in sheltered hollows of
the mOreland,' Tor these are the fairies
trysting places. There Is some resembl-
ance between this and the Danish be-
lief that solitary thorns which occur IN
fields, and which are said never TO in
creasein size, should be sedulously avoid
ed, as they are always bewitched, and
at night "there comes a fiery wheel
forth from the bush which, If a person
cannot escape from 1t, Will destroy
him" Another of the fairies favorite
plants is wild thyme, and both In Eng
land and Germany the oak tree has
usually been their chosen dwelling
place.