The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-11-29
SATAN AND FLOWERS.
Diabolic Action of Certain Plants in
Mythology.

pcrSonliicd power of evil and Il gar
den Is, OF course, familiar to all,
and the kindred of evolved traditions
form one Of the mc*t fascinating
studies OF comparative mythology.
But 1t can scarcely be contended that
it is in any way due to this associa-
ton that we find his Satanic majesty
figuring so frequently in the folk
nomenclature Of flowers and shrubs.
But such cases are by no means COM
mon; but far, tho greater number of
diab"'ic appellations refer to some
physical pecularity in the plant which
IS either attributed to Nj. Ic DiuDlc,
or suggests It's employment by or cf-
feet on that potcntatc. And when
wo come to consider the names in
question we realize. says the Lundua
. Globe, that it is by no means the
Miltonic devil that is referred to,
but rather the malevolent and some
times rather cont cnrptiblc buffoon Of
tho old miracle plays. And what is
still more remarkable in some cases
we find plants the subjects, so to
speak, tf il joint or disputed owner
ship, one claimant to which, is the de-
vii, while other is often canonzcd
saint named in the christian calcn-
dar. 1t is not easy for us Of the
present age to conceive the mental
phase which names. for example, Il
hand-shaped flower after saint or
devil indifferently, as in the case
with one of the orchid family, which
by some is styled "Mary'e hand'
and by others "Satan's hand.'
There does not seem the same viol-
ence Of absurdity in the custom Of as
sociating flowers or plants with elves
or fairies 4: their ori.inator> or en-
ployerS.
1t would be impossible within rca-
sonablc limits to give all the instan-
ces Of the devil among the flowers,
but enough may be cited to show that, =,
as has been said, it is the grotcsque,
mcdiaeval devil, rather than the awe
some ficnd Of the ology or poetry.
The familiar scabious, owing to the
snape OF its root, suggestive OF 4
mouthful having been taken ont Of
ii. is called the DEVILS bite. E,x-
plantations arc by no means wanting.
The "bite' was taken in Jealous
rage, because the root in question
was thought to be Of great medicinal
value, and the arch enemy naturally
bcgrudgcd mankind every fraction Of
it. One Of its therapeutic uses is as
a soporitic, and the atmosphere of
his abode rendering such an agent
quite unnecessary the devil bit Off
a piece in Il dog n-thc-malGer spir-
il. Another tradition has ii that
with this root the evil one was wont
TO perform all sorts of marvelS till
our lady deprived it Of the power,
whereupon in impotent rage he bit it.
Some Of the devil titles doubtless
date from the time when. as Shake
spcarc tells MS, to many plants with
dccorouc apptllaiinn, "libcral shcp-
herds give oro;scr name, and
these can be found in plenty in old
fashioned hcrbals.
Some plants owe their diabolic
prefix to the same moral idea that
has been noticed in the ease of the
"dcvil' 5 applcs' Of the mandrake.
the berries Of The brlony, for i'll
stance, are the DEVILS cherries, and
those Of the deadly nightshade de-
vii $ berries par excellence. But it is
not quite easy to understand why
the pretty campioa should be the
DEVILS bower, nor the oX-eyed daisy
his daisy; still more puzzling is it to
account for the garlic being nis
"posy,' when we ,call to mind the
universal attribute to the garlic Of
hostility to the powers Of evil-es-
pecially when manifested in the vam-
pre form. But this apparent con-
tradclion is loticeablc also in Tire
ease Of the mystic vcrvain, which,
according TO some, is emincntly an
tiycnctic, but which old gerarde tells
us "thc devil did reveal as IL secret
and divine mcdicinc.' This aSsocia.
ton OF The vcrvain with diabolic ac-
tiOn rcminds us that there are r'lm-
crous plants with which, "thongh it
be not written down. in their names,
the devil is connected. The devil is