Evening star., 1942-11-14
Old Superstition
Are Attached
To Flowers
Strange Beliefs
And Customs
Still Exist
Bv Rebecca Wood,card

Even in this so-called "enlight-
ened" age, superstitious beliefs con-
corning various plants. still linger
on. Most OF us think 1t an augury
Of good luck to find q four leaf
clover. In the country districts OF
Europe an onion Is often nailed
above the door of a house in the
belief that it will ward off illness
and other forms of misfortune. And
the superstitious- minded of nearly
all countries believe that a potato
carried in the coat pocket will draw
out" the pains Of -gout or rheu-
matism.
In some rural areas of the United
States, mothers still carve "piney"
beads from the roots Of the peony
plant and put them about the neck
Of teething infants. This is supposed
to protect" the child from a variety
of ailments-but it also serves a
practical purpose by giving the baby
something hard to "cut" his teeth
on.
The origin of this curious belief
in the supernatural power Of peon-
les goes back to ancient times.
Greek writer's described the plant
as an "emanation from the moon"
and attributed to 1t many myster-
ious and remarkable properties.
Even today some people plant peo-
nies In their yard for "luck."
To trace back all such flower su-
perstitions to their source of origin
is, of course, impossible. Usually they
stem from some trivial incident that
has become more and more exag-
gerated with each telling. This Is
likewise true Of superstitions asso-
ciated with other kinds of plants.
There is an odd-and unaccount-
able-old saying heard In rural Eng
land which goes: Parsley brings a
man to his saddle and q women to
her grave. A century or two ago the
belief was widespread in several
English counties that parsley would
grow only when planted and tended
by a man. For q woman to do this
work meant death both for her and
the parsley!
During the Middle Ages when
superstition was rife among all
classes Of people, no other plant
had SO many magic powers ascribed
to it as the mandrake. Because
the roots Of the plant are long and
forked and bear some resemblance
to human legs. the mandrake was
called the earth-man and was said
to groan and shrek when pulled
from the ground. A piece of the
root carried under the coat would
protect the wearer against illness,
robbers, bad weather, "reverses' in
courts OF law-or so the gullible
believed. When used with just the
right ceremony, there was nothing
much, 1t seems, that the mandrake
could not do. A reminder of this
centuries-old belief in the magic
power Of mandrakes lives on today
in the pages of our funny papers
as witness the name of that fab
ulous Observation-Disclosures the
Magician.
Because they believed their galaxy
Of gods preferred the rose to all
other flowers, the people of ancient
Rome made a fetish Of the rose
perfuming their bath with its
petals, eating it as salad, wearing
a crown or necklace of the flowers
for luck on every festive occasion.
1t was alleged that drinking con-
coction made from roses and sleep
ing on pillows stuffed with rose
petals would so please the gods that
they would grant ones every re-
quest. And, as If this wasn't
enough, doing these things was also
supposed to allay nervousness and
improve the health.
While 1t has never been scientifi-
cally proved that sleeping on rose
petals will benefit the health, re-
cent developments in the field of
nutrition would seem to indicate
there was more sense than super
stition in the Roman belief that
roses, as a food, possess health
giving properties. Today, for ex-
ample, we hear that Irish children
are given regular doses of vitamin
G extract made from rose hips
the bottom or neshy part Of the
flower. This is being done to offset
the lack Of fruit In their diet.