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Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: Magical Fern Seeds
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 According to the folklore of many lands, Midsummer's Eve is the only time ferns shed their invisible seeds. They must be caught (in some traditions, only by virgins) as they fall, on a white cloth or in a special basket laid under the fern that night. After the Church converted Midsummer's Eve to St. John's Eve, then the formula for fern seed gathering changed from a white cloth to a stack of twelve pewter plates, one for each apostle. The stack of plates was put under the fern and when the seed feel, it passed through the plates to accumulate on only one. If you knew which plate it was on, then you had the secret of walking invisibly. There is also a reference in Shakespear to fern seeds being connected with invisibility. In the play "Henry IV" one of the characters, Gadshill, is a thief and he remarks proudly to one of his co-horts: "We steal as in a castle, cock-sure. We have the recipe of fern-seed, we walk invisible." In Brittany, treasure hunters gather fern seeds at midnight on Midsummer Eve and keep it till Palm Sunday of the following year, then strew the seed on the ground where they think they're likely to find treasure, expecting it to be revealed by the seeds. Ferns or bracken grow best on the moors, bogs and watery places. The fern does not flower, it grows from a rhizome. The dust-like, almost invisible spores of the fern are contained in little round cases called thecae. No wonder "fern seeds" are deemed so magical! People used to think ferns grew from invisible seeds. Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, p. 384. Susan Wittig Albert's online herbal notebook- http://www.mysterypartners.com/China/ The Fern Seeds plaque was created especially for this Treasure Hunt by Fedelm Cruithni. |
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~ Table of Contents ~
Feverfew
Lavender Ladybugs Thyme Bay Laurel Mint Answers to Spring Equinox Quix Dandelion for Spring Tonic Sun-Infused Calendula Healing Salve Fiddleheads Nettles for Spring Daffodil Quiz Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: THE SACRED OAK Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: VERVAIN Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08: MARIGOLDS AND MAIDENS Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08: THE CHARM OF IVY Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: GREEN WHEAT EARS Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: FLAX BLOSSOMS Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08 - GARLIC Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: EGLANTINE Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: Mystic Mistletoe Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: BOX SPRIGS Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: APPLE |
