Maybe it's pure laziness on my part (double Taurus after all) but I really can't be bothered much to work with plants that I can't find in my environment. There are enough of them - right here - that I could spend the rest of my life getting to know them and deepening my relationship with each and never get anywhere close to them all.
If something new finds its way in, I tend to assume that it's meant to and contemplate why this is happening.
This post is brought to you by tiny blue chickory blossoms on the side of the road. I first met chickory in Nola and never realized that it was growing right here, under my nose, the whole time.
Next up in the christmas botanicals series is the christmas rose, also known as black hellebore. Hellebore is a flowering perennial with evergreen leaves in the famously poisonous Ranunculaceae family which also contains aconites (wolfsbane), delphiniums, meadow rues, clematis species, and ranunculus (ranging from wild buttercups to ornamental flowers).
Hellebore contains saponins, cardiac glycosides, and other toxins. While ingestion of hellebore may not be deadly to humans, it is incredibly unpleasant. Symptoms include contact dermatitis, burning skin, burning of the mouth and throat, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, confusion, and irregular heartbeat.
Hellebore was one of the first documented chemical weapons used in warfare. The Greeks used the potently poisonous leaves to taint the entire water supply of the sacred city of Kirrha in 585 BCE to end a 10-year siege. It did not kill the residents but incapacitated them with vomiting and diarrhea while the Greek army invaded and slaughtered the entire population by the sword.
Hellebore has been venerated as a powerful plant by multiple ancient civilizations and was included in medical texts by the likes of Hippocrates and Theophrastus.
Black hellebore eventually became associated with christmas due to its evergreen leaves and naturally blooming in winter near the older date of christmas from the Julian calendar. Like mistletoe, the association is likely older than christianity and it was also brought in the home during the dark of winter to protect from evil spirits, ghosts, witches, and illness, but unlike mistletoe hanging in the roof rafters, hellebore was supposedly strewn on the ground with the rushes. Like hanging mistletoe, people in the British Isles and Europe continued the protective practice after converting to the new religion. Today the practice has changed to decorating with hellebore flowers for christmas.
I really loved how I kept seeing people make warrior cats fanclans/comics/fics set in places they've lived/grew up, which got me thinking about what an Appalachian warrior cats would look like. I was just thinking about it as a fun exercise...and then I fell in love with the idea...and now I'm writing it.
Notice: This is one of my two side blogs, I follow/comment from @possibly-in-wonderland
2024 Witch's Calendar
Hey, it's me, Alice from my main blog. I've been meaning to make a side blog specifically for my witchy shenanigans (and anything referencing nature & fantasy aesthetics) for a while now.
Without further ado, here's a bit about yours truly:
The/Them | Biromantic Bisexual | Nonbinary
ADHD
A Melting Pot of Italian/Native American/Scandinavian Blood
Eclectic Witch/Kitchen Witch/Green Witch
Birth Totem: Otter
Zodiac: Aquarius☼|???☾|???↑
MBTI: ENFP-T | Campaigner
Ordained :)
(Yes, I'm aware of what the zodiac section says, I'm working on it.)
Tags | Constantly Being Updated:
Alices DigiGrimoire - Astrology | All Things Astrology & Celestial
Alices DigiGrimoire - Correspondences | All Things Correnspondence
Alices DigiGrimoire - Deity Work | All Things Deity-Related
Alices DigiGrimoire - Divination | All Things Divination
Alices DigiGrimoire - Kitchen Witchery | All Things Kitchen Witch
Alices DigiGrimoire - Plants & Herbs | All Things Plants & Herbs
Alices DigiGrimoire - Personal Entries | All Personal Entries
Alices DigiGrimoire - Sabbats | All Things Sabbats
Alices DigiGrimoire - Spellbook | All Things Spells
Alices DigiGrimoire - Recipe Book | All Things Recipes
Its so cute! I'm so excited to show if off to anyone who will listen..even though it absolutely swallowed up my garden and a few tomatoes in the process 😅