Post by Peace on Aug 27, 2007 5:41:42 GMT -5
J.R.R. Tolkien, "On Faery-Stories," in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays
Early Europeans built fires to celebrate the Summer Solstice and to frighten off witches and faeries on this magical night. To enhance the power of these ritual fires, they burned herbs such as lavender, nettle, mullein, and betony. The most potent of these was hypericum, whose radiant yellow blooms were associated with the sun's magical powers. (In Greek, hypericum means "over the icon," for this protective plant was hung as an amulet above figures of the ancient gods.) To convert the European Pagens, Christian Priests assimilated their festivals into the calendar of saint's days, designating Midsummer Day as the feast of St. John the Baptist. They renamed hypericum St. John's wort (hypericum) and included it among the herbs burned as incense on this day.
Susan Wittig Albert
Early Europeans built fires to celebrate the Summer Solstice and to frighten off witches and faeries on this magical night. To enhance the power of these ritual fires, they burned herbs such as lavender, nettle, mullein, and betony. The most potent of these was hypericum, whose radiant yellow blooms were associated with the sun's magical powers. (In Greek, hypericum means "over the icon," for this protective plant was hung as an amulet above figures of the ancient gods.) To convert the European Pagens, Christian Priests assimilated their festivals into the calendar of saint's days, designating Midsummer Day as the feast of St. John the Baptist. They renamed hypericum St. John's wort (hypericum) and included it among the herbs burned as incense on this day.
Susan Wittig Albert
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