CHAPTER 8

MEÁN SAMHRAIDH

SUMMER SOLSTICE, MIDSUMMER

The son of the King of the Moy in Midsummer Found a girl in the greenwood; She gave him black fruit from thornbushes. She gave him an armful of strawberries on rushes . . .

from Dillon, Early Irish Literature

At Midsummer the sun is at its zenith and we enjoy the longest day of the year. For the ancient Celts the sun was central to the activities of the ritual year. Votive models of solar worship practices have been discovered: carriages drawn by stags, oxen, or swans and filled with birds and horned animals. Sometimes the image of a God or Goddess was placed in the carriage as well.

Swans are shown pulling or perching on a carriage, often bound together with chains. The lead bird is sometimes attached to a solar symbol. Long-legged water birds such as cranes were associated with solar deities in the role of healing, while swans were the embodiment of purity, sensuality, love, kindliness of feeling, and magic spells cast through beautiful music. Even the raven appears as a solar bird of wisdom and prophecy.

Bulls are often connected with the swans, stags, and horses in the iconography of solar worship and seem to be associated with solar cults. The horse is sometimes shown pulling a wheeled chariot containing a solar disc, and in ancient Irish literature a great hero, heroine, or extraordinary horse would be compared to the sun.

The therapeutic value of the sun was associated with the healing properties of water. Solar shrines were often set up at healing springs. Water was the mystical entranceway to the Otherworld, and offerings would be thrown into wells and lakes as gifts for the Gods and Goddesses. Glass, pottery, coins, stones, carved wooden figures, and golden objects found their way into the depths. Sacred wells were used for scrying, healing, and divination. On certain days wells were honored by “well dressing”: the well would be covered with flowers and tree branches, circumambulated sunwise, and serenaded with music and dancing. A feast would follow, as thanksgiving for the water and the Earth Mother who provides for all. The well dressing ritual might have included a rainmaking ceremony, in which the well was petitioned three times for rain; celebrants would fill bowls of water to scatter on fields and gardens.

At midnight on the solstice, fires were lit on every hill. People danced around the fires and leapt through them. Blazing herbs from the sacred bonfire were carried to the stables to bless the cows and calves. Blazing torches were carried sunwise around the house and field. Coals from the Midsummer fire were scattered on fields to ensure a good harvest.

A “white horse” made of a long wooden frame with a horse’s head and a white sheet covering was seen to “leap” through the flames to represent the beasts of the farmyard.

Tree worship played a vital role in the Midsummer festivities. Oaks near wells and fountains were decorated with colored cloths. Hawthorn trees were decked with flowers and ribbons as people danced around them. Feasting and games followed the dancing.

Bile, the progenitor and Otherworldly patriarch of the Celtic peoples, is honored at Meán Samhraidh. His consort is Danu (Anu, Ana, Don), to whom prayers for abundance and prosperity are directed on Midsummer’s Eve. Her suppliants carry torches of straw fixed on long branches to the hilltops, to bless the cattle and the newly planted corn.

Danu is linked with the rivers Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, and Don in Russia. She is the goddess of pregnancy, ripening, and the home. Mother of the Irish Gods and Goddesses and of the Tuatha Dé Danann (“the tribe of the Goddess Danu”), she is the Celtic Magna Mater who mothers the land.

So revered was she in former times that the constellation we call “Cassiopeia’s Chair” was known to the ancients as “Don’s Court.” The “Northern Crown” was called “Caer Arianrhod,” the castle of Don’s daughter. The “Milky Way” was “Castle Gwydion,” the castle of Don’s son. Nuada Argetlam (“of the silver hand”) was lord of twenty-one thousand cattle and a God of battle and generosity. Danu was his mother.

Thus the hilltop fires and the fires of the far distant stars mirror the warmth and life-giving energies of the Great Mother, Danu.

THE HERBS OF MEÁN SAMHRAIDH

Chamomile, Chickweed, Chicory, Cinquefoil, Delphinium (Larkspur), Dogwood, Elderflower, Fennel, Figwort, Hemp, Lavender, Male Fern, Meadowsweet, Mistletoe, Mugwort, Pine, Rose, St. John’s Wort, Vervain

Strew vervain or sage and tobacco on your garden as an offering to the fairies and elementals who help it grow.

Please refer to chapter 2, “Herbal Basics,” for methods of preparation.

CHAMOMILE, ANTHEMIS NOBILIS, MATRICARIA CHAMOMILLA

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “The Herbs of Meán Geimhridh.”

Magical Uses: Chamomile, an herb of the sun, brings power and light to spells and protects the home from all dark influences.

CHICKWEED (STARWORT), STELLARIA MEDIA

Parts Used: Leaf and stem.

Herbal Uses: Fresh or dried chickweed is used in poultices and salves and can be eaten as a vegetable. Follow the standard instructions for salves and poultices. A strong chickweed tea will ease constipation; take cupful doses every few hours until relief is obtained. Chickweed oil is helpful for stopping the itch of eczema. Chop the plant and grind it, cover it (just barely) with good quality olive oil, and let it sit for a few days. Strain and use. This will be most helpful for dry, itchy conditions. For “moist” eczema, use a strong wash of the tea.

Homeopathic Uses: Homeopaths use Stellaria media in low potencies for conditions of low metabolism, rheumatism, psoriasis, enlarged and painful liver, and constipation or alternating constipation and diarrhea. All symptoms are worse in the mornings and are aggravated by warmth and tobacco.

Magical Uses: Chickweed is an herb of love and is worn or imbibed to attract or improve a relationship.

CHICORY, CICHORIUM INTYBUS

Parts Used: Root and flowering herb.

Herbal Uses: The young and tender spring roots are boiled and eaten with butter, or dried, ground, and roasted to make a coffee-like brew, sometimes blended into a coffee-bean mixture. The leaves are eaten in salads—use very young plants, or blanch them by keeping the growing plants covered with a basket. The blanched herb is used like spinach or kale. Chicory can be grown during the winter in a cellar and the tender shoots eaten. Poke root (Phylotacca americana) can be used the same way. A decoction of chicory root helps jaundice, enlarged liver, gout, and rheumatism. Use one teaspoon per cup of water and simmer for five minutes. Strain and take up to a cup and a half per day in small doses. Steep two teaspoons per cup for twenty minutes. Take one-quarter cup, four times a day. The infused herb is used for skin eruptions associated with gout. The leaves make a poultice to soothe the eyes and inflammations in general. Follow the general instructions for poultices here.

Chicory is similar to dandelion in its medicinal virtues.

CAUTION: Overdose can cause venous congestion in the digestive tract and increased blood flow to the head. Loss of visual power in the retina can also result.

Magical Uses: Chicory is an herb of the sun, used to transcend any obstacle that life may bring. It helps a person cultivate frugality and wins the favors of important people.

CINQUEFOIL, POTENTILLA REPTANS, POTENTILLA CANADENSIS

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “The Herbs of Meán Earraigh.”

Magical Uses: Cinquefoil is an herb of purification, protection, and abundance.

DELPHINIUM (LARKSPUR), DELPHINIUM SPP.

Part Used: Flowering herb.

Herbal Uses: The fresh juice of the leaf of Delphinium consolida is appliedas a poultice for bleeding hemorrhoids. The infusion of the whole plant is used in colic: gather the flowering herb before seed formation. Steep one teaspoon of the dried herb in one cup of water for five minutes. Take one cup a day. Use the herb dried, and steep for five minutes only. Do not exceed one cup a day.

A tincture of the Delphinium staphysagria (stavesacre) seed is used to destroy head lice. Add a few drops to shampoo (see standard method for tincture here). This herb is perhaps too powerful for internal use.

CAUTION: Delphinium consolida, the field larkspur, is a poisonous plant, which when used wisely has curative value. The seeds if eaten cause severe vomiting and purging.

Homeopathic Uses: Homeopaths use stavesacre for illnesses brought on by indignation. It is classic for bladder infections, prostatic problems, and pain following abdominal surgery. All symptoms are worsened by anger, mortification, and grief.

Magical Uses: Gaze at the Midsummer fires through a bunch of larkspur to strengthen the eyes. Delphinium provides generous, altruistic leadership.

DOGWOOD, CORNUS FLORIDA

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “The Herbs of Meán Earraigh.”

Magical Uses: Every part of the dogwood can be used as a protective charm.

ELDERFLOWER, SAMBUCUS NIGRA

Parts Used: Leaf, flower, and berry.

Herbal Uses: The black elder can be used as an insecticide in the garden or to repel insects from the face and body. A simple infusion of the fresh leaf is made for this purpose. It can also be poured down mouse and mole holes. The berries are used for jam, wine, pies, and syrups. Medicinally, they help coughs, colic, diarrhea, sore throats, asthma, and flu. A pinch of cinnamon makes the tea more warming. The leaves are added to salves for skin conditions. Follow the standard instructions for salves here. The flowers are infused for fevers, eruptive skin conditions such as measles, and severe bronchial and lung problems. A classic flu remedy is a mixture of elderflower, yarrow, and peppermint teas. Keep the patient well covered, as the flowers promote sweating. Use two teaspoons of the herbs per cup of water, steep for twenty minutes, and take up to three cups a day.

Homeopathic Uses: Homeopaths use Sambucus nigra for conditions accompanied by profuse perspiration and suffocative coughs that are worse around midnight.

Magical Uses: Panpipes are made of elder stems. A dryad “Elder Mother” is said to live in the tree; she will haunt anyone who cuts down her wood. Stand or sleep under an elder on Midsummer Eve to see the King of the Fairies and his retinue pass by. The flowers are used in wish-fulfillment spells. The leaves, flowers, and berries are strewn on a person, place, or thing to bless it.

FENNEL, FOENICULUM VULGARE

Parts Used: Seed, root, and leaf.

Herbal Uses: To help with indigestion and gas, pour boiling water over crushed fennel seeds (one teaspoon seed to a pint of water). The seeds are simmered in syrups for coughs, shortness of breath, and wheezing. Powdered fennel seed repels fleas from pets’ sleeping quarters. Place fennel inside a fish when you cook it to make it more digestible. The leaves and seeds when boiled with barley increase breast milk. The seeds and root help clean the liver, spleen, gallbladder, and blood. The tea and broth of this herb are said to help in weight loss programs. Fennel is eaten in salads, soups, and breads. Fennel oil mixed with honey can be taken for coughs, and the tea is used as a gargle. The oil is eaten with honey to allay gas and it is applied externally to rheumatic swellings. The seeds are boiled to make an eye wash: use one-half teaspoon of seed per cup of water, three times a day, and be sure to strain carefully before use.

Magical Uses: Fennel and St. John’s wort are hung over the door at Midsummer to repel evil spirits. Carry fennel to influence others to trust your words. It is used in spells for healing and purification.

FIGWORT, SCROPHULARIA NODOSA

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “Herbs of the Druids.”

Magical Uses: This plant is smoked in the Midsummer fire and hung in the home as an herb of health and protection.

HEMP, CANNABIS SATIVA

Parts Used: Seed and leaf.

Herbal Uses: Known as marijuana. The seeds have none of the intoxicating effects of the leaves and flowers. The seeds are used as a laxative for people in a weakened state (for instance, the elderly, postpartum women, the anemic, and those with high fevers). One ounce of the ground seed is simmered in one quart of water until the liquid is reduced to a pint; three doses (one-third pint each) a day are given. The leaf is used to allay the nausea associated with chemotherapy, as a tranquilizer, and for glaucoma. Smoke it or make a tea of two teaspoons per cup of water, steeped for twenty minutes. Take one-fourth cup four times a day. Painful urinary conditions, gonorrhea, and painful menstruation have been treated by it. One to three drops of the tincture of the herb, taken every three hours, has been claimed to cure gonorrhea.

CAUTION: This herb should be used only with medical supervision.

Homeopathic Uses: Homeopaths use Cannabis sativa for stuttering, confusion of thought and speech, cataracts, burning urine, bad dreams, and oppressed breathing that is better when standing up.

Magical Uses: Hemp is added to incense, often in combination with mugwort, to open the psychic centers. For a vision of your future husband or wife, sow some hemp seeds at midnight on the summer solstice; a vision will greet you before dawn.

LAVENDER, LAVANDULA VERA, L. OFFICINALIS

Parts Used: Leaf and flower.

Herbal Uses: The oil is used for intestinal gas, migraine, and dizziness. Being antiseptic, lavender is added to healing salves. Follow the standard directions for salves here. A tea of the leaf allays nausea and vomiting. Use two teaspoons per cup of water and steep for twenty minutes. The dose is one-fourth cup four times a day. Steep lavender blossoms in white wine (add rose petals, if you like) for two weeks and strain to make a natural antidepressant beverage. Lavender and rose petal vinegar is applied to the temples and brow to ease headache. Lavender oil is added to footbaths, eases toothaches and sprains, and is used as a rub for hysteria and palsy.

Magical Uses: Lavender is strewn into bonfires at Midsummer as an offering to the Gods and Goddesses. An ingredient of love spells, its scent is said to attract men. Lavender in the home brings peace, joy, and healing.

MALE FERN, DRYOPTERIS FILIX-MAS, ASPIDIUM FILIX-MAS

Part Used: Root.

Herbal Uses: The fall-gathered root is a remedy for tapeworm. A few hours after it has been ingested, a purgative is given. Begin the vermifuge process by eating fresh garlic. Take one to four teaspoons of the liquid extract of the root, or of the powdered root, on an empty stomach and follow several hours later with castor oil.

CAUTION: Do not ingest alcohol while taking this herb. Overdose can result in blindness and death.

The roots are added to healing salves for wounds and rubbed into the limbs of children with rickets. Follow the standard directions for salves here.

Homeopathic Uses: Homeopaths use Aspidium filix-mas for tapeworm with constipation, blindness, and inflammations of the lymphatic glands.

Magical Uses: The male fern brings luck and attracts women. Burn it outdoors to bring rain. The fiddleheads are dried over the Midsummer fire and used as protective amulets.

MEADOWSWEET, SPIRAEA ULMARIS

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “Herbs of the Druids.”

Magical Uses: Meadowsweet is used in bridal bouquets and in lovespells.

MISTLETOE, VISCUM ALBUM

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “Herbs of the Druids.”

Magical Uses: One of the most sacred of Druid herbs, this plant helps the aspirant to perceive the Otherworld.

MUGWORT, ARTEMISIA VULGARIS

Parts Used: Leaf and stem.

Herbal Uses: The classic herb for premenstrual symptoms, used in tea and the bath. Use a standard infusion of two teaspoons per cup of water steeped for twenty minutes, take one-fourth cup four times a day. It makes a good foot bath for tired feet and legs. Cleansing to the liver, it promotes digestion. Mugwort is an emmenagogue, especially when combined with pennyroyal, blue cohosh, or angelica root. It is helpful in epilepsy, palsy, and hysteria and is useful for fevers. When laid among clothing, mugwort repels moths.

Homeopathic Uses: Homeopaths use Artemisia vulgaris for petit mal epilepsy, somnambulism, profuse perspiration that smells like garlic, and dizziness caused by colored lights. It is especially effective when given with wine.

Magical Uses: Mugwort is said to protect travelers from fatigue, sunstroke, wild animals, and evil spirits. A crown of it is worn at Midsummer. A tea or a pillow of it brings vivid prophetic dreams and helps one to contact the astral realm. Use the tea and incense to help in scrying. Use it to wash magic mirrors and crystal balls.

PINE, PINUS SPP.

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “The Herbs of Meán Geimhridh.”

Magical Uses: Pine is a tree of peace and immortality.

ROSE, ROSA SPP.

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “The Herbs of Meán Earraigh.”

Magical Uses: Roses are an herb of love.

ST. JOHN’S WORT, HYPERICUM PERFORATUM

Parts Used: Leaf and stem.

Herbal Uses: The herb is the part used for lung problems, bladder complaints, diarrhea, dysentery, depression, hemorrhages, and jaundice. Steep two teaspoons of the herb per cup of water for twenty minutes. Take one-half cup in the morning and one-half cup at bed time. Bed-wetting is helped by a nightly cup of the tea. The oil and fomentation are applied externally to injuries, especially when nerve endings are involved (i.e., fingers and toes), and to soften tumors and caked breasts.

To make the oil, cover the flowers with good, cold-pressed olive oil and leave the sealed preparation in the hot sun for twenty-one days or until it becomes a rich red. The oil is excellent for massages, as it affects the spine directly. Varicose veins, mild burns, inflammations, neuralgia, and rheumatism are helped by a poultice of it.

CAUTION: Malignant tumors must be treated with care. Never rub or massage a malignant growth, as cells may become detached and travel to other parts of the body.

Homeopathic Uses: Homeopaths use Hypericum for puncture wounds, surgery, nerve injury, asthma that is worsened by changes of weather or before storms, tetanus, neuritis, and chronic drowsiness. The symptoms are relieved by bending the head backwards and worsened by cold, damp, and touch.

Magical Uses: The Welsh called this plant the “leaf of the blessed.” It was understood to be an ideal combination of water and fire, the ultimate healing essence. Fire symbolized the fruitful light-filled forces of summer, and water the gathering and settling forces of the dark season. Midsummer was the time of balance between these forces of light and dark.

In Brittany the plant is still ritually gathered by people wearing loose, flowing clothing. One must pray and ask permission before plucking it with the left hand. The earth around the plant is first loosened with a knife, and the whole plant is pulled out at once. Great care is taken to ensure that the roots are intact and undisturbed. The picking of this herb symbolizes the dismemberment of the God, the Summer Lord. It is a solemn sacrifice.

After drying or tincturing the plant is administered to the sick. When you give this plant to one who is sick, you are remembering the God: putting back together the pieces of his body that have been scattered.

The mere scent of this plant causes evil spirits to fly away. It is picked at Midsummer and dried over the Midsummer fire. Use it to keep madness at bay and to keep all evil forces from the home.

VERVAIN, VERBENA OFFICINALIS

Parts Used and Herbal Uses: Please see here in “Herbs of the Druids.”

Magical Uses: Vervain is traditionally gathered at Midsummer or at the rising of the Dog Star when neither sun nor moon are in the sky. It is a sacred herb of purification.