Wird in einem neuen Fenster geöffnet

No New Year's eve in Germany without fatty pastries like "Mutzemandeln" and "Mutzen" and in the Netherlands without eating "Oliebollen"

A little bit of history

The beginning of August ( 1st of August) marks the beginning of the first harvest month, which is named Freyfaxi or Schnitterfest, also known as Lammas or Lugnasadh. Many plants bear fruit, the grain is ripe, medicinal plants have a particularly high effect. The first cut was made at Freyfaxi/Schnitterfest , which marked the beginning of the following harvest season.

The time around 21 June was already regarded as special in ancient times. Especially in the northern countries , the light, the warmth of the sun and the long day were seen as a parable for the miracle of life. The fertility of man and cattle took a central position. For a long time, our late Stone Age ancestors' knowledge of celestial mechanics was thought to be poorly developed.

With the beginning of June, the real strawberry season starts here in the Netherlands and Germany.

🌿Old Walpurgisnacht Customs in Germany 🌿Beside the maypole dances, bonfires and witches gatherings at the "Brocken", the highest mountain at Harz/Germany there are a few other customs as well. Winters in Germany were long and hard for peasants who farmed. It is no wonder that people celebrated the coming of Spring, and surrounded it with magical rituals. Like May Day celebrations, dancing and jumping around, especially around fire is at the center of Walpurgis Night tradition.🌿Grain would grow as high as a farmer could jump over the Walpurgis Night fire… and to avoid bad weather and ensure good crops, farmers might put out bread with honey and butter in the fields. Extra care was taken to protect cattle from harm. Bells were blessed and hung from cow’s necks. Stable doors were locked and hung with three crosses.🌿The lady of the house would customarily leap over her broom and old brooms would be burned.🌿Walpurgisnacht fires were also used to burn anything that had worn out over the previous year, and straw men were made and endowed with things like illness and disease, even bad luck and burned in the fires as well.🌿 Children gathered greenery from Juniper, Hawthorn, Ash, Birch and Elder trees and hang it around the house and barn as offerings to the gods and goddesses.To pick young fresh Birch branches decorated with colorful ribbons and to fix it on the house in the night of the 30th of April to a young girl who's love you will win is still a custom among men in Germany.🌿

„Iss Lauch im Frühling und Bärlauch im Mai, dann haben alle Ärzte frei.“

EGGS AS A RITUAL OBJECT

One of my plant friends, the ground ivy, in German called Gundermann (Glechoma hederacea), also known as Soldatenpetersilie (soldier's parsley) because of its high vitamin C content during war times, sprouts in natural gardens as well as in the wild. Small and inconspicuous, it winds its way up stones and plants. Even though many gardeners curse it because it quickly overgrows everything, it is nevertheless a valuable addition to the medicine cabinet and kitchen. It attracts attention with its small blue flowers.🌱The small plant was already used by our Germanic ancestors as a powerful magic herb. According to ancient beliefs, its many health benefits could only be achieved in conjunction with helpful spirits. The ground ivy was considered to have protective magical powers. It was also believed to make people clairvoyant.🌱Walpurgis NightOn the first night of May, farmers mixed ground ivy with salt into the cows' feed so that they would produce a lot of milk. The milk utensils were wiped out with the plant.Fear of witches was widespread in the Middle Ages. People hoped to recognise witches with the clairvoyant herb. This was supposed to be possible on Walpurgis Night if one wore a wreath of Gundermann on one's head.🌱Spells and milk blessingsAccording to another spell, the tundra was wrapped around a yellow candle. If you burned this candle on a Tuesday, you would be able to see who meant you harm.🌱Ground ivy was one of the important magical herbs that protected house and farm from lightning and storms.🌱In other customs, healing and magic merged. For example, some Gundermann was placed in the nest of the brood goose so that the goslings would hatch healthy and strong. It was mixed into the brood hens' feed, cut into small pieces, so that the young chicks would become strong.In addition to its use as a medicine, ground ivy was also considered to have healing properties due to its magical power. For example, wrapping ground ivy around one's head was supposed to promote bowel movements.🌱Odd numbers supported superstitious magic. If you put 7 leaves of ground ivy in an unbleached cloth and wore it around your neck, you would drive away the "burn in your mouth". If 77 leaves are placed on a wound, healing is guaranteed.Folk medicine still uses many of the once common applications, for example for toothache and inflammation of the oral mucosa.🌱Gundermann is traditionally recommended for poorly healing wounds, convalescence, rheumatism, aching limbs, bladder weakness, chronic colds and coughs, and kidney weakness.

PLANTS TO HARVEST IN FEBRUARYAs soon as the frost is gone, coltsfoot can be found along the roadsides. With its brilliant yellow flowers, it attracts the first bees, bumblebees and butterflies and gladdens our hearts with joy after the long dark days of winter.Coltsfoot is called a pioneer plant because it conquers the soil for its successors and compacts it. It is the first to colonise fallow land, construction sites and roadsides.In German folklore, the early plant was called a weather plant because it loves the sun and lowers its head and closes its flowers in bad weather. In medical science it has a special significance as a cough remedy.It is still used today as a cough tea. The coltsfoot leaves used to be a symbol of the apothecary's profession and hung above every pharmacy.In incense rituals, coltsfoot is used for love, protection and security spells.For harm spells one shouldput finely chopped coltsfoot leaves in the bath water to cause freckles.If you want to bewitch cowsyou have to dig up coltsfoot roots at night and then put them on theand bury them at the stable door the next morning. Every cow thattouches the spot will then give blood instead of milk.

In German folklore, the birch is the spring tree par excellence and accociated to Imbolc but also to Walpurgis/Beltane where the tree is used as Maypole; it heralds new life and symbolises fertility. The delicate appearance of a young birch tree with its shiny white trunk and the tender green of its leaves suggests the image of a young, freshly blossoming girl.