Crow William Bernard - The Occult Properties of Herbs and Plants PDF
Crow William Bernard - The Occult Properties of Herbs and Plants PDF
Crow William Bernard - The Occult Properties of Herbs and Plants PDF
PROPERTIES
OF HERBS
by
W. B. CROW
D.Se., Ph.D.
page
I. THE NATURE OF HERBS 7
Herbs, Shrubs and Trees-Kinds of Plants
2. HERBS AS FOODS II
The Seven Cereals- TJv.ir Mysterious Origin-
Myth and Magic-Bean King and Queen-Carling
Sunday-Apple Cult-Other Fruit Ceremonies
Japanese Tea Ceremony-Other Tisanes
3. HERBS IN HEALING 18
Ancient Medicine-Ayur-veda, the Hindu System-
Moxa - Doctrine of Signatures - Herbalism -
Homoeopathy.
4. DRUGS AND POISONS 25
The Cult of Bacchus-Fermented Liquors- Tobacco
-Opium - Mescal-Indian Hemp-Some other
Vegetable Drugs-Aphrodisiacs-Poisonous Plants
5. HERBS IN ALCHEMY 33
The Herb of Immortality-Elixir of Life-Palin
genesy-Spontaneous Generation
6. HERBS IN AsTROLOGY 35
Epochs-Seasons-Plants and the Moon- The
Floral Clock-Herbs of the Planets-Plants of the
Zodiac
7. HERBS IN MAGIC 40
Lotus of the Ancients-Druids and the Mistletoe
-Rosicrucians and the Rose-Love Philtres-Herbs
tn Divination-Plants used tn Witchcraft
Antidotes to Enchantments- Trees as Oracles
8. HERBS IN RELIGION 45
Ambrosia - Nectar - The Christian Mysteries
Incense-Sacred Oils-Linen.
9. SYMBOLISM OF HERBS 50
Emblems of Places-Symbols of Gods-Symbols of
6 THE OCCULT PROPERTmS OF HERBS
part. There are two kinds of cone, one the male the other
the female. They both reaNy produce spores, but the
female spore germnates inside the ovule which produces
the seed, after it has been fertilised by rthe pollen tube
which produced by the poYen of the male cone. There
are two kinds of cone plants, one with big compound
leaves like the fern. This ,type includes the cycads. The
other kind has small 'leaves adapted to colder climes. This
includes the -larches, pines, firs and yews, adapted to colder
regions, where they form forests. The cycads on .the other
hand live in ,the tropics.
We now come.to the flowering plants. The flower differs
from a cone in that the ovules, which are going to form
seeds, are enclosed .in a structure caHed an ovary. As in the
cone plants, spores are produced, the female in the ovule
forming an embryo-sac makiing the egg and the male
forming the poBen tube contanning the male ceIl for
fer.tilising the egg.
The flowering plants are an enormous group with a
wide range of form and growing in very diverse environ
ments. There are two groups: Monocotyledons, techni
calJy disllinguished by having a single seed-leaf or cotyle
don and Dicotyledons having two. If they grow into trees
thw internal structure is quite different in ,the trunk.
Monocotyledons have leaves with parallel veins and no
sta'lks, with few exceptions, the parts of the flower are
usually in twos or threes, Ithere is no distinction between
petals and sepals. Dicotyledons have net-veined leaves,
often with sta'iks,
arranged in fours or fives and sepals are generally small
and green, thus different from the ooten brightly coloured
.
.
petals.
Grasses are Monocotyledons with linconspicuous flowers,
and sedges are closely related.
Lilies and their kin, such as crocus, autumn crocus,
onion, hyacinth, tulip, yam, narcissus, iris, ginger and the
orchids generally have conspicuous flowers and Iarge bul
bous under.ground parts. Palms and aroids have numerous
small flowers, often accompanied by an enomlOUS leaf
called a spathe. The so--called arum lily is a beautiful
example. Aliithese are Monocotyledons.
THE NATURE OF HERBS 11
CHAPTER TWO
HERBS AS FOODS
CHAPTER THREE
HERBS IN HEALING
1 Loc. cit.
2 bhuta is translated element, but as Dr. Raman points out it is
certainly not an element in the sense of chemistry; rather it
resembles an element in the sense of the nature-philosophy or
a.rcane science.
HERBS IN HEAUNO 21
CHAPTER FOUR
churrus, are smoked. The seeds are also smoked. lit was
known in ancient times and in mediaeval times was much
used in the Middle East, where aJttempts were made to
prohibit it. It is chiefly famous for its use among the sect
of the assassins, whose Ieader, caHed the Old Man of the
Mountain, whose headquarters were on Mount Lebanon,
used hashish ,to induce his followers to commit numerous
politicaI murders ( 1 090-1 272). Hence the word assassina
tion is derived from the word hashish.
CHAPTER FIVE
HERBS IN ALCHEMY
and animals by seeds, egg and other ways, might arise from
non-living substances. Even Aristotle, who was so accurate
in many observations on living things, thought vertebrates
such as eels, frogs and serpents might be born from mud.
The modern view,l that living things including micro
orgaruisms always arise from other living things of the
same or simhlar species was not fully established until the
woIik of L. Pasteur ( 1 82 2- 1 895). It was not surprising,
therefore, that the alchemists thought it possible to pro
duce living things, including human beings,2 in an arti
ficiall manner.
CHAPTER SIX
HERBS IN ASTROLOGY
Plants and the Moon It has long been believed that the
HERBS IN ASTROLOGY 37
growth of vegetation varies with the phases of the moon. I
In 1 929 L. Kolisk02 published results of some experiments
which had been carried out during severnl years. These
showed that in wheat plants, which were the subject of the
experiments, there lis an increase of growth with the wax
ing moon, but there is aIso a yearly cycle, growth decreas
ing on the whole towards the winter months. Both factors
must be taken into account. In faot, in December the usual
increase towards the time of the new moon does not occur,
and there is a remarkable acceleration of growth before
the Easter full moon. During the fortnight before the
latter, additional! growth more than counterbalances the
usual effects of the waning moon. Similar results were soon
after obtained with maize, and since that time other im
portant results of research have been published by workers,
mostly among the anthroposophi.sts.
The Floral Clock The fact that flowers open and close at
different hours of the day and night led Linnaeus ( 1 707-
1 7 78) >1:0 suggest the so-called floral clock, whereby one
coudd tell !the time, very roughly, from observing which
flowers are open or closed. The d ifficulties are (i) flowers
open and close at different times at different latitudes (ii)
the flowers most useful for constructing such a clock are
not aU flourishing at !the same time of the year. Neverthe
less, attempts have been made to plant the clook in public
gardens. The original list was constructed by Linnaeus for
Upsala, 600 N a second by Kerner3 for I nnsbruck 47. A
list giving English names was published by Brewer.4
rose with its red thorns or (v) show a conical root calJed a
tap-root (which aho may be red, as nn carrot or beet) .
The planet Mercury (Symbol t;l ) rules Wednesday, and
passes through the zodiac in three months. Its herbs (i)
have fine or highly divided leaves or stems, owing to the
airy nature of this planet, e.g. grasses, (ii) have a subtle
odour e.g. aniseed, (iii) have a medicinal effect on
tongue, lungs and nervous system, and (iv) are important
as food, e.g. the cereals.
CHAPTER SEVEN
HERBS IN MAGIC
CHAPTER EIGHT
HERBS IN RELIGION
author Cicero ( 1 06-43 B.C.) jeered alt the belief that bread
coU'ld be <transformed nto a deity, but he did not under
stand the mysteries. In Egypt, barley represented <the god
Osiris, and the germinating grain was planted in the figure
of the god. The same was seen in the so-called gardens of
Adonis. Both gods belong to a class of deities <that die and
are resurrected to immortal life. This dogma is represented in
all religions. The tulasi, a plant of the genus Ocymum, of the
basil family, used as a condiment, was very sacred in India.
Among the Teutonic peoples apples were the food of
the gods and mead was their drink Among the Aztecs of
MeXcico maize and blood were used.
Nectar To the Greek and Romans, red wine was the
nectar. Wine was also used by the Drwds, Jews, Egyptians,
Chinese and Tibetans. The Hindus said soma was the drink
of the gods, but it was weB known to be nothin more
than the juice of Asclepias, a plant of the penwinkle
family, in everyday life. The Zoroastrians used haoma,
which wa's the juice of Ephedra, a plant distantly related
to the cone-bearers.
The Christian Mysteries In the Catholic Mass, wine is
transubstantiated into the blood of Christ and bread, tin
the form of wafers, into His body. In rtJhe Gospels (john
xv, I) Jesus describes Himself as the .true VID e. At the Last
Supper He said the bread was His body, the wine was
His blood (Matt. xxvti, 26, 2 7 ; Mark xiv, 2 2, 24 ; Luke
xxii, 1 9, 20 ; Cor. xi, 24, 2 5)' His words are repeated by
the pr,i est a,t Mass. The bread is placed on a dish called a
paten, and the wine :in a cup called the chalice. Water is
added <to the wtine, following an old Jewish custom. The
wine was said to represent the divine nature of Christ
and the water His human nature. However the Armenians
do not mingle water w,ith the wine, as they do not believe
in the two natures of Ghrjst, which is why they are termed
monophysites. In some Oriental Catholic rrtes the wine is
simply unfermented grape-juice. 1 In most, however, the
1 E. S. Drower : Water into Wine, London, 1 956. This is the
standard work on the usage of bread and wine in near Eastern
rites both Christian and non-Christian. Lady Drower says the
Mandaens also use unfermented wine.
HERBS IN RELIGION 47
wine is fermented, as in the Western (Roman) rictes. The
bread is unleavened in .the Roman, Maronite and Armenian
rites. Elsewhere in the East it is leavened. !
The bread used b y a U Christians is made from pure
wheaten flour and was baked in olden times, as t still is
in some Eastern ri:tes, by the der.gy ,themselves, or by
virglin girls. Prayers were said during the baking. The
wafer or host, as it s called, is round and stamped with
some sacred device, usua1hly the cross or the letters IHS,
the iatter being an abbreviation of the Greek ichthys,
meaning a fish, the symbol of Christ.2
Tohe breads used by <the Oriental Catholics are larger
than ours and are marked out in complicated patterns. A
square piece in the centre, called the Holy Lamb (the lamb
being another symbdl of Ghrist) is cut out. This alone is
consecrated, the rest is used fOT the antidoron, i.e. bread
cListr,ibuted after the Mass. The bread is cut with the
lonche, a small spear or ance, and stabbed with the point
of the same, to commemorate the fact -that when Jesus was
on the cross his side was pierced with a spear. A piece of
<the consecrated bread is dropped into the wine in both
Eastern and Western rites. In the East -t is known as the
pearI. 3
A very curJous custom is observed by the Nestorian
Christians. On Maundy Thursday .they make a mixture
of flour, salt and powdered fragments of the consecrated
sacramental bread, and at every Mass throughout the year
they add some of the powdered sacramental bread. This
mixture, called the melka is added by ,the priest when .they
bake ,their hosts. Thus every new host, when consecrated,
already contains tiny fragments of an old (consecra'ted)
one, and the old ones contained traces of a still older and
they say this sequence can be traced right back to the
Last Supper. So their Hosts might be said to contain a
homoeopathic dose of the bread used and consecrated by
the Lord Himsclf!
! Thus we may count yeast, which is a fungus, as one of the
plants used in the Mysteries.
2 Some early Christians, it is believed, actually had a fish sacra
ment.
3 For a legend connected with this see W. B. Crow : Precious
Stones: their occult power and hidden significance, London, 1 968.
48 THE OCCULT PROPERTIES OF HERBS
CHAPTER NINE
SYMBOLISM OF HERBS
CHAPTER TEN
MYTHICAL PLANTS
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE