Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Praising the Nettles of This World

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," a space where we all-too-often forget our primary mission: to praise the Ancient Ones!

I have a friend named Nettle. You might think that a rather savage name, but stinging nettles are actually tasty, if you know how to cook them. So Nettle says, and I believe her.

I imagine my friend Nettle, humming over a merry pot of nettle soup, as she gazes out upon her little urban garden.

Today the bored Goddess Airmid asked me to salute Nettle for her talent as an herbalist. Nettle made me a homeopathic tincture for arthritis, using Solomon's Seal. It has proven every bit as effective as those awful pills we always tend to swallow in these modern times.

There's something very primal and holy about the taste of Solomon's Seal, as if every growing thing on earth had been swirled into one single mixture. Once again I can see sweet Nettle, mixing and boiling and testing her medicines, in a way that was ancient before Eve was born.

Who was the first person to taste an oyster? Who was the first to pluck a sprig of mugwort and munch it? These are the Ancient Ones. Much of their wisdom is lost to our snobbery, our stubborn conviction that everything today is better than it was in the day.

I will lie in the long grass, thinking of Nettle as she creates delicious soups and healing medicines. I will thank the Great Goddess Airmid for endowing this talent upon Nettle.

And then I will pluck a savory blade of grass, stuff it between my thumbs, and shatter the silence with my squawks. Because you know me. And so does Nettle, and so does Airmid.

Blessed be!

FROM ANNE
THE MERLIN OF BERKELEY SPRINGS

9 comments:

sageweb said...

I always think about who the first person was that thought of tasting certain things, Oyters, clams, who would have thought to put those things in ones mouth. Another one I will never get is the mushrooms. Oh well I am glad they tried the awful looking things so we now can enjoy.

Alex Pendragon said...

The mother provided us with all we ever needed, and the American Indian was living proof of that, till deaf, dumb and blind Europeans came along and destroyed what was a working natural system blessed by the Gods themselves.

Science has it's place, but should be the exceptional solution rather than the destructive rule it tends to be these days, thanks to White Anglo-Saxon arrogance.

yellowdoggranny said...

wonderful...glad nettle's herb helped..I was going to recommend a different kind of herb, but well, ..you know..
have you started your book yet?...is it as hard to read as i thought it would be?

Nettle said...

aw, thanks, Anne! I'm glad to hear that it helped. Let me know if you want more; I have plenty.

Solomon's seal is very easy to grow and would do well in a shady spot in your yard; if you want some I can give you some root stock this fall. It's one of those plants that I always keep around.


(technical note: the tincture I gave you isn't a homeopathic preparation. It is a fiercer and simpler alcohol tincture.)

Hecate said...

I love you.

BBC said...

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," a space where we all-too-often forget our primary mission: to praise the Ancient Ones

Why?

Aquila ka Hecate said...

Why, Billy?

Because they are us, even though we have mostly forgotten - the Us with the knowledge of connection to the cosmos which we have dropped in favour of civilisation.

Love,
Terri araising the Ancient One known as Hecate, or alternatively as Terri,
in Joburg

Big Tex said...

The Ancient Ones still walk among us. But enough about John McCain...

Raevyn said...

Tex, if you think John McCain ranks amongst the Ancient Ones, then you have far more problems than the REAL Ancient Ones can procure for you for saying such a silly thing... but I'm guessing you're just joking, so I'll dust myself off after falling off this soap box and shut up :)