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Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: BOX SPRIGS
Associated to Place: AncientWorlds > Celtia > Albion > Cymru > Doward > articles -- by * Moss Dubhdara Niall (64 Articles), Social Article
BoxSprigs.gif

Sprigs of box are carried in procession in Brittany to welcome summer. This is probably connected with the custom of bearing a sprig of local greens on Palm Sunday. Where palm fronds were not available (or harking back to pre-Christian plant lore) the early catkins of yew or willow were used, or as in Brittany, sprigs of box.

All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the leaves and bark. Box was used medicinally in the past, as a sedative and to treat rheumatism. This hardy plant is native to woodlands and thickets and thrives on steep slopes on chalk, and in scrub on chalk downland.

In France, boxwood has been used as a substitute for hops. The root (called dudgeon wood) is good material for handles of daggers, small boxes and wooden flutes.

Box was once part of a famous remedy for a rabies bite. Most animals will not eat it, although powdered box leaves were given to horses, in careful doses, to improve their coats and to cure bot-worm.

The Folklore of Plants by by T. F. Thiselton-Dyer:
http://www.archive.org/stream/thefolkloreofpla10118gut/10118.txt

Mrs. Grieve's Modern Herbal

Box Sprigs plaque created by Fedelm Cruithni especially for the Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt.





Courtyard
~ Table of Contents ~
Feverfew
Lavender
Ladybugs
Thyme
Bay Laurel
Mint
Answers to Spring Equinox Quix
Dandelion for Spring Tonic
Fiddleheads
Nettles for Spring
Daffodil Quiz
Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: THE SACRED OAK
Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: VERVAIN
Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08: MARIGOLDS AND MAIDENS
Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08: THE CHARM OF IVY
Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: GREEN WHEAT EARS
Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: FLAX BLOSSOMS
Beltaine Treasure Hunt '08 - GARLIC
Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: EGLANTINE
Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: Magical Fern Seeds
Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: APPLE
Holly
Crocus
Brighid's Imbolc Garden
Beltaine '08 Treasure Hunt: Hawthorn
Cure for Fairy Stroke
Cure for ElfShot
Cure for Flea Infestation
Cure for Giggling Fits
Hemorrhoid Remedy
Flatulence
Itching
Love Spell Cure
Warts & Carbuncles
Posted May 6, 2008 - 13:41 , Last Edited: Jul 20, 2008 - 19:07











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