Parsley: Where It Came From and Why We Use it so Much
Mother Nature has provided her tools since the beginning of time. One particular herb I want to discuss with you is Torilis Nodosa, also known as Knotted Hedge Parsley. Knotted Hedge Parsley is a plant that branches out at the base, low and spreading. They have five small white flowers, each that are in compact, compound umbels that come from the leaf axes. It is native to parts of Europe, especially the Mediterranean Basin and it is known elsewhere, such as North America, as an introduced species and a common weed. They spread out in all areas of the world, including residential lawns that grow in the Spring and Summer, which is May through August. They will also grow all year in colder climates.
In Ancient Greece, Parsley was believed to associate with death, so they would not eat it. Instead, they would decorate caskets
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They would not keep the parsley inside because it would bring death in the home. They did feed it to their horses though. Aethusa Cynapium, also known as Fool’s Parsley, is very poisonous and should never be consumed by humans. Although it is Apiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia, and northwest Africa, much like Knotted Hedge Parsley, except they have a triangular, white flower look and has a very unpleasant smell to them. They are often confused with regular parsley, except they actually cause death. Poisoning from fool's parsley results in symptoms of heat in the mouth and throat and a post-mortem examination has shown redness of the lining membrane of the gullet and windpipe and slight congestion of the duodenum and stomach. In Europe, only the pregnant women and witches knew how to properly plant parsley and it was only planted on Good Friday for best results. In the medical sense, Parsley is loaded with Vitamins A,C, and K. Vitamins A and C will combat the substances in the body that will kill the cells before they cause
the name of a poisonous plant. This is quite scary as the home of the
Although farmers were aware of the fungus ergot, they did not know that ergot is the result of a mold that’s very toxic and fatal to humans. (Clark 2). They called it cockspurs, because the fact that ergot looks like black whole grains, they believed that it was just grains cooked by the sun and that they were completely harmless. (Clark 2). But they were wrong. Ergot contains alkaloids including lysergic acid isoergine (the main ingredient in LSD) so when ingested, the fungus begins to affect the central nervous system and can cause vasoconstriction. (Vogel 1 and Clark 3). It can lead to sudden death, limit fertility, and it damages the immune system making the body more susceptible to get other diseases because it’s too weak to fight off infection. (“5.1 Poisons of the Past/Ergotism.” 1). Symptoms caused by ergot are feelings of numbness, hallucinations, and feelings of suffoca...
any new plants or the selling of the weed in nurseries and join the Ontario
Rabbit tobacco is also known as lasting, everlasting, sweet balsam, white balsam, feather-weed, and sweet cudweed. Its scientific name is Gaphalium obtusifolium. These annual herbs reach a height of 1 to 3 feet and have erect stems with brown, shriveled leaves persisting into winter and stems covered with felt-like hairs in summer. The leaves are 1 to 3 inches long, and alternate. The flowers, minute in whitish heads, appear in late summer to fall. Fields, pastures, and disturbed areas are the sites of this common native plant of the eastern United States. The Cherokee named it rabbit tobacco because they believe it was the rabbit who took attended the plant.
...s as an escape from the world the white man created. The impact this plant has had on civilization is that it is only way out for some, it is their vehicle of escape to drive them out of the material world and down the peyote road.
A plethora of names have been handed down to the common dandelion. The leaves of the dandelion appear shiny and are without hairs. The margin of each leaf is cut into great jagged teeth, either upright or pointing somewhat backwards. The attachments are somewhat fanciful to the resemblance of the canine teeth of a lion, giving the plant its most familiar name of "Dandelion," (AAE, 1995)
Funerals have been around as long as humans have. “Research indicates that as far back as 50,000 years ago, man exhibited concern for the dead” Lensing (2001) stated. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans also had rituals about death and the possibility of an afterlife. The Middle Ages society was one of the first socities to accpet the idea that death was a part of life and that all people had to die. Also during the Middle Ages, rituals of mourning became evident. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the mourning rituals became more elaborate. The rituals included ornate tombstones and a plethora of mourning paraphernalia Lensing (2001).
The cultivation and utilization of the Central Asia native Cannabis plant dates back over 10,000 years when plants were cultivated for their hemp, a variety of the cannabis plant used for the fibrous content. The first evidence of medicinal use found comes from a Chinese health publication from the reign of Emperor Chen Nung of the Chinese Dynasty over 5000 years ago (Grinspoon & Bakalar, 1997). For thousands of years, the Cannabis plant was widely accepted in various cultures to be not only useful, but for many of those cultures it was a staple crop. Even in American history, hemp had its useful place and was advocated and cultivated by some of our Founding Fathers.
I as well as many people don’t understand the symbolism of the the hangman’s knot or the history behind its uses. I have always came to understand that it was an offensive knot to others because of the lynchings going on during slavery time period. Even today the hangman’s knot still plays a role in modern hate crime acts; However the hangman’s knot dates back to as early as the 16th century. The brutality portrayed by the knot brings out many feelings among many different people, And with that causes many acts of violence and rage toward others. The hangman’s knot, or also known as noose is a hard subject for many African Americans to talk about or discuss. Because at the time of these crimes the African American race was looked down upon. They were treated like animals and were never given the least bit of respect, they were tortured, beaten, and then hanged. I can agree that if this happened to my ancestors I would be offended by the many things that used to happen, and the symbols that are used in hate crimes today.
Death is the equalizer of all life. Throughout time people have constructed death in many different ways. For ancient civilizations, such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ugarit, Greece, and Rome, death consisted of burial rituals and practices, the construction of monuments, murals, and stele, and offering libations to the dead. These civilizations shared many aspects in their perceptions of death and the afterlife, but those perceptions also varied enough to be individualistic and unique to each civilization. Among the many differences between civilizations’ perceptions, some of the variations involved the location of graves, the type of monuments constructed, the structure of the funeral, and preparation of the dead body for the funeral. The relationship
Ultima, an elderly curandera, teaches a young boy about herbal remedies by gathering plants growing in the llano to cure the sick. She uses herbs like juniper, yerba del manso, oregano, manzanilla, and osha. Juniper can be used for nausea, headaches, and even some bug bites. It is also used for ceremonial fires. “Of all the plants we gathered none was endowed with so much magic as the yerba del manso” (Anya 39). Yerba del manso could cure burns, sores, piles, colic in babies, bleeding dysentery, and even rheumatism. Oregano can be used for coughs, fever, asthma, and bronchitis. “We wandered on and found some oregano, and we gathered plenty because this was not only a cure for coughs and fever but a spice my mother used for beans and meat" (Anya 40). Ultima also gathers an herb called manzanilla. Manzanilla is used to calm anxiety and settle stomachs. It also eases heartburn, nausea, and vomiting. Ultima uses it to cure a man’s mollera illness. “We were also lucky to find some osha, because this plant grows better in the mountains . It is like yerba del manso, a cure for everything” (Anya 40). Osha helps with coughs, colds, cuts, bruises, stomach troubles and rheumatism. It can also keep poisonous snakes
Marijuana is one of the oldest cultivated plants. (Nahas,1986) The first people to introduce the potential healing properties of marijuana were the Chinese. About five thousand years ago, the people of the plains of Central Asia began cultivating the plant for its oil and fiber. The United States was introduced to marijuana in the 16th century. It was brought over by the Spanish and British and used for its fiber. The plant’s intoxicating properties were only discovered in the late 19th century. It was used for the production of rope and cloth until the 20th century and now it is widely a drug used preferably for pleasure.
The corpse mutilated and eaten by carrion-birds and by dogs" (Sophocles). Herein lies the dilemma; in Greek culture, the spirit of a body that is not buried by sundown on the day that it died cannot find rest but is doomed to walk the earth.
For centuries, other cultures have tried to preserve their dead. The Egyptians were the first know society to preserve their dead through embalming techniques (“Brief,” par 2). After the collapse of the Egyptian society there were few reports of embalming (2). European Catholic dignitaries, monarchs, and aristocrats first used funeral embalming techniques in the 13th century to transport mortal bodies across long distances (Pascale and Lemonnier, 9). . The mortal bodies were filled with expensive scented herbs that had antiseptic qualities (10). It was not until the Civil War during 1860 that embalming the dead was practiced in the United States (“Brief,” par 7). Today, in the 21st century, this popular and traditional choice is made by most United States citizens. In our egotistical society, the cost of $500 to $1,200 is paid without hesitation to ensure we still look presentable for our last gathering with friends and family.
To the early Greeks, death was dark and mysterious. Early myth about the underworld and life after death is very vague, and it is likely that the Greeks just did not understand death or the underworld. In Homer’s myths the underworld, Erebus, was the child of Chaos along with Night. The early Greeks, according to Hamilton, believed that