Sylvia Rose
Giant Cinnamon Birds of Arabia
Cinnamon birds appear in folklore of Eurasia shortly after Arab merchants begin trading with ancient lands to the north. Cinnamon enjoys...
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Sylvia Rose
Dec 19, 20235 min read
Cinnamon - Spice Trade of Ancients
Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum ) is the oldest known spice in the world. The fragrant bark comes into popular use by c. 2000 BCE, when Egyptians...
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Sylvia Rose
Dec 8, 20234 min read
Myrrh - Mystique, Death & Divinity
Myrrh ( Commiphora sp) has a history older than humankind. Deeply connected to death, healing and the divine, myrrh is a smoky, strongly...
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Sylvia Rose
Nov 7, 20235 min read
Spiritual Alchemy: Key Elements to Growth
Spiritual alchemy uses the principles of alchemy to achieve harmony and fulfillment in life. Alchemy incorporates shapes, symbols,...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 23, 20235 min read
Baltic Amber - Gold of the North
Baltic amber is among the most prized trade items for millennia. The European amber trade starts in Sicily, with exports to other...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 13, 20236 min read
House Spirits of Germanic Mythology
House spirits such as Kobolds , domestic elves , gnomes and the earth hen are popular figures in Germanic myth and folklore. They have...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 9, 20234 min read
Pagan Christmas Yule Fests: Frau Holle
The Festival of Frau Holle decks the halls from her Feast Day 25 Dec to the 5-6th of January. An ancient German goddess, Frau Holle...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 8, 20235 min read
Mulberry Tree (Morus): Uses, Folklore & Myth
Benefits of mulberry (Morus) include personal health, wood, silk, color for yarn and food. Romantic myth surrounds fruitful mulberry...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 6, 20237 min read
Little Elder Tree Mother: A Fairy Tale
The Little Elder Tree Mother is an 1845 Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. It's also known as The Elderbush. The Elder Tree...
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Sylvia Rose
Oct 2, 20235 min read
Elderberry Tree: Germanic Nature Lore
If drinking elderberry wine or tea, one might see pixies. Early Germans are animists. Spirits or spirit energies inhabit all living...
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 28, 20237 min read
Hags in Germanic Myth & Folklore
Hags in folklore are old women associated with magic. They can be witches, demons, queens, crones or nature spirits, kindly or hateful....
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 26, 20235 min read
Apples: Nature, Spirituality & Folklore
Cultivation of apples goes back to the Middle Stone Age in central Asia. The wild ancestor of today's apples still grows naturally in the...
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 26, 20234 min read
German Nature Folklore - Fruit Trees
Fruit trees are integral to Germanic culture and lore. In times when most farms and rural homesteads depend on the land for nourishment,...
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 25, 20235 min read
Fairy Rings, Magic and Mushrooms
Fairy rings are circles or semi-circles of wild mushrooms. They can appear overnight like magic and are part of the mystical world of...
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 24, 20235 min read
Death Cap Mushrooms: Deadly Poison
Death Cap Mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) are deadly poisons of assassination and accident. Native to Europe, death caps are naturalized...
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 23, 202310 min read
Agrippina & Son: Poisonous Plots of Rome
Mother of notorious Nero and sister to Caligula, Agrippina the Younger is one of the most influential women in Roman history. Born in a...
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 19, 20234 min read
Caraway Spice - Herbology & Folklore
Caraway (Carum carvi) is a cooking and medicinal herb with a pungent anise taste, known for its strong spicy fruits, called seeds. It's...
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 10, 20234 min read
German Myth & Folklore: Moss People
Moss people inhabit deep forests, trees, ancient rocks and rills. Nature spirits of German mythology, they can appear in various forms...
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Sylvia Rose
Sep 6, 20233 min read
Poison Hemlock: Herbology & Lore
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is a deadly toxic member of the parsley and carrot family. It's used in ancient Greece to put condemned...
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Sylvia Rose
Aug 8, 20232 min read
German Traditions - the Linden Tree
Linden (Tilia) is a beloved tree for love, longevity and music in Germanic culture and mythology. Homeowners plant a linden on the...
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