THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Lavender
Lisa Karen Miller
When Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, they grabbed some lavender on the way out. Given its many uses, this was a wise choice.
Mary lay Jesus’ clothes over a lavender bush to dry, transferring his holy aroma to the plant. Early Christians revered it so much they made crosses from it to repel evil.
Ancient Arabs first cultivated lavender and distilled its oil, but it was the Romans who brought it to England via their bath houses. Weary soldiers steeped bundles in the bath water to soothe muscles and relax minds after a hard day’s invading.
Cleopatra used essence of lavender to lure and seduce men. It was claimed that the fatal asp hid itself among her lavender bushes. When Howard Carter opened Tutankamun’s tomb, he found lavender that still exuded a slight fragrance.
Distilled lavender water was a common remedy for headaches. Its flowers made a mildly antiseptic hand wash which was used to cleanse wounds on battlefields during World Wars I and II. It helps fight depression, boost memory, relieve pain, and heal skin.
It was one of the myriad of plants unscrupulous hawkers at medieval fairs and markets claimed would cure the plague.
Just some of its meanings are purity, luck, cleanliness, compassion, constancy, faith, and humility. To Victorians, however, it signaled distrust.
Lavender has long been used to calm nerves and induce sleep. These properties, combined with its pleasant aroma, made it a perfect laundry additive for nightclothes and bed linens. The best laundresses used it for their wealthier clients. The word means “to wash,” so these ladies were often called “Lavenders.”
Adding a few drops of the essential oil to a load of bedsheets will impart its soothing scent. A sachet of lavender buds will keep your linens and lingerie fresh, fragrant, and free from moths.
Abbess Hildegard of Bingen killed fleas and head lice with it in 12th century Germany. In the 14th century, Charles VI of France (or rather, his housemaids) used lavender-stuffed cushions in his palace to banish moths.
Before we understood that tiny organisms carried disease, dried lavender bunches were burned in sickrooms to fumigate them and kill any lingering “miasma” – the bad air that caused illness.
Once you have a healthy plant in your garden, you can propagate cuttings from side shoots. Strip the lower leaves, dip in rooting hormone, then insert in a pot filled with gritty compost. Water well, cover with plastic, and place in a warm shady place for four weeks.
Add some lavender to your garden this year, to make it more like Eden.
© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller
Folklore of Plants 
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