Showing posts with label bladder and kidney afflictions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bladder and kidney afflictions. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Broom Celtic Sacred Shrub - Stories and medicinal Uses

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 237-365














Cytisus scoparius, the common broom or Scotch broom, syn. Sarothamnus scoparius, is a perennial leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe

Also known as Scotch Broom or Irish Broom. It can be substituted for furze (gorse) at the Spring Equinox. The Irish called it the "Physician's power" because of its diuretic shoots. Sweep your outside ritual areas with it to purify and protect. Burning the blooms and shoots calms the wind. 

Good for Reforestation
 

Be cautious if you plant Broom however, it will quickly multiply.

Broom is a member of the “Leguminosae family, which includes beans, peas, clover, vetch, locust, lupine, acacia and alfalfa.  Broom plants convert nitrogen from air that is used for growth, making them hardy and able to invade and flourish in harsh areas.

The broom is such a versatile plant that it has many uses.  It is commonly planted on the sides of steep banks were its roots serve to hold the earth together.  On some parts of the coast it is one of the first plants to grow on sand dunes, together with the stems of mat grasses and other sand-binding plants.  
 
 Broom will flourish within reach of sea spray, and like gorse, is a good sheltering plant for seaside growth.  Inland it is grown extensively as shelter for game, and is one of the more important species of shrubs used to protect them and other small animals from the wind and weather. 

Other Uses

The bark of the Broom yields excellent fiber, which is finer than but not so strong as the Spanish Broom.  The bark is easily separated from the stem by simply macerating them in water.  This has been done since ancient times, and from its fibers paper and cloth was manufactured.  The fibres were also used to make quill-pens as used by old scribes. 

 The bark contains a considerable amount of tannin, which can be used for tanning leather.  The leaves and young tip’s of the Broom produce a green dye that was once used to colour clothes and garments.  
 

Celtic folklore and mythology 

The Reed or Broom has always been associated with music, for since time began pipes and flutes were made from reeds.

Trees are living things, filled with the essence and energy and of the Elementals and Mother Earth with an aura of power which is visible to those who are in total balance and harmony. The lore which surrounds a particular tree or wood often reflects the power the old ones sensed and drew from their presence.

To the Celts and many other peoples of the old world, certain trees held special significance; many woods  provided a powerful spiritual presence. The specific trees varied between different cultures and geographic locations, but those believed to be "sacred" shared certain traits.

 Unusual size, beauty, the wide range of materials they provided, unique physical characteristics, or simply the power of the tree's spirit could grant it a central place in the folklore and mythology of a culture. Even our modern culture finds that certain trees capture our imagination. 







The Reed or Broom was revered by the ancient Druids, and is one of the sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft.  According to the Celtic Tree calendar, the Reed dates from the 28th October to the 24th November, which includes the Celtic New Year of 31st October (better known today as Samhain or Halloween). 

 In folklore, Reeds or Brooms symbolize purification, protection and fertility; they also represent established power, for wands, rods and scepters made from their wood were often carried as symbols of authority.    

In mythology we see a connection to reeds through the panpipes of the Greek god Pan (Roman god Faunus).  In legend Pan had a contest with Apollo to determine who could play the most skillful and sweetest music, Pan on his reed pipes or Apollo on his lyre.  Pan was judged to be the winner, which Apollo considered an insult.  In rage Apollo turned Pan into half a man and half a goat.  In art, Pan is often depicted with the legs, horns and beard of goat. 

To the Greeks Pan was a god of the woodlands, pastures, herds and fertility.  Hills, caves, oaks, reeds and tortoises are all sacred to him.  In another legend Pan fought with the gods of Olympus during their battle against the Titans, as the battle raged he fashioned a giant seashell into a trumpet and raised such a noise with it, the Titans thought they were being attacked by a sea monster and fled in terror.  The word “panic” is said to have come from this myth.  

In folklore the Pied Piper of Hamelin played a magickal tune on a pipe made from reeds, and rid the town of a plague of rats.  As the story goes, in 1284 the Pied Piper was hired to rid the town of Hamelin of a plague of rats.  He walked through the streets playing a magickal tune on his pipe, and on hearing the music all the rats followed him.   

The piper led the rats all the way to the banks of the river Weser, where all the rats fell in and were drowned.  Although the town council had agreed to pay the piper, they changed their minds once the task was done and refused to pay him. 
 

In retaliation the piper walked the streets again, only this time he played a different tune on his pipe.  On hearing the music all the children in the town follow him as he led them out of town and into the foothills of the mountains.  As they approached a door in the side of the mountain opened and the piper and all the children vanished never to be seen again.  After their disappearance the spirits of the piper and children forever haunted the town of Hamelin.  From this story the magickal qualities of the reed and music can be discerned. 


Throughout history the Broom has featured as a heraldic device, and was adopted at a very early period as the badge of Brittany.  Geoffrey the 5th count of Anjou thrust it into his helmet at the moment of going into battle so that his troops might see and follow him.  As he plucked it from a steep bank which its roots had knitted together, he is reputed to have said:  This golden plant rooted firmly amid rock, yet upholding what is ready to fall, shall be my cognizance.  I will maintain it on the field, in the tourney and in the court of justice”
 
The broom is depicted on the Great Seal of Richard I, this being its first official heraldic appearance in England. 
 
Another origin is claimed for the heraldic use of the broom in Brittany, in that a prince of Anjou assassinated his brother and seized his kingdom.  Overcome by remorse he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in expiation of his crime.  Every night on the journey he scourged himself with a brush of “genets” or “genista”, and adopted the plant as his badge in perpetual memory of his repentance.  

St. Louis of France continued the heraldic use of the broom as a symbol of chivalry and honour, and on the occasion of his marriage in the year 1234 he founded a special order called the “Colle de Genet”.  The collar of the order was decorated alternately of the fleur-de-lis of France and a broom-flower.  

 His bodyguard of a hundred nobles also wore on their coats a broom-flower emblem with the motto “Exaltat humiles” (“He exalteth the lowly”).  The order was held in high esteem, and to be bestowed with it was regarded as a great honour.  King Richard II was honoured with it, and a broom plant with open empty pods can be seen ornamentally decorating his tomb in Westminster Abbey.   

In 1368 Charles V of France bestowed the insignia of the broom pod on his favourite chamberlain, and in 1389 Charles VI gave the same decoration to his kinsmen.  

In Scotland the broom is the badge of the Forbes clan, and according to Scottish lore:  “it was the bonny broom which the Scottish clan of Forbes wore in their bonnets when they wished to arouse the heroism of their chieftains”.  In the Gaelic dialect of the highlands they called the broom “bealadh” in token of its beauty:  “This humble shrub was not less distinguished than the Rose herself during the civil wars of the fourteenth century”. 

Apart from its use in heraldry, the Broom has been associated with several popular traditions.  In some parts it used to be considered a sign of plenty and fertility, for it bore many flowers and flourished quickly.   

Magical Uses 

The flowering tops were used for house decoration at the Whitsuntide festival, but it was considered unlucky to use them for menial purposes when in full bloom 

Ritual wands made from Broom are used in purification and protection spells, and if working outdoors (the best place to perform magic) sweeping the ground with a brush of Broom (if it grows nearby) will clear the area of unwanted influences. 

 To raise the winds, throw some Broom into the air while invoking the spirits of the Air, and to calm the winds burn some Broom and bury the ashes. 

Of old, Broom was hung up in the house to keep all evil influences out, and an infusion of Broom sprinkled throughout the house was used to exorcise poltergeist activity.  

 An infusion of Broom was also drunk to increase psychic powers and awareness through its intoxication properties, but this is no longer recommended as the plant can also be poisonous. 

The Broom is known by many folk names:  Banal, Basam, Besom, Bisom, Bizzon, Breeam, Broom Tops, Brum, Genista, Green Broom, Irish Broom, Link, Scotch Broom and Hog Weed.  Its gender is Masculine.  Its planet association is with Mars.  Its element association is Air.  

 Its deity associations are with:  Pan, Hermes, Apollo and Dionysus/Bacchus.  It is used to attract the powers needed for:  Purification, Protection, Fertility, Wind, Divination and all spells associated the element Air. 

 


Medicinal Uses

The Broom is also the only native medicinal plant used as an official drug.  The Latinized name “Scoparius” is derived from the Latin “scopa”, meaning “besom” (hence the common folk name broom), and “Cytisus“ is said to be a corruption of the name of the Greek island Cythnus, where the Broom once grew in abundance.  

The properties of Broom as a healing herb was well known to the ancients, and such early writers as Virgil (70-19 BC) and Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) speak of the “Genista” species of Broom.  It was also mentioned in some of the earliest printed Herbals, such like:  the Passau (1485), the Hortus Sanitatis (1491) and the Grete Herball (1516). 

 John Gerard in his Herbal of 1597 tells us:  “The decoction of the twigs and tops of broom doth cleanse and open the liver, milt and kidnies”. 

The Broom is also mentioned in the first London Pharmacopoeia of 1618, from which Nicholas Culpepper (1616-1654) made an unauthorized translation published in 1649 was called “A Physicall Directory”.  Later in his celebrated Herbal “The English Physician” (1652), Culpepper considered a decoction of Broom to be good not only for dropsy, but also for black jaundice, ague, gout, sciatica and various pains of the hips and joints. 

The flowers of broom were used for making an unguent to cure the gout.  Henry VIII used to drink a water infusion made from the flowers of Broom, and being purgative he believed it acted as a guard against his overindulgences. 

 A decoction of Broom is recommended in herbal medicine for bladder and kidney afflictions, as well as for chronic dropsy.  Bruised seeds after being infused in rectified spirit was allowed to stand for two weeks and strained, then taken daily in a glass of peppermint water to cure liver complaints and ague.  The seeds were also used as a substitute for coffee. 

Broom juice in large doses can disturb the stomach and bowels, and is therefore more often used as an auxiliary to other diuretics, rather than used alone.  Called (Infusum Scoparii) it is made by infusing the dried tops of Broom in boiling water for fifteen minutes and then straining.  It was introduced into the British Pharmacopoeia of 1898 and replaced the decoctions of broom in the preceding issues.

Description

The flowers of the Broom are fragrant and about ¾ inch long, ranging in color from light yellow to orange with crimson wings.  The shape of the flower is irregular with a top banner petal, two side wing petals, and two keel petals on the bottom likened to a butterfly.   

The flowers are in bloom from April to July and occur on plants as young as 2 years old, growing more abundantly on plants of 4 years old or more.  Bees are attracted to the flowers, not in search of honey but more because they contain an abundance of pollen.  

The flowers are followed by flat oblong seedpods about 1½ - 2 inches long, these are hairy on the edges but smooth on the sides.  The pods are dark green or nearly black when mature and each contains several seeds.  The seeds are oval about ⅛ inch long, dark greenish-brown and have a shiny surface.   

The pods begin to dry out as the seeds inside mature and warp in different directions, eventually they are forced open and the seeds burst out with a sharp report landing some 4 to 12 feet away.  The continuous popping of the bursting seed-vessels can readily be heard on a hot sunny day.   
 
The seeds have a hard shell and can remain viable in the soil for more than 50 years before they germinate.  This long-term viability enables the Reed to re-populate areas even after they have been cleared and even when no plants are visible on the site.