The Bare Issue

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i: Editorial

Chiaroscuro Kyra Pollitt Down in the city, as the darkness gathers, the lights in the windows remind me of a primary school art project with black paper and translucent sweet wrappers. Our artist this month, Jenni Fagan, uses altogether darker, more poetic materials. Her magically charged ink on bone creations bring evocations of ancient shamanic practices to our pages. Meanwhile, Ella Leith conjures talking, truth-telling bones (Foraging through Folklore), and magic of a different, more modern kind is considered in our Book Club.

The Royal Osteoporosis Society assures us that there’s nothing magical about the care of our bones, offering solid, straightforward advice to guide us to better bone health (Our Editor in the Field). Ann King (Notes from the Brewroom) encourages us with two recipes; one for a bone soothing balm, and one for a relaxing tea. A key ingredient, of course is our Herb of the Month— Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) —profiled by Marianne Hughes, with a beautiful illustration by Hazel Brady. Rose Morley (Flower Power) explores further uses for both this and another Wintergreen, Moneses uniflora, whilst Dora Wagner (Anthroposophical Views) tells us of the wonderful medicinal plants that grew alongside Wintergreen in her grandmother’s forest.

Claire Gormley’s Chemistry Column asks why calcium is good for your bones, and discovers it’s also surprisingly important for plants. Our resident plant expert, Callum Halstead, gets festive with Christmas Cacti and, indeed, the whole Schlumbergera species, whilst Ramsey Affifi (Jazz Ecology) muses on whether one can, indeed, fall in love with a species.

Patrick Dunne (The Climate Column) is very much not in love with the species of politician seen at the recent COP26 gathering. He talks us through the disappointment.

Joseph Nolan (Of Weeds & Weans) handles emotions of a different kind, with herbal helpers for those festive childhood ups and downs. Amanda Edmiston (Botanica Fabula) coories round the family hearth for a warming winter tale.

Finally, StAnza Presents its last poem— a beautifully evocative piece by Éadaoín Lynch. We thank our friends at StAnza for all their support over this past year and beyond, and wish them the very best with their exciting plans. Next year, the poetry mantle will be carried equally by Nine Arches Presents… and Red Squirrel Presents… We very much look forward to their contributions. Until then, everyone at Herbology News wishes you a wonderful festive season, full of rich darkness and colourful light, and enough joy to steep your bones.

See you in 2022.

Honorary Executive Editorial Team Artistic Director Illustration Finance and Distribution

Catherine Conway-Payne Kyra Pollitt, Ella Leith Maddy Mould Maddy Mould Marianne Hughes

Herbology News is printed on FSC certified, carbon neutral, recycled paper, using non-polluting vegetable-based inks, made from renewable sources.

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i: Contents

i Editorial Frontispiece Contents

Kyra Pollitt Maddy Mould

2 3 4

ii Artist of the Month

Jenni Fagan

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iii Herb of the Month

Marianne Hughes, Hazel Brady

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iv Our Editor in the Field

Royal Osteoporosis Society

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v Anthroposophical Views Of Weeds and Weans Notes from the Brewroom Flower Power

Dora Wagner Joseph Nolan Ann King Rose Morley

16 19 22 24

Callum Halstead Ramsey Affifi

26 30

vii The Chemistry Column

Claire Gormley

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viii The Climate Column

Patrick Dunne

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ix Foraging Through Folklore Botanica Fabula StAnza Presents…

Ella Leith Amanda Edmiston Éadaoín Lynch

38 42 44

vi Sage Advice Jazz Ecology

x Book Club Kyra Pollitt reviews A Spell in the Wild: A Year (and six centuries) of Magic

by Alice Tarbuck (Two Roads: London, 2020) xi Contributors Looking Forward

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Herbology News has grown from courses taught at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, where many (but by no means all) of our team and contributors studied.

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ii: Artist of the Month

Jenni Fagan www.jennifagan.com You’ll likely have already encountered Jenni Fagan’s written work, and that’s not surprising; she has written for The Independent, Marie Claire, and The New York Times, been listed for the Desmond Elliott, Encore, James Tait Black and the Sunday Times Short Story Award, BBC International Short Story Prize, and twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. In 2013, her first novel The Panopticon saw her placed among Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. In 2016, her second novel, The Sunlight Pilgrims, met with similar acclaim; her work has been translated into eight languages and both novels featured on the front cover of The New York Times Book Review. She has been Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh, Lewisham Hospital’s Neonatal Unit and Norfolk Blind Association, and has collaborated with a women's prison and various youth organisations. In 2018, she was a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellow at Grez-sur-Loing, supported by The Scottish Book Trust and, after completing a PhD at Edinburgh, she is currently Lecturer in Poetry at Strathclyde University.

So how do these images come to grace these pages?

In 2017, Jenni curated an exhibition at Glasgow’s Tramway for the Koestler Trust, showcasing artwork by prisoners, young offenders, and those in secure psychiatric care in Scotland. In fact, Jenni has her own ‘vast body of photography and other artworks’ that she intends to collate and exhibit at some point. She also recently completed a Gavin Wallace Writing Fellowship at Summerhall, Edinburgh.

During the residency she wrote a poetry collection, The Bone Library, but also created installations of the poems in gold lettering around the building and spent two months engraving poetry onto animal bones.

Jenni tells us: I chose to work with bone during my Gavin Wallace Fellowship at Summerhall. The building used to be a huge veterinary training school— ‘the Dick Vet’ —so I wanted to find a way to fuse the origins of Summerhall with its modern incarnation as a home for artists of all kinds.

During a staff meeting I was able to find out there were still some bones in the attic. I was told they had been left there because they were 'inferior bones,' so then I definitely wanted to work with them. I spent days up there going through old boxes and taking bones down to my studio.

I had written poems that I was placing around the building as a form of kintsugi— the Japanese practise of filling the cracks in an item with gold —I was doing a form of that in Summerhall, seeking out spaces that needed to shine with poems, customised and put on the wall in gold.

For the bones, I had to go through various processes; it is important to soak the bones to try and both clean them, and rinse off some of the chemical residue. I used a dremyl, scalpels, rulers, a clamp, small gouge tools and began to engrave the words onto each bone. The smell and potential toxicity when you are engraving bone means that ventilation and wearing a full mask each time is really important. I also wore a boiler suit which I kept in a bag at the end of each day.

To make the words really pop I was painting the bones black then filling the engravings with gold. That meant leaking gold pens and dot-by-dot dripping the gold into each crevice.

I can't wait to see them go back up in Summerhall, in their own display case. I am planning to go on to do some bone engraving classes— for intricate skull work, in particular. There are not any close to home, though, so I will need to wait until travelling seems a little bit easier.

So far, none of the bones are available for sale, but they will all be displayed together in a custombuilt case at Summerhall, Edinburgh.

6 Jenni’s written works, including The Bone Library, are available from all good bookshops.

Herbology News is grateful to both Jenni and Summerhall for permission to share these images.

ii: Artist of the Month

So far, none of the bones are available for sale, but they will all be displayed together in a custombuilt case at Summerhall, Edinburgh.

Jenni’s written works, including The Bone Library, are available from all good bookshops.

Herbology News is grateful to both Jenni and Summerhall for permission to share these images.

All photography: Jenni Fagan Cover image Goddess Ink on bone Images Etching the Oracle Ink on bone p.8 Oracle Ink on bone p.11 Tattooed Angels Ink on bone p.15 The Bone Library Ink on bone p.25 Mother Ink on bone p.31 Crow Ink on bone p.34 The Family Ink on bone p.37 Collected Bones Ink on bone p.46

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Jenni Fagan Etching the Oracle

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iii: Herb of the Month

Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) Marianne Hughes, with illustration by Hazel Brady As we head into the tunnel of Winter, the deep green leaves, white flowers, and red berries of Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) seem such a gift, as though offering a promise of the coming Spring.

Wintergreen grows in moist, acid soil, in partial shade and is also known as Checkerberry or Teaberry. Its leaves are a principal ingredient in ‘mountain tea’. The Gaultheria part of its name was given by Jean François Gaulthier (1708-56), a physician and botanist who worked in Canada (Bown, 2008) and it helps us to distinguish the plant from Culpeper’s (1653) mention of Winter Green.

He is referring to Pyrola minor— an entirely different plant that is also known as Snowline Wintergreen, Lesser Wintergreen, or Common Wintergreen.

Wren (1988) notes the medicinal uses of our Wintergreen as anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic and diuretic, and that Oil of Wintergreen is used:

mainly in the form of an ointment or liniment for rheumatism, sprains, sciatica, neuralgia and all kinds of muscular pain.

Indeed, peoples of the First Nations were well aware of the medicinal gifts of this lowgrowing evergreen. While carrying heavy loads or hunting, they used the leaves as a remedy for aches and pains, and to aid breathing. Wintergreen leaves were listed in the US Pharmacopoeia (1820-94). The oil, extracted from the leaves, is still listed, remaining widely available to this day, and is a source of methyl salicylate— an antiinflammatory, with similar effects to the acetylsalicylic acid present in aspirin.

Pengelly (2004) outlines the properties of salicins and salicylates: various herbs containing derivatives of salicylic acid have long histories of use for pain relief and reducing inflammation in European and North American folk medicine.

He also notes that, unlike aspirin, natural salicylates do not have anti-platelet (blood thinning) effects. In explaining the actions associated with salicylic acid derivatives, Pengelly outlines their antipyretic effects. This means that they increase peripheral blood flow and sweat production by direct action on the thermogenic section of the hypothalamus.

And this, in turn, explains why they are effective in easing neuralgias, sciatica, and back pain. Bartram (1998) echoes the use of Oil of Wintergreen as a mild analgesic for backache, adding a keynote application for rheumatism. A word of caution, though: the salicylate content means excess use of Oil of Wintergreen can be toxic, causing liver and kidney damage, and it is not suitable for people who are hypersensitive to aspirin.

However, as with many of our herbal 9

iii: Herb of the Month

preparations, more scientific research could promote the kind of safe use familiar for so many years to peoples of the First Nations.

Recent research (Herbert et al, 2014) considers the personal and economic problems that so often accompany chronic lower back pain (CLBP), and the cardiovascular and upper gastrointestinal risks associated with ongoing use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs tend to offer only short-term improvement, the research suggests, and the authors go on to explore topical herbal remedies as alternatives.

They consider Capsicum frutescens (Cayenne or Capsaicin) and a combination of Gaultheria procumbens (Wintergreen oil) and Menthe piperita (Peppermint oil). The authors note that 10ml of a 2.5% formula of high-quality Wintergreen oil, applied topically, delivers the same amount of salicylate as one 325mg aspirin tablet. The lack of published randomised trials involving Wintergreen oil perhaps explains why it is currently much less frequently used than Capsaicin, for which randomised placebo-controlled trials have demonstrated its success as a powerful local stimulant for pain relief. It would be useful to have such trials of Wintergreen oil and Peppermint oil, as the resulting side effects (and costs) would be very much lower than those of prolonged use of NSAIDs.

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Image: Wiki Commons References Bartram, T. (1998) Bartram’s Encyclopaedia of Herbal Medicine. Robinson: London Bown, D. (2008) Encyclopaedia of Herbs.

Royal Horticultural Society, Dorling Kindersley: London Culpeper, N. (1653) Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. Foulsham & Co: Slough Herbert, P. et al (2014) ‘Treatment of Low Back Pain: The Potential Clinical and Public Health Benefits of Topical Herbal Remedies’, in Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 20(4): 219-220 Pengelly, A. (2004) The Constituents of Medicinal Plants: An introduction to the chemistry and therapeutics of herbal medicine. CABI Publishing: Oxford Wren, R.C. (1994) Potter’s New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations. C.W. Daniel: Saffron Walden

Jenni Fagan Oracle

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iv: Our Editor in the Field

The Royal Osteoporosis Society This month, we asked the experts at the Royal Osteoporosis Society to brief us on what we need to know about bones. Here’s what we learned:

Every minute of every day, someone somewhere suffers a bone fracture, due to osteoporosis. Yet, because of under-diagnosis, under-treatment, and low public awareness, it is still often referred to as ‘the silent disease’. Common misconceptions persist— that shrinking bodies are just a normal part of getting older, that osteoporosis only affects women, that bones are lifeless and unchangeable. None of this is true. In fact, we all can and should take positive steps to build our bone strength and prevent osteoporosis and broken bones. Bone health affects everyone and it can be acted upon at any age.

The Royal Osteoporosis Society is working to turn up the volume on bone health and highlight that it’s never too early to start looking after your bones.

There are 206 bones in the human body. Our skeleton works to support the body, protect our vital organs, help the body move, and make blood cells.

Bone tissue is alive and constantly changes throughout our lives, to ensure it remains as healthy as possible. Every day, older, worn-out bone tissue is broken down by specialist cells called osteoclasts and rebuilt by cells called osteoblasts. This process of renewal is known as ‘bone remodelling’, or ‘bone turnover’. As we grow, osteoblasts work faster. This allows the skeleton to increase in size, density, and strength. During this period of rapid bone growth, it takes the skeleton just two years to completely renew itself. In adults, this same process takes seven to ten years.

Bones stop growing in length between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. But the total amount of bone tissue you have— your bone density —continues to increase slowly, until your late twenties. Up until about the age of thirty-five, there is usually a balance between the amount of bone that is removed, and the amount of bone that is laid down. The total amount of bone tissue stays the same. From our late thirties onward, however, the amount of bone that is removed and the amount of bone that is laid down starts to get slightly out of balance. This happens at different rates in different people. More bone tissue is removed, and the total amount of bone tissue starts to decrease. During this process, your bones don't look any different from the outside. But inside, the outside shell of the bone thins.

And the struts that make up the structure inside your bones become thinner and sometimes break down. The older you get, the more bone tissue you lose. This is why osteoporosis and broken bones become more likely with age.

Your genes can determine the potential size and strength of your skeleton. Research shows that if one of your parents broke their hip, you are more likely to break a bone yourself. And if you've broken bones easily in the past, you are much more likely to break a bone in the future. Research also shows that after one broken bone you are two to three times more likely to have another in the future. Your gender is also relevant. Osteoporosis and broken bones are more common in women than men; over the age of fifty, half of women, but only one in five men will break a bone because of osteoporosis.

There are several reasons for this. Having bigger bones reduces the risk of them breaking, and women tend to have smaller bones than men. Bones lose strength at a faster rate after the menopause because levels of oestrogen— the female sex hormone that helps keep bones strong —decrease. But women also tend to live longer, on average, so are more likely to live with the lower bone strength that comes with age.

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iv: Our Editor in the Field Your lifestyle choices can have a big impact on your bone health, too. We can pay into our bone bank and reduce the risk of osteoporosis by doing regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercise, eating a healthy balanced diet with adequate calcium, and ensuring we have sufficient Vitamin D. You are weight-bearing when you are standing, with the weight of your whole body pulling down on your skeleton. Weight-bearing exercise with impact involves being on your feet and adding an additional force or jolt through your skeleton. This could be anything from walking to star jumps. If you have low balance, co-ordination, and reflexes, you are more likely to trip or stumble, and potentially break a bone in a fall, so exercise that improves balance, such as Pilates or yoga, is also helpful. When your muscles pull on your bones it gives your bones work to do. Your bones respond by renewing themselves and maintaining or improving their strength. As your muscles get stronger, they pull harder, meaning your bones are more likely to become stronger. If you have low body weight, you're more likely to have less bone tissue. If you're older, having low body weight also means you have less fat padding around the hips to cushion the impact of a fall, making broken bones even more likely.

Smoking slows down the cells that build bone in your body. If you're a woman, smoking also increases your chances of an earlier menopause. Postmenopausal women have an increased risk of osteoporosis and breaking a bone. Similarly, drinking too much alcohol affects the cells that build and break down bone. It also makes you unsteady on your feet, making you more likely to trip, fall and break a bone.

Your bones are alive, so a healthy diet is important in maintaining their health. Make sure you are getting enough calcium and vitamins from your nutrition sources. For vegans, this can mean ensuring meat and dairy replacements, such as tofu or oat milk, are fortified with calcium. Good sources of calcium include green leafy vegetables, almonds, sesame seed spread, dried fruit, pulses, fortified soya and nut drinks and some types of soya protein (tofu processed with calcium). You can also get protein from pulses— like lentils and chickpeas —nuts, tofu (soya bean curd) and spreads, like peanut butter. Adults need 700mg of calcium a day, so be aware that you need quite large portions of some foods— such as dark green leaved vegetables, pulses, or cereals —to get the protein and calcium your bones need.

Some people may wish to consider taking vitamin supplements.

Make sure you get enough Vitamin D. This can be through exposure to the sun during the summer months, when the sun’s rays stimulate the skin to produce Vitamin D. About ten minutes’ exposure to bare face and arms, twice a day, is sensible and sufficient. Be sure not to get burned. Alternatively,

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iv: Our Editor in the Field you can take 10 micrograms of a daily supplement. In the UK, everyone should consider taking a supplement from the end of September to the end of March, anyway, because you can’t get enough Vitamin D from the sun’s rays during that time. Vitamin D3 supplements are slightly more effective at raising Vitamin D levels, but if you’re vegan, choose a supplement that contains Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) as this comes from a plant source rather than D3 (cholecalciferol) which comes from sheep’s wool.

Osteoporosis currently affects 3.5 million in the UK. But the silence around the condition, the missed opportunities for diagnosis and the postcode lottery for quality treatment mean that 90,000 people every year in the UK are missing out on the medication they need to protect their bones. Allopathic medications for osteoporosis are either ‘antiresorptive’, acting to slow down the osteoclasts in breaking down bone tissue, or ‘anabolic’, stimulating the osteoblasts to build new bone, or a combination of both. Regardless of their action, osteoporosis treatments reduce the risk of fragile bones breaking, but don't reduce the pain of broken bones.

In conclusion, here are our five top tips for maintaining healthy bones:     

Aim for a well-balanced, mixed diet with plenty of protein and calcium.

Make sure you get enough Vitamin D. Maintain a healthy body weight— neither under nor overweight.

Take weight-bearing, as well as muscle-strengthening exercise.

Don’t smoke or consume alcohol above the recommended limits.

We are very grateful to the Royal Osteoporosis Society for their expertise and generous support.

You can find out more on their very informative website: www.theros.org.uk, where you’ll also find a donation button to support their important work.

Image: Royal Osteoporosis Society

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Jenni Fagan Tattooed Angels

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v: Anthroposophical Views

The bare bones Dora Wagner Did it take long to find me? I asked the faithful light.

Did it take long to find me? And are you gonna stay the night?

Cat Stevens, Moonshadow,1970

Bent, straight, twisted, vertical, horizontal.

Loadbearing, dancing, leaping, walking, standing, lying, bending, sitting, swinging.

Still and yet always in motion. Isn't it fascinating what our skeletons can do?

The ability to stand upright and move on two feet is one thing that distinguishes humans from other living beings. Our bones enable us to carry ourselves. Standing upright is an expression of our willpower, our active ego. It not only affects our overall posture, but also the way we walk, talk, gesture, and our entire physical movement. We judge individual postures and gestures— resulting from the mobility of our bones —to reveal a person's character, their personal attitude, and thus their ego. Standing perfectly upright, for example, is seen as characteristic of sincerity, of personal integrity, of expressing one's inner convictions without pretence. On the other hand, the human skeleton— especially the skull —has become a symbol of poison or death. Yet our bones brim with life; bone marrow is the primary site for the production of new blood cells. Bones are highly differentiated supporting tissues, not only essential for movement, but storehouses of important micronutrients.

Osteocytes, comprising 90–95% of all bone cells, are the only truly permanent resident

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cell population. Their responsibility is to sense mechanical forces and loads acting on the skeleton, translating the lifting of weights or being exposed to gravity into biological perceptions, integrating these orchestral responses and signalling to other cells to modulate bone homeostasis. It is essential that our bodies are exposed to such forces and stresses. Being in bed for a long time, or unable to move for whatever reason, can cause bone loss and ossification (Shang, 2013). Thus, movement or exercise can be crucial when treating bone diseases caused by lack of motion, as well as metabolic diseases such as osteoporosis. It’s also important to maintain a healthy diet. A wide range of micronutrients are essential for bone metabolism; it’s not just a matter of sufficient calcium intake. Vitamin D, for example, is important for calcium balance and bone mineralisation. Our bodies can absorb the vitamin from food as well as produce up to 80 to 90% of our requirement, with the help of sunlight. In the dark season, when sufficient light is also an important requirement of our emotional condition, we should keep this in mind.

When the air gets cooler, the trees change colour and I switch on my sunlight-lamp while having breakfast or reading It always reminds me of my grandmother: "Oh, these dead

v: Anthroposophical Views months," she used to exclaim scornfully at this time of year, “these dead months, I can't stand them at all! The cold gets into my limbs, too much fog, too little light, too many festivities dedicated to mourning”. As the trees donned their dormant winter clothing, their branches stark against the grey sky, and many plants died away, we used to go into the forest to get cover for our garden beds.

Granny was always heartened to spot some species still green and leafy. Amid the barrenness, they’d enliven us with their leaves, some species even bearing flowers and fruits, as if these plants wished to help us overcome the darkness. The Snow Rose (Helleborus niger) had a particularly mysterious aura, because it burst into bloom in the midst of ice and snow. This characteristic is probably caused by lowering the pressure in the cells, in order to osmotically draw water into the intercellular spaces. The leaves and flowers thus sometimes look wilted, but the plant is able to survive the cold, withstanding temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees and flowering through until March.

My grandmother made them into oracle flowers on the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany, placing twelve buds in twelve glasses of water. Each represented one month of the coming year, and she would read fortunes in the behaviour of the buds. Open blossoms promised favourable weather, good harvests, and good luck; closed blossoms were bad weather, a poor harvest and bad luck. I was always amazed at the outrageous fortune my grandmother was due, until I learned that if the ends of the stems were carefully cut, pricked with a needle, and given fresh water every few days, one could make one’s own luck!

Amazingly, Wintergreen plants carry their leaves through the whole cold, dark season, not shedding them until the Spring, when they are replaced for another year. This is in marked contrast to most other vegetation, a principle that Rudolf Steiner considered as the basis of their effect on cancer (Steiner, 1999).

The same is true of Mistletoe (Viscum album) and Black Hellebore (Helleborus niger), which take no notice of the freezing cold, greening, fruiting, and flowering when other plants are

in dormancy. I admire this ‘unfreeziness’, this ability to withstand cold, snow, ice, sleet and wind. To me, the plants represent deceleration, vitality and an autonomy gained from inner strength.

Following the Doctrine of Signatures, the black root of Black Hellebore was held to pertain to maladies of melancholy, hopelessness, and despair. Ailments such as falling sickness, catalepsy, raving madness, obsession, insanity, leprosy, and gout were thought to be caused by black bile and thus called for an application of Black Hellebore. It was also prescribed as an emetic and laxative, and for urinary retention, dropsy, cough, and poisoning (Müller-Jahnke, 2005). The active constituents, found in all parts of this poisonous plant, are digitalis glycosides, saponins and protoanemonin, which cause dizziness and unconsciousness and can lead to cardiac arrest. Still today, the Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger) is used as homeopathic medicine in complementary anthroposophical therapy. Black Hellebore’s natural habitat is in Lower Austria and, since no cultivars are used for medicinal purposes, this is where it is harvested in both winter and summer. After gathering in accordance with Maria Thun's favourable cosmic influences, the plant parts are washed, separated into flowers, leaves and rhizome, and stored.

Mother tinctures are then prepared, using special procedures for mixing, and potentised by hand. For application, ampoules of the homeopathic tinctures are diluted with saline solution and inhaled. The remedy is used in palliative therapy situations, given to people suffering from cancer to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life. In Germany, Helleborus niger preparations can even be prescribed through public health insurance. A therapy involving Helleborus might be helpful in restoring inner stability or support in hopeless or chronic situations. Corresponding remedies have proven effective in patients with anxiety and restlessness, and in patients with headaches and impaired consciousness, improving concentration and leaving awareness less clouded.

Helleborus preparations are further recommended in rheumatological diseases— such as 17

v: Anthroposophical Views rheumatoid arthritis, activated arthrosis, collagenosis —and in dementia and anxietyrelated depression (Wilkens, 2014). According to Paracelsus, even Ancient Greek philosophers saw a relationship between the Christ Rose and consciousness since they used powdered Christ Rose leaves and equal parts sugar as a prophylactic to promote clear thinking.

I’d like to leave you with the lyrics of a popular German Christmas carol that dates back to the 15th Century. The author is unknown, but it is assumed a monk wrote it after finding a wild Christmas Rose in bloom in a winter forest.

Whatever the case, the poem makes a connection between the magic of green leaves and flowers in the midst of cold winter, and the even greater miracle of light being rekindled in the time of greatest darkness.

When I marvel at certain plants, I sometimes wonder what can be learned by letting them guide me. Perhaps it’s that we can still experience life even through a state of depression, that even in darkness, when everything seems frozen, we will be able to welcome light and warmth if we can only keep moving, keep standing, keep engaging with our environment, responding to challenges, creating back-up plans, being alive— like the Christmas Rose, at its most beautiful in the coldest and darkest season of the year.

May you all experience light and warmth in abundance during this gloomy season, savour the winter solstice, have a blessed Christmas Eve, and see plenty of buds blossoming in the year to come.

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Lo, how a rose e’er blooming, From tender stem hath sprung.

Of Jesse’s lineage coming, As those of old have sung; It came, a flow’ret bright, Amid the cold of winter, When half spent was the night.

O Flower, whose fragrance tender With sweetness fills the air, Dispel with glorious splendour The darkness everywhere; True human, very God, From sin and death now save us, And share our every load.

(Baker, 1894)

Images Photographs by Dora Wagner. Collage adapted by Dora Wagner from i-stock and Wikipedia Commons References Baker, T. (Trans.1894) ‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’; 15th Century German, traditional.

Müller-Jahnke, W-D. (2005) ‘Nieswurz’, in: W. E. Gerabek et al. Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter: Berlin.

Shang, P. et al. (2013) ‘Bone Cells under Microgravity’, in Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, 13 (5) Steiner, R. (1999) ‘Geisteswissenschaft und Medizin’, GA 312, 7. Auflage: Dornach Wilkens, J. (2014) Die Heilkraft der Christrose (The healing power of the Christmas Rose).

Self-published.

v: Of Weeds and Weans

Festive flavours Joseph Nolan As the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness slips into bare branches and rain, we console ourselves with feasting. Especially for children, sweets and candies loom large, and we tend to take the flavours of the festive season— Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum, C. verum, C. cassia), Cardamom (Elletaria cardomomum), Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) —rather for granted. But the flavours of Festivus have medicinal uses too, and help us to counteract overindulgence, as well as the salted, smoked, dried, pickled, and stale, winter fare of former times.

My first encounter with Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens, Oil of Wintergreen) was a box of funny coloured TicTacs on my aunt’s dashboard. I was suspicious of the little green candies, having always disliked mint flavoured things, but found that I really liked these odd tasting ‘mints’. The cool, sweet, mint-like taste is due largely to methyl salicylate, an excellent anti-inflammatory chemical cousin of aspirin. Generally used topically in medicine, Wintergreen is great for relieving the pain of bumps and bruises, pulled muscles, sprains, and strains. You can safely mix its essential oil into homemade Arnica montana (Arnica) or Bellis perennis (Bruisewort, Daisy) balm at your standard 2%, to increase the analgesic properties. Methyl salicylate can be toxic when ingested at too high a dose, so Oil of Wintergreen should not

be used as a flavouring at home. Commercial food production keeps the total Wintergreen content below 0.04%, which would be virtually impossible to do in your kitchen.

Why exactly Mint became so much more popular than Wintergreen, I will never understand, but the fact remains that redstriped Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) candy canes rule the season. For children, Mint tea can be useful for the bloating and mild nausea that comes after eating too much sugar. It refreshes the palate and brightens the mood, as well— invaluable on the come down from a party or other exciting event. Mix with a little Matricaria recutita (Chamomile) to relax a griping belly and an over-excited, tired child.

The essential oil invigorates and sharpens the mind, which can also be helpful to dispel holiday torpor if there is something that needs to be accomplished, like tidying up or getting ready for guests. Mints, the candy or gum kind, with xylitol rather than sugar, can also be helpful for morning sickness in pregnancy.

The use of xylitol by pregnant mothers has been found to reduce incidence of dental caries in their children by up to 70% (Isokangas, et al. 2000). The benefits are believed to derive from xylitol’s ability to prevent transmission from mother to child of Streptococcus mutans, a bacterium closely associated with dental caries and gum disease (ibid.).

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v: Of Weeds and Weans Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) is ubiquitous at this time of the year— gingerbread, pumpkin pie, Christmas pudding, Chanukah rugelach —and quite rightly. It improves digestive fire, relieves wind and bloating, balances gut flora, modulates blood sugar levels, and tastes lovely. There are two kinds: Ceylon Cinnamon (C. verum), which comes in quills of thin, papery bark and has a mild flavour; and Cassia or Saigon Cinnamon (C. cassia), which comes in quills of thick bark and has a hot, assertive flavour. The former is more common in the UK and Europe, the latter more common in the US. However, they have similar medicinal qualities, and can be used both culinarily and medicinally interchangeably. Both forms are also quite warming, so for children that have been playing outside and gotten chilled, a hot cup of Cinnamon tea is perfect. I used to love the fiery little cinnamon candies called Red Hots that would appear on baked goods at this time of the year, and still prefer Cassia as my cinnamon.

Regardless, Cinnamon is invaluable for wind and bloating, whether chronic or occasional, and is very helpful after a large meal when these problems are apt to strike. The essential oil diffuses very nicely, too, and helps to set a cosy festive mood.

While Rose (Rosa damescena) is a common flavouring in festive Diwali treats, for British Christmas it is generally relegated to a box of chocolate Rose creams, which is regrettable because family get-togethers can be volatile affairs, and, when gifts are involved, children are inclined to over-excitement, irritability, and to being over-protective of their space and possessions. Add in too much sugar, late nights, decreased outdoor time, and crowded houses and, well, it can get fraught. Rose soothes the tension and tends to make people of all ages feel bright, relaxed, and welldisposed towards each other. Use it in tea blends, room sprays, and as rosewater in cool beverages.

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is widely used at this time of the year in Christmas baked goods and Diwali sweets. Certainly, it is expensive, and that helps up the luxury factor. The lovely 20

red threads and beautiful golden colour it imparts also help. But beyond its visual appeal, Saffron soothes coughs, brightens the mood, and aids relaxation. In clinic, I also use it for regulating and enhancing brain function in ADHD; controlling OCD, seizures, and anxiety in patients with autism; and ameliorating degenerative neurological conditions in the elderly. While it might be a bit much to use Saffron medicinally at home, keeping it in mind for bringing a happy and relaxed mood might be handy.

Cardamom (Elletaria cardomomum) is another of my favourite herbs for wind, bloating and overloaded or generally weak digestion. For children, it can be used with or instead of Cinnamon for chills and eating too many sweets, and combined with Rose for the irritability and distress of over-excitement.

Cardamom finds its way into a great many Diwali treats, perhaps most famously Gulab Jamun— fried milk dumplings in a divine Rose, Cardamom, and Saffron syrup. The best I ever had was from a little shop in a small town in Nepal, where they were freshly made, and I swear the street spun around when you ate them. Medicinally, combining Cardamom and Rose makes for an unusually delicious tea for over-excitement and an irritable belly.

Rose helps control mild stress diarrhoea, while Cardamom reduces cramping and wind, and both herbs calm a gut upset by too much unaccustomed food.

The Orange (Citrus aurantium) is a winter fruit, and its aromatic peel furnishes an extremely useful medicine. Apart from the wonderful smell and flavour, the essential oil in the peel relieves wind and bloating, stimulates appetite, and encourages enzyme production all along the digestive tract. Most people also find the aroma comforting, and it certainly helps to brighten and lift the mood and to relax the mind. I use Orange peel a great deal in medicines for patients who suffer from IBS, wind, bloating, and generally weak digestion.

Children and adults alike enjoy the flavour, and the pieces of bright orange peel look pretty in a tea, all of which encourage compliance. The other thing about Orange

v: Of Weeds and Weans peel is that it is so widely available, and rather thrifty to use. You can easily dry it yourself at home. Buy organic fruit— juice Oranges, Tangerines, Satsumas, Clementines, etc. — enjoy them, and save the peels. Set them to dry near the heater or on a warm windowsill and put away once crisp. To use them, break into small pieces or crumble. You can use a zester if you wish, but the white pith adds a medicinally useful (and not unpleasant) bitterness, as well as a high antioxidant content, to a tea. You can, alternatively, tincture it by sticking the fresh peels into a jar of alcohol. I suggest brandy for this but use what you fancy. Just make sure to use organic fruit, because conventional citrus is waxed and doused in pesticides such as Imazalil and Thiabendazole to make it last longer, and you don’t want any of these things in your medicine.

Calm-It-All-Down Festive Tea Most of the ailments that strike at this time of year are related to over-excitement, overindulgence, and change of routine. This is true for adults as much as for children, and everyone can use a quiet cup of Calm-It-AllDown in the midst of things. Give bags of tea as gifts, or just have some on hand for when it all gets too much.

Ingredients Suitable for use up to 20% by weight: Rose petals Green Cardamon pods or seeds Crushed Ceylon Cinnamon sticks Chamomile flowers Orange peel Rooibos, Redbush (Aspalathus linearis)— for its caffeine-free, tart-sweet, vanilla-like flavour, and high antioxidant content Mint leaf Cacao nibs (Theobroma cacao)— for their chocolate-malt flavour, antioxidant hit, and Rose-like sweetening effect on the mood.

Suitable for use up to 10% by weight: Cassia chips Liquorice pieces (Glycyrrhiza glabra)— for their sweet flavour and calming effect on the stress response

Coconut chips (Cocos nucifera)— for their lovely flavour, calming and brightening effect on the mood, and for looking pretty in the tea Suitable for use up to 5% by weight: Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)— for its warming spicy flavour, and for the relief of wind and bloating Method Using a reliable kitchen scale and large bowl, combine your chosen ingredients to 100%.

For best results, use herbs from the 20% list at 10-20% of the final tea, and the remaining herbs at their stated percentages.

Experience has shown that adding the lighter ingredients first makes the tea easier to blend.

When fully mixed, bag up into decorative pouches, or keep away from light in a tin or clip-top jar until required.

Dried herbs normally last about a year but use your nose and eyes. If the colour and smell are gone, so is the virtue. If, after three years, the smell is still strong and the colours vibrant, use with abandon.

Happy herbing.

References Isokangas, P.; Söderling, E.; Pienihäkkinen, K. & Alanen, P. (2000) ‘Occurrence of dental decay in children after maternal consumption of xylitol chewing gum, a follow-up from 0 to 5 years of age’, in Journal of Dental Research, 79(11):1885-9

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v: Notes from the Brewroom

Warm your bones Ann King As light levels and temperatures continue to drop, the temptation at this time of year is to keep our houses hermetically sealed, and to admire the crisp frosty mornings and gorgeous misty rain from indoors. However, there is much to gain from throwing open windows and doors— even for just ten minutes —to clear the air and freshen the living space. Even more to gain from venturing out into rugged moorlands to seek spectacular views over wintery landscapes.

But engaging with the great outdoors does invite a certain level of dampness; in these conditions, it is hardly surprising that little niggles like aching joints and weary bones can be more noticeable. Chronic joint pain can become life-restricting, and we actually help ourselves by keeping moving, so combine gentle exercise like swimming and walking with some good old-fashioned self-care when you get back into the warm.

Bare Bones Balm For soreness, a little topical application using the wonderful Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumberis) can bring relief. The leaves contain methyl salicylate, making them a good base ingredient for a warming, soothing, and pain-relieving balm for joints and bones. They also contain magnesium and potassium in an oil readily absorbed by the skin— in this instance, a simple balm used to keep our joints and minor musculoskeletal ailments pain-free. In an acute case, we can always follow the Native American tradition of crushing the leaves and directly applying them to joints as a poultice. Wintergreen has also been used to calm sensitive nerve 22

endings, as the methyl salicylate temporarily overrides nearby pain signals.

This balm uses Olive oil (Olea europaea) infused with both dried Wintergreen leaves and Cayenne pepper (Capsicum annuum) to create a non-penetrating barrier that lubricates, purifies and warms painful areas, stimulating healing blood flow. Cocoa butter (Theobroma cacao) moisturizes, whilst the Shea butter (Vitellaria paradoxa) absorbs slowly and lends itself to an indulgent massage of the joints. The Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is added predominantly for its benefit to circulation, although its fragrance provides an olfactory grounding note. Sweet Orange oil (Citrus × sinensis) uplifts by reminding us of sunshine and gentle Mediterranean heat.

Our hands and fingers are always working hard, and need to be strong and flexible to manage all the daily tasks that we hardly even think about. It makes sense to massage them regularly— something that we can do ourselves. Taking a few minutes of quiet to gently massage some of the Bare Bones Balm into your hands, either during the day or just before bed, will help loosen up the joints and ease tension, supporting general relaxation.

This simple process can aid circulation, disperse metabolic waste, and restore blood flow.

Here’s our recipe for Bare Bones Balm, and a Barely British Blend recipe, for a soothing brew on long Winter evenings.

v: Notes from the Brewroom

Bare Bones Balm Ingredients 4 tbsp Olive oil 1 tbsp ground Cayenne pepper 1 handful of dried Wintergreen leaves 1 tbsp grated beeswax or ½ tbsp Candelilla wax pearls (Euphorbia antisyphilitica) 1 tbsp Cocoa butter 1 tbsp Shea butter 6 drops Vitamin E oil 5 drops of Rosemary oil 5 drops of Sweet Orange oil 4 x 15g containers Method Step 1: Infuse the oil Using a pestle and mortar or spice grinder, combine the dried Wintergreen leaves and ground Cayenne pepper into a powder. This powder should be heated gently with the Olive oil in a double boiler until it is hot to the touch, but not boiling. The mix should then be allowed to cool naturally, before reheating gently and cooling once again. Ideally, repeat the heating and cooling process a few times over a couple of days for maximum extraction.

The oil infusion should be strained through fine mesh or muslin into a sterilized jar ready for the next step.

Barely British Blend Ingredients 50g of dried Wintergreen leaves 75g of dried Nettle leaves (Urtica dioica) 50g of dried Rosehip (Rosa spp.)

Method Simply add 1 tbsp of the blend into your vessel of choice, add barely-boiled fresh water, and leave to infuse for 5-10 minutes with the lid firmly in place. Imbibe and enjoy.

Disclaimer No recipes are intended to replace medical advice and the reader should seek the guidance of their doctor for all health matters.

The profiles and recipes are intended for information purposes only and have not been tested or evaluated. Ann King is not making any claims regarding their efficacy and the reader is responsible for ensuring that any replications or adaptations of the recipes that they produce are safe to use and comply with cosmetic regulations where applicable.

Step 2: Make the base balm Add the infused oil to the wax, Cocoa butter and Shea butter in a double boiler. Heat gently and stir until combined.

Step 3: Add essential oils and preservative Have the containers ready with the lids off.

Add the essential oils and Vitamin E to the base balm and pour into the containers. Be aware that the volatile oils will evaporate, so it is important to get the lids on relatively quickly. Label, and leave to cool completely.

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v: Flower Power

All the green Winters Rose Morley There are many plants known as Wintergreen.

It’s a name that gets you in the autumn mood, curled up snug on the sofa. But it also brings to mind the aches and pains that winter weather can bring. The essential oil of this month’s herb has many applications but is particularly used to ease the aches and pains of bones, to help alleviate the symptoms of arthritis or rheumatism, to soothe those winter chills.

The oil is steam distilled from the leaves of the small, evergreen herb (Gaultheria procumbens) that has been used for many years in herbal and folk tradition. It smells amazing and, when mixed into a cream, works on the joints and bones to reduce inflammation and pain. Of course, you’ll know that Wintergreen essential oil shouldn’t be ingested, nor applied neat to the skin. Always pop your essential oils into either a base oil or cream before applying to the skin. When the oil blend or cream is rubbed into the affected area, the oil is absorbed through the skin and the methyl salicylate (a naturally occurring active ingredient which makes up around 85% of Wintergreen essential oil) performs its anaesthetic effect on the nerves, inducing a feeling of mild numbness. It also increases blood circulation, so can bring a feeling of warmth to the area. It’s no surprise, then, that Wintergreen essential oil can also be useful in the treatment of headaches and colds. In fact, 1ml (twenty drops) of Wintergreen oil is equivalent to approximately 1800mg of Aspirin. That’s almost six times the strength of an average Aspirin tablet. A note of caution, then: don’t use this oil if you are on prescribed medicines that act to thin the blood, like Aspirin, or Warfarin, nor if you are haemophiliac, pregnant, or breastfeeding.

The oil blends well with the oils of Peppermint (Mentha x piperita), Vanilla (V. spp) and, my favourite, Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata).

Wintergreen is a top note oil, which means it’s a thinner oil that will come out of the bottle

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fairly quickly, so be careful when you start to use it.

Wintergreen flower essence is useful for the emotional side of things— but here we’re talking about another Wintergreen altogether. This one is Moneses uniflora, also known as One-flowered Wintergreen, Wood Nymph, Single Delight, Waxflower, Shy Maiden, or Star of Bethlehem. This flower essence is useful for alleviating despair; for spiritual crisis or emergency, for the fear of collapse or breakdown, or when you need to find hope again. It can help you open up to love and support from others; assisting you in letting go of old habits, surrendering to others, and trusting in the process of life.

Stress and despair bring physical pain as well as emotional pain, and the Wintergreens— whether essential oil of Gaultheria procumbens or flower essence of Moneses uniflora —can help us release, and lean into spiritual understanding.

‘I gladly embrace all the challenges life brings.

I am positive in myself’, as Leigh (2012) has it.

Image Rose Morley References draxe.com/essential-oils/wintergreen-oil healthline.com/health/wintergreen-oil Leigh, M. (2012) The Findhorn Flower Essences Handbook. Nature Spirit Publishing: Findhorn. organicfacts.com

Jenni Fagan The Bone Library

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vi: Sage Advice

Christmas Cacti Callum Halstead I’m sure many of us will remember Christmas Cacti from our childhoods. At one time or another, our parents or grandparents will doubtless have had a brightly coloured specimen growing at home— for some reason usually displayed in the window of the downstairs loo, leaves tinged red from too much sun. Then, for some reason, towards the end of the twentieth century, these little plants fell out of fashion. As we all retreat inside during these darker months of the year, I thought it would be timely to revisit these fine old houseplants to see what we’ve all been missing. To that end, I paid a visit to my good friend and Schlumbergera collector, Gunnar Ovstebo. Originally from Norway, Gunnar now lives in Edinburgh where he works at the Royal Botanic Gardens, caring for the glasshouse collections. In his spare time, he collects and breeds Schlumbergera, proving to anyone fortunate enough to see his spectacular collection that this once popular but now slightly overlooked genus is more than overdue a revival.

plant in his family home and taking cuttings to grow on felt as important as the continuation of any other family tradition. Even after amassing a collection of hundreds of different varieties of Schlumbergera, it is still the plants grown from these cuttings that remain the most important to him, and to which he feels the most enduring attachment.

The first thing I like to do whenever I visit Gunnar’s home is to stand at the foot of his tenement stairwell and look up. Spiralling up to the skylight in the roof above me, overhanging the banisters and thriving in the cool conditions, are tier upon tier of Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Cacti. Walking up the stairs, it’s easy to imagine I’m rising into the canopy of the Brazilian cloud forests where Schlumbergera are naturally found. It can take quite some time to get to the top; not because it’s a particularly tall building, but because it’s impossible not to stop to marvel at all the different shapes and colours of these spectacular plants. With each flight, the display grows more dense, luscious, and verdant.

The Christmas Cactus, as it is known, is the product of two species of Schlumbergera (S. russelliana and S. truncata), and the resulting hybrid is known as S. x buckleyi. Despite their name, these plants tend to flower early in the new year in the UK, usually through January into February. If you think you already have a Christmas Cactus but have been left scratching your head after it has finished flowering long before the start of December, it could be that what you actually have is an Autumn or Thanksgiving Cactus. These tend to have more S. truncata in their breeding, so start flowering a little earlier in the season. A good way to tell what’s what is to look at the margins of the ‘leaves’ (they are actually modified stems, called phylloclades).

Thanksgiving Cacti tend to show more toothed margins, while those of Christmas Cacti tend to be more rounded. You might also see plants being sold as Easter Cactus.

Although these are closely related, they belong to a different genus altogether— Rhipsalidopsis.

Quite the latest thing in the world of Schlumbergera is a sub-group of crosses, known as ‘Queens’. These are a cross between S. truncata and another species called S. orssichiana and sport flowers that are considerably bigger, bolder and even more fabulous than any of the other varieties mentioned here. In some cases, they have more than one flowering season, too.

Gunnar started growing Christmas Cacti after he was given a cutting from his mother’s plant, which had originally been handed down from his grandmother. He had grown up with this

Interestingly, the colour pigments found in Schlumbergera flowers are the same as those found in Beetroot (Beta vulgaris), which is why they inhabit the hotter end of the colour

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vi: Sage Advice spectrum with pinks, reds, oranges and yellows all available. A little rarer, and therefore highly sought-after, are the albino cultivars with their pure white blooms.

look, with pinkish-purple blooms and quite an upright growth habit. All are very strong growing plants that can be more readily relied upon to flower exactly at Christmas.

Many of the best and most prolific breeders of Christmas Cacti are based in Europe, primarily in the Netherlands. Regrettably, the current state of relations with the EU makes it extremely difficult for houseplant enthusiasts to buy plants directly from the continent without having to pay through the nose for the privilege. A good place to start your collection, therefore, would be at a local supermarket, garden centre or perhaps one of the new houseplant shops that have recently started springing up across the country.

You’re unlikely to find anything too unusual here, but they will often stock a nice selection of attractive colours to get you going. For those after something a little more select, Facebook (Meta) groups such as ‘Schlumbergera-Rhipsalidopsis-UA’ offer members opportunities to trade and buy plants from one another.

Some excellent varieties to look out for include S. ‘Purple King’, S. ‘Sonja’ and S. ‘Dutch April’. These are all quite similar in

Once you have a collected a few different Schlumbergera, it is very easy to start creating your own crosses and this is exactly what Gunnar has been doing for the past few years.

It’s easiest, of course, to cross plants that are in flower at the same time. However, it is possible to collect and freeze pollen for use later if you fancy a bit more of a challenge.

You’ll know if it hasn’t worked as the flower and ovary will wither and fall off, but if your cross has been successful, the ovary will swell and turn a pink or reddish colour, looking rather like a jellybean. It will take five to seven months for the fruit to ripen, so some patience is required. Once the fruit has ripened, it will start to soften and at this stage the seeds can be removed and dried on a piece of paper for a few days. Then sow a few dozen seeds on the surface of a small pot of sterilised seed compost. Cover the pot over with cling-film to create a tiny greenhouse-like environment, which you should then keep moist but not too wet. Once germinated, the new plants can be

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vi: Sage Advice kept in this pot for quite some time, so don’t feel that you need to pot them all up immediately.

Few young plants look as endearing as Schlumbergera seedlings. At Gunnar’s house, the sight of these alone was enough to spur me to cross-pollinate my own plants as soon as I got home. You won’t truly know what you’ve got until the plants flower for the first time, which can take two to three years.

Reassuringly though, it is apparently rather difficult to breed a Schlumbergera that doesn’t have incredible blooms. Perhaps as a result, the focus of Gunnar’s breeding efforts has been on creating plants that also have interesting foliage. This makes sense because for nine to eleven months of the year, depending on the plant, it is the leaves and not the flowers that will be on display. Earlier this year, Gunnar registered his first hybrid, S. ‘Brightlingsea’, a plant that not only has handsomely toothed foliage, but also produces large, fiery, two-tone flowers whose petals are a beautiful golden yellow, suffused with cinnabar tones at their margins.

When growing your own, a cooler room will certainly be preferable to a warmer one. The next consideration is light. Variations in light quality in different parts of the home can often pose something of a challenge to people who are new to growing houseplants. It can take some time to figure out exactly the best spot to achieve optimal growth, regardless of the type of plant you are trying to keep happy. It is important to remember that although Schlumbergera are adapted to grow in a shady environment, this does not mean that they can do without light; the shade cast by a forest canopy is not the same as the shade of a windowless boxroom. Bright, indirect light is best and placement within a metre or two of a north or east-facing window is usually optimal.

Better still, below a large skylight if you happen to have one.

Fortunately, Schlumbergera are very forgiving of poor placement and will let you know that they’re a bit unhappy about where they’ve been placed long before it’s terminal. Too close to a sunny window in summer and the plant’s leaves will 28

turn red, especially if they’re also a little thirsty, so simply move the plant slightly further away from the window, give it a good drink, and it should perk up. If the plant is not getting enough light, it’s not quite so obvious, but flowering will generally be reduced, and growth will be slower and quite one-sided as the plant reaches towards the light. Good growing partners for Schlumbergera that will thrive in similar conditions include Aspadistra spp. (Cast Iron Plant), Clivia spp. (Natal Lily), Haemanthus albiflos (Paintbrush), and Rhipsalis spp. (Mistletoe Cacti), as well as some bromeliads such as Aechemea spp.

Almost all Schlumbergera will grow into large plants if you let them. Mature specimens can reach nearly a metre across; very impressive if you have room. Where space is at a premium, and particularly if you have a lot of other house plants jostling for position, it is quite easy to restrict their growth simply by keeping the plants in small pots and, in effect, ‘bonsaiing’ them. Schlumbergera respond well to feeding, particularly if they’ve not been repotted in a while. Gunnar has achieved good results using Phostrogen All Purpose Plant

vi: Sage Advice Food. This can be an effective way to bulk up young plants and improve flowering, but you can quickly end up with a monster on your hands if you over-fertilise.

Finally, my thanks to Gunnar Ovstebo for sharing his collection with me, and his wisdom here.

As a new grower of Christmas Cacti, you will likely find that your main foes are Mealybugs.

Prevention being easier than cure, it’s always wise to check any new plants for hitchhikers, to avoid starting a colony of pests in your living room. If they do strike, spray the affected plants with SB Plant Invigorator, which will help to control the wee beasties, while also acting as a foliar feed to give your plants a bit of a boost.

When it comes to sharing your plants with friends and family, or indeed replacing plants that have outgrown your space, it’s quite straightforward to take cuttings of Christmas Cacti. It is possible to root entire branches, however a cutting that is two to three segments long will usually result in a better and more balanced plant. To take a cutting, break off the section that you want to propagate at the join where two segments meet and leave it in a cool, dry place for a few days for the wound to callus. After this, the cutting can be potted, with its bottom segment half submerged in the compost for stability. Gunnar favours Melcourt SylvaMix peat-free potting compost. However, almost anything can be used as long as good drainage is maintained. It’s best to avoid anything too ‘heavy’ or loam-based, like John Innes, but counter-intuitively this also rules out cactus and succulent composts. Place the pot somewhere cool and bright and water sparingly until you see new growth starting to form.

If I have at all tempted you into starting to grow Schlumbergera, then it would be remiss of me not to point you in the direction of www.schlumbergera.net. This fascinating website offers all sorts of useful resources for budding growers, including more detailed growing advice and an expansive list of wonderful cultivars to help you grow your own collection.

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vi: Jazz Ecology

The Hogweed and the Tilia tree Ramsey Afifi “I love Hogweed,” I said to a friend a few days ago. But can people love whole species? A species is a category and, according to some, a humanly constructed one. Such a term creates a boundary of inclusion and exclusion, pulling us away from the particularity of this flower in this moment. What could it possibly mean to love a cold and divisive lattice of generality? On the face of it, it seems like a misdirected emotion— possibly a reflection of my own human-centeredness, my own failure to see the individuality of the plants themselves. Could this be this superficial speciesism masquerading as love?

That I am endeared to Tilia trees on the basis of having one in the back garden of my childhood home is a betrayal of the depth of experience I actually had with that being.

Doesn’t it seem unlikely that people would love all other humans through having had a deep connection with a specific one? And if that did happen, it would seem somehow wrong— dehumanising. You can only love a category to the extent to which you fail to see the differences of its members. And yet, my feeling of attraction to, and desire to care for certain plant species is greater than it is for others.

And yet, and yet. A species also feels to me like something more than ‘just’ a category. It is also a recurrence. The growth and development of Hogweed is bound with the passing seasons. The pattern is real and very visceral: it is a yearly return of bright green hands splayed across the bare spring soil, frizzy white wrinkled leaflets skyward bound, a rapid acceleration towards the sun, the flower’s rupture from its papery sheath, the explosion of symmetry in pink or white, the spicy grapefruit and cardamom scented seeds left behind to dangle from dying stalks as the light and warmth recede. It is a return of associations with other plants, animals and with my memories too. Perhaps long-lived trees— those veterans seeped with centuries

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of idiosyncrasy— do not need to reproduce their pattern to keep these realities alive. We can simply wander back to the same tree again and again. But the return to annuals, and the way they stitch themselves into the memory of people and places, requires, it seems, the transcendence of the individual organism. After all, the bumblebee yearns for the Bramble blossom every July.

Each spring, my backyard Tilia spreads out new shoots and the tree’s form shifts, from the canopy all the way down to its epigenetics.

Some view a deciduous tree as a decentralised fury of annuals tied to a woody structure for ease of water and nutrient. So, perhaps we never return to the ‘same’ tree either. The idea of loving an individual and distrusting the love of a recurring pattern is perhaps not anthropocentric speciesism at all, then, but rather the conceit of those with central nervous systems! Perhaps. But I am not sure even this is quite right. Plants teach us about the reality of types, a kind of platonism that wraps its lessons back even into the human: is it not true that when we love another person, in some sense we love the recurrence of their pattern, too? Is this pattern not itself the collaborative recreation of countless beings and processes? Every cell is recycled, every memory and habit restored.

Differences and repetitions, themes, and variations, through and through.

It would be absurd to say that I only love my wife in a series of present moments. I also love her overall person, even though this ‘her’ is not instantiated in any specific moment. I only experience her in individual moments, but those moments are part of an overall pattern which includes all the moments I have and will experience with her. I have never met that overall person, because I cannot experience all these moments simultaneously.

But I love that person anyway. Loving a species is extended across instances in space, loving an individual person is extended across instances in time. All individuals are types, all categories are unique patterns of becoming.

And love happens in the interplay between all these contradictions.

Jenni Fagan Mother

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vii: The Chemistry Column

Beyond the bones Claire Gormley Whenever I hear ‘Calcium’ my mind immediately jumps to ‘strong bones’. That’s thanks to the highly successful Got Milk? advertisement campaign I was exposed to, growing up in the United States. I’m sure I am not alone in this. Got Milk?, along with many precursor campaigns, convinced us that the key to developing a healthy skeletal system was a daily dose of Calcium from the carton of milk on our lunch trays. It was only recently that I learned the truth behind the suggestion that drinking milk is the best way to build strong bones: the advertising campaign was designed to increase consumer demand, so that processed dairy products could be shipped to soldiers abroad (Belluz, 2015). In fact, portions of almonds, bok choy, broccoli and kale can each provide our body with more Calcium than a glass of milk, but we rarely consider these other sources because the association between Calcium and milk is so strong (Cormick and Belizán, 2019; Belluz, 2015). Now that the mental knot tying Calcium to milk has been loosened, I begin to wonder— how does Calcium contribute to our bodies beyond building strong bones?

Calcium belongs to the Alkaline Earth Metals— Group two in the Periodic Table of Elements —along with Beryllium, Magnesium, Strontium, Barium and Radium. Alkaline Earth Metals are all shiny, silvery-white in their solid 32

state. Like all the others, Calcium gives away its two outermost electrons, also known as its valence electrons, to achieve its most stable form. The loss of electrons, which are negatively charged particles, creates an overall positively charged atom, also known as a cation. The Calcium cation, Ca2+, is incredibly important for plant growth and development and cell wall formation, as well as for sending intracellular messages (Helper, 2005; White and Broadly, 2003; National Institutes of Health, 2021).

About 99% of the Calcium in our bodies is stored in our bones and teeth, providing them with structure and strength, hence the need to get enough Calcium in our diet to build strong bones (Lewis III, 2021; Harvard, 2021). The other 1% is needed by the blood to stimulate blood clot formation, as well as by muscle cells and neurons to activate specific cell functions (Singh et al, 2019; Lewis III, 2021). If these parts of our body are not getting sufficient Calcium, a hormone called parathyroid— one of two hormones that regulate the level of Calcium in our blood —is produced to signal our body to preserve Calcium and to stimulate our bones to release some of their stored Calcium for the blood, muscles, and neurons to use (Lewis III, 2021).

vii: The Chemistry Column In muscle cells, Calcium is required for contraction. The mechanisms that achieve this, known as voltage-gated channels, are utilised by many different types of cells to perform different functions. Because Calcium is found in higher concentrations outside of muscle cells— in the extracellular fluid —the process involves a build-up of positively charged ions (Ca2+) on one side of a membrane to create a concentration gradient.

Contraction of the muscle is dependent on the Calcium outside the cell flowing into the cell, but this is not as simple as it sounds (Kuo and Ehrlich, 2015; Helper, 2005). In order for Calcium to enter the cell, neurotransmitters must first bind to receptors on the surface of the muscle cell (another process dependent on the Calcium in our neurons). The binding of the neurotransmitter causes the cell membrane to depolarise, to rapidly switch off the positive and negative charges on either side of the cell membrane. The depolarisation causes specific Calcium protein channels— called L-type Ca2+ channels, located within the cell membrane —to open, allowing Calcium to flow into the cell. In turn, this influx of Calcium opens a larger Calcium channel located inside the cell (in the membrane of the sarcoplasmic or endoplasmic reticulum, depending on what type of muscle is contracting). These organelles store Calcium, so when the channels are opened the concentration of Calcium within the cell increases even further. After Calcium levels are raised inside the cell, Calcium binds to actin or calmodulin— two proteins found in striated or smooth muscles, respectively — and subsequent actions for contraction take place (Kuo and Ehrlich, 2015).

References Belluz, J. (2015) ‘How we got duped into believing milk is necessary for healthy bones’, in Vox. [Accessed 10 November 2021]. https://www.vox.com/2015/4/19/8447883/mi lk-health-benefit.

Brini, M.; Calì, T.; Ottolini, D., and Carafoli, E. (2014) ‘Neuronal Calcium signaling: function and dysfunction’, in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 71:2787-2814.

Cormick, G., and Belizán, J. M. (2019) ‘Calcium Intake and Health’, in Nutrients, 11(7):1606.

Helper, P. K. (2005) ‘Calcium: A Central Regulator of Plant Growth and Development’, in Plant Cell, 17(8): 2142-2155 Kuo, I. Y., and Ehrlich, B. E. (2015) ‘Signaling in Muscle Contraction’, in Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 7(2): a006023.

Lewis III, J. L (2021) ‘Overview of Calcium’s Role in the Body’, in MSD Manual [Last modified October 2021].

National Institutes of Health (2021) ‘Calcium’.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [Accessed 10 November 2021]. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/CalciumConsumer/ Singh, S.; Dodt, J.; Volkers, P.; Hethershaw, E.; Philippou, H.; Ivaskevicius, V.; Imhof, D.; Oldeenburg, J., and Biswas, A. (2019) ‘Structure functional insights into Calcium binding during the activation of coagulation factor XIII A’, in Scientific Reports, 9: 11324 White, P. J., and Broadley, M. R. (2003) ‘Calcium in Plants’, in Annals of Botany, 92(4):487-511

So, Calcium kickstarts a multitude of cellular processes in both plants and animals. Its ability to perform so many crucial roles for life is truly unique. Other cations, such as magnesium (Mg2+), have much stricter requirements for binding and are therefore more limited in the processes they can assist (Brini et al, 2014).

Thankfully, I now know more than one place where I can find the Calcium I need. Bring on the bok choy!

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Jenni Fagan Crow

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viii: The Climate Column

COP26 Patrick Dunne I am writing this article on what is expected to be the last day of the COP26 conference, Friday 12th November 2021. So, where are we at? What have we learned about the likelihood of staying below a 1.5 degrees average temperature rise? Who has made real and meaningful commitments to phasing out fossil fuel exploration, extraction, and exploitation?

Who is willing to stump up financial reparations to the most affected people and areas (MAPA)? Who has emerged as a global leader, ready to take on the enormous task of global societal transformation, to phase out our unjust economic and energy systems, to lead us to a more equitable, more sustainable future?

The answers, I’m afraid, make for grim reading.

This COP got off to a bad start, with snubs from China’s President Xi and Russia’s Putin, followed by Biden’s American economic agenda— which originally included punishments for industries and corporations who failed to curb emissions —effectively gutted by Democrat oil baron, Joe Manchin.

The impacts of the Covid pandemic have weakened even New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, whilst domestic economic matters and revelations of corruption and sleaze stole both the headlines and the attention of Messrs. Biden and Johnson, respectively.

The opening weekend speeches saw Prime Minister Johnson attempt to bluster inanely to a roomful of people who had actually read the briefings and the science for longer than it takes to dash off an amusing Telegraph article. The leaders of the MAPA countries gave impassioned speeches— the premier of Tuvalu addressing the COP whilst standing up to his thighs in rising seas (Guardian online, 2021) —but still their voices were drowned out by celebrity appearances and greenwashed adverts. We witnessed brazen rhetoric from Brazil’s President Bolsonaro and representatives from the Australian Government, urging further deforestation and

new investment in fossil fuels. It tuned out the largest delegation was made up of lobbyists from the fossil fuel industries, with more than 500 individuals counted. It’s reasonable to assume that the overall corporate network was far higher, including banks, insurance companies and others who fund, structure, and support our planet’s mega-corporations.

You couldn’t make it up, although it often seems like they are.

There was much talk of the $100billion owed by rich nations to those smaller, vulnerable nations who are most affected by the crisis.

The reparation payments, intended to help adaptation and mitigation, were supposed to be given in 2020, but are now due in 2022.

This seemingly generous sum is, it turns out, largely made up of loans which will create debt to benefit the rich nations. It’s also a drop in the bucket, given the loss and damage created by emissions from the rich countries.

So, at the end of COP26, the likelihood of staying below 1.5 degrees seems all but gone, with various assessments of the pledges from this conference suggesting that 1.9 degrees of warming by end of the century is highly likely, and anything up to 4 degrees is still a possibility.

On the plus side, an international coalition— including countries from Denmark to Costa Rica, but not the UK —has formed to lead countries away from fossil fuels (Shankleman & Dlouhy, 2021). It is a small, bright light in a pretty dark fog of weak promises and greenwashed pledges.

The COP26 Coalition— a union of various protest organisations —has provided inspirational talks and the opportunity to build and strengthen networks and ties with a range of international and indigenous leaders and communities. Together, they are holding international leaders and corporate interests to account for the local climate crisis unfolding all over the globe. It has been truly heartening to see local and indigenous leaders at the forefront of marches, protests, panel 35

viii: The Climate Column

discussions, assemblies and workshops all across the city. Huge credit must be given to the organisers, who have created something special in really challenging circumstances.

But make no mistake; we are now past the eleventh hour, and nothing has yet been presented or suggested at this COP that will slash greenhouse gas emissions at the level the IPCC considers necessary to limit warming below 1.5 degrees. Nothing has been agreed that will stop future exploration for oil and gas, nor the full recovery of those reserves we already have— all of which has been deemed essential if we are to have a realistic chance of limiting warming. And not one big economy— those historically high-emitting, colonizer countries of industry and empire —has come close to affording climate justice or equity anywhere near the level of importance reserved for their own consumption, wealth, or short-term political needs.

As a Conference Of the Parties, this has been a failure on every level. The soon-to-beforgotten speeches, the non-binding, watered-down pledges have failed to limit the impacts of climate change, instead pandering to those interests served by delay and distraction, offsets and carbon trading, unrealized future tech solutions, and infinite ‘green growth.’

In short, it has been just like almost every other COP. I can’t wait for 27.

We can only hope that this last weekend spurs more protests, generates more pressure, and ultimately forces some positive and binding agreements from the big economic powers who bear responsibility for most of the emissions, the warming and the economic injustice that are fueling this crisis.

We can only hope.

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References Shankleman, J. and Dlouhy, J.A. (2021) ‘U.K. Rejects Alliance Seeking Fixed Date to End Oil and Gas’, Article on Bloomberg Green, 9th November. Accessed via: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2 021-11-09/u-k-rejects-alliance-seeking-fixeddate-on-fossil-fuelphaseout?sref=RBX8CMa6 Unattributed (2021) ‘Tuvalu Minister Gives COP26 Speech while Standing in the Sea’, video article, The Guardian online. Accessed via: https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2 021/nov/09/tuvalu-minister-gives-cop26speech-while-standing-in-the-sea-video

Jenni Fagan The Family

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ix: Foraging through Folklore

Making no bones about the truth Ella Leith What did he doe with her breast-bone?

He made him a violl to play thereupon.

What did he doe with her fingers so small?

He made him peggs to his violl with-all. ...And then bespake the strings all three, ‘O yonder is my sister that drowned mee.’

These lines are found in a 1656 broadside entitled The Miller and the King’s Daughter, one of the earliest printed versions of the famous ballad usually known as The Two Sisters (Child, 1904:18-20). In the story, a girl is drowned by her jealous sister and her corpse washes up on the shore, where a passing musician uses her bones to fashion a musical instrument which, ‘to its owner's surprise, ... proves to have a mind of its own: it repeatedly sings a song telling about the wicked sibling's crime’ (Nagy, 1984:183).

Bones, it seems, are the ultimate truth-tellers.

The tale of The Two Sisters belongs to a category of world folktales known as International Tale Type 780: The Singing Bone. Musical bones appear often in tales from this category, but bones also appear in category Type 720: The Juniper Tree. The tale that gives this category its name was collected by the Brothers Grimm. In it, the bones of a little boy’s mother are buried beneath a Juniper (Juniperus spp.). Later, the poor boy is killed by his stepmother and fed to his father in a stew. His bones are then collected by his 38

grieving stepsister and laid under the tree where his mother is buried: The branches moved apart, then moved together again, just as if someone were rejoicing and clapping his hands. At the same time a mist seemed to rise from the tree, and in the center of this mist it burned like a fire, and a beautiful bird flew out of the fire singing magnificently, and it flew high into the air, and when it was gone, the juniper tree was just as it had been before, and the cloth with the bones was no longer there.

(Grimm, 1812) The bird sings to various craftsmen in exchange for gifts. Appley and Orangey— a Scots version of this tale, with a female protagonist —contains a particularly creepy song: Ma mammy killt me Ma daddy et me Ma sister Jeannie pickit my bones And pit em between twa marble stones

ix: Foraging through Folklore An Ah growd in a bonnie wee doodoo.

The doo-doo, or dove, sings to a watchmaker, a toymaker and an ironmonger. She then flies to the roof of her former home and calls down to her father to go to the chimney and hold out his hand. He receives a watch. She calls to her sister, who receives a doll.

Oh an the mother, she’s fair excitit, she doesnae ken whit tae dae, ye see.

“Is ma mammy there?”

“Aye, she’s here.”

“Well tell her tae look up the chumney!”’

She goes an she’s lookin up the chumney. An [the doo-doo] lops this big exe, an she gies it a throw doon, and cuts the heid clean aff the mammy. (Stewart, 1972) Bones, then, are all about truth and justice.

Swearing oaths on the relic bones of saints was so common in the Middle Ages that ‘at the Synod of Nicaea (787) it was commanded that no church should be consecrated which was not in possession of such a relic, under penalty of excommunication’ (Brinton, 1890:21). Breaking an oath so sworn was a terrible sin, due to a ‘magical virtue supposed to reside in bones’ (ibid.). The permanence of bones after the rest of the corpse has decomposed makes them the quintessential emblem of death, close to the afterlife, imbued with knowledge beyond human ken.

They insist on honesty.

In a 1955 interview, Jeems Wilson (1885-1962) recounted a Shetland belief that bones— ‘beens’ —could be used to determine the guilt of accused witches: hung at the church door, the suspects ‘were made to touch the beens and the beens drapped blud [blood], and aa were convictit of witchcreft.’

In the Highlands, the shoulder-blade of a sheep or other animal could determine the future within ‘the circle of the ensuing year’: Before the shoulder-blade is inspected, the whole of the flesh must be stripped clean off, without the use of any metal, either by a bone, or a hard wooden knife, or by the teeth.

Most of the discoveries are made by inspecting the spots that may be observed in the semi-transparent part of the blade; but very great proficients penetrate into futurity through the opaque parts also.

(Thoms, 1878:178) In Pennsylvania, the severity of the upcoming Winter could be predicted ‘by inspecting the breast-bone of a goose killed in November. If the surface has dark stains, the winter will be bitter; if the bone is white and clean, an open season may be anticipated’ (Brinton, 1890:18).

And how many of us conclude a roast dinner by pulling the wishbone of the chicken or turkey to determine whose wishes will come true?

Bones have also been used as amulets and charms: If you are bewitched, get a toad, kill it and take the breast-bone out ... [and] burn the bone. As the bone is burning, if the person who has bewitched you does not tell somebody, he or she will burst. (Bales, 1939:70) In parts of Eastern England, an animal’s ‘witchbone’ would be carefully extracted and carried by horsemen, who believed it would make any horse obey them (Rudkin, 1933:199) and any locked barn door open for them (Bales, 1939:69). Here are East Anglian instructions for getting hold of a witch-bone: Take a walking toad (you must watch it to see that it does not hop), and hang it on a line by one leg, or bury it in an anthill until only the bones remain. Take these bones and throw them into a running stream. Keep the bone that goes “against the tide” as it sinks (this does not always happen).

This is the witch-bone. (ibid) According to a Lincolnshire man, ‘you must get 'old of this 'ere bone afore the Devil gets it, an' if you get it an' keep it alius [always] by you ... then you can witch; as well as that, you'll be safe from bein' witched yourself’ (Rudkin, 1933:200).

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ix: Foraging through Folklore Animal bones may be used in this way, but human bones must be treated with the utmost respect. Desecrating human remains was and is deeply taboo in many cultures. It was an early belief that ‘the soul continued to dwell in the bones, and that their disturbance or destruction was ... a direct attack on the individual, and very much more than a mere insult to his memory or his relatives’ (Brinton, 1890:19). In many traditions, we find tales involving ghosts chasing and tormenting those who have taken their bones (ibid, p18), and of bad luck following those who do not heed the injunction to leave the dead in peace. In another legend from Shetland, collected from Alex Laurenson (1899-1981) in 1974, a landowner called Nicolson was promised fine livestock if he brought a human bone from under the pulpit at Weisdale Kirk back to his own local church. It took Nicolson three attempts to reach Weisdale, as first his mare, then his gelding refused to take him all the way there; finally, he arrived on a stallion.

Inside the church, he dug up a bone, but— he heard a voice tellin him to lay back that one, that was his... grandfather’s bone. He laid it back, he picked up a second one and he heard another voice tellin him to drop that, that was some of his ancestors’ bones. He took the third one and he says “Ah’m takin this, come what may.” And he got onto his horse again and he come back, and he were annoyed all the way, sounds and lightening and all these sort o thing that cud be goin, and at the Loch o Voe there was three heavy stones thrown at him, big rocks, they can be seen there yet. [...] An he got there to the kirk and lodged the bone under the pulpit, but when he come oot again his horse was dead outside the gate.

Nicolson received his promised livestock, but the animals didn’t prosper, and the laird put a legal claim against him that caused the loss of the title deeds to his lands. The dead have a bone to pick with those that disrespect them.

Many communities have believed that ‘the personality of the individual clung to his 40

skeleton’ (Brinton, 1890:18), that the bones carry something of the essence of the self. I think there’s something of that at work in the ballad of The Two Sisters: the harp or fiddle made of bones cannot just be an instrument, but must express the sorrow of the deceased person. Another of my favourite bone motifs is found in The Green Man of Knowledge, in which the Green Man’s daughter helps the protagonist, Jack, outwit her father by completing three impossible tasks. The first task is to retrieve a ring from the bottom of a deep well; to achieve this, she makes him a ladder from her bare bones. “Just be careful not to slip and crack one of the rungs,” she warns him. “Otherwise you may break my neck.” What a visceral image of love and selfsacrifice. To my mind, Jack doesn’t really deserve her— ever feckless, he does slip, luckily only breaking her pinkie finger. This is the ‘heart finger’ (Taylor, 1933), the finger of pacts and promises (Burne, 1914:288). Later in the tale, after the thankless heroine has completed the tasks for the useless Jack, rescued him from the castle and even murdered her father (is Jack really worth all this?!), she has to go away for a time. Jack is enchanted to forget all about her; only when she turns up at his wedding and shows him her crooked pinkie finger does he remember all she’s done for him. Once again, the bone— broken, like his promise and her heart — reveals the truth.

References Bales, E.G. (1939) ‘Folklore from West Norfolk’, in Folklore, 50(1):66-75 Brinton, D.G. (1890) ‘Folk-Lore of Bones’, in The Journal of American Folklore, 3(8):17-22 Burne, C.S. (1914) The Handbook of Folklore.

Sidgwick & Jackson: London Child, F.J. (1904) English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Houghton Mifflin Co: Boston. Full text available on archive.org Evans, A. (2011) ‘The Levitating Altar of Saint Illtud’, in Folklore, 122(1):55-75 Grimm, J. & W. (1812) Children and Household Tales. Compiled, translated, and classified by D.L. Ashliman.

ix: Foraging through Folklore sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimmtales.html [accessed 11/11/21] Nagy, J.F. (1984) ‘Vengeful Music in Traditional Narrative’, in Folklore, 95(2):182190 Rudkin, E.H. (1933) ‘Lincolnshire Folklore’, in Folklore, 44(2):189-214 Taylor, M.P. (1933) ‘Evil Eye’, in Folklore, 44(3):308-309 Thoms, J.W. (1878) ‘Divination by the BladeBone’, in The Folk-Lore Record, 1(1): 176-179 Stewart, S. (1972), ‘Appley and Orangey’, recording in the Terry Yarnell English & Irish Folk Music Collection, sounds.bl.uk/Worldand-traditional-music [accessed 04/11/2021] Interviews available from the Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches website, www.tobarandualchais.co.uk: Jeems Wilson: Track 27429 Alex Laurenson: Track 72776

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ix: Botanica Fabula

Winter’s bony grasp Amanda Edmiston Winter is stealthily gaining control once more.

In the garden where I'm sharing seed stories, one young, warm, soul is barefoot— and I remember that feeling of inner heat, a radiance that could not be stolen by seasonal variations of temperature nor dissolved by lack of clothing. I remember feeling I would never become one of those 'cold people', who felt icy fingers snatch at their bones, who could not brave the December air. No, I’d remain forever bare-limbed, scarf-free.

To be honest, despite frozen fingertips and chilled toes, I'm still the person who seems to have a secret deal with the devil of thermodynamics, the one most likely to shed a coat on a winter walk or to wander round the house in January in a vest top and skirt because someone put another log on the fire.

But Hades has now reached in and grasped my spine, whispered of my mortality, taught my bones, my joints to understand the cold. It is around this turn of the year when he would have been trying to tempt Persephone with the juicy seeds from that Pomegranate, trying to ensure she’d spend at least half her time in the dark underworld, trying to commit our mortal world to a seasonal change which even Demeter and Zeus could not prevent. Winter is here. Darkness has arrived. Persephone is trapped with Hades. The Cailleach is reminding us of her power as we reach for the last treasures from the woods to protect us.

Treasures to fight off the seasonal spread of colds, to guard our homes as we close doors, light fires, bake, make comforting stews and soups, have candlelit celebrations, coorie in with friends and families.

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Sustainable, fast growing Birch logs line the edges of our stove. According to Elizabeth Blackwell (1737), the smoke rising as they burn will protect us and bestow health benefits.

Pinecones, their resinous smell deterring respiratory infections, begin to congregate along the mantelpiece, placed there by the children after every walk. And just because... well, just because we're Scottish… the last of the Rowan berries, looped on red thread, prevent errant witches and ill-tidings from flying in through the windows. Ours is not the only culture to use berries as beads for protection and that’s what got me thinking…

The merest mention of this month’s herb, Wintergreen, immediately brings the taste of root beer to mind, conjuring the two months in my late teens spent in New Mexico studying First Nation Art and Culture at the University of Santa Fe. One of the teachers, from the Navajo nation, was showing us ‘ghost beads’, made from dried Juniper berries, said to protect the wearer from malevolent spirits and nightmares. There’s a thread that connects that Juniper with Scotland's herbal traditions; it was once the preferred plant for protective saining.

As I research Wintergreen more, I begin to wonder if, alongside protecting from colds and ill health, it might also have been used as an amulet, a bead, an adornment with purpose. It's certainly aromatic and would make a lovely, fragrant bead… but I can find no record of such. But I suspect it will make a perfect accompaniment to the woodland

ix: Botanica Fabula talismans and herbal helpers that see us into Yule and the heart of winter, so we will add it.

Alongside the twists of Birch bark, the Juniper, Rowan, and Pinecones, I’ll add Wintergreen to our garland and, carrying it, will step towards the shimmering lights of celebration, deep in the heart of the wild wood.

We'll need to traverse old, forgotten pathways.

Step round the Ivy-clad trunks that shelter trembling birds from the cold North wind, pass the green Lichen-furred Oak, listen to the owl’s hoot and call, and we'll find ourselves in a clearing deep in the heart of the ancient forest.

In the centre of the clearing is a cottage. A cottage in the heart of the wild wood.

In the cottage lives a family, poor in gold but rich in love.

The scent of Pine resin fills the air, as a large pot of stew simmers on a warm fire. It’s a sparse meal— just a few carefully stored vegetables for the stew, maybe the last of the flour as a crust for the fruit, eked out with the last of the Rowan berries or Wintergreen.

The food might be poor but it’s a well-loved home and the family are happy.

We watch through the veil of trees and time.

The night closes in, a rich velvet starlit night and the snow is falling.

Not a sound...

Only the feather-like drifting of snow…

Softly, we sense presence, footsteps walking through the snow. There’s a gentle tap at the Larch wood door. An old woman stands outside, the flakes fall around her as the cold wind blows.

The family cannot believe this ancient figure has travelled in this dark, ominous night. They usher her in, apologizing for the meagre meal they share but welcoming her to their fire and their stories.

It is just past longest night, the snow clouds have smothered the stars, the moon is enveloped in a diaphanous chiffon of ice, and the flakes are falling fast. Surely, she must stay with them.

Morning is icy, bitter, and chill, but the crystaltinted sun makes an effort, and the family rise with the winter light, ready to build up the fire once more. Expecting to share their meagre breakfast with their strange visitor, the children make their way downstairs only to find her gone. The father rushes to the door, but she isn’t in sight. Not even a footprint shows where she has been.

But there, outside the door, the Pine tree at the heart of the forest now stands covered in stars, twinkling and magical like the night sky.

On the hearth sits a hearty meal and a warm loaf of bread.

And from that day on, so the trees tell me, on longest night the family receive a meal and a tree covered in stars as a gift for helping a poor old woman with the last they had to share.

Let’s slip away now. The night is dark. Let’s return to our own hearths, protected by the last of the season’s berries, by things gathered from the woods. Let’s light a fire to stop Hades or the Cailleach grasping at our bones. Let’s coorie in, rest, and await the shift back into the light.

References Blackwell, E. (1737) A Curious Herbal is available via open access at www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/571 Homer 'Hymn to Demeter', in Rayor, D. (2014) The Homeric Hymns: A Translation, University of California Press.

To find out more about the practice of saining, see Scott Richardson Read: www.cailleachsherbarium.com Amanda is currently working with Edinburgh Seed Library, delivering workshops exploring our vital connection to seeds and how stories help us share and preserve knowledge, just as we share seeds and save them for the future.

You can find out more at edinburghseednetwork.org

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ix: StAnza Presents…

Éadaoín Lynch Boireann Exposed as the crown of a balding head, The Burren persists. Its great stage Has seen more aging than this— Mollusc and ammonite riveted In its face as fossils. Your feet are On an ocean floor carved up by Glacial ice, but this rock sinks So deep no water can follow; Archives of abandoned living.

Wind covers the Burren with its breath And on rare days, it lifts.

Trees don’t thrive in six inches of topsoil,

On rare days, it lifts. Like a pause

The westerly gales make sure of that.

In music, a note suspended between

But, when trees do grow—

One bow stroke and the next.

Whittled thickets and hollowed crowns Bent double on ancient stone, parallel To earth. As if they do not age, They simply lean further And further down. Locals say They shelter fairy folk. We hear Their laughter when we play a jig.

Our rhythm is a dance Through the branches.

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ix: StAnza Presents…

I stood at the edge of Dún Aengus And looked into the abyss of the sea.

What once was a stronghold now Slowly eaten by a yawning maw, Fierce and stormy water.

Close to an edge of awe and terror, A deep wheel that comes to a stop— I lose gravity in that sudden drop, That creeping freefall, before I fall asleep.

For now it’s no more than a minor key, Pulled from my mind like roots.

I was told our music was born

Sing an aisling along the road to mark it.

From the landscape. Phrasing, The way the stresses fall, is How we move along the limestone, Living between one bow stroke and the next.

Éadaoín Lynch is an Irish poet based in Edinburgh, leading the Creative Scotland project, Re·creation: A Queer Poetry Anthology. They have previously been shortlisted for the Jane Martin Poetry Prize and the London Magazine Poetry Prize. Their most recent work is forthcoming in the Fawn Press anthology Elements.

StAnza brings poetry to audiences and enables encounters with poetry through events and projects in Scotland and beyond, especially their annual spring festival in St Andrews. www.stanzapoetry.org

Facebook: stanzapoetry

Instagram: @stanzapoetry

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Jenni Fagan Collected Bones

46

x: Book Club

A Spell in the Wild: A Year (and six centuries) of Magic (Tarbuck, A.: Two Roads, 2020) Reviewer: Kyra Pollitt This is a book about witchcraft. I’m open to that. I regularly commune with the living and the dead, conjuring and responding to spirits everywhere. Surprisingly, then, this has turned out to be a difficult review to write, since I found myself both loving and hating the central tenet of this book.

As a feminist and a linguist, I’m all for the reclamation of derogative terms (‘dyke’, ‘queer’, ‘feminist’, and more) but I struggled here. I grew up in Lancashire and, in Tarbuck’s terms, the women in my family are and have always been wholly and undoubtedly witches.

But, as Tarbuck acknowledges, ‘witch’ remains a deeply gendered, and therefore exclusionary term. More, it’s freighted with femicide, in a world that remains patriarchal and dangerous. Audre Lorde would argue, ‘the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,’ and I needed some substantial argument from a book seeking to reclaim, broaden, and reuse that mantle.

Tarbuck offers some terrifically well-structured and deeply informed critiques of historical perspectives on witches— I loved these sections —but I struggled with the integrity of her alternative version.

So, let’s set the terminology aside for a moment. Where this book urges a reconnection to land, to spirit, to an understanding of our own being, to joy, curiosity, and wonder, Tarbuck’s message is clear and important. The frontispiece carries a quote from Nan Shepherd, and herbalism, Paganism and New Animism are suffused throughout, though perhaps not in the concentrations one might wish. For example, to connect to the turning of the year, each chapter is devoted to a calendar month, though sometimes the connection is frustratingly nebulous (November: Sex Magic).

Tarbuck writes with clear intelligence, fluidity, some lyricism, and the authenticity of lived experience. But in referencing only the last six

centuries, she stops her own tongue from reciting the ancestral wisdom and poetry found in the works of, say, Shepherd or Robyn Wall Kimmerer. Maybe that’s just evidence of how dislocated we have become from our heritage and, therefore, how much this book is needed. The praise on the back cover, and the comments frequently posted on the author’s Twitter page would seem to attest to that. Indeed, Tarbuck directly addresses an audience trapped in polluted urban concrete, adapting many of her practices to suit such circumstances. This would seem a strength, but it’s also where I lose her.

More than once, she mentions the ‘frippery’ associated with practising as a modern witch, and perhaps it’s the decadent ‘high silliness’ accompanying this ‘self-identification’ that rankles. And if masturbating in the bath can be classed as ‘powerful sex magic’, then the definition of ‘witch’ is surely so broad as to be unworkable. So why attempt to claim it? Why reach for an identity that posits your experience as more mystical and special than anyone else’s? Why not reach beyond the last six centuries to times when this connection was mainstream and celebrated? Why hand to a capitalist patriarchy the tools with which to marginalise you? I think of the enormity and urgency of our climate catastrophe and how important it is to mainstream discourses of connection. I wonder whether male readers might be attracted to these pages. I am clearly the wrong demographic. I just didn’t vibe with it. Perhaps it’s that I didn’t grow up with Harry Potter, and can’t relate when Buffy the Vampire Slayer is referenced as seminal text.

But you may well know just the person who will. And if ‘witch’ is a gateway identity to wellies, then perhaps there’s nothing wrong with that.

The book has just been released in paperback, so you might consider stuffing it into a daughter’s or niece’s blue, or even black fishnet Christmas stocking.

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xi: Contributors

Ramsey Affifi is Lecturer in Science (Biology) Education and Environmental Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. ramseyaffifi.org

Hazel Brady’s background is in IT, but she has always loved plants and since retiring has expanded her knowledge, especially around herbs. She completed the Diploma in Herbology at RBGE under Catherine ConwayPayne. Retirement has also given her the opportunity to develop another of her interests— an artistic practice centred in drawing and painting.

Patrick Dunne is an Edinburgh-based community gardener. Since 2018 he has, with his partner Katie Smith, co-organised an International Fringe event staging readings of the 2018 IPCC 1.5 Degrees Global Warming report, made lots of flat sourdough bread and camped, marched and organised as an occasional environmental activist.

Amanda Edmiston was raised in stories; her mother is a professional storyteller, her dad was a toymaker, her grandfather a sculptor, her gran a repository of traditional remedies and folklore. After studying law, then herbal medicine, Amanda began to blend facts, folklore, traditional tales, history and herbal remedies into unique works. Based in rural Stirlingshire, you can follow her on Facebook, @HerbalStorytell, and find more of her works at www.botanicafabula.co.uk

Claire Gormley is a graduate of Moray House School of Education and teaches biology and chemistry in Edinburgh. She earned an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from James Madison University in 2017, and a MSc in Science Communication and Public Engagement from the University of Edinburgh in 2019. Claire is passionate about building positive relationships between communities and Science through education and engagement

Callum Halstead is Senior Gardener at Cambo Gardens. He studied BSc Horticulture with Plantsmanship at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and brings this knowledge to bear both professionally and in his own garden, where he also practices as a keen floral photographer. IG: @callum_halstead

Marianne Hughes began following her interest in complementary medicine after a career in Social Work Education and voluntary work in Fair Trade. Starting with Reflexology & Reiki, she progressed into Herbal Medicine. The evening classes at the RBGE got her hooked and she completed the Certificate in Herbology and, more recently, the Diploma in Herbology. Her current joy is experimenting with herb-growing in her own garden, in a local park, and alongside other volunteers in the RBGE Physic Garden. marianne@commonfuture.co.uk

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xi: Contributors

Ann King has always dabbled in gardening in some shape or form is now a horticultural therapist and graduate of the RBGE Herbology Diploma.

She is passionate about facilitating nature re-connection and enabling its therapeutic benefits by creatively adapting knowledge and stories for organised group sessions: either outdoors, incorporating exercise; or sedentary, indoor, experiential workshops. You can follow her on IG: @annlovesherbs or at www.thymefornature.com

Dr. Ella Leith is an ethnologist and folklorist who studied in Scotland and now lives in Malta. She particularly loves folktales and the storytelling traditions of linguistic and cultural minorities. IG: @leithyface Rose Morley qualified as a Bach Flower Registered Practitioner in February 2017, after studying the system for over two years. It was her longstanding, keen interest in alternative medicine, and her passion for flower remedies in particular, that led Rose to obtain Bach Foundation International Register (BFRP) Practitioner status. rose.morley@hotmail.co.uk

Maddy Mould is an illustrator living in the Scottish Borders. Her work is heavily influenced by the magic of the surrounding natural landscape.

IG: @maddymould and www.maddymould.co.uk

Joseph Nolan practices Herbal Medicine in Edinburgh and specialises in men’s health and paediatrics. He is a member of the Association of Foragers, and teaches classes and workshops related to herbal medicine making, wild plants, foraging, and natural health. You can find him on Facebook and Instagram @herbalmedicineman, and on his website: www.herbalmedicineman.com

Kyra Pollitt is a graduate of the Diploma in Herbology at the RBGE. When not editing Herbology News, she works as a translator, interpreter, writer and artist. She lives on the Isle of Harris, where she is busily planting and growing a garden. www.actsoftranslation.com and www.wilderorb.com

Dora Wagner is a graduate of the RBGE Diploma in Herbology, and a Didactician in Natural Science. She also works as a Naturopath for Psychotherapy, and as a Horticultural Therapist. She currently lectures in Medical Herbalism at the University of Witten/Herdecke, and is leading a project reconstructing the medicinal herb garden of an Anthroposophic Hospital in Germany. dora.wagner@t-online.de and www.plantadora.de

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xi: Looking Forward

01//22: The Gentle Issue If you’ve enjoyed these pages, be sure to catch our first issue of 2022, featuring:  Your favourite columnists  Plus, Herb of the Month: Ground Ivy (Nepeta hederacea)  Plus, the art of Jenna McKechnie  Plus, a focus on the stomach  Plus, an interview with the folks at Edinburgh Fermentarium  Plus, poetry from Nine Arches Presents…

And more….

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