With the wonderful summer ritual of Eniovden arriving tomorrow, June 24, we’d like to share with you an excerpt from out book written about the herbs used in a magical wreath made especially for this celebration.
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The herbs collected are powerful, healing, enchanting, and dangerous—and so are the Samodivi, woodland nymphs, who, according to folkloric belief, tend to the plants and all forms of nature. On Eniovden, the 77½ herbs are twisted into a giant wreath for girls to pass through as a right-of-passage into adulthood. According to folk belief, the herbs in the wreath can break spells and drive away a dragon (zmey). It’s well-known that dragons love to capture girls for brides, so the girls need this extra protection as they near adulthood. The girls also place a wreath of herbs on their heads, to deter the zmey from loving them, because the wreath contains herbs that repel dragons and Samodivi as well.
Each of the herbs in the wreath has a special role. Some of the most important are Lady’s bedstraw (see more below), which gives its name to the holiday (Enyovche). It is added for health, while primrose brings wealth, and lemon balm ensures fertility and many children. Other herbs provide protection from evil forces and magic spells, such as primrose again, yellow sweet clover, cowslip, tansy, hellebore, iris, burning bush, and ivy.
Girls and women of all ages gather the herbs early in the morning before sunrise when their healing power is at their peak. If the gathering coincides with a full moon, that’s even better, because the herbs will be more potent. First, the participants must ask the Samodivi for permission to collect herbs on this magical day. The asking, however, is not done with words. The girls pick plants that grow around a holy spring, iazmo, because this is where the Samodivi like to spend their time. Holding each other’s hands, the females twirl around the herbs three times, in a silent horo, a circle dance. Then they immerse the herbs they’ve gathered into the Samodivi’s magical water, silent water, to fill the plants with the power of the nymphs.
If the girls fail to do everything properly, the herbs will become poisonous, not healing, and will be good for only black magic. Many folk songs tell tales of Samodivi who punished people with diseases for their misdeeds.
It’s also traditional to tie a red thread around Eniovden herbs and flowers to make a kitka (bouquet). The red color provides extra protection. People preserve these kitkas in their homes to ensure those living there are protected from diseases and troubles throughout the year. And healers use them to cure sicknesses. At the end of the year, families discard the kitka, its power having been depleted, and make a new one.
As a general rule, herbs are good for one year. This is the reason healers gather only amounts they need, to preserve the herbs for future use. Each healer has her own magical garden, which she keeps secret, to share only with the enchanting Samodivi.
You can learn more about Eniovden and other Bulgarian rituals in my book Light Love Rituals: Bulgarian Myths, Legends, and Folklore.
Galium verum
Yellow bedstraw
Description: The stem grows to a height of around 2 to 4 feet (60 to 120 cm). Groups of six to twelve thread-like leaves form a whorl around it. They are shiny and dark-green and have a hairy underside. Bright-yellow flowers gather in dense clusters at the top of the stem. They produce a smooth nut that splits in half when ripe. The plant’s roots are shallow.
History and Traditions: The genus name comes from the Greek word gala for “milk,” owing to the fact the plant was traditionally a way to curdle milk for cheese making and produce the yellow color of cheese. Verum is Latin for “true.” The plant gets its common name from medieval times, when the dried plants, which were soft and springy, were stuffed into mattresses, often for pregnant women. The herb’s scent not only acted like a flea repellent, it was also believed to help with a safe delivery. Other origins of the name say it refers to herbs found in the hay in Jesus’s cradle in the Bethlehem manger. In Scandinavia, the herb was called “Frigg’s grass” after the goddess of married women, and it was administered as a sedative to women giving birth.
Habitat and Distribution: Native to Europe and northern Africa, and it has been naturalized in North America and New Zealand. The plant grows abundantly in meadows and fields and along roadsides, and it is found in maritime locations.
Growth: Perennial. The plant blooms from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. It prefers dry or moist soil and grows in well-drained sandy, loamy, and clay soils, anything but the most acidic soils. It can flourish in full sun, although it prefers partial shade.
Harvesting: Flowers and leaves are used. Harvest the plant when it blooms. Spread the stems out in thin layers in a shady, well-ventilated area to dry.
Medical Use: In folk medicine, people wash their faces with a decoction to firm their skin or to relieve eye pain. It’s also drunk to stop nosebleeds. Combined with olive oil, the decoction is applied to the skin to relieve boils. Rinsing one’s head with an infusion of the herb is a treatment for dandruff, and creams with the herb are a treatment for psoriasis. Other uses are for fever, hoarse voice, stomachaches, painful menstruation, and depression. More serious afflictions it has been a remedy for include kidney and liver disease and epilepsy.
Rituals and Magical Use: This is one of the most important herbs woven into the giant Eniovden wreath. In Bulgarian folklore, the herb provides protection from Samodivi, dragons, and diseases (which were personified). The girls keep bouquets with the herb throughout the year, as it offers them protection and healing. Another Eniovden custom is to decorate a young girl with the herb and parade her around the village as Enio’s bride to commemorate an ill-fated love story about a girl named Stana and a boy named Enio. Fortune telling is another Eniovden ritual. The girls tie rings to the flowering herb and place them in water. The eldest woman from the village removes them one by one and predicts each girl’s future: to one wealth, to another a wedding, and so on. The yellow bedstraw herb also offers protection to pregnant women from Navi, demonic creatures that have a bird-like body and distorted baby’s head. These creatures are known for attacking pregnant women. When a woman is around seven or eight months pregnant, she passes through a large yellow bedstraw wreath three times for protection. The herb is also worn in belts to prevent back pain during the harvesting season. In another custom, yellow bedstraw is added to a child’s bath so he won’t suffer from polio.
Other Use: The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The seeds are also edible and can be roasted as a coffee substitute. The stem and leaves or flowering top produce a yellow dye and food coloring, and the roots a red one, although the roots are too insignificant to make this a profitable venture. Adding a bit of the herb to your shoe is done to prevent blisters.
Other Names: Lady’s bedstraw, Our Lady’s bedstraw, yellow bedstraw, yellow spring bedstraw, maid’s hair, cheese rennet.
Aromatic: The flowers are odorless, but the dried plant smells like newly mowed hay. The herb has a bitter taste.
CAUTION:
Large doses can cause headaches, allergic reactions, and rashes.
Treating Wounds
Grind the herb into a powder, which can be sprinkled onto inflamed wounds. This is purported to protect against secondary infection.
Our Lady’s Bedding
A medieval legend says that the Virgin Mary gave birth on lady’s bedstraw and bracken. The lady’s bedstraw bloomed in recognition of the holy child, and the faithful plant’s flowers changed from white to gold. The bracken, however, refused to acknowledge Jesus, and as a result, it lost its flower.
If you enjoyed this sample, you can discover more about the herbs that are used in this magical wreath in our book 77 1/2 Magical Healing Herbs.