Rosie you can email me at bekki@church-of-earth-healing.org

Very interested in the story about the Elder and your mother... not the first time I had heard that cutting an Elder is bad luck. I have a strong connection to that tree, and we have many American Elders growing by our creek, and a European Elder I bought from a nursery catalog. I love them in bloom, we make medicine from the flowers and also eat the blossoms fried with an egg batter.

We always make offerings to the plant spirits before we make medicine, also to the spirits of the land. There is a wild rose arbor in one corner of my herb garden which backs onto the hill where the woods begins, I have always felt that corner particularly belongs to the Fey. Even though I'm not fond of the rose bush I can't bring myself to cut it down, I feel like it is theirs and I would be betraying a trust if I did so. I also feel that they really like to be sung to back there. There's also a special stone there for offerings.
Virginia-- I've hear they like milk or cream, so that's what I usually give them, do you think it matters what we give them?

Rosie I will email this thread to my husband Crow and see if he can find that book, he's in England presently. Also he might have some thoughts about all of this to contribute.

Clairebear interesting song, I'm no scholar of that period, but somewhat familiar with the astrological assignment of rulerships to herbs and plants-- I'd guess that there might be a relationship between the body parts associated with Saturn (bones, particularly knees) for healing,or magical uses of plants that might have a Saturn rulership or affinity-- I just don't know much about the plants mentioned in the song. But Culpepper's Herbal might refer to some of them. And Maude Grieve's Herbal refers to Culpeper too I think.

Looking forward to having some time in January to check out the links and songs in some of the previous posts.