MAGICAL PLANTS 97 



" Some sorcerers do boast they have a rod, 

 Gathered with vows and sacrifice, 

 That, borne aloft, will strangely nod 

 To hidden treasure where it lies." 



Hazel has always been the favourite tree amongst 

 us to be employed for the divining rod, though 

 peach, osier, and blackthorn have also been used 

 for this purpose. Elder must never be employed 

 under any circumstances. 



The Chinese still abide by the venerable instruc- 

 tions that the operation must be performed so that 

 the eastern and western sun shone through the fork 

 of the rod; and their magic wands are cut usually 

 from the peach, on the night preceding the new 

 year, which always commences with the first moon 

 after the winter solstice. 



The following directions are culled from an old 

 book of magic: "The rod must be cut at Mid- 

 summer night, or when the stars are in a particu- 

 larly favourable condition, and in cutting it one 

 must face the east, so that the rod shall be one 

 which catches the first rays of the morning sun, or, 

 as some say, the eastern and western sun must 

 shine through the fork of the rod, otherwise it will 

 prove of no avail. The shape of the rod is similar 

 to the letter Y, and when in operation the hands 

 usually grasp each side of the diverging arms, and 

 allow the unforked part to point outwards. 



"The seventh son of a seventh son is the most 

 successful person to use the rod." 



" Mysterious plant ! whose golden tresses wave 

 With a sad beauty in the dying year. 

 Blooming amid November's frost severe, 

 Like the pale corpse-light o'er the recent grave ! 



7 



