PERSONALITY OF PLANTS 
has long been celebrated in the mysteries of 
witchcraft. Perhaps its usual place of growth 
in old graveyards among decaying bones and 
mouldering coffins has much to do with the sin- 
ister superstitions and legends connected with it. 
The Belladona is another plant whose name 
is often associated with black magic. 
To this day many Danes believe that the 
Elder is eternally cursed. Children who sleep 
in beds containing Elder wood continually 
complain of having their feet tickled and their 
legs pulled. To carry a cane of Elder is to in- 
vite attacks of slander. Women who have Elder 
wood in their houses will never be married. It 
is the elves who dwell in the Elder who are sup- 
posed to work all this mischief. 
Plants often rise superior to the curse which 
men place upon them. Probably every well- 
known plant, sometime in its history, has had 
attributed to it both good and evil. The deity 
of one nation may become the demon of another. 
Plant worship holds a more prominent place 
in the world today than one would at first 
thought imagine, and it is not altogether con- 
fined to uncultured peoples. Dr. George Bird- 
[152] 
