Wild Flowers as They Grow 



propitiated the powers that be, and young men and 



maidens wove for themselves garlands of St. John's 



Wort and vervain — another "plant of power" — and 



lighted fires, and then, dancing round the fires, cast 



their wreaths therein as they prayed for good fortune 



through the coming year. Doubtless the custom 



was the survival from pagan times of some sort of 



propitiatory sacrifice. 



To the St. John's Wort, too, was attributed the 



power of warding off the speUs of witches, and of 



keeping at bay evil spirits ; decoctions made from 



it were beUeved to be wonderfully efficacious in 



restoring sanity to the mad and in reUeving the 



fits of the epileptic. Therefore was it called " Fuga 



daemonium," or the " Devil's bane," as it acted so 



effectually as a devil chaser. In Saxony custom has 



long decreed that each village maiden must seek 



the plant on St. John's Eve. 



" Thou silver glow-worm, oh lend me thy light, 

 I must gather the mystic St. John's Wort to-night ; 

 The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide 

 If the coming year shall make me a bride." 

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