Aster. 
133 
call ‘amellus.’ The herb is very easy to be found, for the 
root—which consists of a great bunch of fibres—sends forth a 
vast number of stalks. The flower itself is of a golden colour, 
surrounded by a great number of leaves, which are purple like 
violets. The altars of the gods are often adorned with wreaths 
of these flowers.” 
The star-flower, as the Germans call the aster, is employed 
by that people as a village oracle, after the manner described 
under the heading of daisy. Gothe, in his great tragedy of 
“ Faust,” makes a beautiful use of this superstition. It is in 
the well-known garden scene, where Faust is walking with the 
young and guileless Marguerite—a scene that Retzsch has 
chosen for his wildly-suggestive pencil, and L. E. L. for her 
plaintive pen to reproduce. The poor, lovelost girl gathers a 
flower, and, according to her simple method of divination, 
proceeds to pluck off the florets, alternately repeating the 
words, “ He loves me,” “he loves me not.” On arriving at the 
last leaf, she joyously exclaims, “ He loves me! ” and Faust, 
in spite of himself, overpowered by her childish innocence, 
breaks forth, “Yes! he loves thee: let this floral token be a 
decree of Heaven ! ” 
Dr. Zerffi, in his valuable notes to his edition of “ Faust,” says, 
“ It is a general custom for lovers to consult flowers, as a sort 
of oracle, as to whether their love is returned or not. The 
plan adopted is simple enough. A star-flower, which seems 
to be the favourite, is selected, and the person consulting it 
repeats the words 
“ 1 Er liebt mich von Herzen 
Mit Schmerzen, 
Ja—oder mint 
A single leaf is pulled off at each recurrence of the words ja 
and nein, and the answer of the oracle is yes or no, as ja or 
nein is pronounced on pulling the last of the leaves.” 
