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Magical Herbs of Slavs: Lily-of-the-Valley Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis) – Slavic cunning men used lily-of-the-valley in spells to preserve young girl’s beauty. Young girls rubbed its root on their cheeks to become blushy. Its leaves were used as Easter egg colorant (green). Tincture of lily-of-the-valley (often combined with valerian, motherwort, or hawthorn) helps treat heart disease. Water distilled with lily-of-the-valley flowers is very useful in eye disease – it is used just like rose water and applied to the eyes. Potions made with lily-of-the-valley were used to treat epilepsy and hydrops, remove drowsiness. An infusion of a certain kind of lily-of-the-valley called Solomon’s Seal is good for washing face. In Slavic legends, lily-of-the-valley flowers have been associated with woman’s tears spilled out of love. A Christian legend tells of Mother Mary crying about her deceased Son. Where her tears fell, lily-of-the-valley grew. Ukrainians believed that these flowers grew where a girl spilled her tears crying about her love not returning from a distant journey. According to an ancient Russian legend, no one other than Sadko, the legendary merchant and skillful musician, became the reason of lily-of-the-valley’s appearance. Water Princess Volkhova (or Volkhva) fell in love with Sadko, but he gave his heart to Lubava – daughter of the forests and fields. Sad Volkhova came out on land and started crying, and her tears turned into lily-of-the-valley – a symbol of pure and unrequited love. Lily-of-the-valley is a charm of loyalty and purity, but in wrong hands it may be used to make two people split up. According to a legend, aroma of lily-of-the-valley flowers collected, purchased, and given on a New Moon awakens lust in women, making them easily seduced. If collected on a morning of a Full Moon, on the opposite, it aids a high romantic love and makes loss of virginity less painful. It is believed that a man becomes gentler, and a woman becomes more passionate if they place a bouquet of lily-of-the-valley collected on Waxing Moon near their bed Credit :MagPie (aka Olga Stanton)

A post shared by Handmade, Folk Art, Europe (@slavicfolkmuseum) on May 14, 2019 at 5:05pm PDT