Selaginella lepidophylla / Rose of Jericho / Selaginellaceae (Spikemoss family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Rose of Jericho, Resurrection Plant, Jericho rose, Texochitl Yamanqui (Nahuatl), Muchkok (Yucatan), Doradilla (Mexico).

Aromatic Properties

Brings peace, power and abundance. The Jericho Rose is a rare magical commodity, sought after for use in voodoo and Cuban Santeria love and money spells and is sought in the Holy land by pilgrims as a holy relic. The amazing Resurrection Plant is a marvelous example of nature's wonders and can serve as a living symbol of one's faith and confidence in natures power to resurrect and bring life to what seems dead and lifeless.
It is said that you will have all the blessings life can bring, if the plant, or a piece of it is kept in the home in a bowl of water. The water needs changed often and is sprinkled about the home to cleanse it of all negativity and bring peace. When carried on a person is said to absorb negative energy. It is used as an amulet to promote a long and healthy life.

Preparation

Completely dried out Jericho roses will grow if placed in water and left. When it is dry, it folds and turns grey and brittle. Yet place it in water and it recovers its natural green color and unfolds to become a lovely living organism again and it does this over and over again. It will bring peace, power, and riches to your home while chasing away evil and bad luck. Place the Rose in a saucer or bowl of water for 3 days or more, until it becomes green and open. The water must be changed often. The rose must be allowed to dry out again completely, after maximum one week.

Additional Remarks

...The wizened old man was a healer of the desert people. He had served his tribe well and always shared his knowledge freely. One day he was called to doctor a woman who was complaining of sharp, unrelenting belly pains. He went to her lodge, made his prayers, and did the healing. The pain was gone. Her daughter asked the Old One, "Grandfather, what was that dried up ball of a plant that you put on my mother's stomach?" The old healer smiled and explained. "That plant is called a Jericho Rose. They blow over the desert like tiny tumbleweeds, naturally uprooting themselves when water is scarce. They then reroot anywhere they happen to be when a rain comes. Daughter, did you notice how the plant opened on your mother's belly when I poured water over it?" "Why, yes, Grandfather, it was if the little tumbleweed opened to become a fernlike plant when the water touched it. I noticed that mother's pain left as the plant opened, stopping her moans." "That is the miracle of the Jericho Rose. It drew the pain out of your mother when its roots sought to reconnect with the earth. Now I will give the plant back to the desert, to be purified by the winds. That plant has served its mission of healing human beings; we must show our gratitude by giving the plant person back its freedom. Like your mother, the Jericho Rose will continue to live, returning another day to serve all our relations..."

Legal Remarks

This product is illegal or somehow problematic to send to the following countries. Click on the country link for further information.

• Australia
• Switzerland

Ruta graveolens / Ruta / Rutaceae (Rue family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Aruta, Common Rue, Garden Rue, German Rue, Countryman's Treacle, German Rue, Herb of Grace, Herb of Repentance, Herbygrass, Ruda, Rue, Sadab, Somalata, Weinkraut, Wijnruit.

Scent

Ruta has a pungent, skunk-like odor.

Contents

The chemical composition is large and varied. Over 110 chemicals have been found in all parts of the plant, including fats, oils, flavanoids, alkaloids, essential oils and a host of others. The volatile oil is contained in glands distributed over the whole plant and contains caprinic, plagonic, caprylic and oenanthylic acids have been found. Rue contains max. 1% of an essential oil, whose main components are 2-hendecanone (2-undecanone, methylnonylketone, up to 60%) and 2-nonanone (methylheptylketone) plus several more ketones and corresponding secondary alcohols. Methyl anthranilate and anethole glycol are also reported; terpenoids are represented mainly by limonene, α-pinene, cuminaldehyd and l,8-cineol. Rue also contains flavonoids (including rutin), furanocoumarins (including bergapten), about 1.4% furoquinoline alkaloids (including fagarine, skimmianine, arborinine, and others).

Historical

Rue has been used as a medicinal and "antimagic" herb for centuries. It was considered a reliable defense against witches. Gunflints boiled in a mixture of rue and vervain were said improve the shooter's aim. Artists, including Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, improved their creativity and eyesight by ingesting rue. Rue is a symbol of regret, sorrow and repentance, and Catholics used sprigs of it to sprinkle holy water on worshippers. The rue leaf was the model for the suit of clubs in playing cards. The name Ruta is from the Greek “Reuo”, meaning “to set free”. (1)(2)

Health Warnings

Some people are allergic to rue and get a skin rash from handling the plant. Especially on hot days, just brushing against rue can cause water blisters and blotchy skin, much like poison ivy. For some people, ingestion causes increased photosensitivity and can lead to severe sunburn. Ingesting large amounts of rue can cause violent stomach pain, vomiting, and convulsions. Pregnant women should never ingest rue. (1)

Plant Description

Rue is an aromatic plant native to southern Europe and northern Africa. It is commonly cultivated in Europe and the U.S., sometimes escaping to grow wild locally. It is a small evergreen subshrub or semiwoody perennial 2-3 ft (60-90 cm) tall and almost as wide. The stems become woody near the base, but remain herbaceous nearer the tips. The 3-5 in (7.6-12.7 cm) long leaves are dissected pinnately into oblong or spoon shaped segments. They are somewhat fleshy and usually covered with a powdery bloom. The sea green foliage has a strong, pungent, rather unpleasant scent when bruised. The paniculate clusters of small yellow flowers appear in midsummer, held well above the foliage and often covering most of the plant. Each flower is about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) across with four concave notched petals. The fruit is a roundish capsule, warted, and 4-lobed, each lobe opening into 2 valves. (3)(4)

Legal Remarks

This product is illegal or somehow problematic to send to the following countries. Click on the country link for further information.

• Finland
• Norway

References

(1) Ruta graveolens, Floridata
(2) Rue (Ruta graveolens L.), Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages
(3) Ruta.—Rue., King's American Dispensatory
(4) Rue, A modern Herbal, by Maud Grieve
(5) Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, compiled by Jellin, Jeff M.

Skull Bone

Historical

Historically, sculls have been used for different purposes by man. In medieval times and even nowadays scull cups were simple reminders of human impermanence (momento mori). Just a symbol or ornament which tells you: "Dear old friend your time will come earlier or later".

In Indian shamanism (1) a widespread use of different ornaments, totem items, plants, rocks, sculls, bones etc. is common. A shaman travels between the two worlds, the world of the living and the mystical world of spirits and ghosts. In a state of trance the two worlds might melt together to form one. Totem items are used as the linking elements between the two worlds. They serve as the telephone line to the astral world. Shamans have even worn totem items as part of their clothing. Some Indian tribes believe all human beings have a totem, usually an animal or other naturalistic figure, which acts as a spiritual guide, a kind of a father figure determining a persons character or protecting the person.

In some cultures one of the shaman's duties is to bring over the souls of dead people to their final destination. In North-European shamanism the folks collected the sculls of the killed enemies in war times and gave them to the shaman. The shaman placed these sculls around his home. This way they believed that even after the enemies were dead they would have power over them and could avoid the return of their souls.
In Buddhism the skull of a murder or execution victim is believed to possess the greatest tantric power; the skull of one who has died from a violent or accidental death, or from a virulent illness, possesses a medium magical power; the skull of a person who died peacefully in old age has virtually no occult power. The vital force or potential of the skull's 'previous owner' is embodied within the bone as a spirit, rendering it as an effective power object for the performance of tantric rituals. (2)

Probably the most impressive and bizarre collection of multiple thousand sculls can be found in the Sedlec Ossuary, a chapel in the Czech Republic (3). This is an extraordinary example of a christian death cult.

References

(1) Shamanism, Wikipedia
(2) Skeletons, Skulls and Bones, Khandro.Net
(3) Sedlec Ossuary , Wikipedia

Skull Buffalo Horn

Historical

Historically, skulls have been used for different purposes by man. In medieval times and even nowadays skull cups were simple reminders of human impermanence (momento mori). Just a symbol or ornament which tells you: "Dear old friend your time will come earlier or later".

In Indian shamanism (1) a widespread use of different ornaments, totem items, plants, rocks, sculls, bones etc. is common. A shaman travels between the two worlds, the world of the living and the mystical world of spirits and ghosts. In a state of trance the two worlds might melt together to form one. Totem items are used as the linking elements between the two worlds. They serve as the telephone line to the astral world. Shamans have even worn totem items as part of their clothing. Some Indian tribes believe all human beings have a totem, usually an animal or other naturalistic figure, which acts as a spiritual guide, a kind of a father figure determining a persons character or protecting the person.

In some cultures one of the shaman's duties is to bring over the souls of dead people to their final destination. In North-European shamanism the folks collected the skulls of the killed enemies in war times and gave them to the shaman. The shaman placed these skulls around his home. This way they believed that even after the enemies were dead they would have power over them and could avoid the return of their souls.

In Buddhism the skull of a murder or execution victim is believed to possess the greatest tantric power; the skull of one who has died from a violent or accidental death, or from a virulent illness, possesses a medium magical power; the skull of a person who died peacefully in old age has virtually no occult power. The vital force or potential of the skull's 'previous owner' is embodied within the bone as a spirit, rendering it as an effective power object for the performance of tantric rituals. (2)

Probably the most impressive and bizarre collection of multiple thousand skulls can be found in the Sedlec Ossuary, a chapel in the Czech Republic (3). This is an extraordinary example of a christian death cult.

References

(1) Shamanism, Wikipedia
(2) Skeletons, Skulls and Bones, Khandro.Net
(3) Sedlec Ossuary , Wikipedia

Skull Reindeer Horn

Historical

Historically, sculls have been used for different purposes by man. In medieval times and even nowadays scull cups were simple reminders of human impermanence (momento mori). Just a symbol or ornament which tells you: "Dear old friend your time will come earlier or later".

In Indian shamanism (1) a widespread use of different ornaments, totem items, plants, rocks, sculls, bones etc. is common. A shaman travels between the two worlds, the world of the living and the mystical world of spirits and ghosts. In a state of trance the two worlds might melt together to form one. Totem items are used as the linking elements between the two worlds. They serve as the telephone line to the astral world. Shamans have even worn totem items as part of their clothing. Some Indian tribes believe all human beings have a totem, usually an animal or other naturalistic figure, which acts as a spiritual guide, a kind of a father figure determining a persons character or protecting the person.

In some cultures one of the shaman's duties is to bring over the souls of dead people to their final destination. In North-European shamanism the folks collected the sculls of the killed enemies in war times and gave them to the shaman. The shaman placed these sculls around his home. This way they believed that even after the enemies were dead they would have power over them and could avoid the return of their souls.

In Buddhism the skull of a murder or execution victim is believed to possess the greatest tantric power; the skull of one who has died from a violent or accidental death, or from a virulent illness, possesses a medium magical power; the skull of a person who died peacefully in old age has virtually no occult power. The vital force or potential of the skull's 'previous owner' is embodied within the bone as a spirit, rendering it as an effective power object for the performance of tantric rituals. (2)

Probably the most impressive and bizarre collection of multiple thousand sculls can be found in the Sedlec Ossuary, a chapel in the Czech Republic (3). This is an extraordinary example of a christian death cult.

References

(1) Shamanism, Wikipedia
(2) Skeletons, Skulls and Bones, Khandro.Net
(3) Sedlec Ossuary , Wikipedia