At this time of year the bulbs are just starting to flower: snowdrops, crocus, even a few primroses in sheltered places. But did you know that traditionally, it can be very dangerous to pick them? I don't mean because someone from the National Trust is going to pounce and prosecute under the Wildflowers Act.... I mean the mysterious world of the Mother Die flowers.
In most of the UK (I can't speak for the rest of Europe or N. America) it was considered very unlucky to pick certain flowers. These were known as Mother-Die (or some variant) and they were often white flowers, although some other colours appear in the list, such as violets, primroses and campion. The tradition was that if you picked these flowers, your mother or loved one would die soon after. (In the case of primroses if you picked less than 13 your hens would stop laying.)
So Mother-Die; Kill your Mother Quick; Break your Mother's Heart etc. Clearly something very strange has been going on in folk magic where flowers are concerned.
It's a fascinating topic and I'm going to try and write more on it tomorrow...........
