Fern for good luck and nettles against betrayal: how the Finns in Johannus used to guess on plants

We tell you about the main plants, which, according to legend, possessed magical powers.

The ancient pagan festival of Johannus was a time for fortune-telling from ancient times.And a special part of this tradition has always been the plants found in nature in Finland.

They predicted a successful marriage and promised a good harvest.They predicted the future in the main areas of human life: love and relationships, prosperity and wealth, as well as health and longevity.Plants were believed to have special magical powers during the Johannus period.

Alder

Many products were made from alder, which were used for divination rituals.Beliefs said that all the weeds would disappear in the garden if, on the night of Midsummer’s Day, the land was plowed with an alder plow, and then a bunch of weeds caught on the plow was tied to it and thrown into the threshold of the river.And if the river flows northward, this method works not only for a small vegetable garden, but even for a large field.

Fern

People believed that the fern blooms only on the night of Johannus – and then for a very short time.If you can find a blooming fern, then you can see demonic lights that will lead to the treasure.Seeing a fern in bloom will learn to understand the language of animals and become invisible, as well as acquire many other skills, for example, always winning a case in court.In fact, ferns are secret plants (they are also colorless) that do not bloom.

Nettle

Legend has it that before the nettle was a wonderful plant,but because she did not smell, God was angry with her and made her scalding.The magical properties of nettle are to protect marriage.If a woman was afraid that her husband would go to the left, she could resort to the help of nettles.But not placing it somewhere for her husband, but cutting out small crosses from the leaves.This, according to legends, was supposed to discourage a man from betrayal.

Yarrow

Our ancestors believed that the cause of pain or illness is the evil eye or curse imposed on a person.To get rid of the pain, it was necessary to treat the sore spot with special “anti-eye” plants.Among such plants were the yarrow and the cuff, which in Russia was also called the crank and the dew-hedgehog.