Nature Notes
Samhain
At Samhain, the Goddess retreats into the deep vault of the earth to join her dark lover in the Underworld. Life withdraws, and the landscape turns bleak, cold, and grey. The last fruits, nuts and berries still hang in the bushes, but most are gone. Few flowers withstand the season’s call until the frost kills them off. The birds have left on their journey to the south.
It is a melancholy time, but also a time to turn inward.
We mark this season by remembering those who have gone before us. Death is but a stage of the wheel of life. Far below the surface, the Goddess sheds her wilted gown. Throughout the winter months, she remains in deep meditation as she regenerates her vitality.
We face the cold and darkness as the Sun’s power wanes. Few of its rays can still warm us, and the days grow shorter.
Life and death are aspects of the same eternal cycle. There is no light without darkness, no life without death. Use this time to reflect and remember, to cherish the good and to let go of all that is worn and that wears you down. Concentrate your inner strength in contemplation – for soon, the wheel of the year will turn, and the Sun will be reborn.
Welcome to the Sacred Earth website!
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by! My name is Kat Morgenstern, and I am delighted that you have found your way here!
I have created the Sacred Earth website as a forum for nature lovers of all stripes. Come and join me on a journey down the garden path, and off into the virtual woods, where we will explore, learn and discover all about the intertwining roots of nature and culture.
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Current issue
Slugs
Slugs – the one animal everybody loves to hate. Especially gardeners. These mobile eating machines can really do some damage to our carefully groomed plants. Most gardeners are waging perpetual war against them. But are slugs really as bad as they are made out to be?
Being a gardener myself, I have my share of sluggy-slimy woes. Every evening, at dusk, I go out and search my garden. Torch in one hand and a glass jar in the other, I hunt down those ravenous gastropods before they decimate my beloved seedlings. I scour not my young starts, but the grass as well, to catch the slugs waiting there in ambush. The following day, I release them about a kilometre from my house.
I can’t really tell whether the strategy is working. Every evening I collect roughly the same amount of slugs again. Where the heck do they come from? Nature’s slug supply seems inexhaustible – as if on tap.
But the other day, while on my daily slug patrol, it occurred to me that I actually know very little about these creatures. Quite shocking, considering that I have hand-picked about a million of them over the years.
‘Okay’, you might think, ‘what’s the big deal? What is there worth knowing about slugs, except how to get rid of them?’
Good question, and I had always thought along similar lines. But, as with everything in life, things become interesting the minute you invest interest in them. Before I knew it, I was going down a research slug-hole, discovering weird and wonderful facts about these strange creatures.
I watched way too many slug videos on YouTube and scoured the internet for gastropod-related papers and posts. To my growing amazement, slugs turned out to be far more interesting than I had ever imagined.
People, who study slugs, seem to be a special kind of nerdy and have a sense of humour, too. Just consider the term ‘gastropods’, the scientific term for all slugs and snails. There couldn’t be a better name for them. ‘Gastro’ means ‘stomach’, and ‘pod’ means foot. I can’t think of a more perfect way, to sum up what slugs and snails are all about.
The English word ‘slug’ is similarly general. There are gazillion species of slugs and snails. Currently, an estimated 65,000 to 80,000 different species exist, and they have managed to adapt to all kinds of habitats – even the desert!
In terms of evolutionary success stories, slugs are champions. Their family tree dates back to 495 million years ago, the late Cambrian period, when more complex life forms first evolved. There are 721 known families of gastropods, of which only 245 have gone extinct. The others are still with us today – a remarkable feat in evolutionary terms. To put that into perspective, the class of primates, to which we belong, only emerged about 74 million years ago. (Homo sapiens has only been around for 300,000 odd years)
The very earliest slugs evolved in the ocean – like all life at that time. Sea slugs are truly stunning. If you have never seen them, do go ahead and check them out. They are out of this world! My current favourite is this cutie:
The sea-sheep dons a coat of leaf-like structures with which it can perform photosynthesis! But it did not learn the trick itself. Like corals, it acquired the ability by eating algae, which it integrates into its own body. Other species of sea slugs obtain toxins in the same way, which gives them a means of protection.
Our garden varieties of land slugs are neither as colourful nor as cute. But even so, they are much more interesting than we give them credit for.
Interestingly, the thousands of species of terrestrial slugs are not all closely related. It seems that slugs originally did have shells, but later lost them. Now all that remains is a vestigial ‘shield’, a kind of plate on their backs that they retreat into when they sense danger.
These squishy, slimy, globs of goo are incredibly vulnerable, yet that does not impede their survival. Their defence system is their slime.
Slugs produce two distinct types of slime. A thin one that oozes from the centre of their foot helps them glide and marks their trails. It guides them back home to their holes and also signals their presence to other slugs – which comes in handy when trying to attract a mate.
The other type of slime is produced from glands at the rear and front of their bodies. It is extremely thick and sticky, which makes it more difficult for predators to just pick them up. The slug simply glues itself to the spot. The slime is also distasteful to potential predators, such as badgers, thrushes and hedgehogs.
The slime plays a prominent role during mating, which for slugs is a very oozy affair. The interesting-looking keel-back slugs spin a slime thread from which both slugs suspend themselves during the act. Slugs are hermaphroditic, and thus have both male and female sexual organs. Both will give and receive sperm, potentially doubling the number of offspring.
You can watch their weird and wonderful love ritual here, courtesy of the incomparable Sir David Attenborough and the BBC. Thank you, Sir, you made my day!
Slug slime has also recently caught the attention of scientists, who have taken an interest in its properties. Slug slime is highly adhesive yet elastic and does not become brittle. It is also non-toxic, consisting of mucous and serotonin. The unique property of maintaining its adhesive powers, even on wet surfaces, makes it a promising candidate for a new type of non-toxic surgical glue.
In Britain, there are 40 species of slugs, but only about 8 of them do all the damage in the veggie patch. These little ‘mobile stomachs’ have a ravenous appetite, yet their evolutionary role is not specifically to destroy our gardens. We simply make it easy for them to access the juiciest, tenderest, and tastiest young plants. From a slug’s point of view, our gardens are a kind of Shangri-la.
Ecologically, slugs are important composters that help break down organic debris, and themselves morsels in the food chain, even if not very tasty ones.
Snails even form part of the human diet. I used to love them as a kid, until one day I got really, really sick on them. Slugs, however, only enter the human food chain accidentally by hiding in the lettuce and avoiding being washed off – due to their sticky slime. Slugs carry parasites, so the principle of ‘if you can’t beat it, eat it’, is not recommended, in this case.
But you are probably still asking yourself the one question we all want to know the answer to – how do you get rid of slugs?
To tell you the truth, I haven’t found the magic secret, but there are some methods that are somewhat successful.
Copper tape
Garden shops sell copper tape that supposedly deters slugs. Apparently, the slime reacts with the copper, giving them a little electric shock. I haven’t tried this method, so I can’t comment on it.
I have tried coffee grinds, eggshells, and dry grass cuttings as mulch.
A determined slug will not be put off by any of these, but is likely to look for a more readily available meal. I often leave bits of decaying plant matter lying around when I pluck weeds from my veggie beds, and I have watched slugs devour these. But, like beer traps, it might attract more slugs to the garden. Other gardeners insist that keeping a garden tidy is the way to get rid of slugs.
I have also noticed that slugs can smell a wilting plant, which they go for preferentially.
Sometimes, I leave things like chenopodium standing between my tomatoes. Slugs prefer this tender weed to the tomato plants, especially once the tomatoes are strong enough to create their own defence.
Eggshells, walnut shells, pine needles, and other prickly stuff deter them, to some degree.
Slugs shelter in dark, moist places, under bricks, tarps, and buckets or under planks that some gardeners put down as walkways between their rows of veggies. If you check these places before the slugs go for their forage, you can find a whole clutch of them without much effort.
Whatever you do, please don’t use toxic chemicals. They do kill the slugs, but also the birds and hedgehogs that either eat the slug or the pellets.
Even though we may not like slugs much, they do have a place in the ecosystem. Eliminating them would probably cause more harm than good. But only a few species are truly destructive. Most simply go about their business, or even feed on other slugs and their eggs. Slugs can’t help being born as slugs, any more than we can help be humans. We each have our niche but share an inherent right to exist on our amazing planet, which provides for both, humans and slugs. Slugs have been here a lot longer than we have, and managed to survive without totally decimating their ecosystem, despite their ferocious appetites. Judging by how our own insatiable appetite decimates nature, slugs will probably outlast us.
Plant Profile:
Frankincense (Boswellia sp.)
Featured image by Mauro Raffaelli, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Plant Profile: Frankincense
Frankincense is well-known as ‘that stuff that is burnt in church’. But what exactly is it, and where does it come from?
In common parlance, ‘Frankincense’ is often used as a generic term for all kinds of incense, but botanically, it refers to oleoresin sourced from Boswellia trees.
Description:
The Boswellia genus has its greatest distribution in tropical regions of Africa and Asia. It comprises small shrubs or trees that are rich in fragrant oleoresins and well-adapted to arid and inhospitable terrain.
Four species are classified as Frankincense trees:
- Boswellia sacra (syn. Boswellia carteri, southern Arabia)
- Boswellia serrata (Indian Frankincense, syn. Boswellia thurifera)
- Boswellia papyrifera ( Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan)
- Boswellia frereana (Horn of Africa)
The Biblical Frankincense is derived from Boswellia sacra, a small, shrubby desert tree with pinnate leaflets and thorny branches found in Oman. It lives on rocky slopes and ravines.
In India, Boswellia serrata is the most common variety. It is a more stately tree that usually has divided trunks.
Small, 5-petaled whitish-yellow flowers appear in axillary racemes. The trees frequently seem to be growing directly from the rocks and boulders to which they cling with adaptive, disk-like swellings at the bottom of the trunk. But these adaptations only develop in response to the environment, if necessary.
Excessive harvesting reduces the number of flowers and the size and viability of the seeds. Cattle and camels browse on the leaves and branches, especially in times of drought.
Name:
The name ‘Frankincense’ probably came from the old French expression, ‘franc encens’ meaning ‘valuable incense’. Frankincense is also known as ‘Olibanum’, which derives from the Arab word ‘al Luban’, meaning ‘milk’, an allusion to the milky sap that turns into Frankincense when it dries.
Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
History
Familiar by name, yet obscure. The source of Frankincense has been shrouded in mystery since long before the birth of Christ. The origins of its use are uncertain, but it is well-documented that Frankincense was widely used in the Egyptian Temples to honour Ra and Horus. On her epic journey, Queen Sheba brought along numerous Frankincense trees as a special gift for King Solomon. Unfortunately, those trees were doomed. Frankincense trees only thrive in arid conditions and are limited to a specific geographic range. But, it’s the thought that counts. The gift was a significant sign of honour and respect.
Incense fuelled the economy of the Arab world, much as oil does today. Towns positioned at strategic locations along spice or incense routes prospered considerably from this trade. In the Ancient World, Frankincense was more valuable than gold. The obscurity of its origin gave rise to wild tales. Frankincense trees were said to be guarded by dragon-like creatures, ready to strike out at any intruder. Keen to protect their fortunes, traders had invented such terrifying stories to deter enterprising and adventurous young men from going off in search of the trees.
But, scare tactics aside, the long journey across the desert was indeed as dangerous as it was lucrative.
Tree Stewardship
Oman, Somalia and Ethiopia are the most important suppliers of Frankincense today. As in the days of Solomon, the most common use of Frankincense is to honour the Gods. While the average annual quantities used have decreased since Solomon’s times, science has found new applications. Harvesting is still done using the traditional method of bleeding wild trees. Although uncultivated, individual trees ‘belong’ to particular families who live nearby (by unspoken agreement). These families look after the trees and claim the right to harvest them.
In the ancient world, all Frankincense trees were considered the property of the King. It fell on him to negotiate the harvesting rights with the merchants, for a percentage of the profits, of course. Studies show that families who take a ‘guardian’ role towards the trees are more likely to use sustainable practices. Unlike the roaming harvesters, who don’t care much about the welfare of a particular tree, any desert dweller will naturally want to protect the source of their livelihood.
Harvesting
Harvesting Frankincense is a time-consuming process. Several deep incisions are cut into the tree trunk, and a small piece of bark is removed. (According to modern research, more than five incisions causes considerable stress to the trees.) This wounding causes the tree to ‘bleed’, and a milky white substance protrudes that seals and heals the wound to prevent infection. After three months, the resin has hardened enough to scrape off the tree trunk. This ‘bleeding’ process is repeated three times to obtain the highest quality Frankincense. Only the resin collected from the final bleeding is rated as ‘superior quality. Once solidified, the resin is sorted into tears and grains of different colours and sizes. The quality is determined by the degree of opacity. Resin destined for distillation is shipped off while still slightly sticky inside. This indicates a high concentration of volatile oil.
Medicinal uses:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130649623@N05/, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Most Frankincense is used for religious purposes. But it also has a long history as an ingredient of medicines and cosmetic preparations. Early writers such as Pliny, Dioscorides and Avicenna have recorded such uses of Frankincense as were common in their time. But in time, the therapeutic properties had been all but forgotten – until some years ago, when new studies found Frankincense effective for a wide range of hard-to-treat diseases.
The ethnomedicinal applications of Frankincense are very diverse, ranging from dental disease to skin conditions, respiratory complaints and digestive troubles. In the Ancient World, every part of the tree was used: root, bark, bud, flower, fruit and resin and essential oil.
Astringent
The powdered bark was used to make an astringent paste for swellings (oedema). Mastitis was treated by boiling the dried or fresh gum in the patient’s own milk to form a thick paste for topical application.
The bark’s astringent properties are used in ointments for treating sores and chapped skin. Emperor Nero is said to have used a pomade made from a mixture of resin and wax to disguise the tell-tale bags beneath his eyes that appeared after a night of excess.
Vulnerary
The charred, powdered bark was kept as a first aid application for wounds. Mixed with water, it made an instant dressing for injuries and burns. If available, the fresh bark was also used for this purpose. The lotion provides an excellent antiseptic wash to clean dirty or infected wounds.
The bark was also used for setting broken bones. Two pieces of the wood were used as splints, with strips of Frankincense bark wrapped around them to hold in place a bandage that had been soaked in soft resin. The drying resin helped to provide firm support for the mending bone.
Child Birth
Frankincense also played a role in women’s medicine. Chewing the bark alleviates morning sickness. A potion made from snakeskin and resin dissolved in wine was said to ease difficult or prolonged labour. Frankincense was burnt for 40 days during and post-partum, to protect mother and child. Squatting over the smouldering resin was said to restore muscle tone and support healing of any laceration, and speed recovery from the strains of labour.
Eyes
Its antiseptic properties have also been used to treat ophthalmic diseases. In Ethiopia, the soot of the resin is believed to be beneficial for the eyes. Sore or tired eyes are fumigated with the smoke.
Teeth and gums
The resin was chewed as a ‘therapeutic chewing gum’ to stimulate the gums and treat dental infections such as gingivitis.
Stomach problems
A bark decoction makes a stimulating and cleansing tea. The inner root of young trees was chewed as a remedy for stomach problems. Buds and fruit were used as a cleansing tonic for the digestive system. A decoction of Frankincense resin, cinnamon and cardamom, settles an upset stomach.
Other uses
Even the incense was used therapeutically. The smoke acts as an expectorant and clears phlegm from the head and chest. It purifies the air and relaxes the patient while soothing their pain, especially severe headaches.
Frankincense smoke is a powerful insect deterrent, a property that helps prevent serious diseases like malaria or dengue fever.
Frankincense is said to improve memory and dispel lethargy. An old recipe for an epilepsy treatment recommends boiling it in with hare’s lungs in white wine.
Modern uses
Modern research has focused on Olibanum’s anti-inflammatory properties, particularly to treat rheumatoid arthritis and soft tissue rheumatism. Frankincense extract is also effective for gastrointestinal diseases such as colitis and Crohn’s disease.
OTHER USES
Perfume
The clean, fresh, balsamic fragrance of Frankincense has perfumed our world since ancient times. Originally, the term ‘to perfume’ derived from the Latin ‘per fume’ meaning ‘to pass something through the smoke’. Clothes were fumigated, not only to give them a pleasant scent but also to kill any pathogens. Perfuming is essentially a cleansing practice.
Today, the perfume industry uses Frankincense essential oil as a fixative to scent soaps, detergents and countless cosmetic articles.
The ancient Egyptians were pioneers in cosmetics and perfumery. Among other things, they invented the eyeliner known as Kajal (Khol). Khol was made from charred powdered resin mixed with waxes, oils and other substances. It was believed to protect and improve vision. Modern versions are still available, but no longer contain Frankincense.
Fresh, soft Frankincense resin can be used to seal minor cracks in pottery and other utensils. The gum hardens upon drying. In combination with other resins, it has been used to caulk ships.
In Ancient Egypt, Frankincense and Myrrh were essential items in the funerary rites used to embalm the mummies in preparation for the afterlife.
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