Saturday, April 20, 2013

Marion Lichty: reading #4


A Very Supernatural Christmas is the Christmas episode of a series called Supernatural.  Supernatural is about two brothers who are trying to find their father.  In the process of follow their father’s trail, they must hunt the demons and monsters they come across.  In this particular episode, the creatures are gods, ones who have an appetite for human sacrifices.  During the month of December, Madge and Edward, who are the two gods, make wreaths out of meadowsweet and they let this local shop sell them. Unfortunately, whichever costumers buy this wreath are killed and taken up the chimney.  Once the brothers confront Madge and Edward, they realize the couple has other plants used in rituals, such as myrrh.  
A Witches Herbal Reference discusses a variety of herbs that have magical qualities and list the gender, planet, and element associated with a particular plant.  For example, myrrh is feminine , associated with the planet Jupiter and the element water.  Myrrh is used in ritual areas such as altars.  Another plant is called meadowsweet.  Meadowsweet has the same gender, planet and element as myrrh.  However, Meadowsweet is used in rituals for protection and harmony. 
The episode, A Very Supernatural Christmas, portrays human sacrifice and the ritual related to the sacrifice.  This episode also focuses on plants used for rituals, such as myrrh and meadowsweet.  However, in the episode meadowsweet was used as the catalyst for the human sacrifice.  This is drastically different from the article.  In the end, the episode does show the use of plants in rituals like human sacrifice, even though meadowsweet is not typically used in human sacrifice. 

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