  |
|
|
|
Let's face it, mint has a lot going for it, what with those essential oils that are pure, liquid fragrance, and such a fragrance at that. Surely mint must be obese with myth and folklore.
Well, in classical mythology Pluto was in love with a nymph named Mintha, which clearly reveals to us he was married, and his wife was insanely jealous. Mythological Gods never fell in love with anybody unless they were married, and their spouse was prone to fits murderous jealousy. Naturally, Pluto's insanely jealous wife turned the nymph into the plant we know as mint, whose beauty now lures us into her arms by way of her deliciously sweet aroma. (I was mad for a nymph once; her name was Shirley. I didn't have a wife, jealous or otherwise, at the time, by my grades in Galactic Astronomy and Stellar Spectroscopy sure suffered. Shirley eventually left me for one of my professors. I went to the free clinic.) Mint was valued by the ancient Hebrews, and "tithes of mint" are mentioned in the New Testament. In the 16th century, wine with powdered mint, and a number of other powdered herbs in it, was prescribed for hydrophobia. In Northern Europe it was considered useful in preventing milk from souring. On our continent, native peoples found a place for mint in their lives. Mountain Mint seemed particularly favored. Both the Meskwaki and the Winnebago People used it the mask odors of their traps, or as a lure. The Meskwaki, for example, used it on their mink traps to mask the aroma of previous minks trapped. They also used it as "snake bait." The way it worked was they chewed some of the top leaves of the plant, spit them on to the end of a stick, and then held the stick in front of the snake's mouth. The snake kind of zoned out, and was then easily caught. (Sounds like sprinkling salt on the tail of a bird, huh?) Medicinally, these same Meskwaki made a snuff of dried Mountain Mint and Horsemint, which they used for headaches. It was also often applied it to the nostrils of a person who was on death's doorstep to revive him or her. Also, they drank mint tea as a tonic, and to treat fevers. Mohegan-Pequot Indians used Peppermint and Spearmint tea as a vermifuge for babies. White settlers used these same mints to treat indigestion. Go To Page: 1 2 |
|
|
|
