The Luminous Moss (Schistostega pennata): In Search of Goblin Gold
Bryophytes, perhaps due to their small size and indistinct characteristics, have rarely captured the human imagination; certainly far less so than vascular plants. However, there are a few exceptions to this general observation, and goblin gold is a perfect example. Schistostega pennata, its scientific name, is indeed a truly unique species that grows on cave walls, in rock crevices, and even at the entrances to burrows. Calcifuge, it particularly appreciates sandstone or granite substrates, where it can be found in rock shelters, rugged cliffs, low walls, or along embankments, taking advantage of the refuges provided by roots. But…
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Belladonna: A plant of death and witches
There are plants surrounded by a particularly powerful aura of mystery, the sight of which inevitably provokes a feeling of vertigo. Observing them, we seem to be invaded by notions that are beyond us, to be confronted with a web of legends and magic that will always remain enigmatic; like a grimoire whose writing on the pages has tarnished to the point of being barely legible. Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) is one of these. This species has a long, complex history, which makes it both a sinister and infernal plant, linked to death and witches… and an avatar…
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The Fern Flower: In the Footsteps of a Popular Fantasy
The fern flower, the subject of legends in Europe, symbolizes the quest for the unattainable. Believed to bloom mysteriously on Midsummer Night, it is often linked to fertility rituals and popular beliefs about luck and wealth. Indeed, many cultures imagine its seeds to confer magical powers, such as clairvoyance or invisibility. However, these quests are often doomed to failure, highlighting the human obsession with the unattainable. Thus, the flower embodies both the beauty of nature and the consequences of greed and insatiable material desires.
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Snowdrops in the heart of winter: from the symbol of purity to Homer’s mysterious « moly »
In the popular imagination, snowdrops embody the end of winter and the beginning of spring, or more precisely the duality that occurs between the two seasons. They are the flowers of renewal, of the cold period diluting in the mild air of March, of the passage from death to life… But the symbolism of these plants is far from being so monolithic, since they have also been made emblems of virginity or funerary omens. It has even been suggested that they could correspond to a mysterious plant from ancient mythology, which Odysseus consumes before entering Circe’s house…
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The deer: an animal from the Otherworld
Mostly discreet, the deer becomes the noisiest and most boisterous inhabitant of the forests in September. Its roar then resounds at nightfall or dawn, sometimes during the day, making the few humans who wander nearby shudder. There is something deeply mysterious, almost supernatural, in this hoarse and intense cry, which, like thunder in the heart of darkness, seems to emerge from the very bowels of the earth. With a little imagination, one could quite easily believe it came from a parallel dimension, from an unknown and unexplored country… in short, from the Other World dear to Celtic mythology.…
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Sous le feuillage des âges - Pablo Behague 