JHeirloomSeeds said:@GreenTara18, thank you for sharing that! I love reading about plants' places in other cultures as well and Russia seems to have some interesting traditions, although my not understanding much of the language is a hindrance to learning much about it. 
Did you happen to read my post about Mugwort I shared earlier in this thread ( http://heirloomcottagegarden.w... )? I shared a Russian legend associated with it. Are you familiar with the story, or any others?
I read it with great interest.
I did not know the legend of snakes. But I collected a lot of herbs with my grandmother when I was little. Mogworth too.
Mogworth is used for different purposes, but you can make a soothing bath. Take 1 cup of leaves of wormwood and mint, hop flowers, pour 5 liters of boiling water, leave for 3 hours and pour the resulting infusion into the prepared bath.
But today I want to tell another story about thistle.
In Roman mythology, Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, the patroness of fertility, lights a torch from a dry thistle.
Thistle is a symbol of Scotland.
There is a legend that the Vikings landed on the coast in the eastern part of Scotland in order to plunder and seize territory. The Scots gathered their troops to repel the enemies. The Scots army was very tired after a long journey. They did not expect the battle to start before the next morning.
But the Vikings were very close and noticed that there were no sentries in the Scots camp. They crossed the River Tay, hoping to seize the Scots suddenly, and that their steps were not heard, the Scandinavians took off their shoes and sneaked almost silently. But one of the Vikings stepped on the thistle, a sudden and sharp pain made him scream. This scream was a wake-up call for the Scots who won in a fair fight.
The thistle was adopted as the emblem of Scotland.
Thistle is also a defense against the "forces of evil." Thistle is a talisman for the house, if you put it above the door. I personally have it in my country house.
In Moscow there is the Tretyakov Gallery. This is a museum of paintings. If you like paintings, you probably also noticed that the paintings of brilliant artists have an impact on the viewer. It seems that the artist added a part of his soul to the paint. I love landscapes. It seems to me that I feel joy with the artist, if it is a summer meadow or forest. I feel anxious if it's a thunderstorm.
In the Tretyakov Gallery there is a hall of the artist Vrubel. Among his paintings are many mystical. For example, "By night".
The crimson flowers of the thistle, the red horse — everything seems to bear the marks of the bygone sun ... Horses walk against the dark sky. And the fabulous shepherd, with a huge mane of hair, with a mighty torso and small horns, grazes the herd.
Or another picture of Vrubel. "Flight of Faust and Mephistopheles"
Night. A pair of shaggy horses rushes over a small medieval town. Manes fluttering in the wind. Mephistopheles sits astride a white-maned horse. He looks at Faust with triumph. In the foreground of the picture is also a thistle.
If you visit the museum, the guide will tell you that Vrubel specially placed the thistle in the foreground of the picture. Because the thistle creates a border between the worlds and does not allow evil to penetrate into our world.
