Water Avens (Geum rivale)
Also known as Cure all, Purple Avens and Throat Root.
Medicinal: To help with many digestive issues and applied externally as a wash to various afflictions of the skin. A mixture of water avens’ flowers, leaves, and roots, combined with St.John’s wort was boiled in milk and mixed with butter to treat hoarseness.
Magic & Myth: In folklore, Water Avens was said to have the power to drive away evil spirits, and to protect against rabid dogs and venomous snakes. It was associated with Christianity because its leaves grew in threes and its petals in fives (reminiscent of the Holy Trinity and the Five Wounds).
