folk-lore, to dream of being surrounded by this plant is a propitious
sign, foretelling that the person will before long have some pleasing
intelligence. In the same way a similar meaning in dream-lore attaches to
the thorn.
According to old dream-books, the dreaming of yew indicates the
death of an aged person, who will leave considerable wealth behind him;
while the violet is said to devote advancement in life. Similarly, too, the
vine foretells prosperity, "for which," says a dream interpreter, "we have
the example of Astyages, king of the Medes, who dreamed that his
daughter brought forth a vine, which was a prognostic of the grandeur,
riches, and felicity of the great Cyrus, who was born of her after this
dream."
Plucking ears of corn signifies the existence of secret enemies, and
Mr. Folkard quotes an old authority which tells us that the juniper is
potent in dreams. Thus, "it is unlucky to dream of the tree itself,
especially if the person be sick; but to dream of gathering the berries, if it
be in winter, denotes prosperity. To dream of the actual berries signifies
that the dreamer will shortly arrive at great honours and become an
important person. To the married it foretells the birth of a male child."
Again, eating almonds signifies a journey, its success or otherwise
being denoted by their tasting sweet or the contrary. Dreaming of grass
is an auspicious omen, provided it be green and fresh; but if it be
withered and decayed, it is a sign of the approach of misfortune and
sickness, followed perhaps by death. Woe betide, too, the person who
dreams that he is cutting grass.
Certain plants produce dreams on particular occasions. The mugwort
and plantain have long been associated with Midsummer; and,
according to Thomas Hill in his "Natural and Artificial Conclusions," a
rare coal is to be found under these plants but one hour in the day, and
one day in the year. When Aubrey happened to be walking behind
Montague House at twelve o'clock on Midsummer day, he relates how
he saw about twenty-two young women, most of them well dressed, and
apparently all very busy weeding. On making inquiries, he was
informed that they were looking for a coal under the root of a plantain,
to put beneath their heads that night, when they would not fail to dream
of their future husbands. But, unfortunately for this credulity, as an old
author long ago pointed out, the coal is nothing but an old dead root,
and that it may be found almost any day and hour when sought for. By
lovers the holly has long been supposed to have mystic virtues as a
dream-plant when used on the eve of any of the following festivals:
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