Fire Flowers
In Polish mythology, fire flowers are mystical blooms. To find this powerful plant the seeker had to enter a forest before midnight on the Eve of Kupala. The flower would climb up the stalk of the fern, and precisely at midnight it would bloom so brightly that no one could look directly at it. In order to harvest it a circle had to be drawn around it, and the seeker had to deal with demons trying to distract him/her from doing so. It was said that if you answered the voices, or faltered during the task, it would sacrifice its own life. Anyone possessing this flower gained the ability to read minds, find treasure, and repel all evils.
Read more about this topic: Polish Folk Beliefs
Famous quotes containing the words fire and/or flowers:
“Persons grouped around a fire or candle for warmth or light are less able to pursue independent thoughts, or even tasks, than people supplied with electric light. In the same way, the social and educational patterns latent in automation are those of self- employment and artistic autonomy.”
—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
“Those who have handled sciences have either been men of experiment or men of dogmas. The men of experiment are like the ant; they only collect and use; the reasoners resemble spiders, who make cobwebs out of their own substance. But the bee takes the middle course; it gathers its material from the flowers of the garden and of the field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own. Not unlike this is the true business of philosophy.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)