26.04.2011

Black Fetish
photographic documentation (bay branch, black wool, needles)
Firenze
17.01-17.07h





Bay tree The Grecian laurel (Laurus nobilis). To the herbalist, the bay was an herb of the sun, under the celestial sign of Leo, and a protection against witches, the devil, thunder and lightning. Its root was used to open obstruction of the liver, spleen, and other inward parts, while the berries were effective against poison of venomous creatures and the pestilence and were an aid in treating consumption and coughs. According to Albertus Magnus a wolf's tooth wrapped in a bay leaf gathered in August will prevent anyone from speaking an angry word to the wearer. ...
... For pleasant dreams put bay leaves under your pillow. If burning bay leaves crack noisily, good luck will come; it is a bad sign for them to burn without snapping. In Britain the bay was long regarded as a symbol of resurrection, because a withered bay tree will revive from the roots.


Source: Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, edited by Maria Leach,
Harper & Row, 1949, 1950, 1972
pp122




On the morning of 25th April 2011, Easter Sunday, I had a dream image: that of a bay branch (I had picked up one the day before) wrapped in black wool, alike "Fetish", and pierced with needles.
Latter on that same day, I learned that my mother had suffered a stroke. 
"Black fetish" has been started and completed while I wait for news.