GARDEN OF POISONS Series II: Ivy (Hedera Helix)

The fifth in a new collection of my Poison Garden series - exploring plants with poisonous properties, often with magical uses.

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Ivy is seen as a feminine plant, which promotes good fortune to women. In Ancient Greece, ivy was used to prevent intoxication, reduce swelling, and as an anaesthetic. It was also the plant sacred to Dionysus/Bacchus and was frequently hung up outside inns to advertise the quality of the wines within.

However in Guernsey it was seen as very bad luck to bring Ivy inside the house before Christmas, especially if it was seen to touch the mantlepiece (a symbol of womenfolk).

When growing extensively on a house, it is believed to offer protection from witchcraft and the evil eye. Ivy is also documented as being used for divination, with a leaf being placed in water on New Year's Eve until Twelfth Night when if it was still green it promised prosperity , but if black foretold illness.

Ivy leaf vinegar was a popular prophylactic during the time of the Great Plague of London.

In Herefordshire, it was believed that Ivy was a remedy for whooping cough, and bowls were carved from the wood cut during specific hours of the night and phases of the moon.

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Fabric sculpture with wired elements, handpainted face and individual ivy leaves, with hand dyed wool locks hair, two large copper veined green turquoise nuggets and textured/varnished finish.

Hanging loop on reverse.

SIZE: 12x20" approx.

Postage: 2nd Class Signed For UK
International Signed For, Worldwide

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Apr 2025