reading notes for Marcel de Cleene and Marie Claire Lejeune, Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe

The thread running through this compendium is man's innate fear of losing his grip on his own environment and the ensuing escape into all manner of spirits and strange powers. It is a fear that has probably always existed, but can be clearly felt in the present turbulent and uncertain transitional period to the umpteenth “new age.” What is more, at a time of major environmental pollution, it is a good thing to reflect on the age-old bond between man and nature the plant kingdom in particular, and to recognise its deeper symbolism. The best justification for the publication of this compendium is the hope that this understanding may in some way contribute to a recovery of the lost harmony with nature. [11]