The great role played by superstition and magical practices in popular culture is evident in people's explanations of unintelligible (and thus awe-inspiring) natural phenomena and their tendency to ascribe to them occult powers that affect human beings and their surrounding environment. It should be pointed out that many beliefs and medicinal recipes have existed independently in various parts of the world for centuries before they were noted down in written sources (Moszyński 1934 passim). Moreover, the conviction that charms pronounced by initiated persons have magical effects when used in connection with plants, has survived since Antiquity and the Middle Ages (for more on this subject see Engelking 1988: 36–45). These beliefs originated in Antiquity from China, India, Sumer, Egypt, and later from Greece and Rome. The magical power attributed to plants originated in beliefs regarding the way they came into existence, their appearance, and their medicinal or poisonous effect. In its common meaning, therefore, the adjective " magic " refers to something 'myste-rious and unusual' (Szot-Radziszewska 2005: 16). one which generates specific results, is unknown. On the other hand, the designation " magic " informs us that the origin of a causative power, i.e. However, identifying such magic is difficult as it exists only in people's attitudes, their point of view and the way they organize their world (Paluch 1989: 11). It was an inseparable part of everyday life in the countryside. Until quite recently mythical-magical consciousness was a characteristic feature of rural culture. The aim of the present study is to describe some of the names given to these plants in Europe in connection with the numerous beliefs and legends surrounding them. Their properties, appearance, history and – as a consequence – their names have been continually intertwined throughout the centuries, and we consider them by no means separately from a linguistic and general cultural point of view. The fact that both these plants are treated together here is no accident.
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