Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates
with the choicest of fruits, with henna and spikenard,
with spikenard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of frankincense tree,
with myrrh and aloes,
with all the finest spices.
Song of Solomon 4:14
Do you recognize those beautiful stigmata? Around here the threads are sold in tiny vials and yellow paper envelopes — and they are often quite expensive.
It’s almost hard to believe that at one time, saffron crocuses were so plentiful the petals were strewn in the streets. The area not far from here was once called, The Saffron Belt, and the Germans who lived there were known as the Geeldeitsch or, Yellow Dutch. Browsing the Lebanon Daily News (October 19, 1897) we are given a glimpse into what it might have been like:
The streets and sidewalks of town are profusely decorated with saffron flowers, because many people are superstitious enough to believe that there is a charm in having flowers driven over and trodden upon.
I discovered that little nugget of information last year — while researching local Hallowe'en traditions. I consulted my beloved Sauer’s Herbal Cures. Sauer tells us Johann Jakob Schmidt wrote in his Biblischer Medicus (1743):
[Saffron] grows so much better when it is tread upon, and for this reason it is held up as a symbol of the humility and forbearance of Believers.1
I suppose we can assume the Germans who came to Pennsylvania respected both the superstition and the symbolism associated with saffron. Over 150 years after Schmidt published his book on pastoral medicine, they were apt to practice such land blessings here in America.
As for streets strewn with the flowers…can you imagine how pretty that must’ve been? One thing is for certain, the smell would prove intoxicating. Sauer claims a small bundle of saffron worn over the chest will treat melancholy. No wonder! He alleges its honey scent may provoke so much mirthfulness one may fear dying of laughter. 2 This outrageous claim might be true. According to Francis Bacon:
Saffron conveys medicine to the heart…removes melancholy and uneasiness, revives the brain, renders the mind cheerful, and generates boldness.
Saffron’s narcotic properties are responsible for creating the above-mentioned intoxicating mirth. Bacon also described a delicious (and seasonal!) draught made of saffron mixed with apples and syrup of roses (doesn’t that sound intriguing?).
‘He has slept in a bag of saffron,’ once described those deemed unusually cheerful.
In mythology, the woodland nymph Smilax (after whom our native Sawbrier is named), loved a mortal boy named, Krokos. Her infatuation with the handsome Spartan was unrequited. Heartbroken Smilax began to waste away in her grief. And so the goddess Aphrodite took it upon herself to transform the melancholy nymph into a prickly brier whose tiny flowers possess the stench of carrion and transform into midnight-black berries come winter. Another tale claims Crocus sativus grew from a pool of Krokos’ blood after he fell to the ground upon being struck by a quoit thrown by his friend (lover, in some versions) Hermes.
You may be wondering why I decided to write about crocuses in October? Crocus sativus — the saffron crocus — flowers this time of year. We bid summer farewell, and a delicate crimson-threaded crocus pushes straight up through the earth and blooms! It is said this fact enraged the goddess Demeter. Why should such beauty flourish above ground when Persephone remains confined to the Underworld?
I photographed the flowering crocus (above) in 2011 — days before Hallowe'en. I wonder why Confection of Saffron never caught on as a treat for costumed visitors? Especially here…so very close to the Saffron Belt? ♡
✑ Community
The wonderful book, Herbal Delights: Tisanes, Syrups, Confections, Electuaries, Robs, Juleps, Vinegars and Conserves by Mrs. C. F. Leyel, includes a recipe for Confection of Saffron:
Macerate for 24 hours ½ pound of coarsely powdered saffron and the same of zeodary (white turmeric), then press & strain and reduce liquid by evaporation to 1½ pints.
Add to it 2 ounces of cinnamon, the same of nutmeg & 1 ounce of cloves, plus ½ ounce of smaller cardamom seeds. Make into a confection with 2 pounds of double refined sugar.
Do you grow Crocus sativus? Have you any more crocus-related myths to share? Are you a culinary progressive willing to attempt making saffron candies?
Schmidt, Johann Jakob. Biblischer Medicus. Poland, Dendeler, 1743.
Weaver William Woys. Sauer's Herbal Cures : America's First Book of Botanic Healing 1762-1778. Routledge 2001.
Image: Cultivated Crocus sativus flowering in my parents’ side yard, October 2011.
This is wonderful, Jessica, thank you! Living in the desert here where I am, I'd always thought of saffron as something truly exotic. How lovely would that be to walk a street covered with the blooms? And as much as I'd really love to try the confection of saffron, I'm thinking it would cost a few grand to make. Might be worth it, though! 😁
This has me doing a happy dance!! I love all the stories & myths surrounding saffron and humanity's relationship with it. Saffron is featured heavily in "Color: A Natural History of the Palette" by Victoria Finlay, and it just held me absolutely captivated.