brassica rapa
Associations and Magickal History
The Turnip is sacred to Egres.
Egres is a Finnish vegetation and fertility god,
who is the personification of the Turnip.
He is also known as Akras, a name that
often appears in Finnish
family names and the names of places.
The center of his cult was in Karelia.
The Turnip is associated
with Jack o' the Shadows, or Death Itself.
This association is through the legends
of Jack O'Lantern.
In this legend a man named Jack can
neither be let into heaven or hell so instead
hollows out a Turnip or gourd and makes
a lantern out of it.
From that day on he wanders the face
of the world carrying his lantern,
trying to find somewhere he can stay
The Turnip is associated with two
Pagan Sabbats:
Lughnassadh, Lammas and Samhain.
MAGICKAL USE
Turnip can be used in Magick
for protection and for ending relationships.
The Turnip is a powerful omen
in dream magick as are most vegetables.
It bodes misfortune to dream
of eating vegetables or to dream
that your garden is growing well
- however to dream of being in a garden
means that a joy is coming to you.
And most importantly, you will have
family troubles if you dream of eating turnips.
The lowly Turnip has wormed its way
into our folk language as in:
"I didn't just fall off of a Turnip truck"
and "You can't get blood from a Turnip".
At the Samhain Sabbat,
Turnips become an important ingredient
to use in protection spells.
The original Jack O'Lanterns were probably,
hollowed out Turnips
- although today most of us use Pumpkins.
Today a carved Jack O'Lantern can be made
from a Turnip and put in the window
of a house to act as protection.
A lit candle can be put in the Turnip
so that spirits can find their way
around in the dark better.
One of the nice things about Jack O'Lanterns
made from Turnips is that you can actually
use them as lanterns.
Children can suspend the carved root
from string or a forked stick and carry it
around when they go out at night, therefore
being protected while trick-or-treating.
Source(s)
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