Mint is one of the easiest herbs to grow, and will in fact take over your garden if not kept carefully contained. Fortunately, it’s also one of the most versatile edible plants in our repertoire, with uses that range from the ritual to the medicinal, as well as playing a key role in cuisines around the world. Obviously with such a broad scope I can’t cover every piece of myth and folklore connected to the plant in a single article, so I’ve decided to focus on Greece and Rome this time, but just know there’s so much more out there waiting to be discovered.
Mint [betultiker0, Pixabay]
The rise of what I can only describe as the Hades and Persephone fandom has led to the story of Minthe becoming surprisingly well known outside of Pagan and classicist circles over the last few years. A naiad or water nymph of the underworld, born of the river Kokytos, Minthe had been the lover of Hades (Pluto in Rome) before he took Persephone (Proserpina) as his wife. (In some versions, Minthe is instead his partner in an affair during one of Persephone’s absences.)
Minthe, angry at being abandoned or possibly overconfident in her hold on Hades, bragged about being more beautiful than Dread Persephone, insisting that Hades would soon put his wife aside for her. This didn’t go down well, and, depending on the source, either Demeter or Persephone herself took revenge: transforming Minthe into a plant, or turning her to dust, and then trampling her underfoot.
Hades, not living up to his popular reputation as a wife guy, was upset by his paramour’s fate and so decided to either give the newly botanical nymph a fresh, sweet smell when her leaves were crushed, or, in the dust version of the story, caused the dust particles to sprout, becoming the herb we all know and love.
Mint was held sacred to Hades, and Mount Minta, in Pylos, which was associated with the nymph, had a fairly important temple dedicated to Hades at the mountain’s base. That’s pretty “sus,” as my friends’ teenage kids now say, but also fairly average Greco-Roman god behaviour. (Side note, how am I now old enough that my friends have teenagers?)
Though garden mint, or possibly water mint, was sacred to Hades, Persephone and Demeter had their own sacred mint as well. Unlike Hades’s herbs, however, the variety sacred to the Corn Mother and Maiden has no place on anyone’s table, despite its occasional use as a culinary herb in Ancient Greece and Rome.
Pennyroyal, made famous by the Nirvana song, has a long usage as an abortifacient, a stimulant, and a component in various herbal remedies. It is also very, very poisonous. So much so that death is far more likely to occur than a successful abortion if used for those purposes.
Pennyroyal flowers [Daniel Feliciano, Wikimedia Commons, CC 4.0]
It’s also a key ingredient in a type of kykeon, a barley-water drink that was popular across the ancient Greek world, drunk by initiates in the Eleusinian Mysteries and by Demeter herself in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter while she mourned for her lost daughter, plunging the world into winter. Although we don’t know much about the Eleusinian Mysteries (the penalty for revealing their secrets to a non-initiate was death), it seems possible that the herb’s tie to both death and aborted fertility, and the very fine line between the two, is what made it holy to goddesses who embodied the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
It’s been speculated that the association between mint and the various gods of the underworld came about because mint was one of the various herbs used to dress the dead, masking the smell of decay and acting as an insect repellent, keeping the flies away from the corpse until it could be buried. If true, then, much like rosemary, these chthonic associations didn’t render the plant unclean or unfit for use outside of funerary contexts, most likely because it was just so very useful.
In addition to wide ranging medical applications, from treating indigestion to headaches and eye infections, mint was also believed to inflame lust and reduce the effects of drunkenness, woven into both banqueting and wedding crowns. Pennyroyal was the mint of choice for bridal crowns, both because of its beautiful flowers and because it was another symbolic tie between Persephone and girls on the edge of marriage, something which was seen as a little death for women as they left one life for another.
Outside of lust and death, mint was also symbolically welcoming, as we see in the myth of Baucis and Philemonon, the impoverished peasants who go all out to host the visiting gods in disguise. Though the two had very little, it was the effort they put in, including scouring the table with mint before inviting their guests to sit and eat, that impressed Zeus and Hermes.
Whether or not this myth is meant to be the origin of the tradition or reflect an already common practice, mint was often used to scent banqueting and dining rooms in Greece and Rome, where it was believed to lift the spirits and reduce aggression as well as provide a generally hospitable atmosphere for guests.
Of course, mint was also heavily featured in both the food and drink of the period, being infused into teas, added to salads, and used to season roasted meat, just as it is now. Mint was ubiquitous at ancient Greek and Roman social gatherings, making its association with festivities and good vibes something of a chicken and egg situation; either way it is the perfect addition to your own Pagan and Witchy gatherings, to welcome your friends and help provide a harmonious, welcoming atmosphere.
Tomato, mint, and coriander salad
We’re heading into the summer months (at least here in the northern hemisphere) and while I could have given you another roast lamb recipe I thought I’d provide you with a lovely refreshing side instead. This is a little inspired by something my dad used to make, though his version lacked mint and featured birds eye chillies, producing an entirely different sensory experience. It’s very good with barbequed meat and mezze items, and the cooling properties of mint and the citric acid in the tomatoes and lime are very helpful for guests with a lower spice tolerance if you’ve included some more fiery dishes.
Ingredients
- 1 red onion
- 1 large punnet of red cherry tomatoes (can substitute for plum, larger red tomatoes or green heirloom if necessary)
- 1 small bunch of mint (about 30g)
- 1 small bunch of coriander leaves (about 30g)
- 1 lime
Slice the onion finely and cut the tomatoes in half (dice into large pieces if resorting to a larger tomato). Chop the cilantro and tear the mint leaves roughly before mixing it all together with the juice of the lime.
This is one of those recipes where the quality of the produce available impacts the amount of ingredients you should be using, so you may want more or less of the herbs and lime juice depending on how flavourful they are. Make sure you taste everything to work out how to adjust the proportions to ensure a balanced flavour before you start (though if it goes wrong you can always add more of something later).
I don’t generally salt this, as it’s a side dish that’s often paired with very salty meats, cheeses, and dips, and the sweetness acts as a nice counterpoint, but depending on what you’re serving you may want to add a pinch of salt too at the end.
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