Taexalia

wild.life

Winter Aconite Spittle of Cerberus

Winter Aconite Eranthis

Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) emerges soon after the Snowdrop. Although not a true aconite, it is closely related to them, being also a member of the Buttercup family. As with true aconites, all parts of the plant are poisonous, however ingestion would mean enduring a bitter taste sensation.

Aconites are sometimes referred to as Wolfsbane ~ plants that were said to repel werewolves and also said to cure lycanthropy, the cause of the shapeshifting condition.

It is said that these plants grew from the saliva of Cerberus, guardian of the Gate of Hades. Cerberus was said to be a three headed dog, or a beast with the head of a lion, lynx and sow, or even a fifty headed beast with the tail of a dragon and a mane of writhing serpents. He was the offspring of the giant Typhoeus and Echidna, and is siblings were Hydra and Chimaera.

It is said that when Hercules wrested Cerberus from the Underworld, the beast turned his face from the light and his rabid barking sprayed saliva over the woodland floor. The plants that grew there carried his poison and would open the gate to the underworld, and death.

Aconite is said to have been used by Medea in her attempt to poison Theseus when he arrived in Athens to join his father, Aegeus.