Lammas

 

The day of Lammas is an old celebration that happens on the first day of August. Rural communities throughout the British Isles used to celebrate with loaves of bread, and the day was also called Harvest Festival, Loaf Feast, Grain Harvest and Lughnasadh, the Gaelic name associated with the three-faced god Lugh. It's similar to the Heathen festival of Freyfaxi, in celebration of the corn and the fertility god Frey.

Known as the first of three harvest holidays, Lughnasadh appears in the summer and most fairs celebrating happened around burial mounds. Making bread and corn husk dolls have become a popular way to celebrate this season among neo pagans and Wiccans. 

It's a time of feasting on baked food, loaves, plaited bread, pies with blueberries. Biscuits made with cereals. Drinking beer or mead to celebrate or have honey flavoured tea.      

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Mentha pulegium

Mentha pulegium is better known by its other name: Pennyroyal. It's also called "pudding grass" and "mosquito plant". These fluffy plants grow purple flowers with sunburst shaped petals. They look so pretty and have a slight taste of mint. But I must point out Pennyroyal has a dark side. 

Often found in the wild, they can also be cultivated and produced in damp soil. It's always been a favourite food ingredient since ancient times, as mentioned in the Roman cookery book Apicius of the 5th century CE. Pennyroyal has been considered for its medicinal uses. 

Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) wrote about Pennyroyal in his book Naturalis Historia being a plant that can encourage blood flow in women, as it's an emmenagogue drug. Pennyroyal has been used by pregnant women seeking abortions throughout the ancient world. The herb was also used to treat menstrual flow problems, flea infections and toothaches.

However, despite the popularity of Pennyroyal being a wonder plant for thousands of years for food and medicine, modern day scientists found Pennyroyal to be harmful. The most toxic of all is the Pennyroyal oil, as it can cause pain, vomiting, fatigue, and even death, depending on how much of it was swallowed. It's best avoided.  

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Papaya fruit

 

During the warm months it's natural to want to eat more tropical fruit. Amongst the fruits include the fancy papaya, but it's one of the most harmful fruits to find in the market. Papya is an artificial fruit, that was first domesticated by Mesoamericans in South Mexico and Central America. This became distributed in different parts of the world. Papaya is often found growing in abundance after a hurricane where it grows in everglades. Papaya can get harmful viruses such as the "Papaya Ringspot Virus" and "Papaya Mosaic Virus." The fruit gets attacked by anthracnose fungus, powder mildew, phytophthora blight, papaya fruit flies, two-spotted spider mites, whitefly, fruit flies, which gives parasites.   

Papaya is the top most harmful fruit that causes miscarriages. While this fruit is considered "healthy" by many websites, eating it can cause bad side effects and even death. Papaya can lead to stomach pains and diarrhoea. Papaya can disrupt blood especially for those on medication. Papaya is harmful for diabetics, as it lowers sugar levels. Eating papaya may cause bleeding, itching, headaches, wheezing and skin rash. It seems that papaya is pretty dangerous for a lot of people. Papaya contains carpain, allergens and papain that damages the esophagus. The fruit is so toxic that some countries have banned papaya, especially the GM types.  

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