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Plants as protection against misfortune? In the Netherlands, too, there are centuries-old traditions in which plants are used as protection against all kinds of misfortune. Researcher Isabela Pombo Geertsma will talk about this unusual use of plants during this evening event.

Isabela Pombo Geertsma is an ethnobotanist who studies how plants are used by humans. As part of the QBD research group at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ—affiliated with the Botanical Gardens—she is conducting doctoral research into associations between plants and witchcraft in Western Europe, both past and present. During this evening, she will tell us more about how plants are used in the Netherlands as protection against evil.

For centuries, people have tried to protect themselves against evil such as disease, crop failure, lightning strikes, and the devil. In Catholic communities, for example, bouquets were blessed, sometimes even to this day. In Limburg, for example, the Assumption of Mary was celebrated in many places on August 15. People make a bouquet of seven types of plants, which is tied together with a ribbon. After being blessed in church, this ‘kroedwusj’ is hung up at home and offers protection against evil. In North Brabant, there is a similar tradition, where people make a Sint Janstros that is blessed on St. John's Day (June 24). Isabela has documented these special traditions, together with students and volunteers, and will tell us all about them this evening.

Program
7:45 p.m. - Doors open with coffee and tea
8:00 p.m. - Lecture begins
9:30 p.m. - End

Exclusively for Friends
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