Matriarchal knowledge
Australia does not boast any public poison gardens but Felicity McDonald runs a witches’ garden in the Mitta Valley, Victoria. Although it is not a poison garden, Felicity does have a lot of poisonous plants – hemlock, wormwood, hellebore, hogweed, datura, rhubarb, hydrangeas, foxglove, yew and more.
McDonald stresses poisonous plants should only be accessed under supervision. “Being a witch’s garden, we have plants that heal, however some of these plants have contradictions which could make you very sick or result in death.” She guides groups around the garden – school groups, senior citizens, families and Wiccans (people who follow pagan rituals and crafts) – describing plants’ medicinal and poisonous qualities.
I ask McDonald if there is a matriarchal knowledge associated with women and plants, especially poisonous ones. Yes, she says, and it is all about control. Reducing a woman to home duties, she says, denied her power. “But ancient Egyptians worshipped Isis, goddess of healing and magic. In Celtic Britain, the goddess Brigid was responsible for healing, poetry and smithcraft. And in Norse countries, Eir was the goddess associated with medical skill.” So while women had little influence in the public political sphere, they exercised power in the realms of herbs and healing.
Both McDonald and the duchess note the number of women with traditional expert plant knowledge has declined over recent centuries. I ask the duchess whether she mourns this loss of plant-related matriarchy. She answers, “A matriarch implies a strong woman who is a leader but often the best poisoners were acting quietly behind the scenes; tending to their gardens; weeding, drying herbs.”
Source: Friday essay: cure or kill? The deadly serious world of poison gardens – and why I planted my own