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Authors: Aitor Echevarria
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beams of the hut, he took down plants, herbs, and mushrooms from a pot. He laid them with great care onto the table and gave the stick to Inaki.
“Which of these would you destroy?” he asked.
Inaki looked at the dozen or so fresh and dried plants and mushrooms.
“First seven are easy,” he said, “since they are the deadliest. I would destroy the Star-of-Bethlehem, the deadly nightshade, and the poison oak, the yew, the oleander, the wisteria and the hemlock and of the mushrooms all but the shaggy mane and the amanita muscaria mushroom.”
“Your choice is interesting but ill-informed. Let us examine them in turn, young man. The Star-of Bethlehem is poisonous but parts of it can be used to cure pain in the arms and heart; the same is true of the deadly nightshade. The poison oak is the earthy seat of our great God and deserving of veneration. The yew, although every part of it is poisonous, gives us fine bows to hunt with. Furthermore, it is the sacred tree of the Asturians. The oleander and wisteria give us beauty and peace, although, they are as you rightly say poisonous; their scent soothes the mind. Would you destroy beauty and peace? The hemlock, though deadly poisonous, has properties that can be used to help sleeplessness and troubled minds. What is more, you have not even considered the mandrake root, the most powerful root of all. It shrieks when you pull it out of the ground, but it can cure madness and has other secret properties. Now there is something to marvel at. But we will come to that some other time. Your choice of mushrooms is the most interesting. You have used the amanita muscaria mushroom already?”
“How did you know?” said Inaki in a startled voice.
“I didn’t, I guessed that you had,” said his uncle, “from the change in you.”
“Oh!”
“We will return to your choice of the mushrooms in a moment,” continued his uncle, “having wiped out our religion, and our most effective weapons and some of our most important natural medicines, you then miss the most deadly of all the plants.”
He reached down to the table and picked up a bunch of, what looked like, wild cherries.
“The seed of this plant crushed, diluted and reduced to a powder produces a poison that the Romans first discovered. A speck of it will kill the largest animal or man. It is the most deadly poison that I know of. It must be treated with great care.”
Inaki looked at the floor, humbled and downcast.
“I see that I have still a great deal to learn,” he said in low voice.
“That you have, my boy, but let us go back to your choice of mushrooms. When and why did you use them?”
Inaki explained his troubled dreams and gave an account of his experience by the pool.
“Well,” said his uncle, “it is only a matter of luck that you did not lose your mind completely or your life.”
“How’s that?”
“These mushrooms are the greatest and most dangerous of the gifts that we have from the Gods. We use them to communicate with the Gods, to find our enemies and to gain insight. They can be used to interpret dreams, but this is when they are most dangerous, since you have the least control and the revelations can burn your mind out. They make you vulnerable to your enemies, opening your mind, so that your thoughts can be read and demons sent to plague you. They can drive you insane. You were lucky, for two reasons; the spirit of the warrior you killed wished you no harm and passed through you to his resting place. The Sisters of the Moon are a far more serious matter. For some reason they wish you harm. The small amount of the mushroom you took did not give them enough time to penetrate your mind.”
“What do you know about the Sisters of the Moon?” asked Inaki in deep shock.
“Only that their past is shrouded in mist and mystery. Legend has it that they come from a lost time. We have been told that their sect came with the Romans, holding high office in their religion. They were powerful.
“Which of these would you destroy?” he asked.
Inaki looked at the dozen or so fresh and dried plants and mushrooms.
“First seven are easy,” he said, “since they are the deadliest. I would destroy the Star-of-Bethlehem, the deadly nightshade, and the poison oak, the yew, the oleander, the wisteria and the hemlock and of the mushrooms all but the shaggy mane and the amanita muscaria mushroom.”
“Your choice is interesting but ill-informed. Let us examine them in turn, young man. The Star-of Bethlehem is poisonous but parts of it can be used to cure pain in the arms and heart; the same is true of the deadly nightshade. The poison oak is the earthy seat of our great God and deserving of veneration. The yew, although every part of it is poisonous, gives us fine bows to hunt with. Furthermore, it is the sacred tree of the Asturians. The oleander and wisteria give us beauty and peace, although, they are as you rightly say poisonous; their scent soothes the mind. Would you destroy beauty and peace? The hemlock, though deadly poisonous, has properties that can be used to help sleeplessness and troubled minds. What is more, you have not even considered the mandrake root, the most powerful root of all. It shrieks when you pull it out of the ground, but it can cure madness and has other secret properties. Now there is something to marvel at. But we will come to that some other time. Your choice of mushrooms is the most interesting. You have used the amanita muscaria mushroom already?”
“How did you know?” said Inaki in a startled voice.
“I didn’t, I guessed that you had,” said his uncle, “from the change in you.”
“Oh!”
“We will return to your choice of the mushrooms in a moment,” continued his uncle, “having wiped out our religion, and our most effective weapons and some of our most important natural medicines, you then miss the most deadly of all the plants.”
He reached down to the table and picked up a bunch of, what looked like, wild cherries.
“The seed of this plant crushed, diluted and reduced to a powder produces a poison that the Romans first discovered. A speck of it will kill the largest animal or man. It is the most deadly poison that I know of. It must be treated with great care.”
Inaki looked at the floor, humbled and downcast.
“I see that I have still a great deal to learn,” he said in low voice.
“That you have, my boy, but let us go back to your choice of mushrooms. When and why did you use them?”
Inaki explained his troubled dreams and gave an account of his experience by the pool.
“Well,” said his uncle, “it is only a matter of luck that you did not lose your mind completely or your life.”
“How’s that?”
“These mushrooms are the greatest and most dangerous of the gifts that we have from the Gods. We use them to communicate with the Gods, to find our enemies and to gain insight. They can be used to interpret dreams, but this is when they are most dangerous, since you have the least control and the revelations can burn your mind out. They make you vulnerable to your enemies, opening your mind, so that your thoughts can be read and demons sent to plague you. They can drive you insane. You were lucky, for two reasons; the spirit of the warrior you killed wished you no harm and passed through you to his resting place. The Sisters of the Moon are a far more serious matter. For some reason they wish you harm. The small amount of the mushroom you took did not give them enough time to penetrate your mind.”
“What do you know about the Sisters of the Moon?” asked Inaki in deep shock.
“Only that their past is shrouded in mist and mystery. Legend has it that they come from a lost time. We have been told that their sect came with the Romans, holding high office in their religion. They were powerful.
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