Devil's Claw

Synonyms Lycopodium selago 1., Urostachys selago (1.) Herter] This club moss (cf. Lycopodium clavatum, Lycopodium spp.), which is found in circumpolar and Antarctic regions and is also known as fir club moss, heckenysop, devil's clover, and selago, is an ancient Celtic-Germanic magical plant that was highly esteemed among the Druids: It was gathered with great care, no iron instrument was allowed to touch it, even bare hands were unworthy of this honor. A special covering, or "sagus;' was used with the right hand. This covering had to be consecrated and secretly received from a holy personage with the left hand. It could be collected only by a white-clad druid with bare feet that had been washed in clear water. Before he collected this plant, he had to make an offering of bread and wine; after this, the plant was carried away from the place in which it grew in a new, clean cloth. In the ((Kadir Taliesin;' selago is referred to as ((the gift of god," and in modern Welsh as the ((gras duw;' or the ((grace of god." This plant was viewed primarily as an amulet that protected its possessor against all harm. (Schopf 1986, 58*) The herbage contains 0.1 to 0.9% total alkaloids, which have been characterized as ((selagine" and comprise lycopodines, arifoline, pseudoselagine (= isolycodoline), selagine, and lycodoline. The entire plant can induce vomiting, dizziness, wooziness, and unconsciousness in humans (Roth et al. 1994, 407*).