Mundrucus of North Brazil, when desirous of
gaining information on any special subject, would administer to their
seers narcotic drinks, so that in their dreams they might be favoured
with the knowledge required. Certain of the Amazon tribes use narcotic
plants for encouraging visions, and the Californian Indians, writes Mr.
Tylor,[1] "would give children narcotic potions, to gain from the
ensuing visions information about their enemies;" whilst, he adds, "the
Darien Indians used the seeds of the _Datura sanguinca_ to bring on in
children prophetic delirium, in which they revealed hidden treasure."
Similarly, the Delaware medicine-men used to drink decoctions of an
intoxicating nature, "until their minds became wildered, so that they
saw extraordinary visions."[2]

The North American Indians also held intoxication by tobacco to be
supernatural ecstasy. It is curious to find a survival of this source of
superstition in modern European folk-lore. Thus, on the Continent, many
a lover puts the four-leaved clover under his pillow to dream of his
lady-love; and in our own country, daisy-roots are used by the rustic
maiden for the same purpose. The Russians are familiar with a certain
herb, known as the _son-trava_, a dream herb, which has been identified
with the _Pulsatilla patens,_ and is said to blossom in April, and to
have an azure-coloured flower. When placed under the pillow, it will
induce dreams, which are generally supposed to be fulfilled. It has been
suggested that it was from its title of "tree of dreams" that the elm
became a prophetic tree, having been selected by Virgil in the Aeneid
(vi.) as the roosting-place of dreams in gloomy Orcus:

"Full in the midst a spreading elm displayed
His aged arms, and cast a mighty shade;
Each trembling leaf with some light visions teems,
And leaves impregnated with airy dreams."

At the present day, the yarrow or milfoil is used by love-sick maidens,
who are directed to pluck the mystic plant from a young man's grave,
repeating meanwhile this formula:

"Yarrow, sweet yarrow, the first that I have found, In the name of Jesus
Christ I pluck it from the ground; As Jesus loved sweet Mary and took
her for His dear, So in a dream this night I hope my true love
will appear."

Indeed, many other plants are in demand for this species of
love-divination, some of which are associated with certain days and
festivals. In Sweden, for instance, "if on Midsummer night nine