of yew indicates the death of
an aged person, who will leave considerable wealth behind him; while the
violet is said to devote advancement in life. Similarly, too, the vine
foretells prosperity, "for which," says a dream interpreter, "we have
the example of Astyages, king of the Medes, who dreamed that his
daughter brought forth a vine, which was a prognostic of the grandeur,
riches, and felicity of the great Cyrus, who was born of her after this
dream."

Plucking ears of corn signifies the existence of secret enemies, and Mr.
Folkard quotes an old authority which tells us that the juniper is
potent in dreams. Thus, "it is unlucky to dream of the tree itself,
especially if the person be sick; but to dream of gathering the berries,
if it be in winter, denotes prosperity. To dream of the actual berries
signifies that the dreamer will shortly arrive at great honours and
become an important person. To the married it foretells the birth of a
male child."

Again, eating almonds signifies a journey, its success or otherwise
being denoted by their tasting sweet or the contrary. Dreaming of grass
is an auspicious omen, provided it be green and fresh; but if it be
withered and decayed, it is a sign of the approach of misfortune and
sickness, followed perhaps by death. Woe betide, too, the person who
dreams that he is cutting grass.

Certain plants produce dreams on particular occasions. The mugwort and
plantain have long been associated with Midsummer; and, according to
Thomas Hill in his "Natural and Artificial Conclusions," a rare coal is
to be found under these plants but one hour in the day, and one day in
the year. When Aubrey happened to be walking behind Montague House at
twelve o'clock on Midsummer day, he relates how he saw about twenty-two
young women, most of them well dressed, and apparently all very busy
weeding. On making inquiries, he was informed that they were looking for
a coal under the root of a plantain, to put beneath their heads that
night, when they would not fail to dream of their future husbands. But,
unfortunately for this credulity, as an old author long ago pointed out,
the coal is nothing but an old dead root, and that it may be found
almost any day and hour when sought for. By lovers the holly has long
been supposed to have mystic virtues as a dream-plant when used on the
eve of any of the following festivals:

Christmas,
New Year's Day,
Midsummer, and
All Hallowe'en.

According to the