Fern – Bounty

The brackens and ferns cover the sunlit, dappled area of the woodland floor with an abundance. Beneath they hid the treasures which lay undisturbed. Late in the season they were cut back for fuel and building material, then the treasure was revealed.

The Fern symbolises the bounty of life. An opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labours. This not a hand out, because it is the things you’ve worked hard for and earned. Yet it is still a time of profit and gain when forgotten assets could turn up trumps. This is a period of luck and protection that you now have the luxury to enjoy.

Roof's and walls were often insulated with bracken and fern to protect from the harsher weather. In basic accomodation it filled the mattress and kept the floor dry. The leaves were used in poultices to promote healthy tissue and on sores and ulcers. A powdered form of the plant was also effective for worming.

The symbolic image of the braken and fern is closely associated to the Sun. When the plant is dry it releases the spours in golden showers. The nature of the plant is to cover the open areas of the woodland floor, only revealing what is beneath when its dies back.