The Cow’s Beloved
by Jason Godesky
Once, long ago, the cow lived as a fierce animal that tested our ancestors. When our grandfathers needed to prove their worth, they would venture forth to test themselves against the mighty cows. They towered over our grandfathers with fierce horns, and the hot breath of great warriors. They lived noble and powerful lives, and knew no fear, and the little plant we now call “the Cow’s Beloved” fell in love with cow, and cow fell in love with her. Even today, you will see how strongly cows prefer her taste, and takes her into themselves.
In those days, the ancestors also ate freely of the Cow’s Beloved’s leaves, but there came a hard time, as the stories tell us, and our ancestors fell under the spell of the Grasses. It was during that time that there arose a powerful sorcerer among the Grass People, and he hated the noble cows. As the Grass People grew weaker and more sickly under the Grasses’ spell, they could no longer stand the might and power of the cows. They remembered the tales of their own ancestors, who had tested their strength against them, and wondered at what power their grandfathers must have commadned to struggle against such animals. This upset the sorcerer terribly, because his grandfathers had fought cows, and none of his people could do this any more. And so, he worked a terrible enchantment that robbed the cows of their ferocity and intelligence; it made them meek and gentle and dumb. Then he herded them along and subjected them to the Grass People; they raised them, herded them, milked them and then slaughtered them for food.
The Cow’s Beloved cried out in horror when she saw what the sorcerer had done to her lover, and cursed the Grass People to walk like cows upon two feet. They lacked a cow’s body, and so their stride caused pain in every step. She buttoned herself up as well, and made herself unpalatable to human mouths. In time, though, she saw the great suffering of the Grass People, and the great suffering they levied upon the world in their suffering, and relented somewhat. She said, “I will forgive any human who can escape my curse and remember how to walk as humans once walked, but even then they will have to earn my love. They will not be able to eat my flower or my leaves straight from the ground, as my beloved Cow does, or I will make them pay for it. But if they draw me a warm bath, and let me soak in the hot waters, then I will give them the strength I have to offer, and sustain them when nothing else will.”
And so the Cow’s Beloved has often saved those who have little else to eat, and gives strength to go on to those whose strength fails. But all can plainly see the tragic love she keeps for cow, as she waits for him to break the spell and remember his ancient, noble self; and still, we can see how Cow is drawn to her and loves her, though he cannot remember why.
Field Guide
Find more about the Cow’s Beloved from:
- [[White Clover|REWILD.info Field Guide]]
- Plants for a Future
- Wikipedia
- USDA PLANTS Database
Oral cultures don’t memorize facts and figures about thousands of edible and medicinal plants. They learn stories—stories about the personalities and powers of plants, how they relate to each other, to the world, and to the people who seek them out. Here, we’re starting some new stories about our rediscovered friends.
- Last Week: The Color Maiden
- Next Week: The Guardian
Jason,
It would be really convenient if you would add the latin names for the plants in this series so that I can look them up.
JimFive
Comment by JimFive — 2 July 2007 @ 11:12 AM
Nevermind, I just realized that the pfaf.org link is specific.
JimFive
Comment by JimFive — 2 July 2007 @ 11:13 AM
Yeah, I decided it was better to leave that to the links in the “Field Guide” section, along with all the technical information you could ask for. I also link to permaculture.info when they have an entry (the past two times, they haven’t). But all of those links have the scientific, Linnean name, as well as a bunch of other handy information. I try not to duplicate the efforts that others have already done better.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 11:15 AM
Also, note: the way I’m using the tags will (hopefully) start to make some of these useful for an herbal lookup. For instance:
http://anthropik.com/tag/tea
… lists Grandfather’s Footsteps and the Cow’s Beloved, but not the Color-Maiden, because they make good teas. Or:
http://anthropik.com/tag/diuretic
…which lists Grandfather’s Footsteps and the Color-Maiden, because they’re diuretics, but not the Cow’s Beloved.
So as we add more each week, those tags will become more useful.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 11:22 AM
*reads PFAF* “The leaves and flowers of certain cyanogenic phenotypes contain a glycoside which releases cyanide on contact with the enzyme linamarase” Okay, that sounds scary.
Didn’t anyone else eat nectar from clover flowers when they were kids? We used to pick the flower heads, pull out the little strands and suck the base. This was slightly intensive, and you had to get there before the bees. Nobody died, but then I used to eat apple pips too.
You could do the same with primroses.
Comment by Vashti — 2 July 2007 @ 11:36 AM
By the way, I read this story out to a friend. He cried for Cow. Good story.
Comment by Vashti — 2 July 2007 @ 11:37 AM
Yes, but humans don’t produce linamarase; it’s found in cassava and butter bean, though. Actually, linamarase all by itself releases cyanide when chewed or ground, which is why cassava is processed before eating. Even so, it’s more likely to make you sick than kill you. So, don’t cook your clover with cassava, I guess.
And thanks, that’s good to hear—I was hoping it would be a sufficiently tragic love story.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 11:46 AM
OMG, I love this story! I just love this series.
You know, when I was reading David Abram’s Spell of the Sensuous, I was struck by how many purposes a single Australian Aborigines’ song has. It’s a moral story, serves as a map, serves as a cook book of sorts, it’s got entertainment value… And here you are, doing it! You’ve got a condemnation of domestication, and a warning against shoes, and a recipe for preparing clover; and, on top of all,
[quote] I was hoping it would be a sufficiently tragic love story. [/quote]
Indeed it was!
Comment by Hasha — 2 July 2007 @ 6:37 PM
Glad you liked it.
I still feel inadequate, though; there’s so much more in just one Australian songline than I could ever put into one of these stories. But I figure, it has to start somewhere. And that’s all this is, a start. It needs a whole lot more, but at least it’s a start, and for now, I suppose that’s all you can really ask for. 
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 6:53 PM
[quote]I still feel inadequate, though; there’s so much more in just one Australian songline than I could ever put into one of these stories.[/quote]
That may very well be, but really, you can’t expect your work to be as good as that produced by the many generations of ancient indigenous cultures. You’re starting from scratch, or close enough. Your job is to provide the kernel of a healthy culture. It’s your descendants’ job to improve upon it, to add layers to it, until they make it as good as the Australian Aborigines’ once was.
Comment by Hasha — 2 July 2007 @ 7:26 PM
Exactly my point.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 7:36 PM
Jason — have you looked into indigenous Pennsylvania mythology at all? a couple years ago I was in contact with the folks at the Thunder Mountain Lenape tribal center in Saltsburg for an assignment in one of my journalism classes, about the “Thunderers,” a.k.a., the Pennsylvania Thunderbird. (I wrote about it because I swear to god on my life I saw one once.) Ever since then I have wanted to look further into the native stories of this area but never made the time for it.
fwiw, I thought this was a great story too. Storytelling is way harder than people imagine.
And totally unrelated just because I am compelled to bitch about this — my fucking idiot neighbor has smoke pouring out of his chimney. It’s July and he’s got the heat on… even worse, they only use the place on occasional weekends. It’s a vacation home; no one even lives there.
Comment by Paula — 3 July 2007 @ 7:12 AM
I’m pointed north from Pittsburgh, so I’ve been looking heavily into Seneca myths. Unfortunately, much of that is not for outsider consumption, so I just have snippets.
I’ve heard of other sightings of Pennsylvania Thunderbirds. There’s a lot of overlap with the “Mothman” sightings in Point Pleasant in the 1960’s. It’s very interesting stuff.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 3 July 2007 @ 9:39 AM