The Daisy Count

Free-range folklore

We finally had some sunshine this week! And boy did we need it!

There’s a saying in Hampshire that notes spring's not officially here unless you can place your foot within nine daisies. We think eight's close enough:

The word daisy has evolved from ‘days eye’, possibly Anglo Saxon, and referring to the habits of the daisy.

At dusk this little flower folds up its delicate white petals and puts itself to bed. When the sun reappears the next day it unfurls them and soaks up all that photosynthesing energy.

For the Norsemen, the daisy was a friend of Freya, representing beauty and fertility. They are also connected with the sun and thought to contain apotropaic magic and so making them into a crown and wearing them on Beltane night might keep you safe from the fae folk but if you want to be really sure, watch out for my fae folk survival guide landing later this week.

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