I have a question for any horticulturalists out there. Here are some photographs of my little courtyard garden and attempted creation of an outside icon corner. It's just a year old, and beginning to take shape. It started as a plain, concrete floored, enclosed space.
At a plant sale put on by the local gardening society, I bought this hyssop plant and it has started to bloom with pretty purple flowers. I don't know if this the same as the ancient middle-Eastern, biblical hyssop? It does have a bitter-herb taste, a little bit like rosemary or thyme and I can imagine this growing in rock crevices in a dry Mediterranean climate!
My question is this. Why would it be chosen for sprinkling and how would one cleanse with it? As well as the opening line of the translation of the Asperges from the Mass, there are numerous references to its use for purging and cleansing. Is it supposed to have medicinal qualities if eaten for example, or does it give an aromatic quality to water if used as a sprinkler? Here is a closeup of the fronds and flowers.
I'm curious. I could probably use a good purging from time to time, and what was good for my namesake, King David, is probably good for me! But I'm not sure what to do even if I wanted to.
