Victorian Flower Oracle: Hemlock

Hemlock
Treachery, Deception

Image: A Hemlock woman looks to the right with a sharp expression, while using a mortar and pestle set upon a table. The table is adorned with twining snakes, a bloated frog lies beneath while a rabbit in a toga gazes blissfully at the Hemlock while drinking from a vessel that resembles a gravy boat. Part of a rat is barely visible behind toga bunny (a tail and a foot).

I used to dread getting this card. I always thought the worst. Slowly, I began to see this card as self-deception, or misinformation, and as a warning to go back and check my facts. Flower language: "You will be the death of me"
For advice, I would think about checking my facts before whirling off into a passionate tirade about whatever it was I was so keen on. Watch those passions.

The woman seems really scared to me...
From the wiki entry on hemlock:
"The word hemlock may refer to:

Conium, or more specifically, Conium maculatum, a common European herb that contains the alkaloid coniine and was probably the state poison of Ancient Greece, and the purported poison used in the execution of Socrates."
Its the fear, they say, that's the opposite of love... I guess that if i pulled this card i'd read it as a reminder to keep my intentions and deeds pure...
Gawd, i'm not sure i am making sense to anyone else here, apart from myself! Anyway...

I feel sorry for this lady. She looks desperate, and lost. She seems to have lost her senses, her mind is so taken by the poison making that she cannot really know why she began all this. The rabbit and its mocking smile reminds me of people who watch others crumble,tumble and agonize in their fears and self-destruction and just regale... A VERY distrubing card but very deep as well.

In this card I see her face as being revengeful, as if someone has hurt her in the past, and now she doles out her hateful revenge on those that she lures into her midst.

The frog and the rabbit have gone there in good faith, maybe with the promise of having tea, or some wine....and they are given the drink which is poison....and she watches them drink with no remorse and then watchesd them die with the same coldness of soul.

The card says to me to beware of someone acting as if they are your friend....acting on your behalf as though trustworthy....

Ang x

This card card could indicate paranoia then? The fear, self deception, the desperation, questioning peoples motives... certainly these would fit under the description for paranoia.

.traveller. said:

This card card could indicate paranoia then?

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I think yes, definitely!

Well, I've had this one come up in relation to my (very real!) stalker - and the treachery and deception works pretty well for me - at least in that circumstance (there are other things apart from stalking). I also received this card as advice as to what to do about that stalker - I took it as meaning to send back her own poison to her.


Hemlock, like most poisons, is actually curative in very small doses: so a little bit of what you fear can do you good and make you tough.

The hidden rat seems to whisper to the rabbit, "The (dead bloated) frog isn't important; don't look at the things around you, drink deep & quickly! Time is running out."

Her expression seems to mimic the same. "Quickly, time is running out, we will all die." (I wonder if the hidden rat is her own mind running rampant?)

Scathing, damning, hurtful, conceited, judgmental, hypocritical, hastily conceived plans to plot revenge. Albeit not a good idea, but can be done easily if one is not in control. (Mars retro battles?)

Choose the things you do & say very carefully. Step lightly not to push someone over the deep end. All have their breaking points & can easily distroy others with a quick word or deed.
One must be on guard when this card falls. Tread lightly. Being a bloated, dead frog is highly distasteful & unwanted in any situation.

Barbara

Edited to add;
The hemlock has a deep tap root like a cedar tree. Once taken hold, they can endure! Certain types are perennial but most are biennial weeds.

Barbaras Ahajusts said:

The hemlock has a deep tap root like a cedar tree. Once taken hold, they can endure!

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Tell me about it! With some weeds (and some hemlocky people), only poison will get rid of them. That is risky too, as it can spoil the soil. Or else, it takes digging very deep, which eats up so much energy.

This card has been pursuing me in relation to this person and the more I know of her, the more fitting it is. Especially what you say about "we're all going to die" - which could be turned into - "if I lose, you all lose; if you try to get rid of me, you will all of you suffer".


Dead frog - no, not I!!! But it's exhausting. I'm taking care to drink no more poison.