“Rosmarinus and Lavandula” by Alan Chadwick

            In the days when man lived in balance he was watched over and guided by the stars. And at a certain period it was observed that man was beginning to use his reason and intellect. And therefore two stars were ordered to descend to earth to enlighten man. It so happened that those two stars arrived on earth at the very moment that the Archangel raised his sword and drove Adam and Eve out of the garden. And these two stars in the endeavor to fulfill their orders attempted to follow. And the Archangel raised his sword again and said,

            “None may follow these two where they must travel in the land of darkness.” And the one star raised a medallion and said, “I represent the King of Fishes and am strength,” and the other raised a medallion and said, “I am the Queen of Crops and I represent comfort.”

            And when the Archangel recognized his two brothers he lowered his sword and permitted them to pass in the form of two herbs — Rosmarinus for strength and Lavandula for comfort, later to become known as male and female. And in this form they traveled beside Adam and Eve throughout all the lands of darkness showing them always, when they required it, the paths that led back to where they had come from.

                                                                                    Alan Chadwick