Bean (Phaseolus spp, P. vulgaris)
Folk Names: Common Bean, Green Bean, Kidney Bean, Navy Bean, Pinto Bean, Poor Man's Meat, Snap Bean, String Bean, Wax Bean; P vulgare Haricot
Description: The bean plant is an annual, twining vine with alternate leaves. Each leaf has three broad-ovate to rhombic-ovate entire pointed leaflets. The flowers are white, yellow, or purplish depending upon the species. These grow in sparse, axillary clusters. The fruit is a green or yellow pod filled with large, edible seeds. The pod is also often edible.
Effects: strong
Planet: Mercury, Venus; P vulgare Moon, Jupiter
Element: Air
Associated Deities: Demeter, Cardea; Haricot Ukemochi
Traditions:
Beans have been cultivated since time immemorial. Just as with many other ancient food crops, long years of cultivation have led to wide variation in the bean family. Offerings of beans and pork were given as offerings to Cardea in Rome on June 1st. They are also associated with the underworld and the dead, distributed and eaten during Roman funerals. On three days of the year, the Roman head of the household went through a ritual ceremony of spitting beans out of his mouth to rid his home of evil spirits. In Italy, beans were distributed among the poor on the anniversary of a death. Beans have even been found in the ancient tombs of Peru.
The Haricot bean is sacred in the Shinto religion. It rose from the blood of the benevolent goddess Ukemochi who provided food, especially boiled rice, to people. It is also sacred to the Fali tribe of North Africa who consider it one of twelve sacred foods.
Beans are considered sacred to the goddesses of Europe due to their white flowers. In Scotland, only highest ranking priestess could plant or cook the plant.
Kidney beans were a forbidden food in Egypt as it corresponded to the male testicle and represented virility and male potency. They were also forbidden to Jewish high priests on the day of Atonement.
The philosopher/mathematician Pythagoras believed that some souls, when leaving their bodies, became beans, so he refused to eat them. According to legend, when there were enemies pursuing him, believing him to be a magician who needed to be put to death, he ran until he came to a bean field. Believing the vines had souls hanging upon them which he did not wish to trample, he stood still and allowed himself to be killed.
Phaseolus vulgaris, the Kidney bean, is indigenous to the Americas, being unknown to the rest of the world prior to Columbus’ invasion. These beans were used as trade goods by Native American tribes from Canada to South America, with each tribe having its own names and folklore for the beans.
Magic:
Beans may be used as charms against evil sorcerers. Place it in your mouth and spit it in his/her direction. Carried, the dried beans are talismans against negativity and evil magic. They are used in rattles to scare away spirits, especially any which may be making someone sick. Broad beans were said to possess the souls of the dead, and when in flower, it was thought that accidents were more likely to happen. Scattering some beans around the outside of the house would stave of such attentions for a year. Scattering bean flowers is also thought to placate demons in many countries particularly in the Far East. If one bean in a row should come up white instead of green, an English tradition associates this occurrence with death.
Broad beans have also been associated with forecasting the future. A European custom involved the careful preparation of three beans, one left whole, one partially pealed, and one completely peeled. Hidden on Midsummer Eve, the future was revealed by which bean was found first. The untouched bean indicated wealth, the half-peeled bean indicated a comfortable life, while the third fully peeled bean indicated poverty if found.
Since 200 BCE, tofu (bean curd) has been cooked into a soup to treat colds. Beans may be used in cures for warts. Rub a dried bean on each wart during a waning moon and say: “As this bean decays, So Wart, fall away!” To avert evil spirits, say quickly three times: “Three blue beans in a blue bladder. Rattle, bladder, rattle.”
If a couple is quarreling, the woman should carry three lima beans strung on a silk thread for two days. Their difficulties should smooth over. To become attractive to a certain man, a woman can place seven beans of any kind in a circle on the ground. She should then have the man step into the circle or over it. Men may carry or eat beans to cure impotence or infertility.
Known Combinations:
none noted
Medical Indications: Warning: eaten raw, beans can cause severe frontal headaches, soreness and itching of the eyes, and abdominal pain… the roots are dangerously narcotic.
Parts Used: pods, beans
The pods are now thought lower blood sugar (most effective if unripe and fresh), and teas featuring bean pods may now be purchased in most health stores to this purpose. They are especially good with Bilberry (or blueberry), Yarrow, Dandelion, and Juniper. The pod tea is also useful for dropsy, sciatica, chronic rheumatism, kidney and bladder problems, uric acid accumulation, and loss of albumen in urine during pregnancy. For acne, eat and also spread meal on face for eczema, eruptions, and itching. When bruised and boiled with garlic, beans have cured otherwise incurable coughs. My special vegetarian bean soup is one of my favorite foods when I have a bad cold.
Nutrition:
Beans are one of nature’s perfect foods. They are a significant source of carbohydrates and protein, iron, sulfur, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, niacin, B2, and B1. As legumes, they are also a significant source of nitrogen, the number one cause of bean-related gas. Suggestions on remedying this side effect include de-farting the beans (skimming the bubbly scum from the top as they cook), lots of basil, and beano.
Mercantile Uses:
Aside from being a significant food crop for people, the whole plant is often included in livestock feed.