Old European & Mediterranean Night Traditions
Night was always a threshold hour.
Folklore across Europe and the Mediterranean held a quiet terror: that during sleep, the breathing soul wandered from the body. The dreamer was open—vulnerable to spirits, envy, nightmares, or wandering dead.
And so households developed a second kind of nighttime garden—the plants kept close to the sleeper, guarding the mind’s doorway.
What follows is a historically accurate, folklore-based guide to the dream plants witches, midwives, and everyday households relied on.
Northern Europe, Balkans, Alpine regions, medieval England
No plant appears more widely in European dream folklore than mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris).
Medieval herbals describe it as a plant that “guards the wanderer”—the wanderer being either the traveler on a real road or the sleeper on the dream-road.
Check out How Mugwort is Used Traditionally for Prophetic Dreaming During the Winter Solstice.
Historic uses included:
In the Balkans, mugwort was tied with red thread and hung where the sleeper could see it upon waking—anchoring the soul back into the body.
Greece, Anatolia, Southern Italy, Roman households
Bay leaves under the pillow appear in some of the oldest Mediterranean dream practices.
Historic uses:
Ottoman Balkans, Mediterranean islands, medieval Persia
When jasmine arrived in the Mediterranean, households quickly associated its night fragrance with soothing spirits and calming troubled dreams.
In Greek island folklore, jasmine at a bedroom window was said to keep away klithonismata—night terrors or oppressive dream-visitors.
In Ottoman Balkan households, jasmine garlands were used during the hot season when nightmares were believed more likely to “enter through the air.”
Italy, Spain, France, Balkans, British Isles
Rosemary guarded thresholds.
And the bedroom was considered the most crucial threshold of all.
Folklore attributes:
Some Alpine households placed rosemary in a corner opposite the bed—“where shadows gather.”
See also: Why Witches Plant Rosemary by the Doorways.
Scandinavia, Baltics, Slavic regions, Carpathians
These evergreens weren’t typically potted indoors, but branches were kept in bedrooms for powerful protection.
Juniper especially appears in:
Actually, Evergreen Witchcraft Existed Long Before Christmas and Christianity.
Monastic Europe, medieval Germany, Central Europe
Lemon balm was known as Melissa, and monks called it “the herb that opens the heart.”
Folklore uses:
It appears in monastic manuscripts as a nighttime herb to “settle the minds of novices.”
Yes. Mugwort appears repeatedly in European folk records as a dream-guard and vision herb, while bay laurel is deeply rooted in Mediterranean prophetic dream traditions, especially in Greek and Roman sources.
No. Most dream-protection plants were used at the household level by mothers, shepherds, midwives, and monks. Witchcraft emerged later as a label applied to older domestic traditions.
Many traditions believed the soul wandered during sleep. This made the dreamer vulnerable to spirits, envy, or intrusion — which is why protection mattered as much as vision.
Yes, especially in cold regions. Small-scale smoke cleansing with juniper or pine was common after nightmares, illness, or fearful dreams, particularly in winter.
This article reflects documented folk belief and household tradition, not modern psychology or medical practice. Dream plants were understood spiritually, not therapeutically.