Téléphilon (n.) faraway love; a name for a plant which was struck with the hand to see if one’s love was returned.
1. Think of someone you love.
2. Choose one plant.
3. Strike it.
4. If the sound is loud enough,
your love is returned.
Plants are one of the most ancient forms of divination tool. From “She loves me she loves me not” to houseplants whose health acts as a sentry to our own. Téléphilon is the Greek root which defines this practice of putting one’s faith in the inanimate in order to determine the unknown.
