Editing Achillea millefolium (section)

== Culture ==
Yarrow has been found with [[Neanderthal behavior|Neanderthal burials]], suggesting its association with human species dates to at least 60,000 years ago.<ref name="auto"/>

=== China ===
[[File:Yarrow stalks for I Ching.JPG|thumb|upright|A bunch of 50 yarrow ''A.&nbsp;millefolium'' subsp. ''millefolium'' var. ''millefolium'' stalks, used for ''[[I&nbsp;Ching]]'' divination]]

Yarrow and [[tortoiseshell]] are considered to be lucky in [[Chinese tradition]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Chinese Superstitions |url=http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinese-superstitions.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060224002923/http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinese-superstitions.htm |archive-date=24 February 2006 |access-date=19 May 2013 |publisher=Chinatownconnection.com}}</ref>

The stalks are dried and used as a randomising agent in [[I&nbsp;Ching divination]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction to the I Ching – By Richard Wilhelm |url=http://www.iging.com/intro/introduc.htm |access-date=19 May 2013 |publisher=Iging.com}}</ref>

=== Western world ===
In [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]], the plant was known as ''herba militaris'' for its use in stanching the flow of blood from wounds.<ref name="D&D">Dodson & Dunmire, 2007, ''Mountain Wildflowers of the Southern Rockies'', UNM Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8263-4244-7}}</ref> In the [[Classical Greece|Classical Greek]] epic ''[[Iliad]]'', [[Homer]] tells of the centaur [[Chiron]], who conveyed herbal secrets to his human pupils and taught Achilles to use yarrow on the [[Trojan War|battlegrounds of Troy]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |title=Iliad |title-link=Iliad |pages=11.828–832 |author-link=Homer}}</ref> The genus name ''Achillea'' is inspired by the alleged use of the herb by Achilles to treat his soldiers' wounds.<ref name="auto" /> Other names implying the plant's historical use in healing—particularly in the military—include ''bloodwort'', ''knight's milfoil'', ''staunchweed'', and, from its use in the [[United States Civil War]], ''soldier's woundwort''.<ref name="Chandler1982" /> Its use in either starting or stopping nosebleeds led to the common name ''nosebleed''.<ref name="ModernHerbal" /><ref name="Folklorev1">{{cite book |last1=Britten |first1=James |url=https://archive.org/details/folklorerecord01folkuoft |title=Folk-Lore Record |publisher=Folklore Enterprises, Ltd., Taylor & Francis |year=1878 |volume=1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/folklorerecord01folkuoft/page/32/ 32], [https://archive.org/details/folklorerecord01folkuoft/page/156/ 156–157] |doi=10.1080/17441994.1878.10602548 |jstor=1252356}}</ref>

The English name ''yarrow'' comes from its Saxon ([[Old English]]) name ''gearwe'', which is related to both the Dutch word ''gerw'' (alternately ''yerw'')<ref name="ModernHerbal" /> and the Old High German word ''garawa''.<ref name="OED">{{cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=2nd |chapter=Yarrow}}</ref> In the eastern counties{{Clarify|reason=Of England or Europe?|date=January 2024}} it may be called yarroway.<ref name="ModernHerbal" /> It was called ''old man's pepper'' due to its pungent flavor, while the name ''field hop'' came from its use in beer making in Sweden.<ref name="ModernHerbal" />

In the [[Hebrides]], a leaf held against the eyes was sometimes believed to give [[second sight]].<ref name="Baker">{{Cite book |author=Margaret Baker |title=Discovering the Folklore of Plants |date=October 1971 |publisher=Shire Publications |edition=revised |id=SBN 852630806}}</ref> In the [[witchcraft trial]] of [[Elspeth Reoch]] in March 1616, she was alleged to have plucked "melefour", thought to be another name for yarrow, and said "''In nomine Patris, Fiili, et Spiritus Sancti''" to become able to cure distemper (disorders of the [[four humours]]) and impart the faculty of prediction.<ref name="Folklorev1" /> For its association with the [[Abrahamic]] [[devil]] it was called ''bad man's plaything'', ''devil's nettle'', and ''devil's plaything''.<ref name="ModernHerbal" /> Yarrow was thought to bring luck due to being, according to one woman cited by [[James Britten]] ({{Circa|1878}}), "the first herb our Saviour put in His hand when a child".<ref name="Folklorev1" /> This is apparently a corruption of the Achilles myth<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Taliesin |first=David |date=2017-05-27 |title=Yarrow: Herbe de St. Joseph, Carpenter's Weed |url=https://sabbatsandsabbaths.com/2017/05/26/yarrow-herbe-de-st-joseph-carpenters-weed/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=Sabbats and Sabbaths |language=en}}</ref> in which [[Jesus]] uses the plant to heal his adoptive father. For this reason, in France, it was called '''herbe de'' [[Saint Joseph|St.&nbsp;Joseph]]', and it has also been called 'carpenter's weed' in this regard.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="ModernHerbal" />

Various other common names include ''arrowroot'', ''death flower'', ''eerie'', ''hundred-leaved grass'', ''knyghten'', ''old man's mustard'', ''sanguinary'',<ref name="ModernHerbal" /> ''seven-year's love'', ''snake's grass'', and ''soldier''. The names ''milfoil'' and ''thousand leaf'' come refer to the minutely divided leaves.<ref name="Chandler1982" /> In [[Spanish language|Spanish]], it is known as ''gordaldo'' and, in [[New Mexico]] and southern [[Colorado]], ''plumajillo'' (Spanish for 'little feather').

In [[Sussex]] and [[Devonshire]] superstition, yarrow was used for finding one's real sweetheart. One would pluck yarrow growing on a young man's grave while reciting:
:Yarrow, sweet yarrow, the first that I have found,<br />in the name of Jesus Christ, I pluck it from the ground;<br />As Joseph loved sweet [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]], and took her for his dear,<br />so in a dream this night, I hope, my true love will appear.
and go to sleep with the yarrow under the pillow.<ref name="Folklorev1" />

In a similar tradition in [[Wicklow]], girls would pick yarrow on [[Hallow Eve]] and recite:
:Thou pretty herb of [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]' tree,<br />Thy true name is yarrow;<br />Now who my bosom friend may be,<br />Pray tell thou me to-morrow.
then retire for the night without speaking and go to sleep with an ounce of yarrow sewn in flannel under the pillow.<ref name="Folklorev1" />

In [[Suffolk]] a leaf was placed in the nose so it would bleed, while reciting
:Green 'arrow, green 'arrow, you bears a white blow,<br />If my love love me, my nose will bleed now;<br />If my love don't love me, it 'on't bleed a drop,<br />If my love do love me, 'twill bleed every drop.<ref name="Folklorev1" />

In [[Dublin]] on May Day or the night before, women would place a stocking full of yarrow under their pillow and recite:
:Good morrow, good yarrow, good morrow to thee,<br />I hope by the yarrow my lover to see;<br />And that he may be married to me.<br />The colour of his hair and the clothes he does wear,<br />And if he be for me may his face be turned to me,<br />And if he be not, dark and surely may he be,<br />And his back be turned toward me.<ref name="Folklorev1" />