Im on a roll dispelling myths about witches lately, so I thought Id keep it going...todays post is about old ingredients, and the secret names they were given. Weve all seen shows or movies or read books where the witch was in a shack or secret room or cave, mixing her potions or stirring odd ingredients into a strange brew. Eye of newt? Toe of frog? Yum-my! Heres the skinny on those things...spells werent written down back then, all knowledge was passed down in a sort-of secret language, since witches became frowned upon. So...ingredients were given other names. Here are some of my favorites: dead man=ash or mandrake root carved into a poppett adders tongue=plantain bats wing=holly leaf bats wool=moss blood=elder sap bloody fingers=foxglove brains=congealed gum from a cherry tree bulls blood=horehound crocodile dung=black earth dragons scales=bistort leaves ear of an ass=comfrey ear of a goat=St Johns wort eyes=eyebright fingers=cinquefoil hair=maidenhair fern heart=walnut lions tooth=dandelion skull=skullcap snakes blood=hematite stone tooth/teeth=pinecones unicorn horn=true unicorn root As you can see, these ingredients were given names that resembled what they looked like. Eye of newt? The seeds of a mustard plant. Toe of frog? Probably speaking of toadflax. So you see, there are no animal sacrifices being done here, no horrible mixtures of body parts...just some old herbal remedies, given secret names so the knowledge could be safely passed down. Shakespeare knew this when he wrote about the witches and their cauldron bubbling. Shouldnt we?
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 15:41:45 +0000
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