The Secret Names of Plants

Eye of Newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting
Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing

While this famous recipe from Shakespeare’s Macbeth sounds like a grisly combination of animal parts, almost all the references are probably to herbs. It has been a longstanding tradition in magic and sorcery to refer to spell components obliquely; often the real recipe resembles very little what the uninitiated conjure in their minds’ eye. For example, ‘tongue of dog’ is referring to houndstongue, Cynoglossom officinale. This herb supposedly has the power to quiet the barking of dogs. ‘Adder’s fork’ is adder’s tongue, Ohioglossum vulgatum, a fern reputed to have healing properties.

One of the Greek magical papyri actually contained a list of translations of some the terms used in spells. They called plants by these secret names “because of the curiosity of the masses”. The concern was that “they do not take precaution”, and using these oblique terms would prevent the masses from practicing magic. Here are some of the translations:

* A Bone of an Ibis: this is Buckthorn.
* Tears [Sleep Sand] of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Juice.
* Blood of Hephaistos: Wormwood.
* Hairs of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Seed.
* Semen of Hermes: Dill.
* Blood of Ares: Purslane.
* Blood of an Eye: Tamarisk Gall.
* Blood from a Shoulder: Bear’s Breach [probably Acanthus mollis or Helleborus foetidus].
* From the Loins: Camomile.
* A Man’s Bile: Turnip Sap [probably Brassica napus].
* A Pig’s Tail: Leopard’s Bane.
* Blood of Hestia: Camomile.
* An Eagle: Wild Garlic [Trigonella foenumgraecum, but the reading is doubtful].
* Blood of a Goose: A Mulberry Tree’s Milk.
* A Lion’s Hairs: Tongue of a Turnip [i.e., the leaves of the taproot].
* Kronos’ Blood: . . . of Cedar.
* Semen of Helios: White Hellebore.
* Semen of Herakles: this is Mustard-rocket [probably Eruca sativa].
* A Titan’s Blood: Wild Lettuce.
* Blood from a Head: Lupine.
* A Hawk’s Heart: Heart of Wormwood.
* Semen of Hephaistos: This is Fleabane.
* Semen of Ammon: Houseleek.
* Semen of Ares: Clover.
* Fat from a Head: Spurge.
* From the Belly: Earth-apple.
* From the Foot: Houseleek.

From The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation including the Demotic Spells by Hans Dieter Betz. Translators’ notes are in [ ]. Apparently this list is not unique, since similar lists are apparently found in the works of Galen, Paul of Aegineta, and Dioscorides.

Knowing the various folk names of plants can also be useful in attempting to determine the ingredients of a spell. Some examples which might be helpful:

* Ass’s Foot or Bull’s Foot: Coltsfoot
* Bat’s Wings: Holly
* Bear’s Foot: Lady’s Mantle
* Calf’s Snout: Snapdragon
* Bull’s Blood or Seed of Horus: Horehound
* Graveyard Dust: Mullein
* Unicorn Root: Ague Root
* Wolf Claw: Club Moss
* Wolf’s Milk: Euphorbia
* Sparrow’s Tongue: Knotweed

It’s quite easy to imagine how these names could be used in a spell to obscure the true ingredients and make the recipe sound far more gruesome than it really is. Suffice to say, if the components of an old spell sound straightforward, they probably aren’t.