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"Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In
the cauldron boil and bake;
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 owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble..."
William
Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I
The traditional image of a cauldron of bubbling and boiling magical
potion
being stirred by a witch originates from the large containers in which herb women boiled their ingredients to produce simples.
Simpling was the brewing and distilling of herbs, practiced by women in most households in order to keep a very necessary
supply of medicinal remedies on hand. Throughout the medieval period, the arts of herbalist, alchemy, and magic were difficult
to separate, and the herb women often added the role of spell-caster to their role of dispenser of home-brewed herbal therapies.
The
~tongue of dog~ is referring to Hounds tongue, (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. Witches
of the present still use names for herbs and flowers based on things and animals in nature and fantasy realms. Often the names
were picked because that's what the herb resembled and was convenient for an old herbalist or teacher to teach and remember.
Some sects and separate families, groups, covens or tribes had different names and variations of these names. It is not a
specific or tight-lined rule... if you are working with a group or area of training, use the names that your coven or familiar
witches use, but if you are a solitary witch, go ahead and name your herbs and ingredients whatever suits your impression
of the plant, flower or herb... by appearance, scent, affect etc. So now you know... one more thing that has been terribly
misinterpreted about witches...
Here is a small and I'm sure not the only list of witchy names along with it's common
names for some herbs, roots and flowers used in witchcraft. It sure is an eye opener to those who may think that to be a true
witch one might have to boil up animal parts, blood and maybe even sacrifice human or animal to make potions!
A Bone of an
Ibis: Buckthorn
Adders Tongue: Dogstooth Violet
A Titan's Blood: Wild Lettuce
A Lion's Hairs: Tongue of a Turnip
(the leaves of the taproot)
A Man's Bile: Turnip Sap
A Pig's Tail: Leopard's Bane
A Hawk's Heart: Heart of Wormwood
An Eagle: Wild Garlic
Ass's Foot or Bull's Foot: Coltsfoot
Blood: Elder sap or another tree sap
Blood of Hephaistos:
Wormwood
Burning Bush: White Dittany
Bread and Cheese Tree: Hawthorne
Blood from a Head: Lupine
Bird's Eye:
Germander Speedwell
Blood of Ares: Purslane
Blood of a Goose: Mulberry Tree's Milk
Bloodwort: Yarrow
Blood
of Hestia: Chamomile
Blood of an Eye: Tamarisk Gall
Blood from a Shoulder: Bear's Breach
Bat's Wings: Holly
Black
Sampson: Echinacea
Bull's Blood or Seed of Horus: Horehound
Bear's Foot: Lady's Mantle
Calf's Snout: Snapdragon
Cat's Foot: Canada Snake Root and/or Ground Ivy
Candelmas Maiden: Snowdrop
Capon's Tail: Valerian
Christ's
Ladder: Centaury
Cheeses: Marsh Mallow
Chocolate Flower: Wild Geranium
Christ's Eye: Vervain Sage
Clear-eye:
Clary Sage
Click: Goosegrass
Cucumber Tree: Magnolia
Clot: Great Mullein
Corpse Plant: Indian Pipe
Crowdy
Kit: Figwort
Cuddy's Lungs: Great Mullein
Crow Foot: Cranesbill
Cuckoo's Bread: Common Plantain
Clear Eye:
Clary Sage
Crow's Foot: Wild Geranium
Devils Dung: Asafoetida
Dragon's Blood: Calamus
Dog's Mouth: Snap Dragon
Daphne: Laurel/Bay
Devil's Plaything: Yarrow
Dove's Foot: Wild Geranium
Dew of the Sea: Rosemary
Dragon
Wort: Bistort
Earth Smoke: Fumitory
Eye of Christ: Germander Speedwell
Elf's Wort: Elecampane
Enchanter's
Plant: Vervain
Englishman's Foot: Common Plantain
Erba Santa Maria: Spearmint
Everlasting Friendship: Goosegrass
Eye of the Day: Common Daisy
Eye of the Star: Horehound
Eye Root: Goldenseal
Eyes: Aster, Daisy, Eyebright
Frog's Foot: Bulbous Buttercup
From the Loins: Chamomile
Fat from a Head: Spurge
Fairy Smoke: Indian Pipe
Felon Herb: Mugwort
From the Belly: Earth-apple
From the Foot: Houseleek
Five Fingers: Cinquefoil
Fox's
Clote: Burdock
Graveyard Dust: Mullein
Goat's Foot: Ash Weed
God's Hair: Hart's Tongue Fern
Golden Star: Avens
Gosling Wing: Goosegrass
Graveyard Dust: Mullein
Great Ox-eye: Ox-eye Daisy
Hairs of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill
Seed
Hair of Venus: Maidenhair Fern
Hag's Taper: Great Mullein
Hagthorn: Hawthorn
Hare's Beard: Great Mullein
Herb of Grace: Vervain
Hind's Tongue: Hart's Tongue Fern
Holy Herb: Yerba Santa
Holy Rope: Hemp Agrimony
Hook
and Arn: Yerba Santa
Horse Tongue: Hart's Tongue Fern
Horse Hoof: Coltsfoot
Hundred Eyes: Periwinkle
Innocense:
Bluets
Jacob's Staff: Great Mullein
Joy of the Mountain: Marjoram
Jupiter's Staff: Great Mullein
King's Crown:
Black Haw
Knight's Milfoil: Yarrow
Kronos' Blood: sap of Cedar
Lady's Glove: Foxglove
Lion's Tooth: Dandelion
Lad's Love: Southernwood
Lamb's Ears: Betony
Little Dragon: Tarragon
Love in Idleness: Pansy
Love Leaves:
Burdock
Love Lies Bleeding: Amaranth/Anemone
Love Man: Goosegrass
Love Parsley: Lovage
Love Root: Orris Root
Man's Health: Ginseng
Maiden's Ruin: Southernwood
Master of the Woods: Woodruff
May: Black Haw
May Lily:
Lily of the Valley
May Rose: Black Haw
Maypops: Passion Flower
Mistress of the Night: Tuberose
Mutton Chops:
Goosegrass
Nose Bleed: Yarrow
Old-Maid's-Nightcap: Wild Geranium
Old Man's Flannel: Great Mullein
Old Man's
Pepper: Yarrow
Oliver: Olive
Password: Primrose
Pucha-pat: Patchouli
Peter's Staff: Great Mullein
Priest's
Crown: Dandelion leaves
Poor Man's Treacle: Garlic
Queen of the Night: Vanilla Cactus
Queen of the Meadow: Meadowsweet
Queen of the Meadow Root: Gravelroot
Ram's Head: American Valerian
Red Cockscomb: Amaranth
Ring-o-bells: Bluebells
Robin-run-in-the-grass: Goosegrass
Semen of Helios: White Hellebore
Semen of Herakles: Mustard-rocket
Semen
of Hermes: Dill
Semen of Hephaistos: Fleabane
Semen of Ammon: Houseleek
Semen of Ares: Clover
Seed of Horus:
Horehound
Sparrow's Tongue: Knotweed
Soapwort: Comfrey or Daisy
Shepherd's Heart: Shepherd's Purse
Swine's
Snout: Dandelion leaves
Shameface: Wild Geranium
See Bright: Clary Sage
Scaldhead: Blackberry
Seven Year's
Love: Yarrow
Silver Bells: Black Haw
Sorcerer's Violet: Periwinkle
St. John's Herb: Hemp Agrimony
St. John's
Plant: Mugwort
Star Flower: Borage
Star of the Earth: Avens
Starweed: Chickweed
Sweethearts: Goosegrass
Tarragon:
Mugwort
Tartar Root: Ginseng
Thousand Weed: Yarrow
Thunder Plant: House Leek
Tanner's Bark: Toadflax
Torches:
Great Mullein
Tongue of dog: Houndstongue
Tears of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Juice
Unicorn Root: Ague Root
Unicorn's
Horn: False Unicorn
Unicorn Horn: True Unicorn Root
Wax Dolls: Fumitory
Weazel Snout: Yellow Archangel
White:
Ox-eye Daisy
White Wood: White Cinnamon
Witch's Asprin: White Willow Bark
Witch's Brier: Brier Hips
Weasel
Snout: Yellow Archangel
Wolf Foot: Bugle Weed
Wolf Claw: Club Moss
Wolf's Milk: Euphorbia
Weed: Ox-Eye Daisy
White Man's Foot: Common Plantain
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