Historical Names of Herbs

[Shaam]

Historical Names of Herbs

Tongue of dog? Blood of goose? Do you really think witches cut of tongues of dogs? Or take blood from geese? Â Umm. No! They were just psudonym names for the herbs to keep them secret. So here's a list that I've been compiling for a while....(feel free to add your own, but at some point please share your findings with others....Thank you!!!!!)..


Here are some old time names for herbs:


[ol]A bone of an ibis: buckthorn
Adders tongue: dogstooth violet
A titan's blood: wild lettuce
A lion's hairs: tongue of a turnip (i.e., 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: eldersap 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: germander speedwell
Blood of a goose: a mulberry tree's milk
Bloodwort: yarrow
Blood of hestia: chamomile
Blood of an eye: tamarisk gall
Blood from a shoulder: bear's vreach
Bat's wings: holly
Black sampson: echinacea
Bull's blood or seed of horus: horehound
Bear's foot: lady's mantle

Calf's smout: smapdragon
Cat's foot: canada smake 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 mullien
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
Elfs wort: elecampane
Enchanter's plant: vervain
Englishan'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: camomile
Fat from a head: spurge
Fairy smoke: indian pipe
Felon herb: mugwort
From the belly: earth-apple
From the foot: house leek
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
Great 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 yarn: 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: cedar

Lady's glove: foxglove aka witches' gloves
Lion's tooth: dandelion aka priest's crown
Lad's love: southernwood
Lamb's ears: betony
Little dragon: tarragon
Love in idleness: pansy
Love leaves: burdock
Lovelies bleeding: amaranth or 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 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: loive

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

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. (this is not st. John's wort)
St john's plant: mugwort
Star flower: borage
Star of the earth: aavens
Starweed: chickweed
Sweethearts: goosegrass

Tarragon: mugwort
Tartar root: ginseng
Thousand weed: yarrow
Thunder plant: house leek
Tanner's bark: common oak
Toad: toadflax
Torches: great mullein
Tongue of dog: houndstongue
Tears of a manadryas baboon: dill juice

Unicorn root: ague root
Unicorn's horn/false unicorn: helonias dioica
Unicorn horn: true unicorn root

Wax dolls: fumitory
Weazel snout: yellow dead nettles/ yellow archangel
White: ox-eye daisy
White wood: white cinnamon
Witch's asprin: white willow/willow bark
Witch's brier: brier hips
Weasel snout: yellow archangel
Wolf foot: bugle weed
Wolf claw: club moss
Wolfs milk: euphorbia
Weed: ox-eye daisy
White man's foot: common plantain

[/ol]
~~Wysteria Moonsinger

[Shaam]

Oops!! this is another entry where the subject title won't hold.

I need a nice Admin. to put this in for me.

[ΙΟΛΗ7]

now....that's info that i allready have in my first BOS !!!I'm sure everyone will find it extremely signficant.

[Nahemah]

Not everyone.

I know many/most of the plants in this list and do not know any of them by any of these 'Historical' names.

I do wonder where these old names originate from,actually.

I work with herbs and palnts often.

I dont know why is this Shamanism,it's more suited to witchcraft,I think.

[Madavascus]

An excellent resource for encrypting magical formulae. Thank you!

[Nahemah]

Witch's asprin: white willow/willow bark

I 'm pulling this out,particularly,cos it's so obvious.

Aspirin [even as contracted to 'asprin',ahem....]is a trademark name [ Bayer AG]of the synthesised version of salycylic acid.It is relatively modern in origin.

"The new drug, formally acetylsalicylic acid, was named Aspirin by Bayer AG after the old botanical name for meadowsweet, Spiraea ulmaria. By 1899, Bayer was selling it around the world." [Wikipedia page on Aspirin.]

This term: Witch's asprin, is not historically valid.

I doubt this list.

[Ula]

What a great list. Thanks for sharing it.

[reptilian]

I'm a little dubious of this list, too, because from what I've learned about hoodoo, sometimes you do actually use blood or parts of animals, and so to assume that every such reference is a euphemism is unhelpful and misleading.

[Nahemah]

I'm a little dubious of this list, too, because from what I've learned about hoodoo, sometimes you do actually use blood or parts of animals, and so to assume that every such reference is a euphemism is unhelpful and misleading.

QFT.

Also,worth bearing in mind,there can be no one singular universal list of common plant names,even in English.

There are wide variations in historical terminology and slang or common names even between short distance localities where these plants grew/were native.
Common names,mean exactly that,for ease of communication betweeen the common folk,not for hiding from inquisitors or from other locals.

[ΙΟΛΗ7]

Not everyone.

I know many/most of the plants in this list and do not know any of them by any of these 'Historical' names.

I do wonder where these old names originate from,actually.

I work with herbs and palnts often.

I dont know why is this Shamanism,it's more suited to witchcraft,I think.

Hello dear Nahemah.I agree with you that it's more suited in witchcraft and especially the white one.
Give me some time to come back to you with the historical names.They are all mentioned in my old books.I believe they'll help.I'm allready keeping notes.

[ΙΟΛΗ7]

Witch's asprin: white willow/willow bark

I 'm pulling this out,particularly,cos it's so obvious.

Aspirin [even as contracted to 'asprin',ahem....]is a trademark name [ Bayer AG]of the synthesised version of salycylic acid.It is relatively modern in origin.

"The new drug, formally acetylsalicylic acid, was named Aspirin by Bayer AG after the old botanical name for meadowsweet, Spiraea ulmaria. By 1899, Bayer was selling it around the world." [Wikipedia page on Aspirin.]

This term: Witch's asprin, is not historically valid.

I doubt this list.

Νο...that's not the way to translate this..it's not an actuall term...please let me come back with my research and the details from the old books. [happyface]

[ΙΟΛΗ7]

I'm a little dubious of this list, too, because from what I've learned about hoodoo, sometimes you do actually use blood or parts of animals, and so to assume that every such reference is a euphemism is unhelpful and misleading.

I personally belong to the white path...i use these herbs but....wherever there is blood i replace it with the appropriate herb.

[reptilian]

I don't believe that "the white path", "black" path, good or evil path specifically require or specifically exclude the use of blood or body parts. There are beneficial (white/good) spells in hoodoo that still call for blood or animal parts/bones. You don't have to be cursing, or doing anything negative to use blood, bone or flesh in a spell.
I'm also not trying to say that this list can't be useful, or that you can't use herbs instead of animal material, but I'm saying that to make the assumption that all such references are creepy euphemisms for herbs is misleading. There are at least a handful of magical paths that use both herbs and animal material for negative and positive magic.

[ΙΟΛΗ7]

I don't believe that "the white path", "black" path, good or evil path specifically require or specifically exclude the use of blood or body parts. There are beneficial (white/good) spells in hoodoo that still call for blood or animal parts/bones. You don't have to be cursing, or doing anything negative to use blood, bone or flesh in a spell.
I'm also not trying to say that this list can't be useful, or that you can't use herbs instead of animal material, but I'm saying that to make the assumption that all such references are creepy euphemisms for herbs is misleading. There are at least a handful of magical paths that use both herbs and animal material for negative and positive magic.

what you believe,dear friend,is another thing...which i must say it's far away from reality...blood is absolutely excluded from the rituals of the white path.This is the way we work.This is our way to show respect for the gift of life !!!!

[reptilian]

Blood is probably the single most potent (and ancient) symbol of life.

And, for you, the "white path" excludes blood, but other people practicing "the white path" would disagree.

[ΙΟΛΗ7]

Blood is probably the single most potent (and ancient) symbol of life.

And, for you, the "white path" excludes blood, but other people practicing "the white path" would disagree.

The past 18 years i've met hundrends of practitioners around the world....i asure yo,none of them uses blood in a ritual !!!!!! NONE !!!!

[reptilian]

Then they all happen to follow the same rules, but since "white path" is such a general term that anyone can adopt, I can assure you that there are exceptions.

[Nahemah]

I think some clarification on what 'the White path' means is needed here.
I don't get the term,personally,is this a reference to 'good' magick? As in opposed to 'black' magick?

I also believe this topic is veering away from it's content by quite a margin,can we return to the 'historical names of herbs' please?

In regard to the original subject:

ΙΟΛΗ7,can you link to the 'old books' or provide references which back what you've said?

...that's not the way to translate this..it's not an actuall term...please let me come back with my research and the details from the old books. [happyface]

I disagree,the term is used in this list as a valid term,it has been presented here as part of the material.

Aspirin [even as contracted to 'asprin',ahem....]is a trademark name [ Bayer AG]of the synthesised version of salycylic acid.It is relatively modern in origin.

"The new drug, formally acetylsalicylic acid, was named Aspirin by Bayer AG after the old botanical name for meadowsweet, Spiraea ulmaria. By 1899, Bayer was selling it around the world." [Wikipedia page on Aspirin.]

This term: Witch's asprin, is not historically valid.

I reiterate,the term 'Witch's asprin' IS presented as a term and it is presented as such in this list.I stand by my commentary and I can provide multiple other sources of the relatively modern invention of the name 'Asprin'.