Magickal Folk Names for Herbs
Having knowledge of herbs and plants (either magically or medicinally) during the Middle Ages, often was reason enough to accuse a woman of being a βwitch,β so there is no doubt some of the country folk at the time took these herbal folk names literal.Β Chances are, these names were used merely as descriptors to help remember them easier.Β Most plants were given names descriptive of their uses and others were given names for something they generally resembled. Spells written by witches in ancient times were often written with such descriptors, which personally i believe to be a form of secret coding.
Here is a small list ofΒ βwitchyβ herb names (most of these are already floating around the community) that you can use in your craft when you create your spells.Β This list could be a great addition to any Grimoire and i hope you find them as useful as i do.
Aaronβs Rod - Goldenrod or mullein stalk
Absinthe - Wormwood
Adderβs Fork - Adderβs Tongue Fern or Bistort
Adderβs Tongue - Dogβs Tooth Violet (or Adderβs Tongue Fern
Ague root - Unicorn root
Alison - Sweet Alyssum
Angel Food, Archangel - Angelica
Angelβs Trumpet - Datura
Assβs Ear - coltβs foot or comfrey
Assβs Foot, Bullβs Foot - coltβs foot
Auld Manβs Bells, Old manβs bells - wood hyacinth, Hyacinthoides hispanica
Bad Manβs/Devilβs Oatmeal/Porridge - hemlock
Bad Manβs/Devilβs Plaything - Yarrow
Bastard - false Dittany
Bat flower - tacca
Batβs Wing - Holly leaf
Batβs Wool - moss (which moss?)
Bearβs Foot - Ladyβs Mantle
Bearβs Grape Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Bear Paw - ramsons Allium ursinum or the root of male fern Dryopteris Felix-mas
Bear weed - Yerba Santa Eriodictyon californicum
Beard of a Monk - Chicory
Beggarβs Lice - Houndβs tongue
Beggarβs Buttons - Burdock
Birdβs Eye - Speedwell Veronica officinalis
Birdβs Foot - Fenugreek Trigonella foenum-graecum (Also birdβs foot violet and birdβs foot trefoil)
Birdβs Nest - carrot, Indian pipe
Bishopβs Wort, Bishopβs Elder - Wood betony Stachys betonica
Bitter Grass - Ague Root Aletris Farinosa
Black Sampson - Echinacea
Blazing Star - liatris
Blind Eyes - Poppy
Blood from a head - Lupine *
Blood from a shoulder - Bearβs breech *
Blood of a Goose - Sap from a mulberry * Morus nigra
Blood of an Eye - Tamarisk gall * (probably the tannin extracted from)
Blood of Ares - purslane *
Blood of Hephaestus - wormwood *
Blood of Hestia - Chamomile *
Blood - sap of the elder or bloodwort
Bloody butcher - Valerian
Bloody Fingers - Foxglove
Blue Bottle - Bachelorβs buttons
Boyβs Love, Ladβs Love: Southernwood
Brain Thief - Mandrake
Bone of an Ibis - buckthorn * I am not sure if this is Rhamnus cathartica or sea buckthorn Hippophae spp If I can find a recipe containing this, I will know for sure by comparing its purpose to their very different qualities
Bread and Cheese - Hawthorn
Bride of the Meadow - meadowsweet
Bullβs Blood - beet or horehound
Burning bush - false dittany, also a modern name for species of Euonymus
Cowβs Horn - Fenugreek Trigonella foenum-graecum
Bride of the Sun - calendula
Brown Dragon - wake robin
Buttons - tansy
Calfβs snout - Snapdragon
Candlemas Maiden - snowdrop
Candlewick - mullein, the flower stalk
Caponβs Tail - valerian
Carpenterβs Herb - bugleweed Lycopus europaeus
Carpenterβs Square - knotted figwort
Carpenterβs weed - Yarrow
Cat - catnip
Catβs foot - white balsam, black cohosh, ground ivy
Catβs herb - valerian
Chameleon star - bromeliad
Cheeses - marsh mallow
Chocolate flower - wild geranium (I donβt buy it)
Christβs eye - wild clary Salvia verbenaca
Christβs ladder - centaury
Christβs spear - adderβs tongue fern Ophioglossum vulgatum
Church steeple - Agrimony
Clear eye - clary sage
Cleavers - bedstraw
Click - goosegrass
Clot - great mullien
Cocklebur - Agrimony
Cockβs comb - amaranth
Coltβs Tail - fleabane
Craneβs bill - wild geranium
Crowβs foot - wild geranium, or wood anemone bulbous buttercup (verified)
Crowdy kit - figwort
Cuckooβs bread - common plantago
Cucumber tree - magnolia
Cuddyβs lungs - great mullein
Crown for a king - wormwood
Dagger flower - blue flag
Daphne - bay laurel
Dead manβs bells foxglove
Death angel - fly agaric Amanita Muscaria
Death cap - fly agaric Amanita Muscaria
Death flower - Yarrow
Deathβs Herb - Belladonna
Delight of the Eye - rowan
Devil Plant - basil
Devilβs Apple - Mayapple or Mandrake
Devilβs beard - houseleek
Devilβs bit - false unicorn root
Devilβs cherries Belladonna berries
Devilβs plaything - yarrow
Devilβs dung - asafoetida
Devilβs ear - wakerobin
Devilβs eye - henbane or periwinkle
Devilβs flower - bachelorβs buttons
Devilβs fuge - mistletoe
Devilβs guts - dodder
Devilβs herb - belladonna
Devilβs milk - celandine
Devilβs nettle - yarrow
Devilβs Shoestring: Various varieties of vibernum, esp Black Haw, cramp bark, hobblebush
Dew of the Sea - Rosemary
Dog Berry - wild rose hips
Dogβs mouth - snap dragon
Dogβs tongue - houndβs tongue
Doveβs foot - wild geranium
Dragon - tarragon
Dragon Flower - blue flag (really, wild iris? not an arum or a Antirrhinum?)
Dragon wort - bistort
Dragonβs blood - calamus
Eagle - ramsons Allium ursinum
Earth apple - potato
Earth smoke- fumitory
Elfβs wort - Elecampane
Enchanterβs plant - vervain
Englishmanβs fruit/ White manβs foot - common plantain
Everlasting friendship - goosegrass
Eye root - goldenseal
Fairy smoke - Indian pipe
Fairy fingers - foxglove
Fat from a Head - spurge *
Felon herb - Mugwort
Five fingers - cinquefoil
Foxβs Clote - burdock
Frogβs foot - bulbous buttercup
From the belly - Earth-apple. * potato?? Did the writers know about potatoes? When was pgm written?
From the foot - houseleek *
From the loins - chamomile *
Goatβs foot - morning glory
Goatβs Horn - Fenugreek Trigonella foenum-graecum
Godβs hair - hartβs tongue fern
Goldenβs star - avens
Goslingβs wing - goosegrass
Graveyard dust - mullein (and sometimes itβs just graveyard dust)
Hagβs taper - mullien stalk
Hagthorn - hawthorn
Hair of Venus - Maidenhair fern
Hairs of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Seed *
Hareβs beard - mullein
Hawkβs Heart, Old Woman - Wormwood Artemisia absinthium crown or seed head *
Hindβs tongue - hartβs tongue fern
Holy herb - yerba santa
Holy rope - hemp agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum
Horse tongue - hartβs tongue fern
Hundred eyes - periwinkle
Jacobβs Staff - Great Mullein
Joy of the Mountain - Marjoram
Jupiterβs Staff - Great Mullein
Kingβs Crown: Black Haw vibernum
Knightβs Milfoil - Yarrow
Kronosβ Blood - sap of Cedar *
Ladyβs glove - foxglove
Lambβs ears - betony but more likely lambβs ear Stachys byzantina
Lionβs Hair - The extra little roots that stick out of the turnip bulb or the base leaves Brassica rapa *
Lionβs tooth - dandelion
Little dragon - tarragon
Love in idleness - pansy
Love Lies Bleeding - amaranth (Not so ancient, a modern ornamental variant)
Love Leaves - burdock
Love man - goosegrass
Love Parsley - lovage
Love root - orris root
Maidenβs Ruin - Southernwood
Manβs Bile - Turnip Juice *
Manβs Health - Ginseng
Master of the Woods - Woodruff
May Lily - Lily of the Valley
May Rose - Black Haw viburnum
May - Black Haw viburnum
Maypops - Passion Flower
Mistress of the Night - Tuberose
Mutton Chops - Goosegrass
Old Manβs Flannel - Great Mullein
Old Manβs Pepper - Yarrow
Old-Maidβs-Nightcap - Wild Geranium
Password - primrose
Peterβs Staff - Great Mullein
Poor Manβs Treacle - Garlic
Priestβs Crown - Dandelion leaves
Queen of the Meadow Root - Gravelroot
Queen of the Meadow - Meadowsweet
Queen of the Night - Vanilla Cactus
Rats and Mice - Houndβs tongue
Ramβs horn - valerian
Ring a Bells - bluebell
Robin run in the grass - goosegrass
Scaldhead - blackberry
Seed of Horus - horehound
See bright - Clary sage
Semen of Ammon - Houseleek *
Semen of Ares - Clover *
Semen of Helios - White Hellebore *
Semen of Hephaistos - Fleabane *
Semen of Herakles - arugula *
Semen of Hermes - Dill *
Seven Yearβs Love Yarrow
Shameface - Wild Geranium
Shepherdβs Heart - Shepherdβs Purse
Silver Bells - Black Haw viburnum
Snake Root - black cohosh
Soapwort - Comfrey or Daisy or maybe Soapwort
Sorcererβs Violet - Periwinkle
Sparrowβs Tongue - Knotweed
St. Johnβs Herb - Hemp Agrimony
St. Johnβs Plant - Mugwort
Star Flower - Borage
Star of the Earth - Avens
Starweed - Chickweed
Sweethearts - Goosegrass
Swineβs Snout - Dandelion leaves
Tail of a Pig - Leopardβs bane *
Tannerβs bark - toadflax
Tartar root - ginseng
Tears of a Hamadryas Baboon - Dill Juice *
Thousand weed - yarrow
Thunder plant - houseleek
Titanβs Blood - Wild Lettuce Lactuca virosa *
Torches - mullein flower stalk
Unicornβs horn - unicorn root or false unicorn root
Urine - dandelion or maybe urine
Wax dolls - fumitory
Weasel - rue
Weasel snout - yellow archangel
Winter wood - wild cinnamon Canella alba
White - ox eye daisy
Witchβs Asprin - white willow bark (this is ancient?)
Witchβs brier - wild brier rose hips
Wolf claw - club moss
Wolfβs foot - bugleweed
Wolfβs milk - euphorbia
Woodpecker - herbLpeony
Worm fern- male fern Dryopteris Felix-mas
Yerba Santa Maria - epazote
Blood - Sap or juice
Eye - The disc of a composite flower, or a seed
Foot - Leaf
Guts - Roots, stalks, tangly bits
Hair - Very stringy roots (sometimes silk or tangly stems)
Head - Flower head or seed head
Tail - Stem
Tongue - Petal, sometimes stigma
Toes - leaf or bud
Paw - sometimes bud, usually leaf
Privates - Seed pod
Worm - stringy roots
Wool - Moss
A Snakeβs Ball of Thread - soapstone *
Blood of a Snake - hematite *
Crocodile Dung - Soil from Ethiopia *
A Physicianβs bone - sandstone *
A Snakeβs Head - A leech *
Blood of a Hyrax - A rock badger, * small weasel-like/rodent-like (but actually neither) creature native to Africa and the Middle East
Blood of a Hamadryas Baboon - Blood of a spotted gecko *
Bullβs semen - the egg of a blister beetle *
Lion Semen - Human semen *
Kronosβ Spice - Pig Milk *
* From Ecloga ex Papyris Magicis: Liber I, V, xxvi
More Sources for verification -
Galen - De succedaneis, Claudii Galeni Opera Omnia, v 19
Paulus Aegineta, Corpus Medicorum Graecorum IX/2 vII
Dioscorides De Materia Medica