Monday, October 11, 2010

Herbal Whysdoms...

                                          A hystory of herbals and magick...

Utnapishtim said to him, to Gilgamesh:
Gilgamesh, you came here,
You strained, you toiled.
What can I give you as you return to your land?
Let me uncover for you, Gilgamesh, a secret thing.
A secret of the gods let me tell you.
There is a plant its roots go deep, like boxthorn;
Its spike will prick your hand like a bramble.
if you get your hands on the plant,
You'll have ever-lasting life.   -The Epic of Gilgamesh, 1600 b.c.e

    The herb doctors and physicians of Sumer, Babylon, Assyria and Egypt believed in no uncertain terms that their craft was a gift from the gods, and the gods themselves were its first practitioners.  The knowledge of the curative properties of plants, water, and oil was considered a divine art whose secrets were jealously guarded, and passed down in oral traditions.  when men first learned to write they commited these teachings to clay tablets and rolls of papyrus, and drew up the first lists of medicinal herbs.  In these ancient herbalsmedicine and magic are almost inextricably mixed together; though it is clear they had a real knowledge of primitive medicine.  as herbalists they took with them their box of medicines and as magicians their magic rods, which were the symbols of their profession.
                                                                              -The Divine Origin of the Craft of the Herbalist; Sir E.A Budge, 1928.

Olde Herbs Translated...

a bone of an ibis                        buckthorn
adders fork                                ohio glossum vulgatem, a fern
an eagle                                     wild garlic
a hawks heart                            heart of wormwood
a lions hairs                              tongue of turnip (taproot leaves)
a mans bile                               turnip sap
a pigs tail                                  leopards bane
ass foot                                     colts foot
a titans blood                            wild lettuce
bats wings                                 holly
bears foot                                  ladys mantle
blood from a head                     lupine
blood from a shoulder              acanthus mollis
blood of a goose                       a mulberry trees milk
blood of an eye                         tamarisk gall
blood of ares                            purslane
blood of hephasistos                wormwood
blood of hestia                         chammomile
bulls blood                               coltsfoot
bulls foot                                  coltsfoot
calfs snout                                snapdragon
chronos' blood                         cedar
fat from a head                         spurge
from the belly                           earth apple
from the foot                             house leek
from the loins                           chammomile
graveyard dust                          mullein or ground patchouli leaves
hairs of a hamadryas baboon    dill juice                                  
sand of a hamadryas baoon       dill juice
seed of horus                            coltsfoot
semen of ammon                       house leek
semen of ares                           clover
semen of helios                        white hellebore
semen of herakles                     mustard rocket
semen of hermes                       dill
sparrows tongue                       knotwood
tears, or sleep                           dill juice
unicorn root                              ague root
wolfs claw                               club moss
wolfs milk                                euphorbia


Magickal Plant Substitutes...

Tobacco for any poisonous herb
Rose for any flower
Rosemary for any other herb
Frankincense or Copal for any gum resin

Acacia:                                 Gum Arabic
Acacia Gum:                         Gum arabic
Aconite:                                Tobacco
Arabic, Gum:                        Frankincense; Gum Mastic for binding wet ingrediants
Ammoniac, Gum:                  Asafoetida
Asafoetida:                           Tobacco; Valerian
Balm of Gilead                     Rose Buds
Bdellium, Gum:                    Copal; Pine Resin; Dragons Blood
Belladonna:                          Tobacco
Benzoin:                               Gum Arabic
Cachana:                              Anjelica Root
Camphor Oil                        Eucalyptus Oil; Lavender Oil
Carnation:                            Rose Petals anointed with few drops of Clove Oil
Cassia:                                 Cinnamon
Castor Bean:                        few drops Castor oil
Cedar:                                  Sandalwood
Cinque Foil:                         Clover; Trefoil
Citron:                                 equal parts Orange peel and Lemon Peel
Clove:                                  Mace, Nutmeg
Clover:                                 Cinquefoil
Copal:                                  Frankincense; Cedar
Cowbane:                             Tobacco
Cypress:                               Juniper; Pine Needles
Deerstongue:                        Vanilla, Woodruff, Tonka Bean
Dittany of Crete:                  Gum Mastic
Dragons Blood:                   equal parts Frankincense and Red Sandalwood
Eucalyptus Oil:                    Camphor Oil; Lavender Oil
Euphorbium:                        Tobacco
Frankincense:                       Copal; Pine Resin
Galangal:                             Ginger Root
Grains of Paradise:              Black Pepper
Hellebore:                           Tobacco; Nettle
Hemlock:                             Tobacco
Hemp:                                  Nutmeg; Damiana; Star Anise; Bay Leaves
Henbane:                             Tobacco
Hyssop:                                Lavender
Ivy:                                      Cinque Foil
Jasmine:                               Rose
Juniper:                                Pine
Lavender:                             Rose
Lemon Grass:                       Lemon Peel
Lemon Verbena:                   Lemon Grass; Lemon Peel
Mace:                                   Nutmeg
Mandrake:                            Tobacco
Mastic, Gum:                        Frankincense; Gum Arabic
Mint (any type):                     Sage
Mugwort:                              Wormwood
Neroli Oil:                            Orange Oil
Nightshade:                           Tobacco
Nutmeg:                                 Cinnamon; Mace
Oak Moss:                             Patchouli
Orange:                                 Tangerine Peel
Patchouli:                              Oak Moss
Peppermint:                           Spearmint
Pepperwort:                           Rue, Black Pepper
Pine:                                      Juniper
Pine Resin:                            Copal; Frankincense
Red Sandalwood:                  Sandalwood mixed with pinch Dragons Blood
Rose:                                     Yarrow
Rose Geranium:                     Rose
Rue:                                       Rosemsry mixed with dash Black Pepper
Saffron:                                 Orange Peel
Sandalwood:                         Cedar
Sarsparilla:                            Sassafras
Spearmint:                              Peppermint
Sulphur:                                 Tobacco; Asafoetida
Thyme:                                   Rosemary
Tobacco:                                Bay Leaves
Tonka Beans:                         Deerstongue; Woodruff; Vanilla Bean
Trefoil:                                  Cinquefoil
Valerian:                                Asafoetida
Vanilla:                                  Woodruff; Tonka Bean; Deerstongue
Vetivert:                                 Calamus
Wolfsbane:                             Tobacco
Wood Aloe:                            Sandalwood sprinkled with Ambergris Oil
Woodruff:                               Vanilla; Deerstongue
Wormwood:                            Mugwort
Yarrow:                                   Rose
Yew:                                       Tobacco

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