Saturday, October 31, 2015

Cauldron of herbs for Halloween

When we think Halloween we think of witches.  Witches were well presented in Shakespeare’s Macbeth standing around a cauldron chanting this:


"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,--
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

Did you know that the items mentioned were actually phrases to symbolize different herbs?  Although there are variations of the plants symbolized in the chant, here is a mostly accurate presentation of the more accepted versions:
 
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
Eye of newt – mustard seed


Toe of frog – buttercup leaves

Wool of bat – holly or moss (I lean toward moss, what do you think?)


Tongue of dog – hounds tooth

Adder’s fork – violet


Blind worm’s sting - Knotweed
Lizard’s leg – Ivy


Howlet’s wing – garlic or maybe ginger (but garlic was more common)

Happy Halloween!

4 comments:

  1. Fascinating! Moss looks more likely to me, too.

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  2. These are all just made up names after Shakespears time, not the other way around. If you look back to records of herbology back them they mostly had other common names. Heck, Houndstongue hadn't even been introduced to England by that stage, and Adder's Fork is a cultivar of the Dogtoothed Lily, not a traditional name

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    Replies
    1. I Appreciate your insights. Thank you for making me better at my craft!

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