The Bad Wolf Witch

The Descent into Chaos

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mikko_pekkala

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EYE OF NEWT, WOOL OF BAT... HERB CODE NAMES IN WITCHCRAFT

"Filet of 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" - Second Witch, Act IV Scene I, William Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Though, Shakespeare was a master of manipulating words, he doesn't get credit for the macabre sounding ingredients in Macbeth's witches' brew. In fact, as long as mankind has been using plants for food and medicine, we have given them interesting folk names. Throughout history, commonly used plants and herbs have been given different names based on certain attributes of the plant, it's growth habits or even specific reasons it was used for. Common dandelion has been called bitterwort, for it's strong and bitter taste, blowball and puffball because of it's seeding habits, lion's tooth for it's deeply serrated foliage and piss-in-the-bed because of it's diuretic properties. Depending on where you live, you may call Glechoma hederacea creeping charlie or ground ivy; it's also gone by gill over the ground, runaway robin, and lizzie run up the hedge because of it's aggressive runners, cat's foot for the shape of it's leaves, alehoof because it was commonly used in the making of beer and ale, and field balm because it has been used for as a general heal-all herb for balms, salves and teas for thousands of years.

Witches were specifically careful to guard their herbal secrets. They came up with odd and grisly sounding folk names for the plants they regularly used, like eye of newt for mustard seed or wool of bat for moss. Many historians believe that witches used these gruesome sounding names so that their spells and herbal remedies could not be easily copied. Back in Shakespearean times, those who were labeled as witches were usually herbalist, midwives and healers; their livelihood often depended on their knowledge of herbs and their uses. Therefore they created secret code names for the plants they used.

In some cases certain body parts were used as code for the part of the plant used in a spell or herbal remedy. For example, "eye of…" would usually refer to a round shaped blossom or seed of a specific plant; as in eye of newt, which is simply mustard seed. In some cases, an animal name was used in place of a plant name, just like the "newt" would represent mustard plant in eye of newt. Below I've listed some of the common body parts in witchy plant names and their meaning, as well as commonly used animal code names.

BODY PARTS AS PLANT PARTS Eye- Blossom or Seed Heart- Bud or Seed Beak, Bill or Nose- Seed, Bud or Bloom Tongue or Teeth- Petal or Leaf Head- Blossom Tail- Stem Hair- Dried Herbs or Stringy Parts Of Herbs Privates, Genitals Or Semen- Seeds Or Sap Blood-Sap Guts- Roots or Stalk Paw, Foot, Leg, Wing or Toe- Leaves

PLANT NAMES AS ANIMALS Toad- Sage Cat- Catmint Dog- Grasses, Specifically Couchgrass Frog- Cinquefoil Eagle- Wild Garlic Blue Jay- Laurel Hawk- Hawkweed Lamb-Wild Lettuce Nightingale- Hops Rat- Valerian Weasel- Rue Woodpecker- Peony

Secret codes among witches and herbalists There are many other animal/plant associations, and even associations to gods and mythological beings, that were used as plant code names. Like folk names, witchy plant names would have changed by region and era. By combining a body part and an animal from simple lists like these as a code, a witch or herbalist could keep the ingredients of their spell or remedy secret. For example a witch who wanted to sell her herbs might list the ingredients of a tea for insomnia as rat guts and blood of lamb, instead of just valerian root and wild lettuce sap. This would not only prevent the customer from just growing their own valerian (which is actually heliotrope) and wild lettuce, but it also had a much more official witchy sound. Even though these names were crude and sometimes vile, they made the healer sound more legit and gave the tired consumer confidence that they finally found the one magical cure.

Some of these names are still in use today! These days, there are many almanacs of magical herbs and herbal grimmoires available online or at bookstores, that list out Witch Herb/Plant names and even details their uses. Just for fun, I will leave you with a list of some of my favorite witchy plant names.

Ass' Ear- Comfrey Bat's Wing- Holly Leaves Beard Of Monk- Chicory Bear's Foot- Lady's Mantle Bird's Eye- Germander or Speedwell Blind Eyes- Poppy Blood From A Head- Lupine Blood Of Ares- Purslane Blood Of Hestia- Chamomile Bloody Fingers- Foxglove Calf's Snout- Snapdragon Cat's Foot- Ground Ivy Crow's Foot- Wood Anemone Devil's Ear- Jack In The Pulpit Devil's Plaything- Yarrow Dew Of The Sea- Rosemary Dog's Mouth- Snapdragon Dragon's Teeth- Vervain Elf Leaf- Lavender Englishman's Foot- Common Plaintain Fairy Eggs- Nutmeg Flower Of Death- Vinca Goose Tongue- Lemon Balm Graveyard Dust- Mullein Hawk's Heart- Wormwood Juno's Tears- Vervain Jupiter's Beard- Sempervivums Lion's Foot- Lady's Mantle Little Faces- Viola Man's Bile- Turnip Sap Mortification Root- Rose Of Sharon Nose Of Turtle- Turtlehead, Chelone Nosebleed- Yarrow Our Lady's Tears- Lily Of The Valley Old Man's Flannel- Mullein Ram's Head- Valerian Scale Of Dragon- Tarragon Semen Of Ares- White Clover Semen Of Hermes- Dill Serpent's Tongue- Dog's Tooth Violet Sparrow's Tongue- Knotweed Tree Of Doom- Elder Unicorn Root- Boneset Weasel Snout- Yellow Archangel Wool Of Bat- Moss

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🦇 Starry Night + Halloween by Aja Trier 🦇

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Space Void with Moon Phases Eyes 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌕 🌖 🌗 🌘

[raven-runes]

Witchcraft happens when you add intention to simple every day actions. Having a shower, preparing a meal, making a cup of tea, planting a seed in a flower pot.

[greenwitchpeach]

remember that protection is the most important thing in witchcraft

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[the-clumsywitch]

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…

ilhan1077

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Beautiful forests of Killarney. Follow me on Instagram ~ Etsy

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Housewarming Magic

For when you’ve moved into a new living situation or are ready for a new start <3

Finding your home/moving:

House hunting crystals

Spell jar to find a house

Spell for your dream house

The witch’s moving checklist

Cleansing:

A deep room cleanse

To absorb negative energy from a room

Summer house cleansing

Herbal wall/floor wash + witchy cleaners

Home cleansing tips

Home cleansing brew

Thoroughly clearing spaces

Crystals to cleanse the home

Cleansing your space without smoke

Cleansing your space: a how-to guide

Energy cleansing

Low energy cleaning + cleansing

Warding + Protection:

A crash course on warding

To ward the home

Threshold magic 101

Protect my home spell

Home protection steam spell

Simple home protection jar spell

“Little lurkers” home protection spell

Room/home protection

Sharehouse peace witch’s ladder

Wall of fire property & house protection spell

Protection (wind) chimes

The Rowan cross

Protecting the property

Check out the sigils below!

Sigils:

For a magical and happy home

My new home suits me well

Sospidonum

This space is full of life, light, and bright energy

My home is safe

This home is safe for all

This home is a safe and healthy environment

My house is protected from unwanted influences

My home is protected

I live well on my own

Witchin’ it up:

Happy home spell jar

Home sweet home spell jar

House to home spell

Laundry magic

Pleasing household spirits

When a bad guest leaves

New home witch tips

Building a magical home

The magical home

Odds and ends:

Magic, and power, in homemaking

The history and creation of witch bottles

Bringing nature inside

Cottage witch tips

Hearth witch tips

The basics of kitchen and cottage witchcraft

You may also like:

Bedridden witch: garden / stale energy / kitchen edition

Spells for job seekers

Travel witchery

Links updated August, 2021 (please inform me of broken links via askbox)

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Girl in Water Photography on Instagram

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[valorieloduska]

Imagine: a forest clearing and a cottage. you’re drying herbs and your favorite record is playing on your record player. you’ve got muffins in the oven, and a gentle breeze is coming through the windows. you’re happy, and everything is right.

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[the-clumsywitch]

[mywitchlingjourney]

Full moons correspondences

Wolf moon (January) also known as cold moon, air

Inner power, insight, assess your journey, protection, personal developement

Ianna, Freyja, Skadi, the Morrigan, Hecate

Wolves, foxes, coyotes, blue jay, pheasants

Hematite, ruby, selenite, moonstone, opal, garnet, jet, onyx, obsidian

Black, white, silver, violet

Snow moon (February) also known as storm moon or hunger moon, air and water

New starts, ambition, change, creativity, reflection

Brighid, Diana, Juno

Otter, eagle, chickadee, unicorn

Amethyst, jasper, moonstone

Purple, light blue, yellow

Worm moon (March) also known as seed moon, water and fire

New growth, set intentions, renewal, balance, prospering

Mars, Tyr, Athena, Isis

Cougar, bear, hedgehog, sea crow, sea eagle

Aquamarine, bloodstone, jade

Pale green, red, violet

Pink moon (April) also known as hare moon, fire and earth

Rebirth, discovery, fertility, goals, openings, opportunities

Aphrodite, Venus, Hathor, Kali, Rhiannon

Bear, wolf, hawk, magpie

Diamond, quartz, emerald

Pale yellow, pink, gold

Flower moon (May) also known as fairy moon, earth and air

Abundance, gratitude, romance, maturity, intuition

Bast, Artemins, Pan, Cernunnos

Cats, lynx, leopard, swallow, dove, swan

Emerald, sapphire, agate

Pink, green, brown

Strawberry moon (June) also known as rose moon, air and water

Harvest, manifesting, dreams, love, good health, clarity, communication

Juno, Hera, Isis, Neith, Cerridwen

Monkey, butterfly, frog, toad, wren, peacock

Pearl, moonstone, citrine, blue lace agate

Yellow/green and orange

Buck moon (July) also known as hay moon, water and fire

Inner fire, long term goals, leadership, divination

Hel, Athena, Lugh, Khepri

Crab, turtle, dolphin, whale, starling, swallow

Ruby, carnelian, green calcite, peacock ore

Blue, gray, silver

Sturgeon moon (August) also known as barley moon, earth and air

Freedom, perseverance, cleansing, reaping, gratitude, peace, harmony

Demeter, Ceres, Hathor, Nemesis, Ganesha, Vulcan, Vesta

Lion, phoenix, sphinx, dragon, crane, falcon, eagle

Periodot, onyx, bronzite, green sapphire

Gold, yellow, green

Harvest moon (September) also known as corn moon, earth and air

Harvest, gratitude, balance, reflection, psychic work, home and hearth

Demeter, Ceres, Thor, Thoth, Persephone, Freyja, Isis

Snake, jackal, ibis, sparrow

Peridot, sapphire, bloodstone, chrysolite

Brown, yellow, amber

Hunters moon (October) also known as blood moon, air and water

Strength, protection, endurance, rebirth, ambition, ancestral work

Cernunnos, Hecate, the Morrigan, Osiris, Astarte, Ishtar, Lakshmi

Stag, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion, wolf, heron, crow, robin, owl, raven

Opal, tourmaline, citrine, rose sapphire

Red, orange, deep blue, black, dark green, brown, gold

Beaver moon (November) also known as snow moon, water and fire

Preparation, security, grounding, fidelity, new beginnings, release

Cailleach, Circe, Sybele, Hel, Holda, Kali, Bast, Osiris

Unicorn, scorpion, crocodile, jackal, owl, goose, sparrow

Topaz, obsidian, onyx, apache tear

White, purple, gray, sage green, black

Cold moon (December) also known as oak moon, fire and water

Completion, renewal, reflection, shadow work, transitions, peace

Dionysus, Athena, Attis, Ixchel, Neith, Wodan, Osiris, Frey

Deer, mouse, horse, bear, snowy owl, robin, rook

Blue zircon, turquoise, serpentine, lazulite, smoky quartz

Blood red, green, white, black

[strawberrycauldrons]

Witchcraft: Warding (definition + how to + methods)

Read more about the importance of warding and other forms of protection in magic here.