Magical, medicinal, and culinary herbs & ingredients

So, I started compiling some lists of magical, medicinal, and culinary herbs and ingredients — all inspired by historical use — as well as vegetables and salad greens and fish and seafood that were commonly eaten back in the Middle Ages.

In the lists, I wrote down notes on the associated medicinal and magical properties, and added illustrations. I'll provide some links further down.

This is mostly for personal use and interest, although I hope it can be of value to the dev team, too. I'm going to keep on adding to it, and if anyone has suggestions to add please tell me. Please go to the links to see the details. Note that the placement of some in categories isn't precise and I'll probably move some around.


PRIMARILY MAGICAL HERBS AND INGREDIENTS. Link

MANDRAKE | DEADLY NIGHTSHADE or BELLADONNA | BLACK NIGHTSHADE | BITTERSWEET | HENBANE | ORRIS | WORMWOOD | MUGWORT | HELLEBORE | ASAFOETIDA | BLOOD CORAL or RED CORAL | WHITE CORAL, BLACK CORAL, BROWN CORAL | YELLOW AMBER and WHITE AMBER | GREY AMBER or AMBERGRIS | SULFUR or BRIMSTONE | QUICKSILVER | NITRE | CAMPHOR | FENNEL | FRANKINCENSE and MYRRH | MOLY | RUE | GOLDENROD | GRAVEYARD DUST | DRAGON'S BLOOD | BASILISK'S BLOOD | SEA-SPIRIT | GOAT'S GALL or BEZOAR | CRAB'S-EYES | MOON-SALT | MISTLETOE | VERVAIN | HEMLOCK | BETONY | BRYONY | SANDALWOOD or SAUNDERS | GARLIC | GINSENG | SERPENT'S SCALES or VIPER'S SKIN | FOXGLOVE | MONKSHOOD or WOLFSBANE | FLY AGARIC | BAT'S BLOOD | UNICORN HORN or ALICORN | PEARL and BLACK PEARL | BLOOD MOSS | SKULL MOSS | ANASTATICA or ROSE OF JERICHO | LUCKY HAND ROOT or SAHLEB ROOT | HIPPOMANES | FROG'S BONE | HUMAN FAT | CHAMELEON'S SKIN | SALAMANDER'S WOOL | SPIDER'S SILK | PERIDEXION or PERINDEUS | SERPENT'S HORN | PHOENIX FEATHER | HERCINIA FEATHER | CALADRIUS DUNG | THORN-APPLE | YEW | ANEMONE | AGRIMONY | BLACK SNAIL | HONEY | HONEY-DEW | DEW and MAY-DEW | SERPENT'S VENOM | SERPENT'S BILE | GRAVE-WAX | FROG'S-EGGS | ECTOPLASM | STYGIAN WATER | BLOOD-ROOT | STAR-DUST | FAIRY RING AGARIC | FAIRY BUTTER | STAR-SHOT | SCORPION'S VENOM | SCORPION'S OIL | SCORPION | SCARAB | MAD DOG'S MILK | SPIDER'S VENOM | SPIDER'S VENOM | POPPY | SPRING-WORT | SPIDER'S-EGGS | PIMPERNEL | ANTIRRINON or SNAPDRAGON | HEBENON | MARTAGON or MOONWORT | SALAMANDER'S BLOOD

MAGICAL GEMS AND STONES. Link

SMARAG | CARBUNCLE | HYACINTH | BERYL | ADAMANT or DIAMOND | TOPAZ | AMETHYST | JASPIS or CHALCEDONY | BLOOD-STONE | SARD | CALLAIS and CALLAINA | SAPPHIRE | CRYSTAL | OBSIDIAN | MOON-STONE | SUN-STONE | THUNDER-STONE | BLOOD CORAL or RED CORAL | WHITE CORAL, BLACK CORAL, BROWN CORAL | YELLOW AMBER and WHITE AMBER | GREY AMBER or AMBERGRIS | DRACONITE or DRAGON-STONE | AETITE or EAGLE-STONE | ORITE | HYDROLITE or WATER-STONE | CREPANDINA or TOAD-STONE

PRIMARILY MEDICINAL HERBS AND INGREDIENTS. Link

HART'S-HORN | CUTTLE-BONE | ISINGLASS | SCAMMONY | GOLDENSEAL | CORN-COCKLE | ANGELICA | FEVERFEW | CENTAURY | HYPERICON | ELECAMPANE | ROSEMARY | MEADOWSWEET | CHAMOMILE or MAYWEED | DANDELION | SAGE | TANSY | YARROW | MALLOW | FUMITORY | LAVENDER | WILLOW | BUCK-BEAN | SWEET CALAMUS | BISTORT or SNAKEROOT | NETTLE | PENNYROYAL | CHICORY | RADISH | RHUBARB | ELDER | HAWTHORN | SILPHION | BALAUSTINE | SAVINE and JUNIPER BERRY | WAYBROAD | ROSA-SOLIS | BUTTERBUR

PRIMARILY CULINARY HERBS AND INGREDIENTS. Link

THYME | MINT | TARRAGON | BASIL | OREGANO | HYSSOP | SOUTHERNWOOD or ABROTANON | SAVORY | CORIANDER | PARSLEY | MARJORAM | BALM | CHERVIL | DILL | BAY LAUREL | CELANDINE | AVENS | CARDAMOM | CUMIN | SWEET-GALE | MARSH ROSEMARY or WILD ROSEMARY | COSTMARY or ALECOST | MYRTLE | HEATHER | ASPHODEL | SILVERWEED | VIOLET

CULINARY VEGETABLES AND GREENS. Link

ONION | CHIVES | LEEK | ANGELICA | WINTERCRESS | WATERCRESS | BITTERCRESS | LETTUCE | COLEWORT | CABBAGE | SMALLAGE | LOVAGE | BORAGE | SORREL | ORACHE | BURDOCK | CELERIAC | ALEXANDERS | SKIRRET | PARSNIP | CARROT | SALSIFY | BLACK SALSIFY | TURNIP | BEETROOT | CHICKWEED | PIMPERNEL or BURNET | DOG'S MERCURY | TRUELOVE | PURSLANE | FAT-HEN | KALE | SEA KALE | MUSTARD | PEA | MARSH SAMPHIRE

FRUITS, BERRIES, AND NUTS. Link

STRAWBERRY TREE or ARBUTUS | QUINCE | MEDLAR | ROSE | STRAWBERRY | MULBERRY | DAMSON | SLOE | BULLACE | ROWAN | SORB | CHEQUER | BRAMBLE or BLACKBERRY | RASPBERRY | ARCTIC BRAMBLE or ARCTIC RASPBERRY | BLUEBERRY | BILBERRY | CLOUDBERRY | GOOSEBERRY | DEWBERRY | GRAPE | GROCER'S CURRANT | BLACKCURRANT | REDCURRANT | WHITE CURRANT | LINGONBERRY | CRANBERRY | CROWBERRY | SEA-BUCKTHORN | CHERRY | MORELLO or SOUR CHERRY | CORNELIAN or CORNEL CHERRY | PEACH | APRICOT | APPLE | CRAB-APPLE | PEAR | WARDEN | CITRON | LEMON | LIME | ORANGE | POMEGRANATE | FIG | DATE | ALMOND | CHESTNUT | HAZELNUT and FILBERT | WALNUT

FISHES AND SEAFOOD. Link

CONGER | SHAD | CUTTLE-FISH | SKATE | SOLE | TURBOT | HERRING | STURGEON | JOHN-DORY

EXOTIC HERBS AND INGREDIENTS. Link

MANGROVE | BANANA | WATER-MELON | COCONUT


A note about how this all fits together.

Technically, herbalism, magic, and alchemy can be seen as three separate things, although the lines were blurred between them.

A lot of the effects of herbs were seen as easily explainable through results of their physical properties, and not understood as magic. So for instance the ability of scammony root to purge bile was seen as a result of the herb's dryness and heat -- its irritability. If some substance would irritate the mucus, it was pretty simple to understand the person would throw up from it. Herbs with good scents would ward away flies, so were used in kitchens to prevent flies from coming in and to ward against disease. On the other hand, some herbs were seen as occult, meaning their effects were not easily understood. These often gained significance within astrology, were connected with incantations, and would often have rituals for harvesting. Often they had psychotropic effects, like mandrake, nightshade, and hellebore. Still, even those effects were explained in humorism -- in saying that they effected black bile, or the melancholic humor, and the "evil spirits" were connected to melancholy. But, the beliefs about magic remained connected to all sorts of rituals associated with them, and their signatures -- mandrake looking like a man, and so on. And even herbs that were not primarily understood as magical were still used as magical amulets, because of misunderstandings of how they operated. A healing herb that would ward flies and disease might also be put on a door to ward evil or snakes, or worn around the wrist.

For magic, there was also a difference between "natural magic" and demonic magic associated with sorcery and witchcraft. Natural magic would be just natural effects that were not well understood, while demonic magic was magic that was purportedly dependent on summoning of demons through incantations. Alchemy at first was mostly not about magic, it was about systematically understanding the natural effects of materials and their transmutations. This was often through metaphors, however, so 'salt,' 'mercury,' and 'sulfur', were not just materials but principles in all things. The philosopher's 'gold' was the principle of gold, and its believed that early alchemists were not trying to create boullion gold, but something called 'red gold', thought to be cinnabar. Later on, because alchemy became very materialistic and literal, you had people like Parcelsus bring it into the realm of magic by re-emphasizing the spiritual aspects of it. This was referred to as theurgy, sometimes called divine magic. Parcelsus was a strange and controversial figure. One of his prescriptions was a so-called "weapon salve" -- where he suggested by putting a salve on a weapon that affected the wound, you would heal the wound, because of some magical synchronicity between the wound and the weapon.

Something else to note is that a lot of magical substances had sympathies, in that just as there was said to be an actual dragon's blood, dragon's blood also referred to the resin of a plant. There are also plants with names like colt's-foot and mare's-tale. These were not necessarily named with the magic in mind, but nonetheless the similarity which lent them their names gave a sense of a sympathetic relationship. A lot of times recipes that seem to be calling for the more exotic substance are calling for a basic herb, other times they refer to the exotic substance. Using herbs for everything under an exotic name also gave witches a way to make their art seem more mysterious, while still casting spells on the cheap.

For the vegetables and salad greens, I included a lot of types that aren't commonly used today -- ie. alexanders, burdock, smallage, lovage, orache, pimpernel, chickweed, wintercress, sorrel. In a few cases this is because they've been more cultivated. So for instance, "smallage" is wild celery, before it became cultivated into the common garden celery we have today. And eating orache was eventually displaced with eating spinach. However, one of the products of a consumer culture is that our everyday choices at the supermarket are limited to select items that have big markets for them. In the Middle Ages, you would have seen more of a variety every day and in food stands.

I haven't been able to write notes on the seafood yet or complete that.

 

One which stands out as being missing is willow bark. That is a real herbal remedy for pain and fever which became one of the most common medicine we use, asprin

 

It originally came from meadowsweet actually.. and then later on, meadowsweet was replaced by willow bark for the aspirin recipe.

But its still a good suggestion I have a running list of herbs that I want to look into and haven't actually put in the annotated list yet, so it'll be there.

 

Well this isn't quite adding to the list but it is related.. reaching back a ways to deliver this shameless plug. The original herbs post.

Herbs, Alchemy & Healing

 

Great thread! To add a rough addition to the list:

Less Pleasant Ingredients:
Bone Meal
Cursed/Rotten/Mort Flesh
*insert creature's name*'s Toe/Finger/Eye/etc.
Ectoplasm
Vampire Blood
Bone (grounds up to bone meal)
Insects (and perhaps insect pastes)
Various organs (from fish, animals, or people[?])

 

I just added frog's bone to the list, and the entry talks about lore about all bones for their use in magic and medicine; just as the entry on bat's blood talks about lore for blood in general. Frog's bones were treated as especially efficacious because of the magic associated with toads and frogs.

I also added skull moss, which is the lichen that would grow on skulls -- the same which would grow on hanging branches -- hippomanes, or 'horse madness', a growth found on the head of new-born colts -- human fat, and 'crepandina' or frog-stone, a round, black pebble that was said to be found in the head of frogs and set in magic rings that would protect against poison.

Yes you're right that organs such as livers, brains, and hearts were also used and I'm going to be looking at that. A powder was also made from mummies and sold as 'mumia', continued to be used for centuries after the Middle Ages. Its believed to have been effective because the embalming fluid for mummies was made with cedar, the same cedar that was used in other tar-based and creosote-based remedies.

These weren't necessarily thought of as "unpleasant" -- brains, livers, hearts were commonly eaten just like the rest of an animal's flesh.

 

I added willow to the list. Also costmary, or ale-cost, which was used in flavoring ales. (So was sweet-gale, already on the list)

I'm currently working on a bunch more herbs that were commonly used.

 

I added a handful more herbs (heather, buck-bean, sweet calamus, fat-hen, bistort or snakeroot), and have a couple more I still want to add.

Still open for people to submit their own.

 

I can't guarantee that all of these items are new to this thread, but they're in my head and I see you're lacking input, so I may as well post them.

cumin / coriander / thyme / taragon / basil / crushed cayenne/paprika/etc. / fenugreek / cardamom / (star) anise / oregano / parsely / turmeric / onion powder / garlic powder / fennel seed / rosemary / marjoram / ginger powder / caraway / cinnamon / nutmeg / allspice / saffron / vanilla powder / sugar / baking powder / flour / yeast / wheat / malt / hops / barley / corn starch (or tapioca) / aloe / clove / bay leaf / honey

A few simple recipes:

Fish Sauce: fish and salt
Oyster Sauce: boiled oysters
Tamarind Paste: tamarind
Chili Paste: chilies, rice vinegar, salt (and less than 1/10th of 1% potassium benzoate, and BHT as preservatives)

 

Some of them are, some of them I have in my head, some of them aren't, and I'll add them

Also I'm planning to add a section on fruits, berries and nuts..

 

Sounds good! If you can get the thread going within a few minutes, I'd post my list for you to add and edit.

EDIT: Better yet, I'll just leave the lists here and you can do what you will with them.

Berries:
acai / mango / grape / elderberry / banana / plum / melon / cherry / apple / rasberry / cantaloupe / papaya / pineapple / orange / apricot / blackberry / blueberry / gourd / tomato / guava / coconut / cranberry / lime / fig / guarana / grapefruit / kiwi / honeydew melon / prune / juniper berry / lemon / mandarin orange / tamarind / pear / strawberry / peach / nutmeg / oil palm / olive / passion fruit / pomegranate / pumpkin / taangerine / watermelon

Nuts:
hazelnut / walnut / pecan / peanut / almond / cashew / pine nut / chestnut / acorn / palm nut / macadamia nut / pistachio /

 

Meadowsweet was the original European source, Willow bark was used in the Americas, so you are both correct. Um, great thread.

Lemon Balm (reviving, refreshing & calming scent, sedative as a tea, used in distilling & purification, decorative, used to preserve sausages, mosquito repellent)
Stinging nettles (under greens and herbs) - great for allergies / arthritis, also delicious!
Chicory (both culinary and medicinal as an astringent/bitter herb)
Tansy (insecticide, worm-cure, companion plant, golden-yellow dye)
Tea and Coffee
Lime Tree, aka Linden / Tilia (medicinal, for honey, great wood for sculpture, its bark makes the fiber called bast, strong mythology)
Rose petal (oil, water, beads .. see rosary, essence. Rose has one of the highest vibrational frequencies among herbs)
Cow's horn/ram's horn (see biodynamic farming, Rudolph Steiner)
Pennyroyal (pesticide/insect repellent, used to treat some severe disease, essential oil is a potent poison to humans and other animals, "women's issues")
Mercury (complex ritual use, valued for its unique properties, used to make vermillion) - Mercury occurs as cinnabar, which Redfish mentioned above. In Vedic Tantra a spirit can be invoked into Mercury, bringing it to life. This form is then sacrificed, giving all the benefits of human sacrifice without the consquences of taking a life. --edit-- I see Quicksilver was mentioned above
Salamander skin aka Asbestos (mineral spun into fibers for use in holocaust cloaks / fire-proof gloves)
Poppy Tears aka Opium

 

Good list, a couple of those are already there. Lemon balm, referred to as balm; mercury as quicksilver; I have rose up there -- it was used for both the petals and the rose-hips, which are rich in vitamin C and good in jams and tarts; tansy is there too. A couple I already had in mind, but you listed a few I didn't think of.

I'm going to list a few I have in the back of my mind people know so they dont duplicate it in their lists : sea beet, clary, hogweed, samphire, shallot, rosebay willow-herb, amaranth, broom, butcher's broom, thorax tears (resin), galbanum, club moss, kermes, juniper, rhubarb, strawberry tree, elderberry, rowan berry, a whole bunch of other berries, milk thistle, sow thistle, stonesweet, dittany, skurret, teasel, carob, water lily.

Also will do a section on fungi and mushrooms.

In the mean time, I should mention I just added these: silverweed, celeriac, salsify, black salsify, sea kale.

 

Okay so far, from the ones I didn't have from your list, I added: salmander's wool, nettle, pennyroyal, and chicory.

Also have to do cicely, comfrey, gentian, parsnip, and some basing things like turnip, beets, peas, lettuce, cabbage.

 

(All lists adapted from wikipedia)
Fish
salmon / trout / flounder / haddock / tilapia / swordfish / herring / anchovy / bass / cod / blowfish / catfish / dogfish / eel / grouper / halibut / mackeral / pike / pollock / sardine / shark / snapper / tuna

Shellfish
crab / shrimp / lobster / clam / mussel / oyster / scallop / snail / octopus / squid

Also, roe or fish eggs.

Leafy Greens
amaranth / arugula / bok choy / broccoli / brussels sprout / cabbage / celery / collard greens / cress / fiddlehead / plantain / kale / lettuce / mustard / pea / beet / spinach / swiss chard / turnip / wheatgrass /

 

Nice thread!

I would add that until the 19th Century, when the Miasmatic Theory of disease was in place, lots of spices and oter substances where used to protect doctors and patients from the miasma.
Some have already been mentioned, such as mint and camphor, others included laudanum and storax.

 

How about tea tree oil which is a great anti fungal
and eucalyptus oil which is an anti bacterial as well as being fantastic for colds by operning up the airways when inhaled

 

Just to update, I added these to the list: * cicely, skirret, parsnip, carrot, turnip, radish, beetroot, leek, onion, cabbage, lettuce, rhubarb, pea

 

Since this includes magical ingredients.. not everything has to be non-fictional.

Moon salts.

Where moon dust from the cataclysm has settled in salt deposits in large quantities.

 

snake venom