Magical, medicinal, and culinary herbs & ingredients

Discussion in 'Crafting & Gathering' started by redfish, Aug 21, 2013.

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  1. rild

    rild Avatar

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    good ol' roo-boy! mmm so good - always wanted to see a live plant of that.

    thanks for the share Jynx :)

    i've not had a chance to watch the hangout yet, but particularly excited for doing so
     
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  2. redfish

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    I added frog's-eggs to the section on magical reagents. The life cycle of the frog was used as an example of the alchemical process in nature. Also filled in some more pictures. I'm probably going to combine the two entries on dew and add a bit more information on that in the future.

    To medicinal herbs, I added savine and juniper berry -- savine, as a herb, is the leaf of the savine juniper, while juniper berry is taken from all junipers -- waybroad, which was the term for the plantain or plantago -- and added a little more information on chamomile. Trying to make sure all the nine sacred herbs of the Saxons are in and listed properly. http://www.psumedievalgarden.com/sacred_saxon_herbs.html

    @Jynx,

    Speaking of reagents that would be inspired from South Africa, there's also the devil's-claw, so named because the plant has hooks on its fruit.
    [​IMG]
    Locally, its been used for medicinal purposes.
     
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  3. redfish

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    I wanted to make one quick update before I take a break from this for a while.

    I added crab-apple, mugwort, and callais and callaina (turquoise stone).

    I also finally added in ectoplasm. That ended up being a long entry, since I wanted to tie in the modern concept of ectoplasm, held by spiritualists, to ancient and medieval ideas. Spirits were understood to be present in the form of airs or vapors, and present in the body in the form of a "subtle vapor", so fumigation -- the burning of fumigatory herbs -- was used in rituals to exorcise spirits, ie to "cleanse bad air." But also, the concept of "first matter" has been retro-interpreted by spiritualists to refer to ectoplasm based on the writings of Thomas Vaughan, and likewise the "hyle" (formless matter) described by Aristotle, which was understood to be a type of "first matter." Hyle is ultimately where "hythloth" is derived from, from hylotheism.
     
  4. Beaumaris

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  5. redfish

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    I added a bunch of items.

    STYGIAN WATER. Also called "black water" for its color, a light dew said to on the rocks near the river Styx, acidic and ice-cold, and supposed to have been as a poison and murder Alexander the Great. BLOOD-ROOT. A hex-breaker in voodoo, known for the blood-like sap of its roots. STAR-DUST. The dust of stars. FAIRY RING AGARIC. Mushrooms that form into fairy rings. FAIRY BUTTER. Really a type of fungus jelled in the rain, supposed to be the food of fairies. STAR-SHOT. A similar type of fungus said to come from falling stars. SCORPION'S VENOM. Used as a poison and to restore vitality. SCORPION'S OIL. An oil made from scorpions, used to treat poison and bladder problems. SCORPION. Symbol of chaos, used as an amulet in magic since Ancient Egypt. SCARAB. Also used as far back as Ancient Egypt. MAD DOG'S MILK. The milk of a dog with rabies; mad dogs were said to have a magical type of poison. SPIDER'S VENOM. Used as a poison. POPPY. Used primarily for it's milk, although the seeds were also used for magic. SPRING-WORT. Or blasting-root, a legendary plant which could be made into wands that could cast lightning, open up passages, and reveal secret entrances. SPIDER'S-EGGS. Eggs from spiders, some recorded uses though not as commonly as frog's eggs. SERPENT'S VENOM. Added this alongside serpent's bile.

    KALE. Added alongside sea-kale. ROSA-SOLIS. The name for sun-dew, which was made into a cordial for medicinal purposes.
     
  6. healthystuff

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    In terms of medicinal herbs or plants, I only know castor oil medicinal uses: The Medicinal uses of Castor oil. It is very helpful for any headaches, abdominal pain, hair growth and many healthy benefits. It is only applied externally but it can penetrate incredibly to our deepest layer of skin which can help ease any pain. :D
     
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