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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
50
CHAPTER
V.
PLANTS
IN
WITCHCRAFT.
The
vast
proportions
which
the
great
witchcraft
movement
assumed
in
bygone
years
explains
the
magic
properties
which
we
find
ascribed
to
so
many
plants
in
most
countries.
In
the
nefarious
trade
carried
on
by
the
representatives
of
this
cruel
system
of
sorcery
certain
plants
were
largely
employed
for
working
marvels,
hence
the
mystic
character
which
they
have
ever
since
retained.
It
was
necessary,
however,
that
these
should
be
plucked
at
certain
phases
of
the
moon
or
seasons
of
the
year,
or
from
some
spot
where
the
sun
was
supposed
not
to
have
shone
on
it.[1]
Hence
Shakespeare
makes
one
of
his
witches
speak
of
"root
of
hemlock
digg'd
i'
the
dark,"
and
of
"slips
of
yew
sliver'd
in
the
moon's
eclipse,"
a
practice
which
was
long
kept
up.
The
plants,
too,
which
formed
the
witches'
pharmacopoeia,
were
generally
selected
either
from
their
legendary
associations
or
by
reason
of
their
poisonous
and
soporific
qualities.
Thus,
two
of
those
most
frequently
used
as
ingredients
in
the
mystic
cauldron
were
the
vervain
and
the
rue,
these
plants
having
been
specially
credited
with
supernatural
virtues.
The
former
probably
derived
its
notoriety
from
the
fact
of
its
being
sacred
to
Thor,
an
honour
which
marked
it
out,
like
other
lightning
plants,
as
peculiarly
adapted
for
occult
uses.
It
was,
moreover,
among
the
sacred
plants
of
the
Druids,
and
was
only
gathered
by
them,
"when
the
dog-star
arose,
from
unsunned
spots."
At
the
same
time,
it
is
noteworthy
that
many
of
the
plants
which
were
in
repute
with
witches
for
working
their
marvels
were
reckoned
as
counter-charms,
a
fact
which
is
not
surprising,
as
materials
used
by
wizards
and
others
for
magical
purposes
have
generally
been
regarded
as
equally
efficacious
if
employed
against
their
charms
and
spells.[2]
Although
vervain,
therefore,
as
the
"enchanters'
plant,"
was
gathered
by
witches
to
do
mischief
in
their
incantations,
yet,
as
Aubrey
says,
it
"hinders
witches
from
their
will,"
a
circumstance
to
which
Drayton
further
refers
when
he
speaks
of
the
vervain
as
"'gainst
witchcraft
much
avayling."
Rue,
likewise,
which
entered
so
largely
into
magic
rites,
was
once
much
in
request
as
an
antidote
against
such
practices;
and
nowadays,
when
worn
on
the
person
in
conjunction
with
agrimony,
maiden-hair,
broom-straw,
and
ground
ivy,
it
is
said
in
the
Tyrol
to
confer
fine
vision,
and
to
point
out
the
presence
of
witches.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
