Many grimoires and books of magic use animals and their parts as codes for herbs and other materials. Here are a number of them, some from the Greek Magical Papyri (see PGM XII:401-44), a work composed between 200BC and 500AD. Others come from Galen and Dioscorides, who are other ancient sources. Galen (120-200 AD) was a physician at the temple of Asclepias, which makes him a pretty darn authoritative pagan about herbs and herbal codes. Dioscorides (40-90AD) was a physician in ancient Greece and in Rome at the time of Nero. He wrote De Materia Medica, the first pharmacopeia (a sort of cookbook of medicine) in Western civilization. Thus, it is clear that since antiquity, animal parts named in magical formulae have NOT referred primarily to actual animal parts but to parts of plants. It is precisely these ancient sources that medieval and Renaissance grimoires referred to when they used herbal codes in formulae for magical materials. There is nothing "New Age" about it. On the contrary, it is very traditional to use codes as a "fence" to prevent the majority from accessing knowledge. An herbal code is exactly that sort of fence.
A Adder's Tongue: Dogstooth Violet; Plantain Ass's Foot: Coltsfoot
B Bat's Wing: Holly Leaf Bat's Wool: Moss Bear's Foot: Lady's Mantle Bird's Eye: Germander, Speedwell Blood: Elder sap or another tree sap Blood from a Head: Lupine Blood from a Shoulder: Bear's Breeches Blood of a Goose: Mulberry tree's sap Blood of a Hamadryas Baboon: Blood of a spotted gecko Blood of a Snake: Hematite Blood of an Eye: Tamarisk Gall Blood of Ares: Purslane Blood of Hephaistos: Wormwood Blood of Hestia: Chamomile Bloody Fingers: Foxglove Blue Jay: Bay laurel Bone of an Ibis: Buckthorn Brains: Cherry tree gum (this phrase usually designates any fruit tree gum) Bull's Blood or Seed of Horus: Horehound Bull's Foot: Coltsfoot Bull's Semen: Eggs of the blister beetle
C Calf's Snout: Snapdragon Capon's Tail: Valerian Cat: Catnip Cat's Foot: Canada Snake Root and/or Ground Ivy Clot: Great Mullein Corpse Candles: Mullein Cuddy's Lungs: Great Mullein Crocodile Dung: Ethiopian Earth Crow Foot: Cranesbill, wild geranium, buttercup
D Devil's Dung: Asafoetida Dog: Couch grass Dog's Mouth: Snapdragon Dog's Tongue: Hounds Tongue Dove's Foot: Wild Geranium Dragon's Blood: Resin of Draco palm Dragon's Scales: Bistort leaves
E Eagle: Wild Garlic of Fenugreek Ear of an Ass: Comfrey Ears of a Goat: St. John's Wort Englishman's Foot: Common Plantain Eye of Christ: Germander, speedwell Eye of the Day: Common daisy Eye of the Star: Horehound Eyes: Inner part of a blossom; Aster, Daisy, Eyebright
F Fat from a Head: Spurge Fingers: Cinquefoil Five Fingers: Cinquefoil Foot: Leaf Frog: Cinquefoil Frog's Foot: Bulbous buttercup From the Belly: Earth-apple From the Foot: Houseleek From the Loins: Chamomile
G Goat's Foot: Ash Weed God's Hair: Hart's Tongue Fern Gosling Wing: Goosegrass Graveyard Dust: Mullein Great Ox-eye: Ox-eye daisy Guts: The roots and stalk of a plant
H Hair: Dried stringy herbs; ripe male fern Hair of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Seed Hair of Venus: Maidenhair fern Hare's Beard: Great mullein Hawk: Hawkweed Hawk's Heart: Wormwood seed or wormwood crown Head: Flower of a plant Heart: Walnut; bud, seed, or nut Hind's Tongue: Hart's Tongue Fern Horse Hoof: Coltsfoot Horse Tongue: Hart's Tongue Fern
J Jacob's Staff: Great Mullein Jupiter's Staff: Great Mullein
K King's Crown: Black Haw Kronos' Blood: Cedar
L Lamb: Lettuce Lamb's Ears: Betony Leg: Leaf Lion's Hair: Tongue of a Turnip [i.e., the leaves of the taproot] Lion's Tooth: Dandelion, aka Priest's Crown Lion Semen: Human Semen
M Man's Bile: Turnip sap
N Nightingale: Hops
P Paw: Leaf Physician's Bone: Sandstone Pig's Tail: Leopard's Bane Privates: Seed
R Ram's Head: American Valerian Rat: Valerian Red Cockscomb: Amaranth
S Seed of Horus: Horehound Semen of Ammon: Houseleek Semen of Ares: Clover Semen of Helios: White Hellebore Semen of Hephaistos: Fleabane Semen of Herakles: Mustard-rocket Semen of Hermes: Dill Shepherd's Heart: Shepherd's Purse Skin of Man: Fern Skull: Skullcap Mushroom Snake: Bistort Snake's Ball of Thread: Soapstone Snake's Head: Leech Sparrow's Tongue: Knotweed Swine |