Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a 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 howlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
The above comes from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth and forms part of the infamous speech that will I’m certain forever be associated with witches standing round their cauldrons. But have you ever wonder what those nasty ingredients really were and if they exist in the ‘real’ spellcasters world?
Adders Tongue : Plantain
Bats Wing : Holly Leaf
Bats Wool : Moss
Blood : Elder Sap
Bloody Fingers: Foxglove
Blue Jay : Bay Laurel
Brains : Gum from a Cherry tree
Bulls Blood : Horehound
Cat: Catnip
Dog : Couchgrass
Dragons Scales : Bistort Leaves
Ear of an Ass : Comfrey
Ears of a Goat : St Johns Wort
Eyes : Daisy
Fairy Cups : Primrose
Fingers : Cinquefoil
Frog : Cinquefoil
Graveyard Dust : Patchouli
Hair: The Unexpanded frond from a male fern
Hawk : Hawkweed
Heart : Walnut
Lamb : Lettuce
Lions Tooth : Dandelion
Lizard : Calamint
Nightingale : Hop
Rat : Valerian
Skin of Man : Fern
Skull : Skullcap Mushroom
Snake : Bistort
Teeth : Pine Cones
Toad : Sage
Tongue of Dog : Hounds Tongue
Urine : Dandelion (I hope!)
Weasel : Rue
Woodpecker : Peony
Worms : Thin Roots
Body Parts
Eye : Inner part of a blossom
Genitals : Seed
Guts : Roots and stalks
Hair : Dried stringy herbs
Head : Flower
Heart : A bud or seed
Paw, Foot, Leg, Wing or Toe : Leaves
Tail : Stem
Tongue : Petal
