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Thursday, October 31

Double trouble


Macbeth: witches chanting around a cauldron. Something wicked this way comes!  I enjoy associating the song with Halloween. But as I go through eye of newt, tongue of dog... I can't help thinking how gruesome they are, especially that I'm an animal lover, particularly dogs, and I hate it when animals are hurt.

There is an article though that I came across which suggests that these bats, worms or lizards are "likely just herbs by other names... the brew was "designed to gross out the masses; to stop them from practicing magic."

Now that I can accept. There are only 12 translations from The Literary Tourist. I did some research for the 13th. As I do not normally see these plants in my part of the world, I was also learning while putting them together. The photos are mostly public domain. The one above is my mother's cauldron but it's only jack fruit inside. A link to the photographers and sites follows.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

1. Eye of Newt - Mustard Seed
Deception Bytes
 


2. Toe of Frog - Buttercup
Максим Кукушкин



3. Wool of Bat - Holly Leaves
Petr Kratochvil

4. Tongue of Dog - Houndstongue
Reusable Art


5. Adder's Fork - Adder's tongue
The Flower Book


6. Lizard Leg - Ivy
Ivy on house in autumn by Petr Kratochvil


7. Hawk’s Heart - Wormwood
Pino Perino via Luirig


8. Ass’s Foot or Bull’s Foot: Coltsfoot
Peter Hager


9. Bear’s Foot: Lady’s Mantle
Herb Rowe


10. Calf’s Snout: Snapdragon
Rosendahl



11. Graveyard Dust: Mullein
Vera Kratochvil


12. Sparrow’s Tongue: Knotweed
All-Free-Download


13. Fillet of a fenney snake - arum
Luirig


Linking with Thursday 13 and Favorite Things

7 comments:

  1. I learned a lot and am preparing my cauldron

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  2. That's a good take on the whole eye of newt thing. I enjoyed that very much.

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  3. Those are so cool! I especially love the name of the last one. Great list, Hazel! Happy Halloween!

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  4. It couldn't be easy to get your hands on all these herbs. Much nicer than the animal version, though.

    - Alice

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cool, interesting and insightful post, Hazel! There is a lot of mullein growing near me, but I've never seen reference to it as graveyard dust, and I can see where some species of holly leaves might be seen as resembling bat wings. My Halloween T13

    ReplyDelete

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