Plants, witchcraft and cemeteries...

Ancient herbalists have always been associated with the devil, death and the practice of the darkest witchcraft... Many of the plants used for medicinal purposes by the ancient herbalists grew in nitrogenous soils, in which nitrates and ammonium salts abound. In such soils, plants increase their levels of alkaloids and active ingredients. Thus, witches and 'medicine women' were seen collecting plants in cemeteries, rubbish dumps, riverbanks and out-of-the-way, unpleasant places. The best time to collect these plants was just before sunset, because sunlight increases the temperature and therefore also the concentration of active ingredients. Thus, witches and herbalists gained a bad reputation because of the solitary places they frequented and the fact that they always walked alone at sunset.

First print by Rhead, George Woolliscroft

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