Witch ointment

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Under flying ointment or flight ointment is meant an ointment or paste , with which the late Middle Ages and the time of the early modern witch hunts (usually as people witches are said to have rubbed called women) to the witches' sabbath to fly. The belief in such a preparation is based on ancient traditions and scholastic ideas derived from them in the late Middle Ages . The existence of such an ointment used for this purpose was already disputed in the 16th century. As witch's ointment, ointment-shaped preparations made from psychoactive substances (especially nightshade plants ) are named, the use of which can cause hallucinations or delusional dreams, but there is also no evidence of their real use as a narcotic drug in the Middle Ages and early modern times.

Preparation of the witch's ointment, depiction from 1571

Antiquity

No such ointment recipes have come down to us from antiquity, but in poetry there are two mentions of a substance which apparently gave flight ability and which could be understood as a forerunner of the late medieval witch's ointments.

The poet Homer mentions in the Iliad (in Chapter II, XIV) that the goddess Hera anointed herself with Ambrosia to get to Zeus on the Idaberg. Homer writes that she came to Zeus "[...] over the highest peaks and never touching the earth [...]" and that he was very surprised at how quickly she overcame the distance.

A second mention of a substance that conferred similar abilities can be found in the novel Metamorphoses by the Roman writer Apuleius : The hero of the novel - Lucius - tells of the magical abilities of the witches from Thessaly , who had the ability to animate not only mandrake males to allow them to cause damage, but also to change their own shape and “extend” (ie fly). The text says that the witch Pamphile stripped herself naked, picked up a can of ointment and rubbed it from head to toe.

“Then she shakes all her limbs. These are hardly in surging motion when soft fluff is already emerging from them. In an instant there were also strong feathers, and the nose was horny and crooked; the feet are drawn together in claws. There is Pamphile as an eagle owl! "

- Apuleius : Metamorphoses III, 21

Ovid and Seneca also report such strigae , which can be transformed into a night bird with ointment or ride through the air on animals and objects.

middle Ages

Abraham of Worms

Abraham von Worms , a Jewish Kabbalist , reported in his book Des Juden Abraham von Worms, Book of True Practice in Divine Magic , at the end of the 14th century, of an ointment that he had both tried himself and soberly observed on a young woman caused that "I fly to the place that I wanted in my heart without telling her anything about it." Although the report does not contain any information on the recipe, nor does Abraham apply the term "witch" to the young woman, the testimony can be interpreted as evidence of the belief in the existence of "flying ointments" as early as the high Middle Ages.

Johannes Hartlieb

The first doctor of the late Middle Ages who wrote down a witch's ointment recipe was Johannes Hartlieb (* around 1400, † 1468), who was in the service of the Wittelsbach Duke Albrecht III. stood and served him as a consultant and personal doctor. Among other things, Johannes wrote one of the earliest German herbal books around 1440 and the book of all forbidden arts in 1456 (original title: Das puch aller verpoten kunst, unglaubens and der zaubrey ). Since this is the first known record of a witch's ointment recipe, the full text from Hartlieb's book is reproduced here:

“Man and woman are also useful to the common fern, namely the disgusts (monsters, witches), and the hayst unguentum pharelis anoints . They make sy uss siben krewtern (herbs) and prechen yeglichs herb on a day, which then belongs to the same herb. As suntag prech and dig sy Solsequium , on ment day Lunariam ( Lunaria ), on eretag (Tuesday) Verbenam ( Verbena ), on Wednesdays Mercurialem ( Mercurialis ), on Pfintztag (Thursday) Dachhauswurz Barbam jovis , on Friday Capillos Veneris ( Capillus Veneris ) . Make it sy, then anoint with a mixture ettlichs pluotz von vogel (with the admixture of bird blood), also schmaltz from animals; that I write as nit, the yemant of it should be energized. Whenever you want to, you brush penck (benches) or stül, rake or oven forks and faren there. All of this is quite nigramancia ( nigromantie ), and vastly large is prohibited (and is strictly prohibited). "

- Johannes Hartlieb : The book of all forbidden arts , 32nd chapter, sheet 18 f.

Hartlieb calls the ointment unguentum pharelis , although the meaning of the name pharelis is not known and unguentum simply means "ointment".

In Hartlieb's recipe, each plant is assigned to a day of the week. Since the Middle Ages, the planetary symbols common in astronomy and astrology have also been used for the days of the week. In alchemy these also stood for certain metals. The herbs in turn were assigned to planets. This allows 6 of the 7 herbs to be determined with certainty. The 7th herb was, however, left out “I write as not, the yemant of it should be energized” but one can confidently assume that this herb must have been the mandrake. Since the greatest “magical properties” were ascribed to this plant, it is a plant of Saturn (i.e. the absence of Saturday) and the hallucinogenic effect enables a “flight experience”. So the recipe could have looked like this.

Verbena, moon rue, annual bingelkraut, thunder beard, mandrake, lady's hair fern, St. John's wort, bird's blood, animal lard.

The herbs were probably dried, pounded / ground, and made into a paste with the bird's blood and animal lard.

It can be assumed that neither oven forks nor brooms , but the sun braid , the base of the neck, the hollows of the arms and knees, the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet were coated with it in order to achieve an optimal effect.

Heinrich Kramer

Heinrich Kramer (Institoris) describes in 1486 in the second part of his famous witch's hammer that witches could rise into the air for an ointment. These are made from the extremities of children.

Modern times

Case files of the witch persecution

No authentic recipes are known from the witch persecution files. Rather, those accused of witchcraft only knew the herbal components of the ointment from hearsay, or they would not have prepared the "lubricant" (this is how the flying ointment was also called), but instead received it from the devil himself, according to their own statements . In 1545 Andrés de Laguna (1499-1560), who worked as a doctor at the court of Charles V , wrote that he had confiscated a witch's ointment. The traditional recipes come from doctors and early scientists, which could explain that their composition was the same as the medicinal products used at the time.

Cardano

Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576) described a as Lamiarum unguentum ( "ointment of Lamia") designated flying ointment consisting of children fat , press juices of celery , verbena and cinquefoil and soot and ergot said to have been composed.

Giambattista della Porta

In connection with the question of the witch's ointments, reference is often made to the traditional recipes in the book Magiae naturalis sive de miraculis rerum naturalium (1558) by the Italian natural scientist Giambattista della Porta (1538-1615). He reports of a witch ride because of an ointment. The recipe he reproduced primarily contains the hallucinogenic active ingredients of plants containing alkaloid (also known as "witch's herbs"), especially from the nightshade family , as well as more symbolic components (bat blood, etc.). However, since della Portas sources are not known, his report cannot be verified as authentic.

Some scientific self-experiments that were carried out along della Porta's recipe at the beginning / middle of the 20th century prove the effectiveness of the ointment, but the characteristics of the reported noises are generally considered to be more likely than those induced by the researchers' expectations.

Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor

Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor reported in 1689 in his work Die Ehre des Hertzogthums Crain of an ointment that caused the witch “from all the dancing, eating, drinking, music and the like. similar dreams, that is, that she avoids having flown ”. The recipe handed down by him contains "sleepy nightshade " and " Wolffswurtz " as active plants, both of which are highly poisonous and intoxicating.

Other names for the witch's ointment

The witch's ointment also appears under the following names in old and new literature: Buhlsalbe , Flugsalbe , Hexenschmiere, sleeping ointment , Unguentum Sabbati , Unguentum pharelis , Unguentum populi ( "poplar ointment" ), Unguentum somniferum ("sleeping ointment ").

literature

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Research literature

  • Patrizia F. Ochsner: Witches' ointments and nightshade plants. Nachtschatten-Verlag, Solothurn 2003, ISBN 3-907080-86-6 .
  • Franz-Josef Kuhlen: Between 'God's punishment' and 'divine work'. History on the subject of pain and pain therapy. In: Pharmacy in our time . Vol. 31, 2002, pp. 13-22.
  • Wilfried Weustenfeld: The intoxicating drugs of witches and their effects. Bohmeier, Lübeck 2001, ISBN 3-89094-306-3 .
  • Christian Rätsch : witch's ointment. In: Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. Aarau 1998. (Wissenschaftliche Verlags-Gesellschaft, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8047-1599-0 .)
  • Christian Rätsch, Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Wolf-Dieter Storl : Witch medicine - the rediscovery of a forbidden healing art - shamanic traditions in Europe. 1st edition. Aarau 1998, ISBN 3-85502-601-7 .
  • Rudolf Schmitz : Usus and abuse of painkillers, sleeping pills and narcotics in the Middle Ages. In: Rudolf Schmitz, Franz-Josef Kuhlen (ed.): History of Pharmacy. Volume 1, Eschborn 1998, ISBN 3-7741-0706-8 , pp. 409-416.
  • Herman de Vries: About the so-called witch ointments. In: Integration. Journal for mind-moving plants and culture. No. 1, 1991, pp. 31-42. ISSN  0939-4958 (with a detailed bibliography)
  • Christian Rätsch: Johannes Hartlieb's witch ointment recipe. In: Johannes Hartlieb: The book of the forbidden arts. Munich 1989, pp. 257-268. (see sources)
  • Rudolf Schmitz, Franz-Josef Kuhlen: Painkillers and narcotics before 1600. An almost unknown chapter in the history of medicines. In: Pharmacy in our time. Volume 18, 1989, pp. 10-19.
  • Gunnar Heinsohn , Otto Steiger: The destruction of the wise women. Witch persecution, children's worlds, human production, population science. March, Herbstein 1985. (2nd edition. Heyne, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-453-00061-7 , pp. 64–70.)
  • Hans Biedermann: Lexicon of the magical arts. The world of magic since late antiquity. 3rd, improved and enlarged edition. Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1986, pp. 216-219 ( Hexensalbe ) and more often. (Licensed editions: Wilhelm Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-04454-1 ; VMA-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1998, ISBN 3-928127-59-4 )
  • Franz-Josef Kuhlen: About witches and drug dreams. Medicinal abuse in the Middle Ages and early modern times. In: Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung. Volume 124, 1984, pp. 2195-2202.
  • Franz-Josef Kuhlen: On the history of painkillers, sleeping pills and narcotics in the Middle Ages and early modern times. (Diss. Rer. Nat. Marburg / L. 1981) (= sources and studies on the history of pharmacy. Volume 19). Deutscher Apothekerverlag, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-7692-0634-7 , in particular pp. 266-372.
  • Heinrich L. Werneck, Franz Speta : The herbal book of Johannes Hartlieb. Graz 1980.
  • W. Mrsich: Experience with witches and witch ointments. In: The beach is under the pavement. Volume 5, 1978.
  • Ralf Achim Grünther: What is truth about witch ointments? In: Rolf Gehlen, Bernd Wolf (ed.): The glass fence. Essays on Hans Peter Duerr's “Traumzeit”. Frankfurt 1983. See also Hans Peter Duerr: Traumzeit. 6th edition. Frankfurt 1982.
  • Friedrich Merzbacher : The witch trials in Franconia. (= Series of publications on Bavarian national history. Volume 56). 1957. (2nd, expanded edition. CH Beck, Munich 1970, ISBN 3-406-01982-X , pp. 147 and 158.)
  • Alfred Lehmann: Superstition and sorcery from the oldest times to the present. Translated from the 2nd, revised Danish edition and supplemented by Dominikus Petersen I, 4th German edition. Aalen 1969. (and, declared as 5th edition, 1985; reprint Bindlach 1990, ISBN 3-8112-0698-2 , pp. 52, 119, 129, 241, 622 f., 648 and 682.)
  • Bernt Karger-Decker : Poisons, witch ointments, love potions. Leipzig 1967.
  • Heinrich Marzell : magic plants, witch potions. Customs and superstitions. (= Kosmos Library. Volume 241). Kosmos, Stuttgart 1963. (with description of self-experiments by two researchers with "witch's ointments".)
  • Will-Erich Peuckert : Witches' ointments. In: Medical monthly mirror. No. 8, 1960, pp. 169-174.
  • Erwin Richter: The witch's sabbath experienced afterwards. On Will-Erich Peuckert's self-experiment with witch ointments. In: Research questions of our time. Volume 7, 1960, pp. 97-100.
  • Siegbert Ferckel: "Hexensalbe" and its effect. In: Kosmos. Volume 50, 1954, p. 414 f.
  • Kurt Baschwitz : De strijd met den duivel. The heksenprocessen in the light of mass psychology. Blitz, Amsterdam 1948. German edition: Witches and witch trials. The story of a mass madness and how to combat it. Rütten & Loening, Munich 1963; 2nd Edition. Gondrom, Bindlach 1990, ISBN 978-3-8112-0672-4 , in particular pp. 112-114.
  • Ludwig Herold: Flying ointment. In: Hanns Bächtold-Stäubli , Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer (Hrsg.): Concise dictionary of German superstition . (= Manual dictionaries for German folklore, Section I: Superstition ). Volume 2: CMB - women wear. De Gruyter, Berlin / Leipzig 1930, column 1676 f. (Reprints: Berlin / New York 1987, ISBN 3-11-011194-2 ; Berlin 2000; Weltbild, Augsburg 2005)
  • Hermann Fühner : Solanazeen as an intoxicant. A historical-ethnological study. In: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archive for experimental pathology and pharmacology. Volume 111, 1925, pp. 281-294.
  • Sigmund von Riezler : History of the witch trials in Bavaria. Presented in the light of general developments. Cotta, Stuttgart 1896. (online) ; (Reprint. Magnus-Verlag, ISBN 3-88400-130-2 , pp. 66, 130, 166, 177-179, 200 f., 256, 300 and 321.)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Hammes: Witches, Delusion and Reality in the Middle Ages and the Present. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1977, ISBN 3-8112-1240-0 , p. 144.
  2. ↑ Abraham von Worms: The Book of True Practice in Divine Magic. Edited by Jürg von Ins. Munich 1988, p. 88.
  3. ↑ Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke : Witch Herbs. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 592.
  4. ↑ Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke: Witch Herbs. 2005, p. 592.
  5. ↑ Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke: Witch Herbs. 2005, p. 592.
  6. ↑ Dieter Beckmann, Barbara Beckmann: Alraun, mugwort and other witch herbs. Frankfurt am Main 1990.
  7. ↑ The fruit of the lantern flower, also known as solanum somniferum , devil's cherry and sleeping cherry , comes into question . See, for example, the German Encyclopedia . Volume 18, 1794, p. 222 ( Judenkirsche ).