Throughout history, people who could unlock nature's botanical secrets, who knew which plants could kill, cure, or distort reality, were regarded with awe and fear. Monks and physicians were among those privy to the hidden powers of berries, blossoms, leaves, and roots. Witches, however, were believed to surpass all others in the scope of their herbal magic.
Many who were rumored to be witches, or were persecuted as such, were probably skilled herbalists. And much of the lore regarding their powers was a blend of fiction and fact. By combining the right mix of herbs, it was thought, witches could fly through the air, strike down enemies, blight cattle and crops, or enamor a hapless suitor. But when the mood struck them, they could use theur powers constructively. They could heal, for instance, by administering foxglove to someone with an ailing heart.
Herbal magic was said to function in various ways. Some worked through vapors. A crop-killing storm, say, might be summoned by the fumes of certain noxious plants boiled up with venomous snakes and black roosters. Love elixirs, on the other hand, required ingection, and "flying ointment," which contained herbs that modern scientists have found produce hallucinatory sensations of flight, were applied to the skin.
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