Golanv Circle
Moon Day
Magick & Medicine

Intermediate Pharmakeia
Esoteric Herbalism
Vocabulary

Pharmakeia:  
The use or the administering of drugs; poison plants;
sorcery, magical arts with Intent.
This is closely connected to specific dogmas.

‘Hekate is the keeper of the pharmakeia in Her garden.’

Whether we are a devotee of Hekate or an acolyte of Azazel, it is important to recognize words AND some symbols mentioned in those circles, even if we are not directly on ‘the poisoner’s Path’. We may simply be an herbalist, or Healer with local plants. However, this Knowledge will aid in the expansion of our Magickal and Medicinal Journey to savvy a few words. Below you will find a few words or a sentence of usage accompanying them.
 

A

Acanth/o: spiny or thorny.

The members of the Solanum (nightshade) genus are acantho. They have thorns and are reported to cause injuries that are slow to heal due to poisonous thorns.  Many members of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) have many poisonous parts (i.e. leaves, stems, fruit, roots, seeds) that cause severe irritation to mammals.  The members of this family are widely distributed across North America. 

B

Bioavailability: The rate that a substance is made available to the target site of physiological activity.
In the pharmakeia of plants, how a plant is grown and cared for determines how much or how little of its active substance is available for rendering.

C
”c”: The Latin word cum (coom) means “with” and is still common to write something like “nightshade cum elderberry to mask the flavor”. Except the word cum is abbreviated to a lower case c with a horizontal bar above it:

Compound:   A final substance or solution made from two or more substances.
Example: Florida Water

D

Diluent:  A liquid that decreases the concentration of a solution by diluting it, or turns powder into a liquid.
Example: Fractionated Coconut oil used with Peppermint Oil as Peppermint Oil can burn or irritate the skin if used improperly.


E

Entheology:  Psychedelics, psychotomimetics, or entheogens, hallucinogens are psychoactive substances.
There are known to (dose-dependently) induce profound changes in perception, including changes in the experience of time or space, as well as alterations in moods, thoughts, and other mental states.
Example:  Psilocybin or Fly Aminita in various ‘flying ointments’.

F

Formulation:  A pharmakeic substance prepared according to a specific spell or formula.
Example: Intently and personally made Benzoin resin incense.

G

Gram:  Unit of dry measure. 15.43 grains make up 1 gram. A gram is also 1/1000 of a Kg.
Example: ’15 grains of table salt’

H

Hypnotics:  Slow the central nervous system to reduce anxiety and induce sleep.
Examples: Valerian Root, Kava Kava, Passionflower

I

Infusion:  The process of steeping.
Infusion by water  by soaking herbs in water until the water absorbs the oils and desired pharmakeia, then drinking the liquid for the taste or for the medicinal value.’Herbal tea’ is a form of infusion, in that it is created by steeping herb leaves in hot water, but the resulting drink is rather weak since the steeping period is usually fairly short. True infusions typically use roots, shoots, leaves, and flowers of the plant, while teas typically use only the leaves in the steeping process; and true infusions require a considerably longer period of steeping. Herbal tea can be thought of as weak infusion, while true infusions are sometimes called "long infusions" to distinguish them from teas.

J

Juice: To extract the juice from the flower, fruit, leaves, roots, stems, etc.
Example: ‘For this spell, juice 7 dandelions.’

K

Ketone:  Ketones (chemically known as ketone bodies) are byproducts of the breakdown of fatty acids. The breakdown of fat for fuel and the creation of ketones is a normal process for everyone. In a person without diabetes, insulin, glucagon, and other hormones prevent ketone levels in the blood from getting too high.
Example: White Snakeroot – Tremetone
In humans and grazing animals caused by trematol, a poisonous alcohol present in white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima), a plant found in North America. When grazing is scarce, cattle may feed on snakeroot and develop a syndrome called trembles. Human poisoning, often called milk sickness, most commonly results from the consumption of the milk of poisoned animals. Symptoms in humans include loss of appetite, nausea, weakness, abdominal discomfort, reddened tongue and mucous membranes, and abnormal acidity of the blood, with accumulation of ketone bodies. (Ketone bodies—acetoacetic acid, acetone, and beta-hydroxybutyric acid—are found also in the blood of persons who have diabetes mellitus and are evidence of faulty metabolism.) In instances of serious poisoning, convulsions and coma may culminate in death. In persons who survive, weakness may persist for weeks. See also, “Milk Sickness” amongst early American settlers who drank the milk of bovine who consumed the plant.

L

Lozenge:  A compound of dried ingrediants, such as herbs, typicall designed to dissolve in the mouth.
Example: Sore throat lozenge to sooth and lubricate the throat. Lozenges are solid dosage forms that are intended to be dissolved or disintegrated slowly in the mouth.

They contain one or more active ingredients and are flavored and sweetened so as to be pleasant tasting. It is generally used for their topical effect, but may also have ingredients that produce a systemic effect.
(recipe: https://www.mountainmels.com/blogs/news/herbal-cough-lozenges )

M

Milliliter: In the metric system, it means 1/1,000. A milliliter = 1/1,000 of a liter.
Example: It only takes about 5 milliliters of Wolfsbane to kill most adult humans.

N

Noxious:  Harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant.
"They were overcome by the noxious fumes of incinerating cayenne for their spell."

O

Oxymel: Derived from the Greek word oxymeli, which translates to “acid and honey”. Oxymel use has been documented since the age of Hippocrates as a means to use and extract herbs that are not so pleasant in flavor when taken through other methods (Hippocrates, 400 B.C.E.). These herbs tend to be the more pungent aromatics. In most cases, an oxymel is made with apple cider vinegar and honey.

P

Poultice:  A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a paste made of herbs, plants, and other substances with healing properties. The paste is spread on a warm, moist cloth and applied to the body to relieve inflammation and promote healing. Some can be spread directly on the skin.
Example: The Granny made a poultice of apple cider vinegar, honey, lemongrass, turmeric and spider webs.

Q

Q: ‘Every’.
‘q’ is one of the most used short-hand terminologies on the planet.
Examples: q8hr (every 8 hours); q15m (every 15 minutes) When sharing spells with other Practitioners, it is often a good idea to NOT write in terms easily understood by others. In the medical arts and legal arts, Latin is often the language of choice.

R

Reconstitute:  When substances are in powder form need to be mixed with a fluid before they are administered/utilized per prescribed method.
Example: Bath bombs made with Intented herbs.

S
”s”: The Latin sine means “without”, and is similarly abbreviated as a lower case s with a horizontal bar above it.

Sugar Syrups:  Sugar and water (and sometimes corn syrup) boiled together; used as sweetening especially in potions and tinctures of bitter taste.
Example: Bay Leaf Syrup

T

Tincture:  A substance dissolved in an alcohol solution to make an oral or topical preparation.
Example: Willow Tincture (Willow Bark rendered in vodka through a prescribed method.)

U

Unguent:  A soft greasy or viscous substance used as ointment or for lubrication.
Example: Flying Ointment

V

Valsalva Maneuver:  Many noxious substances on a Practitioner’s path are toxic to the heart in mechanism. Some of these ‘speed up’ the heart. This can happen when innocently gathering ingredients for a spell. In that case, before medical treatment is sought out or arrives, is this maneuver. This is a breathing method that may slow your heart when it's beating too fast. To do it, you breathe out strongly through your mouth while holding your nose tightly closed. This creates a forceful strain that can trigger your heart to react and go back into normal rhythm.

W

Water: Water is the Universal ingredient for missing items in all Craft.
Water is everywhere and may seem like an afterthought as an ingredient, but it is a crucial aspect of everything from food and cooking to Crafting. Everything we eat was once a living organism largely composed of water, and many of the ways we Craft rely on the properties of Water in some way.

X

‘X’:  Another popular shorthand for spell work notes. A few terms the letter ‘x’ can stand for:
- ‘a timed event’;
-‘by’;
-x̄, (x with macron) means except;
-X: Roman numeral ten

Y

Yield: The amount of desired substance after processing.
Example: 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage = 1 teaspoon dried. 1/2 ounce fresh leaves = 1/2 cup leaves

Z

Zoonotic:  Can affect/effect an animal (human), insect or a plant equally.
Examples:  Castor Bean (Ricinus communis); Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna)

While this is not a complete list, as there are hundreds of words, it is a good first step on the path of pharmakeia.

Moon Day G23

General - Journal - Book of Shadows

SUBMISSION: G23 MON PERSONAL ADDITION (Due by Sunday)
As we are leaving a trail of Knowledge behind us for future Practitioners to follow,
choose a word to add to our collective dictionary of Pharmakeian Words.

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