Like other aspects of culture, witches have stereotypes that are fueled by tradition, fiction, and modern media. A well-known aspect of witch stereotypes is the brewing of potions or witches’ brew, often in a large black cauldron. The purpose of a potion could be to cure illness, obtain immortality, or try to “induce love”, according to Wikipedia.[1] Other historic purposes for witch’s brew can be found on the web as well. The ideas for tradition and fiction are often based on truth. In fact, the mixing of natural ingredients in potions eventually helped bring about modern medicine. Could there be any truth to other supposed uses of witches’ potions, beyond potential use as medicine?
First I would like to address part of the stereotype. Over the years, I have heard words like “bubble, bubble, toil and trouble” coming from fictitious witches. Little did I know (as a kid at least), those words are actually a misquote of a witch scene in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.[2] Both the Shakespeare and misquote aspects surprised me. Macbeth may well have helped popularize the idea of witches brewing potions with grotesque ingredients, maybe partly due to Shakespeare’s presumed effort to make the words dramatic and rhyming and maybe also to help emphasize the supernatural aspect of the witch characters. Maybe the misquote and grotesque ingredients together helped make witch stereotypes something to be avoided and even feared.
Whatever the case, there is agreement among experts that Shakespeare changed the names of ingredients for his purpose. So at least some of the ingredients used by the witches in the play are not as exotic as they sound, and most of them were probably herbs, based on dictionary.com.[3] The infamous “eye of newt” is said to simply be mustard seed. Similarly, “tongue of dog” seems to refer to a plant called hounds-tongue. Granted there are many herbs in the list, Shakespeare is more widely known for his plays and poetry, so I doubt the potion would be beneficial, and it may in fact be deadly.
To consider uses of witches’ brew beyond medicine, it would be helpful to briefly touch on the medical aspects of witches’ brew. The use of herbs to cure ailments has been successful enough over the years to earn it at least a somewhat positive reputation. To clarify, this is using the term herb loosely to refer to any plant part. In fact not only have there been many books written on the use of herbs, there is now an industry for (legally) selling herbal supplements for human consumption. So the potential of physiological benefits is well established.
There are of course many potential psychological uses for herbs as well. On the legal side, there are the supposed calming effects of jasmine and the heightened alertness from coffee and tea. On the less legal side, we now know of illegal drugs based on plants and fungi. Those at least include stimulants, depressants (for relaxation), and hallucinogens. So there’s little doubt that witches’ brew could have just about any psychological affect intended, with the right natural ingredients. As for “love potions”, it depends on what you consider love. There are probably some additives to boost confidence in oneself, making the person more attractive to another. Similarly, there probably also have been natural additives available for making someone more accepting to romance as well. For all I know, there may be some with very specific effects.
Medical and love potion uses aside, what of prolonging youth or life? We could stop here and say that proper use of natural ingredients could help people avoid illness and stay alive longer that way. Or proper nutrition and the use of natural supplements (via witches’ brew) could help people appear less old as well. A healthy lifestyle with proper nutrients and exercise is the more complete package for both.
But what if there’s more to it than that? On the one hand, we know that fungi can contain compounds that prevent bacterial growth, which is the basis of at least some antibiotics. Chemotherapy also involves drugs that prevent cell reproduction, possibly from some of the same or similar sources. Maybe there are natural ingredients that can do the opposite. Research indicates that certain skin conditions such as minor burns can heal more quickly when treated with aloe vera gel, according to the National Institute of Health.[4] Aloe is fairly well known as a home remedy for such skin conditions. Aloe products may not operate at the same low level as antibiotics, however.
Less known is that some types of cells generally have a limited number of times that they can reproduce. The ends of DNA strands are not reproduced properly. The very tip is simply omitted. To prevent the loss of DNA information, there are extra inactive proteins at the ends in chromosomes, that can be afford to be reduced.[5] These extra proteins form what are called telomeres, which generally get used up through cell division. When the telomeres are gone, the cell may not safely reproduce. The human body has ways of replenishing telomeres in cells that reproduce very often, such as skin cells and also when certain repairs are needed. Other cell types are more limited. Unfortunately, cancer seems to have a way of replenishing its own telomeres and reproducing endlessly. If a way could be found to safely generate and apply telomeres, we might be able to better control the aging process. Just as fungi can deter cell reproduction, maybe there are other natural ingredients that can help our bodies to repair themselves at the cellular level.
What else could witches’ brew do for us? Some fiction (and maybe tradition?) portrays people gaining extra abilities from witches’ brew, beyond normal human abilities. The October 2022 issue of National Geographic has an article called “Live Longer by Living Younger.”[6] Science tells us that only some of our genes in our genome are active. The author says that our lifestyle choices can turn genes on and off within our lifetime. Good choices can activate genes that help us live longer, healthier lives, while bad choices can do the opposite. The bottom line is, we should adopt and follow healthy lifestyles as early as possible.
Yes, this sounds like ground that’s already been covered. What does this article have to do with witches’ brew? First of all, what do all those inactive genes do when activated? Maybe only some of them contribute to what we consider being human. Could some of them contribute to (e.g.) greater strength and speed? Many of our ape ancestors are physically more powerful than modern humans. Maybe some of the genes contributing to such traits are still present in our DNA but inactive. So in theory, we could gain something by activating genes, though we really don’t know yet what all is available to be gained. As for witches’ brew, maybe there is some combination of natural ingredients that could help turn on some of those currently-inactive beneficial genes. There is in fact at least one company that produces substances to specifically activate certain genes, though I can’t put my finger on it at the moment. So at least the technology could exist.
Assuming for the sake of argument this is possible, we should consider that we have fish in our ancestry. We have gills while in the womb. Could we by chance grow gills and adapt to life underwater within our lifetime? And then maybe return to land, again within our lifetime? What about fish scales or even reptile scales? Part of the witch stereotypes is being able to turn people into animals. Maybe there’s some truth to that, maybe at least giving people some animal-like physical traits.
Some fictional witches can see the future. Can witches’ brew help with that? I think there’s potential there. A bubbling cauldron has turbulence, which is a form of mathematical chaos.[7] As I mentioned in a previous blog entry on astrology, the similarity between complex physical systems composed of distant stars and human social systems on Earth may help us predict the future.[8] A bubbling cauldron could act as a sped-up version of the night sky, for that specific use. A more intermediate speed might be implemented by floating (e.g.) tea leaf fragments in water that is hot but not necessarily bubbling. Maybe stirring the water in either case could introduce currents to help model the trends of whatever is being forecast at the moment.
Does witches’ brew have potential uses beyond the medicinal use of natural ingredients? In my opinion, absolutely. It could be just another example of wisdom from the past that we could still tap more into. What is really possible with witches’ brew? Are the potential results really as incredible as they sound? Granted there has been a certain amount of quackery, incompetence, and exaggeration. But as far as the potential is concerned, I think we’ve really only seen the tip of the ice berg. I suspect modern science will help prove me right on this.
References
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potion
[2] https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/double-double-toil-and-trouble/
[3] https://www.dictionary.com/e/witch-ingredients/
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomere
[6] Roizen, Michael F., M.D. “Living Longer by Living Younger.” National Geographic, October 2022.
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbulence
[8] https://oddstem.com/2018/02/22/astrology-aint-so-bad-in-theory/
(c) Copyright 2022 by Mike Ferrell
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