Potion

Lore & Background

Throughout history, there have been several types of potions for a range of purposes. Reasons for taking potions have included curing an illness, securing immortality, and trying to inspire love. These potions, while often ineffective or poisonous, occasionally had some degree of medicinal benefits depending on what they sought to fix and the type and amount of ingredients used. Common ingredients in historical potions included Spanish fly, nightshade plants, cannabis, and opium. During the 17th to 19th century, it was common in Europe to see peddlers offering potions for ailments ranging from heartbreak to the plague. These were eventually dismissed as quackery. Prostitutes, courtesans, enchanters and midwives were also known to distribute potions.

Reader's Guide

The practice of administering potions has had a long history of being illegalised. Despite these laws, there have been several different administrators of potions across history. Quacks or charlatans sold fake potions promising cures or immunity. In 18th- and 19th-century Britain, pharmacies or apothecaries were often a cheaper, more accessible option for medical treatment than doctors. Women were often the main way that individuals who could not afford doctors or apothecaries could gain medical treatment. In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, using potions to induce sterility and abortion was widely practiced in Europe. Famous potion makers include Giulia Tofana, Paula de Eguiluz, and Catherine Monvoisin.

Did You Know?

• The word potion has its origins in the Latin word potus, an irregular past participle of potare, meaning "to drink".
• In Ancient Greek, the word for both drugs and potions was "pharmaka" or "pharmakon".
• By the early 15th century in Italy, potion began to be known specifically as a magical or enchanted drink.
• The well known Wessex quack Vilbert was known to sell love potions made of pigeon hearts.
• One potion found in a 19th-century pharmacist's recipe book was to be used for "lambs of about 7 years old" and contains chalk, pomegranate and opium.