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.

In Their Own Story

The bubbling liquid inside the vial glowed with an ethereal blue light, pulsing in rhythm with the distant hum of the Glade. Rayman paused on a narrow ledge, his floating fists clenched as he stared at the shimmering surface below. To reach the hidden cavern where the last Lum was trapped, he needed to breathe underwater, but the water was too deep and the currents too strong for his usual jumps. He spotted the potion resting on a precarious stone pillar, guarded by a sleeping Rabbid. With a deep breath, Rayman leaped, dodging the creature's sudden wakefulness, and snatched the vial mid-air. As he downed the contents, the air in his lungs vanished, replaced by a cool, aquatic sensation that let him dive into the depths without fear.

Reader's Guide

The practice of administering potions has had a long history of being illegalised. Quacks or charlatans sold fake potions promising cures or immunity, often including bizarre ingredients such as floral pomanders and the smoke of fragrant woods. In 18th- and 19th-century Britain, pharmacies or apothecaries were often a cheaper, more accessible option for medical treatment than doctors; potions distributed by chemists for illnesses were often derived from herbs and plants. Women were often the main way that individuals who could not afford doctors or apothecaries could gain medical treatment; wise women (who were often supposed witches) could administer potions, lotions or salves. In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, using potions to induce sterility and abortion was widely practiced in Europe. The majority of abortive potions were made using emmenagogue herbs.

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'.
• The word 'potion' is cognate with the Spanish words pocion and ponzoña, meaning 'poison'.
• Giulia Tofana was an Italian poisoner known as the inventor of the famous poison Aqua Tofana.
• Paula de Eguiluz was born into slavery in Santo Domingo and sold potions and serums to clients.