Blessings of the Hallowed Season of Samhain!
Every Halloween, witches have been misrepresented in media, brewing dark potions with eyes of newt, tongues of dog, and dragon’s blood. From Shakespeare’s “bubble, bubble, toil and trouble” to TV shows like Charmed, magic was often imagined as something wicked — full of animal parts and sinister ingredients. While Veganism is about not exploiting non human animals, Wicca is meant to be a path of positive witchcraft which includes not harming anyone, and being against all evil overall to the best possible extent.
Evidently, the truth about these ingredients used by witches in potions, is far gentler — and far greener.
Real witchcraft has always been rooted in plants, not cruelty. And Halloween as it is called now, was originally Hallows Eve or Samhain, a sacred festival of celebrating the final harvest of the year with pumpkins, apples, candied fruits, and lights, just like Diwali in Hinduism is too a celebration of the harvest and a new year for pagans or plant farmers at the summer’s end, with presents, fruits, nuts and decorations of light. This is a global time for celebrating the bounty of Earth mother or Lakshmi, whether in the West or the East. The use of animal milk or dairy, animal gelatin sweets, animal body products for food or any other evil ingredients in food, worship, or magic is simply repugnant and unnecessary.
The old “body part” names were never literal. They were secret herbal codes — poetic metaphors used by healers and wise women to protect their craft when magic was forbidden. What sounded eerie was simply earthly.
The Secret Language of the Wise
When you read that a witch added Eye of Newt to her potion, she was actually using mustard seeds — tiny and golden like a newt’s eye.
Bat’s Wings? Those were holly leaves, protective and spiky like wings in flight.
And Tongue of Dog was houndstongue, a soft-leaved herb used for grounding and courage.
Even the “pigs’ feet” shown in Hollywood cauldrons of witchcraft in Charmed, could simply mean Pigweed (Amaranth), a nourishing plant used for health and strength and also for protection against evil.
Ancient herbalists used these coded names both to guard their knowledge and to speak in symbols. Magic was never about harm — it was about understanding nature’s hidden language.
Plant-Based Magic for the Modern Witch
As vegan witches, we continue this tradition with compassion.
Instead of animal-based products like honey, we can use Honeysuckle in spells for sweetness, attraction, and love — no bees exploited, and the symbolism remains pure.
Dragon’s Blood isn’t blood at all, but a deep red tree resin used for protection and empowerment. I used to sell these in my store called Magick in Mumbai.
Devil’s Claw sounds frightening but is simply a healing root used for releasing negativity.
Every animal body part sounding name has a positive truth inside it — a lesson in transformation, the very heart of witchcraft.
Decoding Shakespeare’s Potion
In Macbeth, the witches chant:
“Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog…”
To the uninitiated, it sounds like a horror scene — but to herbalists, it’s simply a recipe written in code:
- Eye of Newt – Mustard Seed
- Toe of Frog – Buttercup
- Wool of Bat – Moss or Holly
- Tongue of Dog – Houndstongue herb
So if you use the right plant based ingredients, it is not an evil brew at all, but a poetic herbal spell for transformation, written in the language of nature.
To be fair you could change the rhyme a bit. Why not ‘Double Double, Success Double, Take Away all Toil and Trouble‘? (As I wrote in my book Yes, You Are a Witch/ You Are the Magick). Sounds and feels way better than ‘bubble bubble toil and trouble’ anyday! A good witch will use magic for banishing misfortunes and replacing them with positive energy in our lives instead of brewing even more toil and trouble than what we already endure. And in order to handle enemity or evil beings, we do not send toil or trouble to them, but rather repel evil beings away. That truly is the path of real ‘wit’ and deep ‘wisdom’ which is real witchcraft – the craft of the wise.
Some other eerie sounding names of plants which are not animal body parts at all (and if people knew these they would stop killing innocent animals for cures and magical remedies or luck):
- Rabbit’s Foot – Davillaya plant
- Dragon’s Blood – Cinnabar tree sap
- Wish bone – Turenia pansy
- White Man’s Foot – Common Plantain
- Graveyard Dust – Mullein
- Lizard’s Leg – Ivy
- Lamb’s Ear – Betony
- Hens and Chicks – Sempervivum
- Horse’s Tongue – Heart’s tongue fern
- Sparrows’ tongue – Armstrong
- Lion’s Tooth – Dandelion
- Swine Snout – Dandelion leaves
- Wolf’s Foot – Bugleweed
- Dog’s Mouth – Snapdragon
- Pig’s Ears – Round leaved navelwort
- Bone of Ibis – Buckthorn
- Elephant Ear – Purpurea
- Ass’s Ear – Comfrey
- Dragon’s Scale – Taro
- Tear’s of Himadryas Babboon – Dill juice
- Adder’s Tongue – Trout Lilly
- Bear’s Foot – Lady’s Mantle
- Bird’s Foot – Fenugreek
- Crow’s Feather – Foam Flower
- Tiger’s Claw/ Devil’s Claw – Martynya Annua
- Wood Spider/ Devil’s Claw – Grapple plant
- Cat’s Claw/ Hawk’s Claw – Unkaria Tomatosa
- Gall of Goat – Honeysuckle
- Cat’s Tail – Reed Mace
- Crab Eye – Coral Bead Plant
- Lady’s Finger – Okra
As an easy guide also remember that blood in herbal magick simply means the sap of the tree, milk simply means plant secretion, foot or ear usualy stands for the leaves of the plants, guts for roots, hair for fine roots, eyes for the whole flower circles, tongue for petals, eggs for fruits, tears for seeds, flesh for stem or fruit flesh, toes for small leaves and wool for moss.
The Witch’s True Magic
Real witches — ancient or modern — are healers, herbalists, and guardians of life.
Our cauldrons are filled not with suffering, but with seeds, roots, leaves, and blossoms for love, prosperity, protection, and health. We stir teas for wellbeing, create tinctures for healing, and burn incenses for meditation
Magic isn’t about commanding dark forces or using demons for fulfilling sinful wishes at all. It’s about repelling dark forces away and keeping safe from them, as well as working in harmony with the living Earth in order to make our life positive in a real way, not just in thoughts but also in practicality. Witchcraft is practical magic of everyday life, with potions steeped with wisdom, stones for building positive realities, smoke of purification, candles of light, and of course positive intentions in words to energise our mind, body and spirit and protect our life, home and hearth.
So next time someone criticizes witchcraft or magic, please guide them towards the truth and dispel myths to make the world a better place for all beings.
Closing Blessing
May your spells be kind, your herbs be green,
Rev. Swati Prakash, High Priestess
Your cauldron bubble, with courage unseen,
May you flourish and grow, in kindness and peace
May your success and prosperity never cease
May all evil beings leave you unharmed
And may your life be magically charmed
By earth and fire, wind and sea
By the Spirit, Blessed Be!
Swati Prakash 