One of my works in progress right now is a book with a flower-based magic system (I'll probably start posting chapters of it here soon, but I'm a bit scared to. I'm not sure why, but this book makes me really nervous.) Anyway, to write this book, I have to do a ton of research about plants. One of the books I'm reading right now is called Botanical Curses and Poisons. Reader, it's *amazing*. This book is so good, and full of a wealth of information. Sometimes, however, I run across some plant information that sends me on these wild Google searches. Today is one such day.
So, we have a deep dive about hellebore, chemical warfare, and witchcraft.
Hellebore is one of the first flowering plants of spring. Traditionally, when you see hellebore flowering you know the weather is starting to turn. There are about fifteen species of plants (though I've seen as many as twenty mentioned) in the Helleborus genus of plants. The most common varieties are Christmas Rose and Lenten Rose, named thus due to when they flower. While hellebore can be found all over the world (and is increasingly common in gardens), the highest concentration of it in the wild is found in Eurasia, near Greece, and Italy, and areas around there. Though the plant itself is, as I mentioned, increasingly grown for ornamental purposes. It's evergreen, can survive the cold, is an early flowerer, and absolutely gorgeous (Seriously, look up pictures of this plant. Absolutely gorgeous.). Apparently recently a hellebore plant won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award for Garden Merit.
Hellebore, while being a beautiful flower, has a really dark history. Every part of the plant is toxic, from the oils on the outside to the leaves, flowers, seeds, and sap. According to Wikipedia:
Poisonings will occur through ingestion or handling. Hellebore plants should not be ingested as poisoning cases are most severe when the plants are eaten. This is especially true when hellebores are eaten in large quantities. Symptoms of ingestion will include: burning of the mouth and throat, salivation, vomiting, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, nervous symptoms, and possibly depression. Consuming large quantities of hellebore plants can be fatal. Toxic cardiac glycosidesoccur in the roots. High levels of ranunculin and protoanemonin, especially in the leaves and sap, will also contribute to symptoms after ingestion.
Furthermore, if you touch the plant, it can cause severe skin irritation (dermatitis), and numerous other long-lasting problems. While this plant is found in gardens, it's recommended gardeners do not actually touch the plants, but use gloves as a medium between them and the plant to avoid skin irritation and subsequent issues.
Back in the days of Ancient Greece, hellebore was used medicinally. Two kinds of hellebore were recognized: black hellebore and white hellebore. Both kinds are toxic, but they were used to treat various illnesses, especially black hellebore, which was used by the Greeks to treat paralysis, gout, and insanity, as well as other illnesses. There are also mentions of using it to treat intestinal parasites, as one small dose could purge the body of all sorts of things. However, due to its toxicity, it is easy to overdose on, and so some early healers recommended not using it at all. Pliny the Elder, for example, recommended avoiding it for the very old, very young, or very weak, likely due to risk and toxicity.
Again, from Wikipedia:
"Black hellebore" is also toxic, causing tinnitus, vertigo, stupor, thirst, anaphylaxis, emesis(vomiting), catharsis, bradycardia (slowing of the heart rate), and finally, collapse and death from cardiac arrest.
White Hellebore, as it turns out, is not actually hellebore, but another plant altogether, now known as veratrum album, and is toxic. Ingested by a pregnant woman, it can cause the birth defect of cyclopia. This plant was used by Hippocrates as a purgative.
According to Botanical Curses and Poisons, there have been reported cases of people dying within eight hours of drinking just one ounce of water that had hellebore roots soaking in it. Eating the plant is more toxic than just touching it, though there have also been reports of people having irritation to their nasal passages from even smelling the plant.
Hellebore has found its way into mythology as well. In Greek Mythology, this plant was used to save the daughters of the king of Argos from a madness inflicted by Dionysus. In a fit of madness induced by Hera, Heracles killed his children by Megara. His madness was cured using hellebore. In fact, the roots being used to cure insanity is a tale that seems to span history, though there is very little hard evidence that the plant ever actually worked in that way.
More historically, this plant was used in the First Sacred War, which took place between the years 595-585BC. This war took place outside of the city of Kirrha. It was fought over the sacred land of Apollo outside the city. Apparently Kirrha sat on the frequently traveled path to this place, and often there were reports of abuses and mistreatment of pilgrims who used this route to get to the sacred land of Apollo and Delphi. People took issue, and the Sacred Wars were launched, ultimately resulting in the destruction of Kirrha itself.
According to Wikipedia,
The leader of the attack was the Tyrant Cleisthenes of Sicyon, who used his powerful navy to blockade the city's port before using an allied Amphictionic army to besiege Kirrha. The Athenians also participated with a contingent led by Alcmaeon. On the Thessalian side, the leaders were Eurylochos and Hippias. What transpired after this is a matter of debate: the earliest, and therefore probably most reliable, account is that of the medical writer Thessalos. He wrote, in the 5th century BC, that the attackers discovered a secret water-pipe leading into the city after it was broken by a horse's hoof. An asclepiad named Nebros advised the allies to poison the water with hellebore which soon rendered the defenders so weak with diarrhea that they were unable to resist the assault. Kirrha was captured and the entire population was slaughtered. Nebros was considered an ancestor of Hippocrates, so this story has caused many to wonder whether it might not have been guilt over his ancestor's use of poison that drove Hippocrates to establish the Hippocratic Oath.
Thus, throwing bundles of hellebore into the city's water supply, letting it soak a while, and then releasing the dammed up, hellebore-soaked water turned the tide of the war.
In Botanical Curses and Poisons, the author says, "Continuing with its uses in warfare, many European medieval swords were forged with grooves in the blades designed for fatal pastes made of hellebore or other poisons such as aconite. The Irish Celts had poisoning down to an art: they used a compound of hellebore, devil's bit, and yew berry on their blades."
In the 1500s, the first mention of Hellebore as a use for pest control was mentioned in a book called A Booke of Engines and Traps by Leonard Mascal. In it, Mascal says, 'Take the powder of Ellebore, otherwise called micing powder, and mire it with barley meals. Then put to honny and make a paste thereof, then bake it, or leethe it, or frie it, and it will kill those mice that eates thereof.'
Over time, hellebore became known for having magical properties. It was believed, if another benign or harmless plant was grafted into hellebore, or planted near it, the harmless plant would somehow be infused with hellebore's toxicity, thus allowing for blighting or blasting, which was an early form of English cursing.
In France, there was a belief that hellebore could alter a person's perception of time and place. There were stories about armies where conscripted sorcerers could move through an enemy army's ranks without being seen if they were surrounded by a cloud of hellebore. Eventually, hellebore became commonly used to treat deafness inflicted by witchcraft. There was a period in the 1600s that hellebore was believed to be a cure for those who were possessed by the devil, leading to a time where it was known as "Devil's Flight."
There were also stories of witches using potions, powders, and ointments typically involving animal fat and hellebore and/or belladonna to make them either fly or invisible.
In the Victorian language of flowers, hellebore has an interesting duel meaning. On the one hand, it means scandal, which fits in with all we know about it. On the other hand, it means hope, because this flower often pushes its way through the snow, blooms bright and beautiful in the darkest, shadiest spots, and heralds the approaching of brighter times.
Further reading:
All You Ever Wanted to Know About the Magical Hellebore Plant
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