HERB - Yet another question

[Walter J. Wakefield]

Dragons blood is a resin from a tree.  Grieve says any of several
unrelated species, mostly from the east Indies, and that the resin is
from the berries.  Daemomorops draco being the best known, apparently. 
The resin was used as a pigment, for dyeing and as an incense.  Magically
it is sometimes used to add intensity and energy.  I never thought of it
as medicinal, although Grieve says it was sometimes used as an
astringent, and quotes a supposed cure for syphilis.  I just always
thought every herbalist should have some genuine dragons blood in the
stillroom <grin>.  Along with the wing of bat and tongue of dog, of
course.

High John the Conqueror [sometimes just John the Conqueror or High John]
is another root that is mostly used magically.  I finally found it listed
in Scott Cunningham's "Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs" [Llewellyn
Publications, St. Paul, MN  1997].  He says it is Ipomoea purga or I.
jalapa, and I think I have also seen it sold as jalap.  It would be
related to the morning glories and bindweeds, some of which are
hallucinogenic and/or purgative.  He notes it as poisonous, though I
thought jalap, if it is the same thing, was not poisonous.  Anyway, I
know of no medicinal use for it, but it is used in spells for love,
money, and to break hexes.  Most of the places I have seen it referred to
make me think it is connected to the voodoo tradition, and thus probably
from the West Indies.  There are a wide variety of Ipomoea species native
to Central and South America, some of which have interesting properties.

Hope this answers some of your questions.  And yes, I do occasionally run
across some strange things....
Suzanna, herbalist, Barony of the Steppes, Kingdom of Ansteorra (Dallas,
TX)

On Wed, 19 Apr 2000 22:00:19 -0500 "Carper, Rachel"
<Rachel.Carper at compaq.com> writes:
>I was reading in a book the other day and they mentioned  a couple of
herbs
>I can't seem to track down. Has anybody ever heard of Dragon's Blood or
High
>John the Conqueror?
>Elewyiss


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