In old magickal recipes and spells, strange ingredients are often called for that cannot always be taken literally.  In one ancient Greco-Egyptian spell, the recipe called for "the navel of a male crocodile", which really meant pond weed;  "the heart of a baboon" meant oil of lily.  Here’s what those unusual nouns really meant. 

  By the way, the sacrifices that are mentioned in folklore were usually nothing more than an egg buried in the ground or a mandrake root carved in a crude human shape or poppet.

 

Aaron's Rod: Goldenrod, Mullein

Absinthe: Wormwood

Achillea: Yarrow

Adder’s tongue: Plantain

African Ginger: Ginger

Aftator Pear: Avocado

All Heal: Mistletoe, Valerian

American Dittany: Basil

Aneton: Dill

An Eagle: Wild Garlic 

Aquifolius: Holly

Archangel: Angelica

Armstrong:Knotweed

Arrowroot: Yarrow

Assear: Comfrey

Ass's Foot or Bull's Foot: Coltsfoot 

Ava - Kava Kava

Bad Man's Plaything: Yarrow

Bat’s Wool: Moss

Bairnwort - Daisy

Bat’s wing:  Holly leaf

Battree - Elder 

Bear's Foot: Lady's Mantle

Bee Balm:  Lemon Balm

Beer Flower:  Hops

Beggar's Buttons: Burdock

Beggarweed:  Dodder

Bereza: Birch

Bindweed:  Morning Glory

Bird's Eye:  Pansy, Germander

Bird's Foot: Feunugreek

Bird's Nest:  Carrot

Biscuits:  Tomentil

Bitter Greass:  Ague Root

Bitter Root: Gentian

Black Cherry: Belladonna

Black Maidenhair: Black Spleenwort

Black Sampson: Echinacea

Black Wort:  Comfrey

Blessed Herb:  Avens, Pimpernel

Blind Buff: Poppy

Blood: Elder sap or another tree sap 

Blood of Hephaistos: Wormwood 

Blood from a Head: Lupine

Bloody fingers:  Foxglove

Blue Buttons: Periwinkle

Blue Eyes: Potato

Blood of Ares: Purslane 

Blood of a Goose: Mulberry Tree's Milk 

Bloodwort: Yarrow 

Blood of Hestia: Chamomile 

Blood of an Eye: Tamarisk Gall 

Blood from a Shoulder: Bear's Breach 

Bodily Fluids:  House leek

Bone of an Ibis: Buckthorn

Bottle Brush: Horse Tail

Brain Thief: Mandrake

Brains:  Congealed gum from a cherry tree

Bread and Cheese Tree: Hawthorne

Bride of the Meadow:  Meadowsweet

Bride of the Sun: Marigold

Braisewort:  Comfrey, Daisy

Bull's Blood or Seed of Horus: Horehound 

Burning Bush: White Dittany

Calendula: Marigold

Calf's Snout: Snapdragon 

Cankerwort: Dandelion, Ragwort

Candlemas Maiden: Snowdrop

Candlewick Plant: Mullein

Cape Gum: Acacia

Capon's Tail: Valerian

Carpenter's Weed: Yarrow

Catmint: Catnip

Cat's Foot: Canada Snake Root and/or Ground Ivy 

Cat's Wort: Catnip

Cheeses: Marsh Mallow

Cherry Pie: Heliotrope

Chewing John: Glangal

China Root: Galangal

Chinese Parsley: Coriander

Chocolate: Carob

Chocolate Flower: Wild Geranium 

Christ's Eye: Vervain Sage 

Christ's Ladder: Centaury

Christ's Thorn: Holly

Church Steeple: Agrimony

Clear-eye: Clary Sage 

Click: Goosegrass 

Clot: Great Mullein 

Clove Root: Avens

Corpse candles:  Mullein

Corpse Plant: Indian Pipe 

Couch Grass: Witch's Grass

Cowgrass: Knotweed

Crocodile dung:  Black earth

Crowdy Kit: Figwort 

Crow Corn: Ague Root

Crow's Foot: Cranesbill

Crown for a King: Wormwood

Crown of Thorns: Euphorbia

Cuckoo's Bread: Common Planatin

Cuddy's Lungs: Great Mullein 

Cucumber Tree: Magnolia

Cupids Car: Wolf's Bane

Daphne: Bay Laurel

Death Angel: Agaric

Death Flower: Yarrow

Death's Herb: Belladonna

Delight of the Eye: Rowan

Devil's Apple: Datura

Devil's Cherries: Belladonna

Devils Dung: Asafoetida 

Devil's' Eye: Henbane, Periwinkle

Devil's Flower: Bachelor's Buttons

Devil's Plaything: Yarrow

Dew of the Sea: Rosemary

Dog's Mouth: Snap Dragon

Dollar: Meadowsweet

Dove's Foot: Wild Geranium

Dragon's Blood: Calamus 

Dragon’s scales:  Bistort leaves

Dragon Wort: Bistort 

Dumbledore's Delight: Wolf's Bane

Ear of an ass:  Comfrey

Ear of a goat:  St. John`s Wort

Earth Smoke: Fumitory 

Elf Leaf: Lavender, Rosemary

Elf's Wort: Elecampane 

Enchanter's Plant: Vervain 

English Cowslip: Primrose

Englishman's Foot: Common Plantain 

Erba Santa Maria: Spearmint 

Everlasting Friendship: Goosegrass 

Eye Balm: Goldenseal

Eye of Christ: Germander Speedwell

Eye of the Day: Common Daisy 

Eye of Newt: Mustard Seed

Eye of the Star: Horehound 

Eye Root: Goldenseal 

Eyes: Aster, Daisy, Eyebright 

Fairies Horses: Ragwort

Fair Lady: Belladonna

Fairy Bells: Sorrell, Wood

Fairy Cup: Cow Slip

Fairy Fingers: Foxglove

Fairy Smoke: Indian Pipe 

Fairy Petticoats: Foxglove

Fairy Weed: Foxglove

False Wintergreen: Pipsissewa

Fat from a Head: Spurge

Felon Herb: Mugwort 

Field Hops: Yarrow

Fingers:  Cinquefoil

Five Fingers: Cinquefoil

Flute Plant: Meadow Rue

Folk's Gloves: Foxglove

Fox Bells: Foxglove

Foxtail: Club Moss

French Wheat: Buckwheat

Frog's Foot: Bulbous Buttercup

From the Belly: Earth-apple 

From the Foot: Houseleek 

From the Loins: Chamomile

Frozen Roses: Wood Rose

Fruit of the Gods: Apple

Fruit of the Underworld: Apple

Gagroot: Lobelia

Gallowsgrass: Hemp

Garden Heliotrope: Valerian

Ghost Flower: Datura

Gillies: Carnation

Gin Plant: Juniper

Giver of Life: Corn

Goat's Foot: Ash Weed 

Goat's Leaf: Honeysuckle

Goat's Weed: St John's Wort

God's Hair: Hart's Tongue Fern 

Golden Bough: Mistletoe

Golden Star: Avens 

Goldes: Marigold

Gosling Wing: Goosegrass 

Graveyard Dust: Mullein 

Graveeard Flowers: Plumeria

Ground Apple: Chamomile

Ground Raspberry: Golden Seal

Great Ox-eye: Ox-eye Daisy 

Hair:  Maidenhair fern

Hairs of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Seed 

Hair of Venus: Maidenhair Fern 

Hag's Taper: Great Mullein 

Hagthorn: Hawthorn 

Hand:  The expanded frond from a male fern used to make the true hand of glory, which is nothing more than a candle made of wax mixed with fern

Happy Major: Burdock

Harebell: Bluebell

Hare's Beard: Great Mullein 

Hawk's Heart: Heart of Wormwood 

Heart:  Walnut

Headache: Poppy

Healing Herb: Comfrey

Helmet Flower: Scullcap

Herb of Enchantment: Vervain

Herb of Grace: Rue, Vervain 

Hind's Tongue: Hart's Tongue Fern 

Holy Herb: Yerba Santa 

Holy Rope: Hemp Agrimony 

Honey Stalks: Clove

Hook and Arn: Yerba Santa 

Horse Tongue: Hart's Tongue Fern 

Horse Hoof: Coltsfoot 

Horse Violet: Pansy

Hundred Eyes: Periwinkle 

Hundred Leaved: Grass

 Indian Dye: Golden Seal

Indian God Tree: Banyon

Indian Paint: Golden Seal

Indian Root: Trillium

Indian Sage: Bonesset 

Indian Tobacco: Lobelia 

Innocence: Bluets 

 Jacob's Ladder: Lily of the Valley

Jacob's Staff: Great Mullein 

Joy of the Mountain: Marjoram 

Joy on the Ground: Periwinkle

Jupiter's Staff: Great Mullein 

Juno's Tears: Vervain

King's Crown: Black Haw 

Knight's Milfoil: Yarrow 

Klamath Weed: St Johns Wort

Knight's Milfoil: Yarrow

Knitback: Comfrey

Kronos' Blood: Sap of Cedar 

Ladder to Heaven: Lily of the Valley

Lady's Glove: Foxglove 

Lady's Meat: Hawthorn

Lad's Love: Southernwood 

Lamb's Ears: Betony 

Lamb Mint: Spearmint

 Lion's Hairs: Tongue of a Turnip (the leaves of the taproot) 

 Lion’s Tooth:  Dandelion

Lion's Herb: Columbine

Lion's Mouth: Foxglove

Lion's Tooth: Dandelion

Little Dragon: Tarragon 

Love Fruit: Orange

Love Herbs: Lovage

Love Idol: Pansy

Love in Idleness: Pansy 

Love Leaves: Burdock 

Love Lies Bleeding: Amaranth/Anemone 

Love Man: Goosegrass 

Love Parsley: Lovage 

Love Root: Orris Root

Mackeral Mint: Spearmint 

Maiden's Ruin: Southernwood 

 Man's Bile: Turnip Sap 

Man's Health: Ginseng

Master of the Woods: Woodruff 

May: Black Haw 

May Lily: Lily of the Valley 

May Rose: Black Haw 

Mayflower: Hawthorne

Maypops: Passion Flower

Military Herb: Yarrow

Miracle Herb: Comfrey 

Mistress of the Night: Tuberose 

Mosquito Plant: Pennyroyal

Mutton Chops: Goosegrass 

Naughty Man's Cherries: Belladonna

Nine Hooks: Lady's Mantle

Nine Joints: Knotweed

Nose Bleed: Yarrow 

Obeah Wood: Ebony

Old-Maid's-Nightcap: Wild Geranium 

Old Man's Flannel: Great Mullein 

Old Man Fennel: Mullein

Old Man's Pepper: Yarrow 

Old Uncle Henry: Mugwort

Old Woman: Wormwood

Oliver: Olive 

Organ Tea: Pennyroyal

Paddock Pipes: Horsetail

Password: Primrose 

Pearl Moss: Irish Moss

Peter's Staff: Great Mullein 

Priest's Crown: Dandelion leaves 

Poor Man's Treacle: Garlic 

Pucha-Pat: Patchouli

Pig's Tail: Leopard's Bane 

Skin of a man:  Fern

Skull:  Skullcap

Queen of the Night: Vanilla Cactus 

Queen of the Meadow: Meadowsweet 

Queen of the Meadow Root: Gravelroot 

Queen's Root: Stillengia

Quick: Hawthorn

Quickbane: Rowan

Quick Grass: Witch Grass

Rabbits: Toadflax

Ram's Head: American Valerian 

Red Cockscomb: Amaranth 

Ring-o-bells: Bluebells 

Robin-run-in-the-grass: Goosegrass

Run by the ground: Pennyroyal

Sacred Bark: Cascara Sagrada

Sacred Herb: Yerba Santa

Sacred Mother: Corn

Sacred Mushroom: Agaric

Sailor's Tobacco: Mugwort

Scaldhead: Blackberry

See Bright: Clary Sage

Seed of Horus: Horehound

Semen of Ammon: Houseleek

Semen of Ares: Clover

Semen of Helios: White Hellebore 

Semen of Herakles: Mustard-rocket 

Semen of Hermes: Dill 

Semen of Hephaistos: Fleabane 

Seven Year's Love: Yarrow

Shameface: Wild Geranium

Shepherd's Heart: Shepherd's Purse

Silver Bells: Black Haw

Silver Dollar: Honesty

Snake:  Bistort (Polygonurn Bistorta)

Snake’s Blood:  Hematite stone

Snake's Grass: Yarrow

Soapwort: Comfrey or Daisy

Soldier's Tea: Horehound

Sorcerer's Berry: Belladonna

Sorcerer's Herb: Datura

Sorcerer's Violet: Periwinkle

Sparrow's Tongue: Knotweed 

St. John's Herb: Hemp Agrimony 

St. John's Plant: Mugwort 

Star Flower: Borage 

Star of the Earth: Avens 

Starweed: Chickweed 

Storm Hat: Wolf's Bane

Summer's Bride: Marigold

Sweethearts: Goosegrass 

Swine's Snout: Dandelion Leaves

Tanner's Bark: Toadflax

Tarragon: Mugwort 

Tartar Root: Ginseng 

Tears of a Hamadryas Baboon: Dill Juice

Thousand Weed: Yarrow 

Thunder Plant: House Leek 

Titan's Blood: Wild Lettuce 

Tongue of Dog: Houndstongue

Tooth or teeth:  Pinecones

Torches: Great Mullein 

Unicorn horn:  True unicorn root (Aletris farinosa)

Unicorn Root: Ague Root 

Wax Dolls: Fumitory 

Weazel Snout: Yellow Archangel 

White: Ox-eye Daisy 

White Man's Foot: Common Plantain

White Wood: White Cinnamon 

Witch's Asprin: White Willow Bark 

Witch's Brier: Brier Hips 

Weasel Snout: Yellow Archangel

Wolf Claw: Club Moss 

Wolf Foot: Bugle Weed 

Wolf's Milk: Euphorbia

Worms:  Gnarled, thin roots of a local tree