Henbane by Wanderer MoonChild

Henbane

by Wanderer MoonChild

Botanical Basics

1. Common Name(s): Henbane, Black Henbane, Stinking Nightshade
2. Folk Name(s): Jupiter’s Bean, Hogbean, Devil’s Eye, Symphonica, Poison Tobacco
3. Scientific/Latin Name: Hyoscyamus niger
4. Family: Solanaceae (Nightshade family)
5. Plant Type: Biennial (sometimes annual depending on climate)
6. Botanical Description: Grows 1–3 feet tall with sticky, hairy stems and foul-smelling foliage. Leaves are large, lobed, and covered in fine hairs. Distinctive pale yellow-green flowers with dark purple veins and throats bloom in summer, followed by urn-shaped seed capsules.
7. Growing Zones/Climate: Hardy in USDA Zones 4–8; prefers cooler temperate climates.
8. Best Zones for Growth: Thrives in northern Europe, western Asia, and similar temperate regions.
9. Habitat & Range: Native to Eurasia; naturalized throughout Europe and parts of North America. Found along roadsides, waste ground, ruins, and disturbed soils.

Cultivation & Harvest

1. Soil & Sun Requirements: Prefers calcareous, well-drained soils. Grows in full sun to partial shade.
2. Propagation: By seed; seeds require light for germination and may need cold stratification.
3. Companion Planting: Rarely used due to toxicity; sometimes historically planted at field edges as a protective or warding herb.
4. Harvesting Guidelines: All parts are highly toxic. Traditionally gathered with ritual precautions. Gloves and protective gear required.
5. Drying/Preservation: Historically dried for medicinal and magical use, but extremely dangerous; modern practice strongly cautions against it.

Traditional & Historical Use

1. Cultural Significance: Revered and feared in ancient Greek, Roman, and Germanic traditions. Used in necromancy, prophecy, and temple rituals (particularly in the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi). Medieval witches employed it in “flying ointments.”
2. Traditional Medicine: Historically used as a narcotic, sedative, and pain reliever. Sometimes smoked or applied externally for toothache, neuralgia, or rheumatism. No longer used in modern herbalism due to toxicity.
3. Symbolism: Associated with death, madness, and liminality—standing at the threshold between worlds.

Medicinal & Practical Properties

1. Active Constituents: Tropane alkaloids—hyoscyamine, atropine, scopolamine.
2. Medicinal Uses (historical):
   
3. Analgesic for severe pain
4. Antispasmodic for tremors and epilepsy
5. Sedative for sleeplessness or anxiety
6. Combined with opium in some medieval remedies
   
7. Preparation Methods: Historically tinctures, poultices, ointments, and smoke inhalation.
8. Dosage & Guidelines: Unsafe for self-use. Historical doses were minuscule; overdose leads to hallucinations, delirium, respiratory failure, or death.
9. Safety/Precautions: All parts are highly poisonous. Fatal even in small quantities. Should not be used outside professional pharmacology.

Magical & Spiritual Properties

1. Elemental Association: Saturn & Water
2. Planetary/Deity Correspondence: Saturn, Hecate, Hel, Apollo (in oracular rites)
3. Magical Correspondences: Necromancy, spirit communication, baneful magic, protection, invisibility, dreamwork, initiation into mysteries
4. Ritual Use: Used in flying ointments and shamanic trance rituals. Flowers or seeds may be kept as ritual offerings to chthonic deities.
5. Symbolism in Divination/Dreams: Suggests danger, shadow work, contact with the dead, or initiation into the mysteries of Saturn.

Ecological & Culinary Uses

1. Pollinator Value: Flowers attract bees, flies, and some moths, though nectar and pollen are mildly toxic.
2. Wildlife Uses: Generally avoided by grazing animals. Toxic to livestock and humans.
3. Culinary Uses: None—highly poisonous.

Household/Practical Uses

1. Quick Uses: Historically hung in stables to ward off malevolent spirits and protect livestock.
2. Notable Traits: Strong foul odor; sticky, hairy leaves; ominous dark-veined flowers.
3. Special Notes: Considered one of the “classic baneful herbs” alongside belladonna, mandrake, and datura.

Fast Facts

1. Poisonous herb used in oracles and witchcraft
2. Associated with Saturn, death, and spirit-work
3. Historically medicinal but abandoned due to toxicity

Supporting Notes

1. Grieve, Maud. A Modern Herbal. 1931.
2. Rätsch, Christian. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. Park Street Press, 2005.
3. Chevallier, Andrew. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. DK Publishing, 2016.
4. Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. Llewellyn, 1985.