I've got a theory which a few people may disregard entirely, but I wanted to get some views on it. I read some essay on the internet a while ago that got me thinking about the classique Macbeth-esque spell ingredients - Eye of Newt, Wing of Bat, etc etc etc. Most people nowadays have ruled such things out as a folk names for herbs used in the older days of low magick. Here's a thought: what if things like Eye of Newt are actually Eye of Newt?

Consider: Asian cultures use parts of animals in food that us of the western hemisphere aren't exactly savvy with in the taste test department, because they observe that such animal parts have important medicinal and quite possibly magickal properties. To those cultures eating eyes and tongues other freaky stuff (no offense anyone of the above stipulated culture) wouldn't seem as unusual as it would to people on this side of the world.

Also, consider: magickal inks used for writing certain types of spells. Dragon's blood ink is generally used to increase the power and energy of written spellwork, which makes sense considering the general use of the herb itself. The other two most well-known are Bat's Blood Ink and Dove's Blood Ink. Nowadays they're both made from cinnamon and myrrh resins and some other stuff, but originally they were both composed of actual blood from a bat or a dove and probably an anti-coagulant herb of some sort. Bat's Blood Ink is known to be used for curses and Dove's Blood Ink is known to be used in love spells, which indicates that the magickal properties of the two would have to be completely different. Therefore, if the magickal uses extended past the most basic biological makeup of the blood cells, there's no reason to think there aren't certain properties within other parts of other animals.

My theory is that the plants believed to be the literal terms of folkloric spell ingredients carry very similar properties, possibly not the extent of the power within the originals, but enough to make the spell work (which is really the point). In some cases the original ingredients may not have been available, given the time of year or the part of the world, and so the magician would have to use whatever was available to make the necessary substitutions. Using these substitutions regularly would eventually cause the original spell ingredients to fade into myth, and now there aren't really any spells readily available that call for anything of the sort.

So let me know what you think. Also, if anyone knows of any spells that call for traditional cauldron-stirring ingredients, definitely something I'd want to see. Cheers