Herbal remedies are ubiquitous in medieval alchemy, a practice combining elements of science, spirituality, and mysticism. Recipes are...

Myrtle, Rose, Scammory and Flowers of Brass are four infused wines used medicinally in the ancient world. Infused wine in medicine often...

Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40 - 90 AD) is a Greek physician known as the father of pharmacognosy. Pharmacologist, botanist and prolific...

Writing inside eggs is invented by Naples polymath Giambattista della Porta. In the 16th century he uses this method to smuggle messages...

Making a proper theriac takes months. The recipe calls for plants collected in season, and the distillation or fermentation of herbs,...

Innovative Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus is strongly influenced by the 7 principles of Hermeticism and a holistic approach to...

Alkahest is a divine panacea or healing substance and solvent. During the Renaissance, alchemists are intrigued by the healing concepts...

Salt in alchemy is an independent mineral as well as one of the tria prima , or Three Primes, a medieval concept dominating Renaissance...

Spagyria is the alchemy of plants. In the quest for the Philosopher's Stone and Elixir of Life, alchemists work with the nature of...

Neolithic salt production in Europe centers around sites such as Solnitsata in today's Bulgaria, and Lunca (Poiana Slatinei), Romania....

Solnitsata is the oldest known town in Europe, dating to the Chalcolithic Age in the 5th millennium BCE. A major center of the Neolithic...

Portrimpo is a pagan Baltic sea god. Also known as Autrimpo he rules the sea, earth, grain and crops. One of the Old Prussian gods,...

Sweet oranges in Europe and northern regions are a special treat at Christmas, going back to St Nicolas of Myra (270 - 343) in today's...

Opium poppy (Papaver somnifum) is the common source of opium and derivatives such as morphine or heroin. All poppies produce the narcotic...

The Corycian Cave system is a Neolithic ritual site and sanctuary on Mount Parnassus used from c. 4000 BCE. To ancient Greeks it's home...

Honey bees create honey, beeswax and folklore. First domestication of the honeybee is c. 8000 BCE, in the Neolithic Age. At this time the...

Honey mead is likened to ambrosia , nectar of the Greek Gods, with qualities of immortality and divine transcendence, beloved by bears...

Grayanotoxins are neurotoxins. They're active ingredients in mad honey, produced by bees harvesting pollen and nectar of plants carrying...

Rhododendron is a plant genus of the heather family. With bright showy flowers, this glamorous perennial is known for medicinal...

Ninkasi is a goddess of beer and brewing in ancient Mesopotamia. She embodies the pleasant, ambrosial and aphrodisiac effects of beer as...