Medicine
highHill gives a compact household medical claim for aniseed, saying a small quantity of bruised seed is excellent in colic and useful in indigestion and stomach complaints.
Found in the Hermetikon archive
Anise
Pimpinella anisum
Anise appears in Hermetikon as an archive-backed plant entry, with references across historical medical, magical, symbolic, and ritual contexts where the source texts support them.
- Risk
- moderate
- Books
- 11
- Contexts
- 3
- Mentions
- 35
Archive Profile
Identity, safety, and search aliases used to connect this herb to the archive.
Herb identity
- Common name
- anise
- Latin name
- Pimpinella anisum(candidate)
- Identity note
- Do not conflate with star anise.
Safety
moderate
Allergy, estrogenic effects, and interaction cautions are relevant for medicinal use.
Historical archive citations are not medical advice. Use modern clinical and poison-control sources for ingestion, dosage, pregnancy, and toxicity questions.
- EMA HMPC: Allergy, estrogenic effects, and interaction cautions are relevant for medicinal use.
Aliases
aniseaniseedPimpinella anisum
Anise in Historical Sources
Curated archive synthesis of recurring uses, recipes, rituals, and interpretive problems.
Hermetikon's curated reading of Anise (Pimpinella anisum) is built from 3 source-linked archive notes and 2 preparation or ritual-use entries. The strongest recurring contexts are medicine, preparations, and folk magic. Each note below links back to the archive source used for the claim.
Folk magic
highSpence records aniseed in horse-whispering lore, where the horse-charmer applies it to the animal's nose while charming or whispering.
Preparation
highHill distinguishes oil of aniseed as a distilled oil with the virtues of aniseed and notes its taste and cold-weather behavior.
Preparations and ritual uses
Oil of aniseed
highHill describes a sweet distilled oil of aniseed and compares its virtues and taste with ordinary aniseed preparations.
Horse paste with aniseed oil
highPow-Wows includes oil of aniseed in a treacle or honey paste for horses, alongside assafoetida, sulphur, cinnabar of antimony, and aurum mosaicum.
Anise Archive Contexts
Compact source patterns from the extracted citation set.
Medicine
3 passages across 3 books; strongest source: Demonologia.
Matched as aniseed; high confidence.
Folk magic
3 passages across 3 books; strongest source: Culpeper's Complete Herbal.
Matched as aniseed; high confidence.
Preparation
6 passages across 5 books; strongest source: The Family Herbal.
Matched as aniseed; high confidence.
Anise Cited Excerpts
Representative public passages with the herb mention highlighted and linked to archive source material.
Culpeper's Complete Herbal
Nicholas Culpeper
1653
"...on variations were retained as printed. For example, if the reader is looking for anniseed, search also for annis-seed, aniseed and annis seed, etc. Changes made to the text are noted below. Only things that seemed to be clearly typos instead of 1600s spelling variations were changed and noted below. For example, text consistently uses “tertain†instead of “tertian.†Also watch for œ where one might expect æ and vice versa. “Bean†is often spelled as “Been.†Occasionally, items are out of alphabetical order. For example, *Malahathram* is locat..."
Chapter 67Open in Reader
Folk magicalias: aniseedhigh confidence
The Family Herbal
John Hill
1755
"...ose head-achs which arise from indigestion. It also works powerfully by urine; and with it possesses all the virtues of aniseed and many others; and even in a very superior degree: it has not its disagreeable flavour. An oil drawn from it by distillation, is sweet and excellent; it has all the virtues of our oil of aniseed, but not its disagreeable taste, and it does not congeal like it in cold weather. ### STAVES-ACRE. *Staphis agria.* A VERY pretty plant, native of Italy, and kept in our gardens. It is two feet and a half high. The stalk is round, thick, firm..."
Page 379Open in Reader
Preparationalias: aniseedhigh confidence
Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Lewis Spence
1920
"...e's muzzle, or whispering into its ear a spell or incantation. It is said, indeed, that the gypsy horse-charmer applies aniseed to the nose of the animal. But besides being practised by gypsies, horse-whispering is in vogue amongst many other peoples. Camden in his Recital of Irish Superstitions says : — " It is by no means allowable to - praise a horse or any other animal unless you say ' God save him.' If any mischance befalls a horse in three days after, they find out the person who commended him, that he may whisper the Lord's Prayer in his right ear." It w..."
Page 257Open in Reader
Folk magicalias: aniseedhigh confidence
Pow-Wows
John George Hohman
1820
"...safoetida, one ounce; sulphur nd cinnabat of antimony. of each two ounces; aurum ‘mosaicum, one ounce and a half oil of aniseed, eighty drops. You ‘muy make it into past with either treacle or honey, and give the horse the quantity of a hens egg every morning for a week: and afterwards, PO ‘ry other morning til the disorder is removed. (Mont ague Furie, one 574 ‘24, Flax-Seed Lemonade. ‘nur tblespoonsfil ax sed (whole; quart of boiling water poured ‘the ased juice of two lemons caving out the pel, stent ‘use, Step three hours in a covered pitcher If oo thick pu..."
Page 64Open in Reader
Preparationalias: aniseedhigh confidence
Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton
1621
"...oyal 3. Subs. I Spleen, ceterach, ash, tamarisk To purify the blood, endive, succory^ &c , Agamst wind, origan, fennel, aniseed, &c Precious stones, as smaragdes, ch elidonies, &c iMmerals, as gold, &c Simples altermg melancholy, with a digression of exotick simples 2 Subs Compounds altermg melancholy, with a digression of compounds I Subs Purgmg C Fluid {Wmes, as of hellebore, bugloss, tamarisk, &c SyTups of borage, bugloss, hops, epithynne, endive, succory% &c r Conserves of vnolets, maidenhair, con- 1 borage, bugloss, roses, &c sistmg j Confections, Treacle,..."
Page 395Open in Reader
Preparationalias: aniseedhigh confidence
Books Mentioning Anise
Complete public source inventory, placed after the interpretive reading so the page opens with the most useful synthesis first.
Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton | 1621
aniseed
7 mentionscited
The Family Herbal
John Hill | 1755
aniseed
5 mentionscited
Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Lewis Spence | 1920
aniseed
4 mentionscited
Salem Witchcraft
Various Historians | 1892
aniseed
4 mentions
Popular Superstitions, and the Truths Contained Therein
Herbert Mayo | 1851
aniseed
4 mentions
Pow-Wows
John George Hohman | 1820
aniseed
3 mentionscited
Witch Stories
E. Lynn Linton | 1861
aniseed
2 mentions
Thaumaturgia
Richard Harris Dalton Barham | 1835
aniseed
2 mentions
Demonologia
J. S. Forsyth | 1827
aniseed
2 mentions
Culpeper's Complete Herbal
Nicholas Culpeper | 1653
aniseed
1 mentioncited
The Influence of the Stars
Rosa Baughan | 1880
aniseed
1 mention