Folk magic
highSpence uses eyebright as a textbook doctrine-of-signatures example: its pupil-like spot was taken to mark it as an eye remedy.
Found in the Hermetikon archive
Eyebright
Euphrasia officinalis
Eyebright 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
- 4
- Mentions
- 55
Archive Profile
Identity, safety, and search aliases used to connect this herb to the archive.
Herb identity
- Common name
- eyebright
- Latin name
- Euphrasia officinalis(ambiguous)
- Identity note
- Species are often treated as an aggregate.
Safety
moderate
Eye-use preparations raise contamination and infection concerns; modern data is limited.
Historical archive citations are not medical advice. Use modern clinical and poison-control sources for ingestion, dosage, pregnancy, and toxicity questions.
- EMA HMPC: Eye-use preparations raise contamination and infection concerns; modern data is limited.
Aliases
eyebrightEuphrasia officinaliseye-bright
Eyebright in Historical Sources
Curated archive synthesis of recurring uses, recipes, rituals, and interpretive problems.
Hermetikon's curated reading of Eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis) is built from 3 source-linked archive notes and 1 preparation or ritual-use entry. The strongest recurring contexts are medicine, folk magic, and identity. Each note below links back to the archive source used for the claim.
Medicine
highJastrow repeats the same signature logic, saying euphrasia or eyebright was considered useful for sore eyes because of the bright eye-like mark in its corolla.
Identity
mediumHill anchors eyebright under the Latin name Euphrasia and describes it as a low meadow herb, but the cited passage is mostly botanical rather than procedural.
Preparations and ritual uses
Doctrine-of-signatures eye remedy
mediumJastrow's evidence supports an eye-use rationale based on the flower's eye-like corolla mark, but it does not preserve a practical dosing recipe.
Eyebright Archive Contexts
Compact source patterns from the extracted citation set.
Medicine
3 passages across 3 books; strongest source: Bygone Beliefs.
Matched as eye-bright; high confidence.
Astrology
5 passages across 3 books; strongest source: Culpeper's Complete Herbal.
Matched as eyebright; high confidence.
Folk magic
1 passage across 1 book; strongest source: Encyclopaedia of Occultism.
Matched as eyebright; high confidence.
Preparation
4 passages across 3 books; strongest source: Culpeper's Complete Herbal.
Matched as eyebright; high confidence.
Eyebright Cited Excerpts
Representative public passages with the herb mention highlighted and linked to archive source material.
Culpeper's Complete Herbal
Nicholas Culpeper
1653
"... Water Cress | | Cudweed | Crosswort | Dill | | Dandelion | Daisy | Devils Bit | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Eringo | Eyebright | Elecampane | | Dock | Dragons | Dog’s Grass | | Dropwort | Dove’s Foot | Bloody Dock | | THOMAS KELLY, LONDON. | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Foxglove | Flower-de-luce | Figwort | | Fleawort | Fumitory | Fluellin | | Fennel | Flaxweed | Feverfew | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Wall Hawkweed. | Hart’s Tongue. | Mouse-ear Hawkweed. | | Gentian. | Golden Rod. | Galingal. | | Clove Gilliflower. | Groundsel. | Germander. | | THOMAS..."
Chapter 5Open in Reader
Preparationalias: eyebrighthigh confidence
Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Lewis Spence
1920
"... indicate by their external character the diseases for which nature intended them as remedies. Thus the , euphrasia, or eyebright, was supposed to be good for the eyes because it contains a black pupil-like spot ; and the blood-stone was employed for stopping the flow of blood from a wound. It is strange that wherever prehistoric implements, such as arrowheads and celts, are discovered, they are thought by the peasantry of the locality in which they are found to be of great virtue as amulets. Some light is cast on this, custom by the fact that stone arrowheads we..."
Page 45Open in Reader
Folk magicalias: eyebrighthigh confidence
The Family Herbal
John Hill
1755
"...e it, it is so very rough; it is sometimes used outwardly among other things applied to the feet in violent fevers. ### EYEBRIGHT. *Euphrasia.* A VERY pretty low herb common in our meadows, with woody stalks, and bright and little"
Page 180Open in Reader
Medicinealias: eyebrighthigh confidence
Fact and Fable in Psychology
Joseph Jastrow
1900
"...blance obvious or remote, actual or ideal. Hence the uses of things are suggested by their appearance. The euphrasia or eyebright is useful in case of sore eyes on account of the bright eye-like spot in its corolla; special virtues are ascribed to the ginseng on account of the resemblance of its roots to a human shape. The granulated roots of the white meadow saxifrage were regarded as efficacious against calculous complaints. The Solomon's-seal is so called on account of the marks in the cross-section of its roots, and is used to seal wounds. Water-soldier, on a..."
IVOpen in Reader
Preparationalias: eyebrighthigh confidence
Myths and Dreams
Edward Clodd
1885
"...ian myth, 39 . Euhêmeros, 66 . Eumenidês, 159 . Evolution, 144 . of mind, 5 , 228 . Exile, Jewish, 134 . Exogamy, 104 . Eye-bright, 15 , 166 . Fasting, 237 . Fijians, 171 , 177 , 184 , 211 . Fingers in counting, 153 . Finnish myth, 16 , 32 , 38 , 43 , 45 , 121 , 176 , 196 , 219 . Finns, 159 , 173 . Fire myths, 47 . Food, forbidden, 105 . Foster, Thomas, 63 . Frisian moon myth, 28 . Gaea, 35 . Galton, 151 . Gellert myth, 128 . Gender, origin of, 22 . Gesta Romanorum , 128 . Giant with no heart in his body, 192 . Gill, W. W., 20 , 47 , 177 . Gladstone, W. E., 7 . Go..."
INDEX.Open in Reader
Astrologyalias: eye-brighthigh confidence
Books Mentioning Eyebright
Complete public source inventory, placed after the interpretive reading so the page opens with the most useful synthesis first.
Culpeper's Complete Herbal
Nicholas Culpeper | 1653
eyebrighteye-bright
35 mentionscited
Myths and Dreams
Edward Clodd | 1885
eye-bright
6 mentionscited
Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Lewis Spence | 1920
eyebright
2 mentionscited
Fact and Fable in Psychology
Joseph Jastrow | 1900
eyebright
2 mentionscited
Clavis Astrologiae Elimata
Henry Coley | 1669
eye-bright
2 mentions
Magic and Fetishism
Alfred Cruikshank Haddon | 1906
eye-bright
2 mentions
Bygone Beliefs
H. Stanley Redgrove | 1920
eye-bright
2 mentions
The Family Herbal
John Hill | 1755
eyebright
1 mentioncited
Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton | 1621
eye-bright
1 mention
Illustration of the Occult Sciences
Ebenezer Sibly | 1784
eyebright
1 mention
Genethlialogia
John Gadbury | 1658
eye-bright
1 mention