Found in the Hermetikon archive

Olive

Olea europaea

Olive 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: low concern
Books: 98
Contexts: 3
Mentions: 534

Overview Reading Contexts Citations Related Books

Archive Profile

Identity, safety, and search aliases used to connect this herb to the archive.

Herb identity

Common name: olive
Latin name: Olea europaea(candidate)
Identity note: High symbolic and biblical presence; olive oil is important in ritual and medicine.

Safety

low concern

Food use is generally low concern; leaf extracts, oil uses, and symbolic archive references are separate contexts.

Historical archive citations are not medical advice. Use modern clinical and poison-control sources for ingestion, dosage, pregnancy, and toxicity questions.

Kew POWO: Food use is generally low concern; leaf extracts, oil uses, and symbolic archive references are separate contexts.

Aliases

oliveOlea europaeaolive oilolives

Olive in Historical Sources

Curated archive synthesis of recurring uses, recipes, rituals, and interpretive problems.

Hermetikon's curated reading of Olive (Olea europaea) is built from 3 source-linked archive notes and 1 preparation or ritual-use entry. The strongest recurring contexts are preparations, ritual uses, and folk magic. Each note below links back to the archive source used for the claim.

Preparation

high

Culpeper gives an olive-leaf and unripe-olive oil balsam made by sun exposure or boiling, intended for fresh wounds, old ulcers, and hurt-related inflammations.

Culpeper's Complete Herbal | Nicholas Culpeper | 1653

THE ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED.

Folk magic

high

Frazer records Greek agricultural purity rules in which olives were planted and gathered by pure boys and virgins, or by gatherers who swore marital fidelity.

The Golden Bough | James George Frazer | 1906

CHAPTER XI THE INFLUENCE OF THE SEXES ON VEGETATION

Ritual

medium

Spence describes divination using oil of olives placed on a child's nails or palm, with the child's direction changed according to the question asked.

Encyclopaedia of Occultism | Lewis Spence | 1920

Page 365

Preparations and ritual uses

green balsam

high

Culpeper's olive balsam infuses or boils olive leaves and unripe olives in oil, with optional turpentine, for wounds, ulcers, and hurt-related inflammations.

Culpeper's Complete Herbal | Nicholas Culpeper | 1653

THE ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED.

Olive Archive Contexts

Compact source patterns from the extracted citation set.

Astrology

4 passages across 4 books; strongest source: Liber 777.

Matched as olive; high confidence.

Preparation

9 passages across 9 books; strongest source: Culpeper's Complete Herbal.

Matched as olives; high confidence.

Symbolism

2 passages across 2 books; strongest source: The Golden Bough.

Matched as olive; medium confidence.

Olive Cited Excerpts

Representative public passages with the herb mention highlighted and linked to archive source material.

5 shown

Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Nicholas Culpeper

1653

"...the whites flowing down too abundantly. It helps sore eyes. Of the leaves infused or boiled in oil, omphacine or unripe olives, set in the sun four certain days, or the green leaves sufficiently boiled in the said oil, is made an excellent green balsam, not only for green and fresh wounds, but also for old and inveterate ulcers, especially if a little fine clear turpentine be dissolved therein. It also stays and refreshes all inflammations that arise upon pains by hurts and wounds. What parts of the body are under each planet and sign, and also what disease ma..."

THE ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED.Open in Reader

Preparationalias: oliveshigh confidence

King's American Dispensatory

Harvey Wickes Felter

1854

"... This tree is indigenous to the Philippine Islands. Its seeds, the 8t. Ignatius bean of commerce, are about the size of olives, rounded and convex on one side, and somewhat angular on the other, pule brownish externally, with a bluish-gray tint, greenish- hrown internally. Their substance is hard, compnet, and horn-like. They are inodorous and of an exceedioixly lutter taste. Chemical Composition. — The St. Ignatius bean yields its l)roperties to water, but alcohol is its best solvent. Pelletier and Caventou, in 1818, found it to contain the constituents of nu..."

Page 155Open in Reader

Preparationalias: oliveshigh confidence

The Family Herbal

John Hill

1755

"...con, which is made by melting together yellow wax, resin, and burgundy pitch, of each half a pound, in a pint of oil of olives, and adding three ounces of turpentine. - Black basilicon, which is made by melting together in a pint of olive oil, yellow wax, resin, and pitch, of each nine ounces. - The mercurial ointment, which is thus made: rub together in an iron mortar, a pound of quick-silver, and an ounce of turpentine; when they are well mixed, add four pounds of hog's-lard melted, and mix all thoroughly together. The ointment of tutty is prepared with levi..."

Page 45Open in Reader

Preparationalias: oliveshigh confidence

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer

1906

"...ary of the Sun, where the merchants inspected and purchased it. [381] With ancient Greek husbandmen it was a maxim that olives should always be planted and gathered by pure boys and virgins; the uncommon fruitfulness of the olive-trees at Anazarbus in Cilicia was attributed to their being tended by young and innocent children. In default of such workers, the olive-gatherer had to swear that he had been faithful to his own wife; for his fidelity was believed to ensure an abundant crop of fruit the following year. [382] | Illicit love supposed to blight the frui..."

CHAPTER XI THE INFLUENCE OF THE SEXES ON VEGETATIONOpen in Reader

Astrologyalias: oliveshigh confidence

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer

1906

".... 1318). On the other hand, at Athens in the time of Solon public curses were levelled at all who exported anything but olive oil (Plutarch, *Solon*, 24). These particular curses may interest students of the history of free trade. [165](7498777608433514230_59607-h-13.htm.xhtml#fnanc165) Plutarch, *Quaest. Graec.* 12. Aug. Mommsen (*Delphika*, pp. 250 *sq.*) is probably right in comparing this ceremony with the swinging-festival (*Aiora*) at Athens, as to which see *The Golden Bough*, Second Edition, ii. 453 *sqq.* [166](7498777608433514230_59607-h-13.htm.xhtml#fn..."

CHAPTER IIâ€”Priestly KingsOpen in Reader

Preparationalias: olive oilhigh confidence

Books Mentioning Olive

Complete public source inventory, placed after the interpretive reading so the page opens with the most useful synthesis first.

98 books

King's American Dispensatory

Harvey Wickes Felter | 1854

olivesolive oilolive

87 mentionscited

Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Nicholas Culpeper | 1653

olivesolive

28 mentionscited

Encyclopaedia of Antiquities

Thomas Dudley Fosbroke | 1825

olivesolive oilolive

19 mentions

Pistis Sophia

G. Horner (Translator) and Francis Legge (Introduction) | 1924

Archive Profile

Herb identity

Safety

Aliases

Olive in Historical Sources

Preparation

Folk magic

Ritual

Preparations and ritual uses

green balsam

Olive Archive Contexts

Astrology

Preparation

Symbolism

Olive Cited Excerpts

Culpeper's Complete Herbal

King's American Dispensatory

The Family Herbal

The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

Related Archive Material

Related herbs

Books Mentioning Olive