Astrology
highCulpeper calls garden rue the Herb of Grace and assigns it to the Sun under Leo, before listing urinary, menstrual, antidotal, and plague-time virtues.
Found in the Hermetikon archive
Rue
Ruta graveolens
Rue 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
- high
- Books
- 10
- Contexts
- 3
- Mentions
- 36
Archive Profile
Identity, safety, and search aliases used to connect this herb to the archive.
Herb identity
- Common name
- rue
- Latin name
- Ruta graveolens(candidate)
- Identity note
- Archive searches for rue are noisy because the word appears inside unrelated words and French text.
Safety
high
Phototoxic and associated with poisoning and pregnancy risk in medicinal use.
Historical archive citations are not medical advice. Use modern clinical and poison-control sources for ingestion, dosage, pregnancy, and toxicity questions.
- Kew POWO: Phototoxic and associated with poisoning and pregnancy risk in medicinal use.
Aliases
rueherb of graceRuta graveolens
Rue in Historical Sources
Curated archive synthesis of recurring uses, recipes, rituals, and interpretive problems.
Hermetikon's curated reading of Rue (Ruta graveolens) is built from 3 source-linked archive notes and 2 preparation or ritual-use entries. The strongest recurring contexts are folk magic, astrology, and safety. Each note below links back to the archive source used for the claim.
Safety
highCulpeper's Latin materia medica notes that rue is hot and dry, 'an enemy to generation,' and not suitable for pregnant women, while also praising it against poison.
Culpeper's Complete Herbal | Nicholas Culpeper | 1653
HERBS AND THEIR LEAVES.
Folk magic
highLang explains rue's English name Herb of Grace through holy-water sprinkling and its older reputation as a charm against sprites and powers of evil.
Custom and Myth | Andrew Lang | 1884
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE FAMILY.
Preparations and ritual uses
Mithridate-like antidote
highCulpeper says rue leaves taken alone or with figs and walnuts were called Mithridate and used against dangerous medicines and deadly poisons.
Holy-water sprinkler
highBrewer explains Herb of Grace as rue used for sprinkling holy water, tying the plant to exorcism and Sunday ritual language.
Rue Archive Contexts
Compact source patterns from the extracted citation set.
Astrology
3 passages across 3 books; strongest source: Culpeper's Complete Herbal.
Matched as herb of grace; high confidence.
Folk magic
3 passages across 3 books; strongest source: Anatomy of Melancholy.
Matched as rue; high confidence.
Preparation
8 passages across 7 books; strongest source: Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable.
Matched as herb of grace; high confidence.
Rue Cited Excerpts
Representative public passages with the herb mention highlighted and linked to archive source material.
Culpeper's Complete Herbal
Nicholas Culpeper
1653
"...ony against the jaundice, as *Camerarius* saith. ### GARDEN-RUE. Garden-rue is so well known by this name, and the name Herb of Grace, that I shall not need to write any farther description of it, but shall shew you the virtue of it, as follows. Government and virtues. ] It is an herb of the Sun, and under Leo. It provokes urine and women’s courses, being taken either in meat or drink. The seed thereof taken in wine, is an antidote against all dangerous medicines or deadly poisons. The leaves taken either by themselves, or with figs and walnuts, is called Mithridat..."
Chapter 16Open in Reader
Astrologyalias: herb of gracehigh confidence
King's American Dispensatory
Harvey Wickes Felter
1854
"...mentioned by Lewis in hi.s Materia Medira (1761), under the names Gratiola centaur ioides, Gratia Dei,hedg€-hysiop, and herb of grace. Gratiola virginica, Linn^, is the most common indigenous species, and is found in large patches in damp soil. It is a small, much-branched plant, with an erect, glutinous stem. Tlie leaves are lanceolate, dentate, and clasping. The flowers are very numerous, with small, white corollas variegated with yellow, and pubescent in the throat. The other indigenous species of Gratiola are mostly found in the southern states. Chemical Composit..."
Page 66Open in Reader
Preparationalias: herb of gracehigh confidence
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
E. Cobham Brewer
1870
"...o grieve for something done, to repent, is the Anglo-Saxon reoiv, contrition ; German, reuc. Rue (1 syl.). Rue, called "herb of grace," because it was employed for sprinkling holy water. Without doubt it was so used symbolically, because to rue means to be sorry, and penitence brings the watci' of grace wnth it. (Latin, rata, from the Greek rhuo, so called because it sets persons free from disease and death.) (Sec Difference.) Ophelia says— "There's rue for vou, and lierc's some for me I we may call it -herb of gnice ' o' Sundays.'"Shakespeare: Hamlet, 'v. ."i. Rue. ..."
Page 1092Open in Reader
Preparationalias: herb of gracehigh confidence
Custom and Myth
Andrew Lang
1884
"...al repute, and if we supposed that Homer’s moly was rue, there would be some interest in the knowledge. Rue was called ‘herb of grace’ in English, holy water was sprinkled with it, and the name is a translation of Homer’s φαρμακον εσθλον. Perhaps rue was used in sprinkling, because in pre-Christian times rue had, by itself, power against sprites and powers of evil. Our ancestors may have thought it as well to combine the old charm of rue and the new Christian potency of holy water. Thus there would be a distinct analogy between Homeric moly and English ‘herb of grace..."
THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE FAMILY.Open in Reader
Preparationalias: herb of gracehigh confidence
Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics
James Hastings
1926
"...(Aus- tralia), death and disposal of the dead, iv. 433a, food for the dead, vi. 67b. HERBEST (Teut. months), iii. 139b. HERB OF GRACE (rue), as amulet, v. 614b. HERBISTMANOTH (Teut. month), iii. 139a. HERBORD, on Gerovitus (Slav god), xi. 594b, on images (Slav) vii. 158b, on tree-worship (Slav), ix. 252b. HERCLE (Etruscan Herakles), v. 534a. HERCOLUS (Campanian god), vii. 458a. HERCULANEUM, Isis-cult, vii. 435b. HERCULEAN KNOT, vii. 749a. HERCULES.—See HERAKLES. HERCULES (=Jupiter), x. 825b. HERDER, J. G. VON, vi. 594a–597a; on ages of the world, i. 191b, and Arminia..."
Page 265Open in Reader
Astrologyalias: herb of gracehigh confidence
Books Mentioning Rue
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
herb of grace
6 mentionscited
Custom and Myth
Andrew Lang | 1884
herb of grace
5 mentionscited
Custom and Myth
Andrew Lang | 1884
herb of grace
5 mentions
Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton | 1621
rue
5 mentions
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
E. Cobham Brewer | 1870
herb of grace
4 mentionscited
Demonology and Devil-lore
Moncure Daniel Conway | 1879
herb of grace
4 mentions
King's American Dispensatory
Harvey Wickes Felter | 1854
herb of grace
2 mentionscited
Mysteries of All Nations
James Grant | 1880
herb of grace
2 mentions
Primitive Culture Vol 1
Edward B. Tylor | 1871
rue
2 mentions
Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics
James Hastings | 1926
herb of grace
1 mentioncited