Found in the Hermetikon archive

Tobacco

Nicotiana tabacum

Tobacco 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: 100
Contexts: 5
Mentions: 776

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: tobacco
Latin name: Nicotiana tabacum(candidate)
Identity note: Strong archive presence across folk medicine, ritual, ethnography, and moral literature.

Safety

high

Nicotine-containing tobacco is addictive and toxic; this page is historical archive context, not health guidance.

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

CDC Tobacco: Nicotine-containing tobacco is addictive and toxic; this page is historical archive context, not health guidance.

Aliases

tobacconicotianaNicotiana tabacum

Tobacco in Historical Sources

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

Hermetikon's curated reading of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) is built from 3 source-linked archive notes and 2 preparation or ritual-use entries. The strongest recurring contexts are medicine, ritual uses, and safety. Each note below links back to the archive source used for the claim.

Medicine

high

Culpeper lists tobacco among glutinating herbs with comfrey, plantain, self-heal, woundwort, and tormentil, giving it a historical wound-repair classification.

Culpeper's Complete Herbal | Nicholas Culpeper | 1653

A CATALOGUE OF SIMPLES IN THE NEW DISPENSATORY.

Ritual

high

Frazer records tobacco set out with milk and meat for a snake believed to contain a dead man's spirit, making tobacco part of a household offering complex.

The Golden Bough | James George Frazer | 1907

Â§ 8. Sacred Stocks and Stones among the Semites.

Safety

high

Spence places tobacco among cerebral intoxicants used in visionary or prophetic contexts, making psychoactive risk part of the archive reading.

Encyclopaedia of Occultism | Lewis Spence | 1920

Page 327

Preparations and ritual uses

New-fire rite

high

Frazer describes green tobacco leaves placed with button-snake root and new fruits at the bottom of a renewed fireplace in a new-fire ceremony.

The Golden Bough | James George Frazer | 1890

Â§ 12.â€”Killing the divine animal.

Rain charm

high

Frazer records Aino rain-magic in which tobacco boxes and pipes are washed in a stream to bring on rain.

The Golden Bough | James George Frazer | 1906

Â§ 2. The Magical Control of Rain

Tobacco Archive Contexts

Compact source patterns from the extracted citation set.

Medicine

1 passage across 1 book; strongest source: The Golden Bough.

Matched as tobacco; high confidence.

Astrology

3 passages across 3 books; strongest source: The Golden Bough.

Matched as tobacco; high confidence.

Preparation

5 passages across 5 books; strongest source: Culpeper's Complete Herbal.

Matched as tobacco; high confidence.

Ritual

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

Matched as tobacco; high confidence.

Safety

4 passages across 4 books; strongest source: Encyclopaedia of Occultism.

Matched as tobacco; high confidence.

Tobacco Cited Excerpts

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

5 shown

Cover of Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Nicholas Culpeper

"...y leaves, Woad-chervil, Plantain, Cinquefoil, Comfry, Bugle, Self-heal, Woundwort, Tormentil, Rupture-wort, Knot-grass, Tobacco. *Expel wind.* Wormwood, Garlick, Dill, Smallage, Chamomel, Epithimum, Fennel, Juniper, Marjoram, Origanum, Savory both winter and summer. Tansy is good to cleanse the stomach and bowels of rough viscous flegm, and humours that stick to them, which the flegmatic constitution of the winter usually infects the body of man with, and occasions gouts and other diseases of like nature and lasting long. This was the original of that custom to..."

A CATALOGUE OF SIMPLES IN THE NEW DISPENSATORY.Open in Reader

Preparationalias: tobaccohigh confidence

Cover of King's American Dispensatory

King's American Dispensatory

Harvey Wickes Felter

"...ore honej- from its flowers, when accessible, than from those of any other species of plants. The leaves were used like tobacco by the American Indians. Indigenous Species. — The medicinal species of Rhus indigenous to North America are distributed as follows: I. NoN-poisoNous Species. Rhus glabra, Linne.— A smooth shrub, known as Smooth or Upland sumach, found throughout the United States and Canada, flourishing in dry, barren or rocky situations, fence corners, etc. (see Rhus glabra). Rhus typhina, Linne, Staghorn or Virginian sumach. — A shrub or small tree ..."

Page 780Open in Reader

Safetyalias: tobaccohigh confidence

Cover of The Family Herbal

The Family Herbal

"...tual use of it will cure the most inveterate head-aches. It may be taken as tea or dried and powdered. Some mix it with tobacco and smoke it, but this is a more uncertain method. There is a tall plant with small purple flowers growing by waters, thence and from the shape of the leaves called water betony, but it has none of the virtues of this plant; it is a kind of fig-wort, and possesses the virtues of that plant, but in an inferior degree. ### BIND WEED. *Convolvulus major.* A COMMON wild plant which climbs about our hedges, and bears very large white flower..."

Page 87Open in Reader

Preparationalias: tobaccohigh confidence

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer

"...roviding proper precautions are taken. When eating it the people must take their swords, knives, axes, bows and arrows, tobacco-boxes and pipes, trays, cups, garden tools, and everything they possess, tie them up in bundles with carrying slings, and sit with them attached to their heads while in the act of eating. This feast may be partaken of in this way, and no other. If this method be carefully adhered to, there will be no danger of forgetting where a thing has been placed, otherwise loss of memory will be the result.â€ 417 On the other hand the Aino believ..."

Chapter XII. Homoeopathic Magic of a Flesh Diet.Open in Reader

Safetyalias: tobaccohigh confidence

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer

"...house, the spirit of the dead man is believed to be very hungry. Milk is poured on to its tracks, and a little meat and tobacco placed on the ground for it to eat. It is believed that if no food is given to the snake one or all of the members of the household will die. It, however, may none the less be killed if encountered outside the house, and if at the time of its death it is inhabited by the spirit of a dead man, â€˜that spirit dies also.â€™ â€‰â€ 283 The Akikuyu of British East Africa, who similarly believe that snakes are ngoma or spirits of the departe..."

Â§ 8. Sacred Stocks and Stones among the Semites.Open in Reader

Safetyalias: tobaccohigh confidence

Related herbs

Grape / VineVitis vinifera29 books Opium PoppyPapaver somniferum23 books AppleMalus domestica22 books OnionAllium cepa22 books CoffeeCoffea arabica21 books LilyLilium candidum21 books BirchBetula pendula20 books WillowSalix alba20 books

Books Mentioning Tobacco

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

100 books

Cover of Myths of the Cherokee

Myths of the Cherokee

James Mooney | 1900

tobacconicotiana

Cover of King's American Dispensatory

King's American Dispensatory

Harvey Wickes Felter | 1854

tobacconicotiana

48 mentionscited

Cover of Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

James Hastings | 1913

Cover of Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

James Hastings | 1908

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1912

33 mentionscited

Cover of Primitive Culture, Vol. 2

Primitive Culture, Vol. 2

Edward Burnett Tylor | 1871

Cover of Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Nicholas Culpeper | 1653

28 mentionscited

Cover of Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

James Hastings | 1917

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1890

Cover of Anatomy of Melancholy

Anatomy of Melancholy

Robert Burton | 1621

Cover of Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

James Hastings | 1918

Cover of Encyclopaedia of Occultism

Encyclopaedia of Occultism

Lewis Spence | 1920

Cover of Mythology of All Races (Vol 11)

Mythology of All Races (Vol 11)

Hartley Burr Alexander | 1920

Cover of Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

James Hastings | 1916

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1906

Cover of The White Spark

The White Spark

H. Stanley Redgrove | 1912

Cover of Primitive Culture Vol 1

Primitive Culture Vol 1

Edward B. Tylor | 1871

Cover of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable

E. Cobham Brewer | 1870

Cover of Mysteries of All Nations

Mysteries of All Nations

James Grant | 1880

Cover of Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

Hastings' Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics

James Hastings | 1926

Cover of Primitive Manners & Customs

Primitive Manners & Customs

James Anson Farrer | 1879

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1890

Cover of Psyche's Task

Psyche's Task

Sir James George Frazer | 1909

Cover of Fiends, Ghosts, and Sprites

Fiends, Ghosts, and Sprites

John Netten Radcliffe | 1854

Cover of Salem Witchcraft

Salem Witchcraft

Various Historians | 1892

Cover of Balder the Beautiful, Volume I

Balder the Beautiful, Volume I

James George Frazer | 1913

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1913

Cover of The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 3

The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 3

Aleister Crowley | 1910

Cover of Modern Magic

Modern Magic

Angelo John Lewis | 1876

Cover of The Evil Eye

The Evil Eye

Frederick Thomas Elworthy | 1895

Cover of Curiosities of Superstition

Curiosities of Superstition

William Henry Davenport Adams | 1882

Cover of Demonologia

Demonologia

J. S. Forsyth | 1827

Cover of Myths and Dreams

Myths and Dreams

Edward Clodd | 1885

Cover of Varieties of Religious Experience

Varieties of Religious Experience

William James | 1902

Cover of Extraordinary Popular Delusions

Extraordinary Popular Delusions

Charles Mackay | 1841

Cover of Ritual and Belief

Ritual and Belief

A.W. Buckland | 1891

Cover of An Introduction to Mythology

An Introduction to Mythology

George W. Cox | 1873

Cover of Witchcraft & Second Sight

Witchcraft & Second Sight

John Gregorson Campbell | 1902

Cover of Pow-Wows

Pow-Wows

John George Hohman | 1820

Cover of The Family Herbal

The Family Herbal

John Hill | 1755

tobacconicotiana

5 mentionscited

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1907

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1913

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1906

Cover of Origin of Man and Superstitions

Origin of Man and Superstitions

Carveth Read | 1920

Cover of The Complete Book of Fortune

The Complete Book of Fortune

Anonymous | 1930

Cover of Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries

Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries

W. Y. Evans-Wentz | 1911

Cover of The Interpretation of Dreams

The Interpretation of Dreams

Various Esoteric Authors | 1910

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1906

Cover of Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted

Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted

Gustavus Hindman Miller | 1901

Cover of Thaumaturgia

Thaumaturgia

Richard Harris Dalton Barham | 1835

Cover of Tradition and Mythology

Tradition and Mythology

Lord Arundell of Wardour (John Francis Arundell) | 1872

Cover of History of Religions

History of Religions

Crawford Howell Toy | 1913

Cover of Pagan and Christian Creeds

Pagan and Christian Creeds

Edward Carpenter | 1920

Cover of Error's Chains

Error's Chains

Frank S. Dobbins | 1883

nicotianatobacco

Cover of Chips from a German Workshop (Vol 3)

Chips from a German Workshop (Vol 3)

F. Max Müller | 1870

tobacconicotiana

Cover of Mystic London

Mystic London

Charles Maurice Davies | 1875

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1907

3 mentionscited

Cover of The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 2

The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 2

Aleister Crowley | 1909

Cover of Fundamental Principles

Fundamental Principles

Zelia Nuttall | 1901

Cover of Fact and Fable in Psychology

Fact and Fable in Psychology

Joseph Jastrow | 1900

Cover of The King in Yellow

The King in Yellow

Robert W. Chambers | 1895

Cover of Dream Psychology

Dream Psychology

Sigmund Freud | 1901

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1911

Cover of The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer | 1912

Cover of Liber 777

Liber 777

Aleister Crowley | 1909

Cover of The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 9

The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 9

Aleister Crowley | 1913

Cover of Witch Stories

Witch Stories

E. Lynn Linton | 1861

Cover of The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 1

The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 1

Aleister Crowley | 1909

Cover of Three Essays

Three Essays

F. Max Müller | 1873

Cover of Magick in Theory and Practice

Magick in Theory and Practice

Aleister Crowley | 1929

Cover of Genethlialogia

Genethlialogia

John Gadbury | 1658

Cover of The Book of Witches

The Book of Witches

Unknown Author (Historical Compilation) | 1900

Cover of Psychology of Suggestion

Psychology of Suggestion

Boris Sidis | 1898

Cover of Myth, Ritual and Religion Vol. 1

Myth, Ritual and Religion Vol. 1

Andrew Lang | 1887

Cover of Evil Eye in the Western Highlands

Evil Eye in the Western Highlands

John Gregorson Campbell | 1902

Cover of Myths and Myth-Makers

Myths and Myth-Makers

John Fiske | 1873

Cover of Psychological Origin of Religion

Psychological Origin of Religion

James H. Leuba | 1909

Cover of A World of Wonders

A World of Wonders

James Grant | 1845

Cover of The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 4

The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 4

Aleister Crowley | 1910

Cover of Demonology and Devil-lore

Demonology and Devil-lore

Moncure Daniel Conway | 1879

Cover of Demonology and Superstitions

Demonology and Superstitions

William Grant Stewart | 1823

Cover of Isis Unveiled, Vol. 2: Theology

Isis Unveiled, Vol. 2: Theology

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky | 1877

Cover of British Goblins

British Goblins

Wirt Sikes | 1880

Cover of Miscellanies

Miscellanies

John Aubrey | 1696

Cover of Magic & Miracles

Magic & Miracles

T. Adolphus Trollope | 1848

Cover of The Great God Pan

The Great God Pan

Arthur Machen | 1894

Cover of Secrets of Black Arts

Secrets of Black Arts

Anonymous | 1850

Cover of Principia Discordia

Principia Discordia

Malaclypse the Younger (Gregory Hill) | 1963

Cover of Encyclopaedia of Antiquities

Encyclopaedia of Antiquities

Thomas Dudley Fosbroke | 1825

Cover of The Authentic Red Dragon and Black Hen

The Authentic Red Dragon and Black Hen

Anonymous | 1800

Cover of Adventures of a Modern Occultist

Adventures of a Modern Occultist

Oliver Bland | 1920

Cover of The Blood Covenant

The Blood Covenant

H. Clay Trumbull | 1885

Cover of Witchcraft and Superstitious Record

Witchcraft and Superstitious Record

John Maxwell Wood | 1911

Cover of Book of the Damned

Book of the Damned

Charles Fort | 1919

Cover of Transcendental Magic

Transcendental Magic

Eliphas Levi | 1854

Cover of The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 8

The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 8

Aleister Crowley | 1912

Cover of Initiation, Human and Solar

Initiation, Human and Solar

Alice Bailey | 1922

Cover of The Crowd

The Crowd

Gustave Le Bon | 1895

Cover of Chips from a German Workshop (Vol 4)

Chips from a German Workshop (Vol 4)

F. Max Müller | 1875

Cover of The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 6

The Equinox Vol. 1 No. 6

Aleister Crowley | 1911