Horehound

Horehound, or white horehound, is a flowering plant of the mint family, native to Europe, northern Africa and south-western and central Asia. Kynes describes a bushy plant up to three feet tall with woolly, whitish-grey stems, wrinkled oval leaves that are felty white beneath, and small white tubular flowers in rounded clusters. The ancient Greeks used it medicinally, and the Egyptians called it the seed of Horus. It was one of the bitter herbs of the Hebrew Passover. In the Middle Ages it was believed to break spells, protect from witches and ward off evil spirits. Cunningham has it in protective sachets and carried against sorcery, scattered as an exorcism herb, and drunk as an infusion to clear the mind and quicken thinking. Kynes burns a few leaves to strengthen a banishing spell and passes tools through the smoke, and rinses the hands with a leaf infusion before hands-on healing.