Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren bog Obam here. If you've ever read or seen
Speaker 1: a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, or even if you haven't,
Speaker 1: you may be familiar with the spooky passage in which
Speaker 1: the witches are casting a spell filet of funny snake
Speaker 1: in the cauldron, boil and bake. I have newton, toe
Speaker 1: of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog, adder's
Speaker 1: fork and blind worms, sting lizard's leg and owlet's wing
Speaker 1: for a charm of powerful trouble like a hell broth.
Speaker 1: Boil and bubble. But hold up, I have newt. Of course,
Speaker 1: Macbeth is a fictional work, but there are certainly people
Speaker 1: around the world, back then and today who practice witchcraft.
Speaker 1: Do they really use these types of things? If so,
Speaker 1: it would seem like some animal rights activists should get involved.
Speaker 1: I think about all those poor newts and little owl babies.
Speaker 1: Worry not, however, I have newt is a real thing,
Speaker 1: but not literally. All of the ingredients in the witches
Speaker 1: brew are just old terms for various herbs, flowers, and plants.
Speaker 1: Some say that people who practice witchcraft gave these flora
Speaker 1: gross and disturbing names to deter other people from practicing witchcraft.
Speaker 1: Here's the list of what's really in Shakespeare's cauldron. I
Speaker 1: have Newt is mustard seed, toe of frog, buttercup, wool
Speaker 1: of bat, holly leaves, tongue of dog is hound's tongue,
Speaker 1: which is a toxic flowering weed whose seeds sometimes contaminated
Speaker 1: grain stores, adders fork is adders tongue, which is a
Speaker 1: type of fern. And blind worm. Okay, a blind worm
Speaker 1: is really an animal. It's a tiny snake with small
Speaker 1: but functional eyes. So now you can make a witches
Speaker 1: brew yourself if you're so inclined. However, we seriously do
Speaker 1: not recommend actually ingesting it. Some of those ingredients are
Speaker 1: again toxic. So yes, it turns out that I have
Speaker 1: newt is just the seeds for a popular hot dog topping.
Speaker 1: But the classic scene from Macbeth wouldn't be the same
Speaker 1: if his characters spoke of boiling mustard seeds, buttercups, and
Speaker 1: holly leaves. Oh, and about those mustard seeds. In some
Speaker 1: belief systems, one can use mustard seeds, particularly black mustard seeds,
Speaker 1: to cast a spell of strife, confusion, discord, and disruption,
Speaker 1: but other types of mustard seeds have been thought to
Speaker 1: provide protection for non witches against those who practice witchcraft.
Speaker 1: One of the legends out of medieval times goes that
Speaker 1: which is are predisposed to counting and picking up things.
Speaker 1: So if you scatter mustard seeds out around your front door, bed,
Speaker 1: or property, the which will never have time to get
Speaker 1: to you, as they'll be busy counting those mustard seeds.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Deborah Branca and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio's
Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of
Speaker 1: other topics that will get your cauldron bubbling, visit our
Speaker 1: home planet, how stuff Works dot com and for more
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