Flying Ointments As Medicine

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What is a Flying Ointment?

We know them by many names: witches’ flying ointment, unguentum sabbati, unguentum lamiarum, and other times they are simply referred to as the diabolical potions or oils of witches. A flying ointment is a salve made with rendered animal fat or vegetable oil which has been infused with poisonous, psychoactive herbs. These substances were purportedly used by witches to fly to their sabbath rites, to shape-shift into animals, to cause people to fall asleep, to cast love spells, or to curse people with madness. Although most documentation and recipes of flying ointments are found in the early modern period during the height of the witch hunts in Europe, their mention can be found in ancient mythology and literature. Flying ointments are mentioned in Apollonius Rhodius’ The Argonautica from 200 BCE, Lucius Apuleius’ The Golden Ass from around 160 CE, and the oldest possible reference is in Homer’s The Iliad from around 800 BCE where the goddess Hera uses an oil of ambrosia to fly to Olympus, while never touching the earth.

Many of the plants traditionally found in flying ointment recipes are deadly poisons and well known hallucinogens associated with witchcraft, lycanthropy, and madness. It is enough to stop even a seasoned herbalist or botanist from experimenting with them. Other than containing poisonous herbs, one thing the differing flying ointment recipes have in common is they all contain at least one nightshade and sometimes several nightshade herbs including belladonna, datura, henbane, and mandrake.