Driving nails into the effigy during the appropriate ceremony or ritual is intended to cause disease and death, or drive illness from the part of the body in which the nail or nails are inserted. (Fetish figure from Congo, central Africa)



 
                                                                                   Bezoar Stones

These natural rock-like objects form in the stomachs of animals, such as goats, sheep, and cows, and were said to have magical powers against disease-causing “poisons” in the body. Human stones from the bladder, kidney, and gall bladder were similarly prized.

 

                                                                              Doctrine of Signatures

VIOLA TRICILOR (Heartsease)

      The doctrine of signatures has existed in various forms since antiquity. If a plant was “signed” – showed features resembling symptoms of an illness, or looked like a part of the body – then it was used to cure that illness or body part. Tea made from heart-shaped wild pansy petals, for example, reputedly mended or “eased” a broken heart, hence its other name of heartsease.