Herbal BOS
Asafoetida
Ferula Foetida
Pluto
Countermagick Herbe...Herbe of Consecration...Herbe of Protection...Herb of Purification...Religious Herbe...Visionary Herbe
Invocatory: Cernnunos, Pan, Priapus
Also called: devil's dung, food of the gods
LORE:
The Master Book of Herbalism reported that some hold the belief that asafoetida came into being when the god's semen came down from the heavens to meet the earth. Planted within the fertile soil, the asafoetida plant sprung forth.
USAGE:
It is possible, according to Grieve, thatasafoetida may affect activity within the brain. Whatever its psychological effects, it has a wide range of magickal uses. It is said that there is an affinity between black diamond and asafoetida. Some believe that they should be stored together.
Asafoetida is used in a variety of rituals and ceremonies. It is recommended as an ingredient in incense. The resin is harvested from the plant by making a cut in the root, dried and powdered, readily lending itself to censing. The Master Book of Herbalism recommends it "for rituals of a somber, ceremonial nature. It is used to banish all negative energy, evil spirits and demons."
The energy of this herbe is very focused and intense, It is associated with the Devil card of the major arcana. Used in meditations in conjunction with this graphic archetype, it helps one discover how the mundane attractions in our own lives have placed us in spiritual bondage. Once known, this herbe may also be used through rituals of self-purification or cleansing to help us break free of our own negative desires. Asafoetida is an excellent herbe for any student who has been accepted for training leading to iniation. As an incense, it works to increase the power of any ritual.
This herbe would be an excellent choice for those seeking entry into the mysteries of the horned god. It is recommended for those who place Priapus upon their altars, for those who invoke the gods, particularly in their aspect as phallic, fertility deities.
Description
A coarse umbelliferous plant growing up to 7 feet high, large fleshy root covered with bristly fibres, has been for some time successfully cultivated in Edinburgh Botanical Gardens; stem 6 to 10 feet, numerous stem leaves with wide sheathing petioles; flowers pale greeny yellow, fruit oval, flat thin, foliaceous, reddish brown with pronounced vittae, it has a milky juice and a strong foetid odour; was first found in the sandy desert of Aral in 1844, but has been known since the twelfth century. Several species of Ferula yield Asafetida. The bulk of the drug comes from the official plant, which is indigenous to Afghanistan and grows from two to four thousand feet above sealevel. These high plains are arid in winter but are thickly covered in summer with a luxuriant growth of these plants. The great cabbage-like folded heads are eaten raw by the natives. June is the month the juice is collected from plants about four years old. The roots of plants which have not flowered are exposed and slashed, then shaded from the sun for five or six weeks and left for the gummy oleoresin to leak out and harden. It is then scraped off in reddish lumps and put into leather bags and sent to Herat, where it is adulterated before being placed on the market. The fruit is sent to India for medicinal use. A very fine variety of Asafetida is obtained from the leaf bud in the centre of the root, but this does not come into European commerce, and is only used in India, where it is known in the Bazaars as Kandaharre Hing. It appears in reddish-yellow flakes and when squeezed gives out an oil.
Constituents
Its chief constituent is about 62 per cent of resin, 25 per cent. of gum and 7 per cent oil. The drug also contains free ferulic acid, water, and small quantities of various impurities.
Medicinal Action and Uses
The odour of Asafetida is stronger and more tenacious than that of the onion, the taste is bitter and acrid; the odour of the gum resin depends on the volatile oil. It is much used in India and Persia in spite of its offensive odour as a condiment and is thought to exercise a stimulant action on the brain. It is a local stimulant to the mucous membrane, especially to the alimentary tract, and therefore is a remedy of great value as a carminative in flatulent colic and a useful addition to laxative medicine. There is evidence that the volatile oil is eliminated through the lungs, therefore it is excellent for asthma bronchitis, whooping-cough, etc. Owing to its vile taste it is usually taken in pill form, but is often given to infants per rectum in the form of an emulsion. The powdered gum resin is not advocated as a medicine, the volatile oil being quickly dissipated.
Dosages and Preparations
Emulsion, Asafetida 4 parts, water 100 parts. Tincture, 1/2 to 1 fluid drachm. In pills, 3 grains of the oleogum-resin to a pill
Adulterants
Asafetida is admittedly the most adulterated drug on the market. Besides being largely admixed with inferior qualities of Asafetida, it has often red clay, sand, stones and gypsum added to it to increase the weight.
Other Species
The Thibetan Asafetida (Narthex Asafetida) is closely allied to the Ferulas. The umbels have no involucre, the limb of the calyx is suppressed, the stylopods depressed and cup-shaped, styles recurved, fruit compressed at back, dilated at margin. This variety produces some of the Asafetida used in commerce.
Scorodosma foetida, another gigantic umbelliferous plant found on the sandy steppes of the Caspian, also supplies the market. The Persian Sagapenum, or Serapinum, a species of Ferula which was formerly imported from Bombay, is in appearance very similar to Asafetida, but does not go pink when freshly fractured, and in smell is less disagreeable than Asafetida. This species is an ingredient of Confection Rutea, British Pharmacopceia Codex.
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