potions

Women would terminate pregnancies in several different ways, such as ingesting herbs or medicinal potions that were thought to induce a miscarriage, Dr. Schoen said.

But those smoothies were, in fact, cocktails of drugs and potions that were making her far more unwell than she already was.

"They made potions and charms and were an accepted part of the community," he said.

In a widely condemned practice, some traditional healers use body parts to make potions, claiming they can cure people of illnesses or improve their fortunes.

These plants—in the form of ointments, potions, or burning smoke—were prescribed for everything from earaches and toothaches to flatulence and “pains of the womb.”