Sanguinaria Candensis

Common Name--Indian Paint. Tetterwort. Red Pucoon. Red Root. Paucon. Coon Root. Snakebite. Sweet Slumber. 

Family- N.O. Papaveraceae

Parts Used---Root, whole plant. 

Habitat---United States of America and Canada, found in rich open woods from Canada, south to Florida and west to Arkansas. and Nebraska.

Planet - Mars, Jupiter

Element - Fire

* Warning: This plant has appeared on the 'endangered list' best to cultivate than remove from the wild.

Description -Perennial. Single white flower, golden stamens with single downy leaf that drapes around it like a cape and approx. 6 inches high. Leaves palmate 6 inches. Once the plant has flowered the leaves will increase in size and present prominent veins. Seed found in elongated pod approx. 1 inch. Root stock has rounding appearance, thick and fleshy with tapered ends; long orange rootlets. Bloodroot juice appears orange-red. Collect the root in the fall once the leaves have passed.

Constituents-Alkaloids Sanguinarine, Chelerythrine, Protopine and B. homochelidonine; Sanguinarine forms colorless crystals. Chelerythrine is also colourless and crystalline. Protopine (same constituent as found in opium). The rhizome contains red resin; abundance of starch.

Poison Indications: Doses are mildly sedative, overdose easily done and is fatal. Juice and root are caustic and can damage tissue wherever applied. Poison symptoms include: faintness and vertigo, intense thirst, a burning stomach, vomiting, dimness of eyesight.

Parts Used: Roots collected in autumn, allow to dry completely, watch for mold. Tender root can lose potency quickly.

Active Properties: Diuretic, emetic, emmenagogue, escharotic, expectorant, febrifuge, sedative, stimulant, tonic, purgative. * Caution needed. Powder used as poultice for aches and pains, joint inflammation, fungoid tumors, warts, ringworm, sores, and eczema.

Early Use: The root has long been used by the American Indians as a dye for their bodies and clothes and has been used successfully by American and French dyers.

*Reminder: can also cause severe skin irritation and destruction.

Cultivation:  Most moist wooded areas.  Plant prefers shade.  Early spring flower.

Rootwork Magic - Used as a substitute for blood in spellcraft (use powered form with liquid added) and referred to as Diabolic Wine.

Protective of marriages, imparts harmony in the home when hung in attic mixed with rosemary and thyme. Promotes satisfying marital sex and potency. For spouse fidelity sew dried bloodroot into pillows.

Carried for love in a red flannel pouch close to the body; placed over lintel and windows for home protection.  To break a hex, hide a small piece of dried blood root in the home or under the threshold of the perpetrator.

Sympathetic Magic: Rootworkers use the dark red roots to represent the male and the lighter pink roots for the female.

Diabolic Wine Recipe:  Mix powered bloodroot in a container with a full bodied wine.  Let stand covered with a red cloth for one full cycle of the dark moon.  When ready strain through cheesecloth into the final bottle.

Method:

Place bottle between two deep red beeswax candles dedicated to your particular patron.  Light the candles, still your mind, extend both hands, thumbs and first fingers touching forming a triangle, over bottle and repeat three times while lowering hands over bottle stopping short of touching the surface the bottle rests on.  Emphasize the words that are capitalized in order to knead the spell into the subconscious where, from there, it can be birthed:

"You are not wine but Blood,

 Living blood, Scarlet blood,

 Living Scarlet Blood of mine. (3X)"

References:

A Modern Herbal (two volumes) by Mrs. Grieve

Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook by James Green

Culpepper's Complete Herbal - Nicholas Culpeper