Judaic Myth & Mysticism

This post was originally published on my Tumblr page,  judaic-myth-n-mysticism.tumblr.com, and has been reposted here with minor content, grammatical, and formatting edits.   (TLDR at the very bottom) It is no secret that the Sages were masters of using herbs in all sorts of miraculous manners. In fact, so common were these practices that they warranted being given a name by the sages, “Kamea shel Ikrin,” or an amulet of roots. We see several instances of this craft throughout rabbinic literature such as the garlands of the madder plant that Abaye discusses in Shabbat 90b. Perhaps even more directly we see this technique of herbal amulet making referenced by the Sages in Shabbat 57b where Rav Yosef identifies a totefet as a " packet of spices to ward off the evil eye."  These knots and little packets of herbs were deemed so effective, that the Mishna allows them to be worn and carried on Shabbos! However, the Sages also make it very clear that the use of herbs is a core p...