thumb|A bottle of colored liquid labelled as a love potion

thumb|A collection of vials labelled as potions

A potion is a liquid that contains "medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers." It derives from the Latin word potio which refers to a drink or the act of drinking.

Throughout history, there have been several types of potions for a range of purposes. Reasons for taking potions have included curing an illness, securing immortality, and trying to inspire love. These potions, while often ineffective or poisonous, occasionally had some degree of medicinal benefits depending on what they sought to fix and the type and amount of ingredients used. Prostitutes, courtesans, enchanters and midwives were also known to distribute potions. In the 12th century, the French had the word pocion, meaning "potion", "draught", or "medicine". By the 13th century, this word became pocioun, referring to either a medicinal drink, or a dose of liquid medicine (or poison).

The word "potion" is also cognate with the Spanish words pocion with the same meaning, and ponzoña, meaning "poison"; The word pozione was originally the same word for both "poison" and "potion" in Italian, but by the early 15th century in Italy, potion began to be known specifically as a magical or enchanted drink.

Administrators of potions

The practice of administering potions has had a long history of being illegalised. Despite these laws, there have been several different administrators of potions across history.

Quacks

thumb|upright|A quack or charlatan doctor selling potions from his caravan in 19th century Ireland

Quacks or charlatans are people who sell "medical methods that do not work and are only intended to make money". In Europe in the 15th century it was also common to see long-distance peddlers, who sold supposedly magical healing potions and elixirs. During the Great Plague of London in the 17th century, quacks sold many fake potions promising either cures or immunity. Because pills looked less trustworthy to the public, potions were often the top sellers of quacks. These potions often included bizarre ingredients such as floral pomanders and the smoke of fragrant woods. The well known Wessex quack Vilbert was known to sell love potions made of pigeon hearts. Potions distributed by chemists for illnesses were often derived from herbs and plants, and based on old beliefs and remedies.

Prior to the Pharmacy Act 1868 anybody could become a pharmacist or chemist. Since the practice was unregulated, potions were often made from scratch.

Potions were additionally used to cure illness in livestock. One potion found in a 19th-century pharmacist's recipe book was to be used for "lambs of about 7 years old" and contains chalk, pomegranate and opium. and could administer potions, lotions or salves in addition to performing prayers or chants. This was often free of charge or significantly less expensive than the potions of apothecaries.

The limited jobs available to women during the 17th to 18th century in Europe often involved a knowledge of potions as an additional way to gain a financial income. Jobs that often involved the selling of love potions included prostitutes, courtesans, enchanters and midwives. In Greece, retired courtesans often both created potions and worked as midwives. Prostitutes in Europe were often expected to be an expert in magic and administer love potions. Additionally abortive potions could also be prepared by infusion of herbs or other plants. For example, the willow tree was a common ingredient in these potions, as it was fabled to cause sterility. Several key theological and legal literature of the time condemned this practice, including Visigothic law and the Church. She later established herself in Rome, where she continued the business, specialising in selling to women in abusive marriages who wanted to become widows. This job involved "examining urine by its physical appearance; touching the body; and prescribing potions, digestives, and laxatives." Eight witnesses testified to her medical experience and wisdom. However, as she had not attended university, her knowledge was dismissed. Jacqueline Felice was then found guilty and fined and excommunicated from the church. and as such potions have been created across history and cultures in response to these human emotions. Scandinavians often used love-philtres, which is documented in the Norse poem The Lay of Gudrun. These love potions were sold to women of all social classes, who often wished to gain sexual agency. The potion was intended to cure heart palpitations, restore strength and cure madness and depression.

Many of these ingredients still have medicinal value in the 21st century. Liquorice can be used to treat coughs and bronchitis. Sage can help memory and improve blood flow to the brain. Willow contains salicylic acid, which is a component of aspirin. Fennel, cinnamon and ginger are all carminatives, which help relieve gas in the intestines. The cormorant blood adds iron to treat anemia. If used in small doses, Mandrake is a good sleeping draught (though in large doses Mandrake can be poisonous.) Dragon's blood refers to the bright red resin of the tree Dracaena draco. According to Toni Mount "it has antiseptic, antibiotic, anti-viral and wound-healing properties, and it is still used in some parts of the world to treat dysentery." The Elixir of Life is a famous potion that aimed to create eternal youth. During the Chinese dynasties, this elixir of life was often recreated and drunk by emperors, nobles and officials. In India, there is a myth of the potion amrita, a drink of immortality made out of nectar.

Psychedelic potions

Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca, is a hallucinogenic plant-based potion used in many parts of the world. It was first created by indigenous South Americans from the Amazon basin as a spiritual medicine. The potion was often administered by a shaman during a ceremony. The potion contains the boiled stems of the ayahuasca vine and leaves from the chacruna plant. Chacruna contains dimethyltryptamine (also known as DMT), a psychedelic drug. The potion caused users to vomit or 'purge' and induced hallucinations.

Folklore

Potions or mixtures are common within many of local mythologies. In particular, references to love potions are common in many cultures. Yusufzai witches, for example, would bathe a recently deceased leatherworker and sell the water to those seeking a male partner; this practice is said to exist in a modified form in modern times.

In the fairytale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, the Little Mermaid wishes to become human and have an immortal soul. She visits the Sea Witch who sells her a potion, in exchange for which she cuts out the Little Mermaid's tongue. The Sea Witch makes the potion using her own blood that she cuts from her breast. She warns the Little Mermaid that it will feel as if she had been cut with a sword when her fin becomes legs, that she will never be able to become a mermaid again, and risks turning into seafoam and not having an immortal soul if she fails to win the Prince's love. The Little Mermaid decides to take the potion which successfully turns her into a human so that she can try to win the love of the Prince and an immortal soul.

In the novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Henry Jekyll creates a potion that transforms him into an evil version of himself called Edward Hyde. Dr. Jekyll does not explain how he created this potion because he felt his "discoveries were incomplete," he only indicates that it requires a "particular salt." He uses the potion successfully to go back and forth between his normal self, Dr. Jekyll, and his evil self, Mr. Hyde.

In the Harry Potter series, potions also play a main role. The students are required to attend potion classes, taught by Severus Snape and Horace Slughorn and knowledge of potions often becomes a factor for many of the characters. Throughout the course of the story, several characters take Polyjuice Potion to impersonate other characters, while the use of Felix Felicis potion in Book 6 helps Harry Potter gain vital information about horcruxes.

In the Asterix comic album series, an unnamed coastal village in Armorica, Gaul (present-day Brittany, France), in the year 50 BC, holds out against the invading Romans (led by Julius Caesar), with the help of a magic potion. This magic potion, brewed by the local druid Getafix, temporarily gives the recipient superhuman strength. The title character, and his friend Obelix, go on adventures and missions, aided by this magic potion. The druid uses many ingredients, most notably mistletoe, to brew this potion.

Solanaceous plants

thumb|upright|An illustration of a Mandrake plant

In the 11th century, plants belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae were often used as an ingredients in the potions - aphrodisiac or otherwise - and flying ointments of witches. The specific nightshades used in such concoctions were usually tropane alkaloid-containing species belonging to the Old World tribes Hyoscyameae and Mandragoreae. M. officinarum is native to the Mediterranean region. Administered in small doses mandrake root has been used in folk medicine as an analgesic, an aphrodisiac and a remedy for infertility. Larger doses act as an entheogen of the deliriant class, having the potential to cause profound confusion and dysphoria characterised by realistic hallucinations of an unpleasant character. Classical and Renaissance authors have left certain accounts of the use of the plant by witches in the preparation of potions intended variously to excite love, cause insanity or even kill. Scopolamine, a toxic, deliriant alkaloid present in (and named after) Scopolia carniolica and also present in Mandragora, Hyoscyamus and other Solanaceae, was used by the infamous Dr. Crippen to kill his wife.

Spanish fly

In ancient Greece, the Spanish fly (also known as cantharides) was crushed with herbs and used in love potions. It was believed to be effective due to the bodily warmth that resulted from ingesting it. However, this was actually a result of inflammation from toxins in the tissues of the beetle. Ferdinand II of Aragon drank many potions and elixirs containing the Spanish fly.

Cochineal

Cochineal, another type of dye, replaced kermes as an ingredient in Confectio Alchermes in the 17th and 18th centuries. Cochineal was also heavily used as an ingredient in potions for jaundice. Jaundice potions were a mix of Cochineal, cream of tartar and Venetian soap and patients were directed to take it three times a day.

Cannabis and opium

Cannabis and opium has been used in potions throughout human history. Potions containing cannabis and/or opium were particularly popular in Arabia, Persia, and Muslim India after the arrival of the drugs around the 9th century. Cannabis and opium were a common ingredient used in potions and tinctures sold by apothecaries in 19th-century Europe, as the ingredients made patients feel better, and the addictive nature of the drug meant it sold well.