Random Disgusting Love Potions Were Real (12 items)

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  (#10) Anti-Love Potions Were Also Popular, And Included Bloodletting

  As eager as people were for love, some also sought to "cure" themselves of the perceived ailment. Luckily, there were cures for these needs as well. Some of these cures included bloodletting, drinking a ton of water, and avoiding alcohol and rich food. 
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  (#9) Earthworms Would Strengthen The Relationship Between Husband And Wife

  In the 16th century, a popular book called The Boke of Secretes of Albertus Magnus of the Vertues of Herbes, Stones and Certaine Beastes began circulating, giving instructions on how to mix certain herbs and even animals to create love potions. Not all potions were made to make someone fall in love with you, though. Even married couples had use for such concoctions. One recipe in Magnus's book called for periwinkle to be mixed with crushed earthworms. When put in your spouse's food, the result would be increased affection between a husband and wife.
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  (#12) Ancient Greeks Consumed A Popular Ingredient Until It Went Exctinct

  One plant was especially important to ancient Greeks looking to create love potions: satyrion, or satirio. The orchid was considered a pleasure plant and, when ground into a powder and added to wine, was said to be a potent aphrodisiac that would make whoever consumed it "passionately and wildly in love."

  Satyrion was so popular, people used it until there was literally none left, causing the plant to go extinct.
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  (#7) In India, Lovers Utilized A Potentially Fatal Hallucinogen

  The datura plant, known more commonly as thorn apple or Jimson weed, is a hallucinogen that can be fatal — regardless, in India, and other places around the world, it was an ingredient in love potions. The herb is considered to be "intoxicating," (while also deadly), and invokes intense feelings of seduction.

  The plant's properties are so powerful that it was even used in South America to induce sleep in women who were to be buried alive with their chieftain husbands.
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  (#3) A Variety Of Animal Remains Were Incredibly Popular, Especially Spanish Fly

  Animal products of all sorts were used in love potions all across the world. According to History Answers, recipes called for:

  "sparrow heads, deer heart, the droppings of a stork, fat of a snake, brain of a sparrow, testicles of a donkey, bones from a left side of a toad which has been devoured by ants, blood and heart of a pigeon, and...bat’s blood in beer."

  The most popular animal used in potions was the Spanish Fly, or the Blister Beetle. Usage of Spanish Fly dates back to Hippocrates. According to Latin chroniclers, the ingredient was considered a powerful aphrodisiac, and was crushed and put into numerous potions, which were incredibly popular at the courts of Roman Emperor Augustus. However, Spanish Fly is actually quite dangerous, and can cause permanent kidney and liver damage.
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  (#2) One Potion Required Human Cadavers

  As popular as animal remains were in potions, human cadavers were more taboo, but still utilized. These included bone smashed into a powder, hair, and the menstrual blood. The potions allegedly worked best if there were ingredients from both romantic parties involved.

  One specific recipe called for the spleen and bone marrow of a murdered boy, so sometimes these things got pretty specific. The use of menstrual blood in numerous love potions hints at the fact that it was mostly women who used love potions, and some ended up being convicted of witchcraft as a result.

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