Medicine Macabre: The Healing Magic and High Value of Human Fat
What now seems macabre and grisly to many, harvesting parts of the freshly dead human body for use in healing was an old, traditional practice by doctors who claimed it was excellent in treating and curing a host of ailments.
Between skull powder medicine and fresh blood concoctions, ancient doctors working in the field of so-called ‘corpse medicine’ let no part of a dead body go to waste. Not a remedy for the squeamish perhaps, ancient and early modern healers extolled the virtues of human fat and its healing properties.
Pharmacopoeias, or ancient medical texts, listed human fat as an important component of ointments and salves in Europe since the 16th century. Besides fat from the likes of beavers, bears, snakes, cats and more, human fat was included in old medicine recipes.
A replica of human fat. The natural color is yellow. (Public Domain)
Human fat is not necessarily an ingredient that has ever been easy to come by, but when acquired it was judiciously and sparingly used to treat ailments and mend the sick (or rather, those who could afford the high-priced fat treatments at apothecaries, the early precursors to pharmacies.)
- Ancient skull was drilled and harvested for medicine in the 18th century
- Researchers discover a grisly end to a British naval expedition: Crew boiled bones of the dead
Often in this cannibalistic medicine, the key to treating a specific illness was to match the medicine with the problem area: ground skull powder was used for headaches, blood was ingested for blood diseases, fat was rubbed on the body, etc.
Two apothecary vessels with inscription AXUNG. HOMINIS for human fat, approx. 17th or 18th century. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Not only was it believed that fat, blood, or other body parts and fluids could cure illness, but consuming part of the deceased meant receiving its spirit, thus improving overall health. As well, the fresher the ingredients, the better. By using the corpse medicine from the recently deceased, it was believed you gained the strength, vitality, and youthful health of the ‘donor’.
