Aglaophotis is a herb mentioned occasionally in works on occultism. References to aglaophotis and to olieribos (both of which are said to be magical herbs) are made in the ''

Simon Necronomicon The ''Simon Necronomicon'' is a grimoire allegedly written by Peter Levenda (aka "Simon" from the introduction in the book). Materials presented in the book are a blend of ancient Middle Eastern elements, with allusions to the writings of H. P. ...

''.

Historic uses

The Greek doctor

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

named aglaophotis as a member of the peony family, Paeoniaceae. It has been speculated that the species ''

Paeonia officinalis ''Paeonia officinalis'', the common peony, or garden peony, is a species of flowering plant in the family Paeoniaceae, native to mainly mountainous areas of Southern Europe and introduced in Central and Western Europe and North America. ''Pa ...

'', or the European peony, is the source of aglaophotis, but there is little evidence for this theory to be proved. According to Dioscorides, peony is used for warding off demons, witchcraft, and fever. This is at odds with the presentation in the ''Simon Necronomicon'' released twenty centuries later, in which it is used to call upon dark forces.

In popular culture

Aglaophotis is portrayed throughout the ''

Silent Hill is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, '' Silent Hill'', ''Silent Hill 2'', ''Silent Hill 3'' and '' ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

series as a fluid or tablet which can expel monstrous parasites from characters' bodies. The herb appears as a species of sentient, hostile plant monsters in ''

Final Fantasy XI also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Squaresoft and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installment of the ''Final Fantas ...

''.

References

Mythological plants {{Herb-stub