S Symplocarpus Foetidus Origins: Symplocarpus foetidus is the Latin name for skunk cabbage. Facts: Skunk cabbage is considered a magical herb. Wrapped in a bay leaf on a Sunday, it "forms a talisman which draws good fortune to the bearer." In Literature: • "'Symplocarpus foetidus.' She liked the sound of the words. 'Symplocarpus foetidus,' she repeated, rolling the syllables off her tongue. . . . 'Do you think the words are magic?' 'Maybe it's a combination -- of magic in the words, and naming.'" -- A.C. Lemieux, The Fairy Lair: A Magic Place (1998) Syos Meanings: • Divine -- Jacobus de Voragine, Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (199 ) • God or godly -- Jacobus de Voragine, Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints (199 ) • Master (honorific), as in the Pandoran language -- Pandoran-English Dictionary 3rd Edition Origins: Syos is likely derived from the old Greek word theos, meaning "to shine" with divine light. Sios is the Laconian variant of theos. Magicians living in the 12th and 1 th centuries used Syos as a magical invocation to the cardinal directions.54 In Literature: • "Having reached the potter's earth, he plants his heel upon it and turning successively to the East, South, and North, repeats the magic word 'Syos' to each of those cardinal points." -- Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science (192 ) 5 Scott Cunningham, Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (200 ) 54 Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental Science (192 )