Actual Snake Oil?

[hong]

You can lubricate snakes with motor, linseed, or olive oil with equal effectiveness.

You can put motor oil on MY snake when you pry my cold, dead fingers off it.

- Olgar "Snake Oil Salesman" Shiverstone

Hong "but olive oil is fine" Ooi

 

[Hanuman]

I once considered going into the snakeoil business but the little buggers are just so damn hard to round up

 

[der_kluge]

Yes, I know what the term means, but many of the liniments and medicines sold during the late 1800s and early 1900s supposedly contained actual snake oil which was intended as a cure-all and healing ingredient. Thing is, my research isn't clear whether there is, or even whether there ever was any such thing as actual, factual snake oil.

That Wikipedia entry was pretty good, though. I hadn't come across that. I think it answers the question.

Still, I did see at least one reference to Pagans selling it. Any Pagans here want to comment on that?

 

[jmucchiello]

Still, I did see at least one reference to Pagans selling it. Any Pagans here want to comment on that?

Did what you read mean Pagan in the modern sense or was it just the older term for any non-christian?

 

[der_kluge]

Did what you read mean Pagan in the modern sense or was it just the older term for any non-christian?

More specifically, Wiccans. I came across a Wiccan website that talked about some group selling snake oil, but I couldn't find any more references to it other than that.

 

[AuraSeer]

More specifically, Wiccans. I came across a Wiccan website that talked about some group selling snake oil, but I couldn't find any more references to it other than that.

It's very difficult to comment without knowing exactly what you're talking about. Could you post a link to the website? (If this thread gets closed, please PM the link to me; I'm curious about what was said.) "Selling snake oil" is an idiom for comitting fraud, but that by itself doesn't give us much to work with.

One thing it could refer to is a group that claimed to be religious, but was actually just running a scam. There have always been people who mask con games under the false veneer of religion, and they're not picky about what faith they pretend to have.

If you're asking whether literal "snake oil" is a component of pagan ritual, the answer is no, because there is really no such thing.

 

[der_kluge]

Here it is:
http://www.geocities.com/ferigold/yttfiles/

Here's the relevant text. I can't really tell if he's being facetious or not.

"Faery Gold's observation is that this web page author in question, Robert Martin, under the aegis of YTT and "Lord Rhuddlwm Gawr" is clearly, documentably, and irrefutably, without any hint of rumor or hearsay, presenting artificially Faery-scented snake oil. It COULD be perfectly good snake oil, actual snake oil has many uses, but that doesn't change the question of truth in labelling and advertising. People want the real Faery/Celtic snake oil, not a cheap smelling imitation knock off... "


AHA!

http://www.whitemagic.com.au/Mystoils.htm

I may have to order a bottle of it, just as a conversation piece if nothing else.
I wonder what's in it...


Another reference:
http://hometown.aol.com/ladydanaan/GoddessoftheSilverMoon-Oils.html

 

[AuraSeer]

Ah. It's a metaphor.
The first site you linked is just using the "snake oil" idiom to say that another group is presenting itself under false pretenses. They say, "Those other guys claim to offer unique Faery teachings, but actually just took other people's stuff and put their own Faery label on it." From their point of view, that makes Those Other Guys a set of snake oil salesmen.

The second site you linked does sell something called "snake oil," but that refers to its intended use, not its source. (Note that on the same page they offer "money oil", and even "air oil.")

None of this has anything to do with D&D, of course.