Greek 'pharmakon' meant cure, poison, and spell simultaneously — the same art applied three different ways.
The branch of medicine concerned with the uses, effects, and modes of action of drugs.
From Greek pharmakon (φάρμακον, drug, medicine, poison, charm, spell) + -logia (-λογία, study of, from légein 'to speak, to gather,' from PIE *leǵ- 'to gather'). The Greek pharmakon is of uncertain and possibly pre-Indo-European origin — no convincing PIE etymology has been established, suggesting it may be a substrate word borrowed from a pre-Greek Mediterranean language. The word's remarkable triple meaning — medicine, poison, and magical charm — reflects the ancient understanding that healing
Greek 'pharmakon' simultaneously meant medicine, poison, and magic spell — because the ancients saw no clear boundary between them. A substance that could heal could also kill; a substance that altered consciousness was both medicinal and magical. Plato used 'pharmakon' as a metaphor for writing: like a drug, writing can