The Sunniest
and Merriest of Summer's Yellow Flowers, the Cheery Face of St. John's
Wort Heals You in Many Ways
(Before I supply you with
all the good St. John's Wort (SJW) stuff, the following blather has been
requested, and faithfully supplied for the yahoo group ATFE aka Aromatherapy
for Everyone's subpage - the ATFE Herb Garden).
Personal Information
on the happy herbalist responsible for this website Anya McCoy, in an alchemical
blaze of fitting word to image to folklore to folks, scratched through
her harddrive, both in her head, and on her computer, to post this page
to the ATFE Herb Garden for posterity (since Stacey demanded it).
Astrological Sign Stacey, the "ride 'em
hard and put 'em away wet" ATFE taskmistress is by no way, shape or form
to be mistaken with me, a spacey, yet punctual and sweet-smelling Libran.
(she's a Virgo, and we know what that means, re: previous thread on ATFE).
Occupation Varies according to the
decade. This decade, writer, herbalist, aromatherapist, perfumer, environmentalist.
Last decade, land planner, urban designer, photographer, publicist, magazine
writer, herbalist, aromatherapist, elected official, professor. Before
that -- memory fails me, but basically the same as before. Next decade
-- anybody's guess.
Location Steamy Miami, Florida,
USA, where the Sunbelts of many Third World countries coalesce into a mango
jalapeno akee mojo mushmush. Ask me about my jasmines on my property, aka
JasmineWorld.
Personal hobbies
and interests Don't get me started.
Really. Don't. I'm ambihobbist.
Aromatherapy (AT) Roots- what brought
me to aromatherapy; education; background. Perfume lover since able
to sniff. First blend, at age 2.5, combining two of my favorite scents,
resulted in big discovery: they stunk when combined. Always gardened. Got
degree in Ethnobotany, studied and wrote book on herbs for University of
California. Started collecting essential oils as child, then got serious
about building my collection during ethnobotany studies. Started
community gardens. Got Masters in Landscape Architecture. Designed aromatic
gardens, both public and private. Collected many aromatherapy plagiarized,
fairy tale books. Challenged them. Got on web lists and learned and argued
with others as to the information being put out there by aromatherapists.
Put up webpage on AT. Blend and play with AT all the time. Finance clinical
trials using SJW oil and AT oils.
Current AT use,
specializations, business or hobby activity Oh, everything.
Plant Information Alright already, you
might say -- what in Bob's name is SJW doing as part of an Aromatherapy
Herb Garden project? Well, a few years ago
AT folks discovered that the infused oil of SJW, which herbalists had
been using since time immemorial, made a fabulous carrier oil for pain-relief
blends. Being an herbalist and aromatherapist who infused her own SJW,
I volunteered to bring the vast repository (cool term for clipped
off the 'net) of information, links, photos, etc., on this wonderful herb
to the ATFE Garden.
Why I choose the
plant It provided me with a
truly miraculous healing for my arthritic fingers (rheumatoid) and sciatica.
It also cured my psoriasis (or eczema) I had on my hands. I
had both conditions for over 10 years.
Plant history
and folklore It is associated with
St. John, the cousin of Christ. The red color of the infused oil signifies
the blood of St. John. It is believed to reach the peak of potency on
June 23rd (or 24th), St. John's Eve. Wort is the old English word
for plant or herb. The sunny yellow flowers are closely allied to the
powers of the sun, and solar infusion of the oil yielded a deep red color,
in the alchemic sense. Instead of trying to rewrite history, I ask
you to click on some of the links, below, for the rich and redolent history
of this plant's medicinal use throughout the ages. e.g., from Pagan folklore:
Litha
- A Midsummer's Celebration The
young maid stole through the cottage door, And
blushed as she sought the Plant of pow'r;-- 'Thou
silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light, I
must gather the mystic St. John's wort tonight, The
wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide If
the coming year shall make me a bride.
Traditional use
of the plant Antiinflammatory,
antibacterial, antiviral, relief for depression. The infused oil has been
used for pain, sprains, wounds, skin diseases and the like. It can
be gently rubbed in, massaged in, or used with a poultice. The tincture
(made by macerating the herb in alcohol) and the tea is taken internally
for relieving depression. There is some anecdotal evidence of the tincture
being taken internally for pain.
AT use Since aromatherapists
discovered the oil in the past five years or so, they have adopted it
as carrier oil for blends that contain the essential oils they use in massage,
usually for pain relief. Since aromatherapy is defined as the use of
essential oils, the infused, or fixed oil of SJW is not an aromatherapy product.
I personally like the essential oil of SJW, which is now being produced
for the perfumery industry. It is lovely, and reminds me of a mossy
forest floor.
How to use it Infused oil -- for pain
relief Tea and tincture -- for
depression Essential oil -- for
perfumery
Blends, recipes
and formulas Since SJW is a fixed
oil, it can be used in proportions that aromatherapists are used to for blending.
I personally believe that aromatherapy often confused hot and cold-giving essential
oils in blends, and I regard SJW oil as an antiinflammatory, 'cooling'
agent.
Cautions, contra-indications
and special notes SJW is a prohibited plant
in many western states, due to the fact that when cattle graze on
the herb, they become very sunsensitive. There is some anecdotal evidence
that humans may also suffer from this phototoxicity, but others
debunk this claim. You can research this on the internet. In the
link to herbalgram.com, below, you can find information about the
contraindications of taking SJW internally, as it can interfere with
some medications. Again, this can be researched on the internet.
Research links
to find more wonderful stuff about SJW Pubmed
(click on) is a great resource. Just type in hypericum for hundreds of medical
abstracts on the herb. Herbalgram.com
(click on) aka American Botanical Council Great Site! I'm a member,
and I encourage you to join if you're interested
in herbs. This is a link to a page with a lot of links on SJW. Great
info, mostly on the antidepressive effects, but some on the antiviral,
wound-healing, pain relief effects, too.
Here are a bunch of links
to sites I have bookmarked. There are too many to manually
link, so you'll have to cut and paste them, if you're interested in
visiting them.
