The Medicine You Seek Is Seeking You..
A few weeks ago in early July I was sat in the sun amongst the grasses in the garden listening to voice notes from a dear friend & sipping on my matcha, when to my glorious surprise I noticed a beautiful tall St John's Wort preparing to bloom right at my eye level.
Anyone with green fingers and a plant-loving heart knows the joy of discovering surprise companions quietly growing right under your nose. Some more welcome than others, of course… but when a plant that’s always felt a bit of an enigma to you suddenly appears in abundance, well however you choose to see it, I see its appearance as an omen, a whisper from the wild, a subtle calling toward the medicine you seek… or the one that has come seeking you.
Paddy was super happy to find St. John’s wort growing in his garden this year as he's often worked with it periodically throughout the winter months (a clue, stay with me) We're seeing the bright yellow starry flowers popping up in various places now, spilling into bloom across his wild, meadow-style backyard.
I've been studying Alchemical Herbalism through the School of Evolutionary Herbalism with Sajah Popham over the last 5 years and have been taught in depth about the planet to plant correspondences. Just touching lightly to paint a picture for you, St John's Wort is attributed to the Sun, a solar plant whom has affinities with everything the Sun represents on a physio-medical and archetypal level. The Sun which is the ruler of the zodiacal sign Leo| the fixed fire element and attributed to the 5th house on the astrological wheel tells us of some of the qualities and medicinal virtues that are on offer.
The life giving planetary body we hold dearly for our human existence (no biggie) The Sun, corresponds with the radiant lion-heart/the circulatory system, our solar centre, the inner & joyous child, strength, play, courage, ritual & the day of Sunday to list but a few of the many golden threads.
With that Hypericum Perforatum (St John's Wort) often blooms during the light & height of the Summer Solstice/high Summer season in the northern hemisphere. (depending how north you are, here in northern British Colombia she blooms a little later than in Europe)
Hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) is a native plant to Europe & it has been spoken of as a herbal panacea, meaning a plant with many medicinal virtues/uses.
A very well known virtue is how St. John’s wort captures & holds the Sun’s energy, storing its golden light for the months when winter season closes in on us.
When the days are short and the memory of brighter days feels heavy, distant, almost out of reach. In these darker times, this plant offers its captured sunlight as light medicine ~so generously infusing us with a sense of brightness, lifting our forlorn & boggy spirits, restoring our inner light and carrying us through the season of hibernation and shadow both in & out.
To be clear, St John’s Wort is not an anti-depressant which is often how this flower is portrayed. Rather, it is a nerve trophorestorative (tonic) ~ a gentle uplifting agent for the spirit (a ‘Shen’ tonic in Chinese Medicine).
This makes this little ray of sunlight most useful for treating mild melancholy and perhaps a short bout of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) ~ which, I feel, is better to think of not as a dis-order..but the body and mind’s very natural response to a lack of sunlight which can trigger a rainbow of different feelings.
This solar plant supports our Liver (indicative in the colour yellow) helping release any built-up tensions and emotional ‘stuckness’.. this sunny yellow flower reminds us of the warmth & light we carry inside..no matter the season we’re in.
Traditionally, St John’s Wort was/is also used to “seal” the energy field. Working with the intention of mending any little leaks that may leave us feeling drained or overly sensitive to the world that surrounds us.. reestablishing the integrity of the etheric body. This use may be indicated through the latin name perforatum and the tiny perforated leaves, up close and under the sun you can see small holes letting the light through ~ the language of nature truly blows me away.
Plants attributed to Fire and Sun correspondence, will show us primarily yang (masculine energetics) morphological features, with possible serrations, sharpness, and intensity, with an upward and outward movement of the vital force.
I shared in my first post on this platform a 12 page zine I created in light of threshold season & root medicine (see below)
Giorgia Lamola Glenville
Find a portal to a short materia medica on root medicine on this page
Before harvesting St. John’s wort or while working with the plants you’ve gathered take a moment to speak your intent. What medicine will you craft with this age old ally? How do you wish to work with it? Maybe ask how they wish to be worked with. The beauty is, there doesn’t have to be just one answer and there's no right or wrong (please read disclaimer at the end of the blog).
The path is yours… ours… to shape. we, the co-creative medicine makers.
I knew I wanted an oil for topical use as I love body oils & balms as medicine/skin care. (This plant bleeds red as you can see in the image above which adds to its wild magic & potency) Used on pressure points for headaches, nerve tension/pain- Sciatica for example.
We wanted a tincture for on-the-go ease, & for adding into the occasional Matcha or mocktail as a natural spirit lifter.
Then I decided that sweetness & sunshine go hand in hand, so I made an electuary as my chosen medicine number 3.
An electuary is an ancient form of medicine crafted by many medicine peoples throughout many eras. The word for a sweetened herbal preparation, “electuary,” is believed to come from ancient Greek: ekleikton, “medicine which is licked away.” In short, an herbal electuary is a combination of honey and powdered herbs and can be added to a cup of hot water/infusions or straight up licked from a spoon.
"Just a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down" ♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ
And so, I decided to bestow a divine, powdery union upon freshly roasted Dandelion Root and St. John’s Wort, a pairing I feel to be deeply synergistic. The root has this delicious slightly sweet, roasted, earthy & subtly bitter taste which pairs so well with honey and the slightly pungent, bitter & astringency of St John's wort. (Don't be too weary of bitterness as it's an indication for being a powerful digestive aid)
Together they hold the balance between:
☯ Earth | Sun
☯ Winter | Summer
☯ Deep Rest | Play
☯ Dark | Light
☯ Protection | Vitality
Together they can help protect & nourish the digestion of the physical, the digestion of the mental, and the digestion of the emotional realms
And woven through it all, they honour that intimate, three-way conversation between Mind | Heart | Gut
A root grounded in resilience and truth, entwined with a bright star whose light soothes, protects the spirit and lifts the heart.
Stir in your prayers
St John's wort is a powerful ally and I feel deeply honoured for the opportunity to work more closely with this plant.. having it grow right under our nose and abundantly enough to experiment and make a bunch of different medicinal forms that will take care of us throughout the coming seasons.
I'd also like to note that as women, we don’t only move through the outer seasons we also cycle through our own inner seasons each month. During the luteal and menstrual phases (our inner Autumn and Winter), it’s natural for things to feel denser, darker, and cloudier within. Working with St. John’s Wort in these times can be a way to support emotional clarity, restore inner light, and help us navigate these cyclical descents with more warmth & resilience ~ more on this in later musings.
DISCLAIMER: It is important to highlight that the positive effects of St John's Wort can be negated & contraindicated when used in conjunction with other medications (anti-depressants/SSRI's as an example, a type of antidepressant that increases serotonin levels in the brain).. There is an "amplifying effect" which can do more harm than good. Herb drug interaction is a very important thing to be aware of and St John's Wort is a BIG one so please take personal responsibility & do your due diligence, working with a certified health care practitioner if unsure how to properly integrate this medicine into your practice or when sharing with others.
Take good care, & thankyou for being here.
