St. John’s Wort
Hypericum perforatum
the Earth cries and the Sun bleeds, for you.
all the light you did not know was yours.
sometimes it is easy to forget that it has been there, and will continue to be.
perpetual grey skies and disillusioned pharmacy lines, skin pulsing under fluorescent lights.
your hands do not feel like your own, a dense mist envelops your mind. has it always been this way?
peel your gaze from your screen, that light is not what you need.
let yourself be guided to the color of lemons, ambers, egg yolks and golds. the star suns of the Earth.
fireworks of solar rays catalyzing your blood, dissipating fogs, revealing a bluebird Sky.
throw your arms wide, and turn your face to the Sun.
“And through the green gloom grows the light, of St. John’s Wort - a nimbus of gold.”
Walter Crane
“De Herstellers” Will Worthington
advicefromtheherblady.com
botanical identification
flowers: open, flat top, cyme inflorescence with 5 radial yellow petals and long stamens.
other: opposite patterned leaves and branches, when the leaves are held to the light you will see small dots (oil glands) - plant can grow up to 3 feet tall - full sun
harvest by eva and dylan in PA - that day about a total of 17 lbs accompanied by many st johns wort beetles
making of fresh st john's wort tincture - this vibrant red color is present after only minutes of blending - aerials used
pre pressing st john's wort tincture after maceration - final deep blood red color
st john's wort oil infusing at Terra Flora - Flower Essence Society in CA
her offerings
forms - tincture, topical, tea, flower essence
restoring and reviving
parts used: flowers and aerials
energetics: warming, drying,
- nervous system ally - assisting with mild depression, anxiety, nerve damage and seasonal affective disorder.
- speeds up metabolism, supporting the liver and digestive organs.
- solar medicine - bringing light during darkest times- typically harvested on summer solstice
- infused oil used topically for nerve damage/pain, wounds, bruises, shingles
- flower essence - balance of light forces in the body, solar strength, protection
- **Do not take this medicine in conjunction with pharmaceutical drugs**
“Hypericum which translates literally as “over an apparition” is a proven antidepressant that helps raise the spirits”
Richo Cech
natalie squishing the flower tops to show one of the active consituents, hypericin that is the color red.
“From A Floral Fantasy in an Old English Garden” Walter Crane
golden smoke over summer’s boundless fields
ST JOHN’S WORT
Named for a man who carried his own head
on a platter, for a day when the sun bears
its light over the land so slowly, so measuredly,
that the night crouches back and waits. A token
of love, of patience, of the will to life the mind
outside oneself, and let it rest. Let it heal. Alone,
I remembered this little herb, the yellow spikes
of the flower, frill of stamen, as something akin
to happiness - its bright stars, its tiny play
at hope, its way of lifting you through the grass -
and I brought it to you, a light to illumine
the dark caves of your eyes. At the door
of the ward, being searched, the nurse
took from me my gathering of flowers.
I found you on the bed, staring, still in shock.
Bringing no gift, I took your head
in my empty hands like a world and held it.
(2020)
Seán Hewitt