St John’s wort has become well known as a herb for treating depression and SAD, but it is far more than that. An antiseptic wound herb of ancient repute, it was the main plant of St John, the sun herb of midsummer and a protector against evil and unseen influences. In modern terms, it strengthens the nervous system and the digestion, protects the liver, is antiviral and reduces pain; it is a plant for support through life-cycle changes.
Hypericaceae St John’s wort family
Description: A mid-sized perennial with yellow flowers. It is distinguished from other species of Hypericum by the ‘perforations’ in the leaf, which are actually oil glands.
Habitat: Road verges, hedge banks, rough grassland, meadows and open woodland.
Distribution: Found throughout the British Isles, but rarer north of the Solway Firth. An introduced weed in North America and Australasia.
Related species: There are several other native species of St John’s wort, but they are not as good medicinally, so check for the ‘perforations’ in the leaf by holding one up to the sun.
Parts used: Flowering tops.
The protecting power of St John’s wort derives from a powerful mix of observed herbal benefits and the plant’s part in the Christian adaptation of older midsummer sun and fire ‘pagan’ ceremonies.
Its Latin name Hypericum gives us clues about the takeover of one form of sun-magic by another. The hyper-ikon was a herb placed above St John’s image, or painted icon; by extension, it meant power over ghosts or invisible bad spirits. It was particularly important to invoke the plant’s help on St John’s eve against witchcraft or diabolic influences (see panel on page 161).
St John’s wort was a powerful sun herb to dispel darkness, and it had the ‘signatures’ to prove it. The so-called ‘holes’ in the leaves, the perforata of the Latin name, were emblematic of St John’s holy wounds and martyrdom, along with the red ‘blood’ of the plant’s extract. Scientists now know the holes to be resinous glands of hypericin and other active compounds. The cross formed by the leaves, seen from above, was also symbolic of the plant’s power.
The sun is said to control the solar (sun) plexus in the body. In yogic systems this is a centre of protective energy that is ruled by the yellow part of the spectrum. This affinity of St John’s wort with the solar plexus extends to the plant’s use in treating the digestive and nervous systems. It is also taken for life-cycle conditions, such as bedwetting in the young, menstrual problems and menopause. The solar plexus governs ‘gut instinct’ and life’s unseen influences – again leading us to protection.
This may sound rather esoteric, but we have certainly found for ourselves that the actual time of picking St John’s wort flowers does matter in a practical sense.
We once gathered it on impulse on a summer evening while driving to a party in north Norfolk. We knew we should harvest in the middle of the day, but thought we’d try anyway. We put our beautiful yellow flowers into olive oil on arriving home, and placed the jar on a south-facing windowsill to infuse. Nothing happened. That jar was in the sun for months, but never turned red.
On the other hand, some of the best St John’s wort oil we’ve ever made was on a visit to Italy. In Ostia Antica, the ancient harbour town for Rome, there were many interesting plants, including St John’s wort, which was growing only among the ruined temples.
It was actually St John’s day, 24 June, and very hot. We picked enough flowers to make a small jar of oil and infused it on our friend’s balcony in Rome. Within hours it was a wonderful deep red colour.
Use St John’s wort for…
What we find interesting is that modern uses of the plant, as we will outline, differ so much from the more traditional uses. Look at Parkinson’s list of its benefits (right): few herbalists will now use St John’s wort to dissolve tumours. Mrs Grieve, writing in 1931, says it is good for pulmonary complaints, bladder problems, diarrhoea, jaundice and nervous depression, among others.
No mention there of a modern and effective use of St John’s wort for what we now call seasonal affective disorder (SAD), where people feel low and depressed in the dark months of northern European winters. A spoonful of home-made St John’s wort tincture will light you up inside with a warm glow.
When the light shines through the leaves of perforate St John’s wort, the oil glands look like holes (hence perforatum in the name). There are ten times more glands in the flowers than the leaves or stems.
St John’s wort’s reputation for helping lift the darkness of depression has grown considerably. This use of the herb has been well researched in the last twenty years and has stimulated a surge in sales of St John’s wort products. It is known that hypericin interferes with monoamine oxidase (MAO), which contributes to depression. Pharmaceutical products also act as MAO inhibitors, but St John’s wort is a slow treatment, and, crucially, has few side effects.
St John’s wort growing along a Norfolk lane, St John’s day, 24 June
Taking the plant as a flower essence or tincture will help in improving sleep quality, an important issue in depression. We also give a sleep pillow recipe.
St John’s wort treatment has been officially recognised in Germany since 1984 as effective for mild to moderate depression. When the protocol was publicised, St John’s wort products soon outsold Prozac by a factor of seven to one.
A ‘modern’ way of looking at depression has some interesting precursors. One example is an early nineteenth-century verse by Alfred Lear Huxford; this links a ceremonial use of St John’s wort leaves bound to the forehead and the relief of ‘dark thoughts’:
So thus about her brow/ They bound Hypericum, whose potent leaves/ Have sovereign powers o’er all the sullen fits/ And cheerless fancies that besiege the mind;/ Banishing ever, to their native night/ Dark thoughts, and causing to spring up within/ The heart distress’d, a glow of gladdening hope,/ And rainbow visions of kind destiny.
If you change the world-view from religious to scientific, from old ‘superstition’ to modern ‘rationalism’, is it really so far from fear of possession by evil spirits to modern clinical depression? Perhaps, like great literature, our major herbs adapt to the neuroses and psychic needs of the time; St John’s wort has done this beautifully. However, it would not be true to say the herb has no side effects at all. One, which is sometimes experienced among the fair-skinned, is to make them more sensitive to the sun. Care is needed if you burn easily, and the herb should be avoided if you need to be out in the sun and in danger of burning.
This proneness to sunburn extends to cattle. They are liable to gorge on the plant and can die, which is why US law has proscribed as noxious H. perforatum, the introduced St John’s wort, known there as Klamath weed.
It was also an unwelcome chance arrival in Australasia and South Africa in the nineteenth century. Spreading by seeds as well as active vegetative roots, it quickly overtakes native vegetation and becomes a problem for livestock.
In the doctrine of signatures yellow-coloured herbs are often associated with the liver and an ability to treat jaundice. This can be unfounded, but St John’s wort is a case in point, working to relieve liver tension and harmonising the action of the liver with other digestive organs.
Its action is gently decongesting, strengthening both liver and gallbladder. But because St John’s wort helps the liver break down and get rid of toxins, it can lower levels of certain drugs in the body, reducing their effectiveness. The best advice here is: do not use St John’s wort alongside any pharmaceutical medication without first seeking the advice of your herbal practitioner or doctor.
Taking St John’s wort improves your absorption of nutrients, and helps normalise stomach acid levels whether too high or too low. It is a well-known treatment for ulcers, heartburn and bloating.
It is also one of the best herbs for treating shingles, being antiviral as well as pain-relieving and also speeding up tissue repair. Use the infused oil externally over the painful area, and take the tincture internally at the same time.
As a proven antiviral, St John’s wort may have future benefits for HIV and AIDS treatment, but more research is needed.
Herbs of St John
St John’s wort is one of the main herbs of St John the Baptist, whose birthday was taken to be 24 June. It is no coincidence that John, the precursor of Christ, was given a birth-date in midsummer and Christ himself in midwinter. This was one way the year’s solstices were appropriated from older pagan festivals by the Christian Church.
St John’s wort, which blooms so brightly around midsummer, whether taken as solstice or saint’s day, is the name-plant for this time. Other herbs of St John were great plantain, mugwort, yarrow and vervain (all in this book), and corn marigold, dwarf elder, ivy and orpine (Sedum telephium).
The herbs of St John were gathered on the morning of 23 June, before sunrise. That evening fires were lit, the smoke purifying both herbs and the people (and cattle) who crossed the fires. The plants were now sanctified by the saint’s power, and went into amulets, were placed above doorways and in cattle stalls, and stored for later use.
The overall protection afforded is well summarised in the French phrase avoir toutes les herbes de la St-Jean, meaning ready and safeguarded for everything.
The oil also works well as a rub for backache, sore muscles and gums, and being antiseptic will help heal wounds arising from injuries or surgery, as in older formulations.
From its former reputation as a ‘cure-all’ is derived the name of the garden St John’s wort, tutsan, a corruption of the French name La toute-sainte.
Harvesting St John’s wort
St John’s wort really needs to be picked on a sunny day, when the sun is high in the sky. Pick the flowering tops of the plant, ie the flowers, buds and leaves. The stems are quite wiry, so use a pair of scissors.
St John’s wort tincture
Put the flowering tops in a clear glass jar large enough to hold what you’ve picked, then pour on vodka until the herb is submerged. Put the lid on the jar, and shake to remove any air bubbles. Top up with a little more vodka if necessary.
Put the jar in a cupboard or other place away from the light for about a month, shaking occasionally. Your tincture is ready when the flowers have faded and the liquid is a reddish colour. Strain, bottle and label.
Dose: 1 to 4ml three times daily.
St John’s wort infused oil
Put the flowering tops you have picked into a clear glass jar, then pour on extra virgin olive oil until the herb is completely covered. Put the lid on and shake the jar to remove any air bubbles, then place on a sunny window sill for a month.
Check every now and then to make the sure the herb is still submerged in the oil, and if necessary stir it back under. The oil should turn red.
Strain off the oil, bottle and label.
Use externally as needed for backache, sore muscles, sciatica, neuralgia, arthritic joints and to help heal wounds.
St John’s wort pillow
Dry St John’s wort flowering tops outside in the shade. Strip the leaves and flowers off the stalks and discard the stalks. Make a small cloth bag, leaving one end unstitched. Fill the bag loosely with the dried flowers and leaves, then stitch or tie the open end shut. Place the bag underneath your pillow.
St John’s wort flower essence
Find a patch of St John’s wort growing in a peaceful spot. On a clear sunny day sit near the plants for a while until you feel relaxed and at peace. Because flower essences are based on the vibrational energy of a plant rather than its chemistry, your intention is important.
Place a small clear glass bowl on the ground near the plants. Fill it with about a cupful of rain water or spring water, then use a pair of scissors to pick enough flowers to cover the surface of the water. Leave them there for an hour or two. The water will still look clear, but the flowers may have wilted. Use your scissors to lift them carefully out of the water, then pour the water into a bottle that is half full of brandy. This is your mother essence. You can use any size of bottle you like, but a 200ml blue glass bottle works well, and it may be easier to fill if you use a funnel. If there is any water left over, drink it.
To use your essence, put three drops of mother essence in a 30ml dropper bottle filled with brandy. Using this stock bottle, you can:
• put 20 drops in the bath, then soak for at least twenty minutes.
• rub directly on the skin, or mix into creams.
• put a few drops in a glass or bottle of water and sip during the day.
• make a dosage bottle by putting three drops of stock essence into a dropper bottle containing a 50/50 brandy and water mix. Use several drops directly under the tongue as needed, or at least twice daily.