The Complete Herbal Guide: A Natural Approach to Healing the Body - Heal Your Body Naturally and Maintain Optimal Health Using Alternative Medicine, Herbals, Vitamins, Fruits and Vegetables (91 page)

History:

It is one of the few palatable wormwoods of the Artemisia family, and its botanical genus,
Artemisia,
is derived from Artemis, the Greek name for Diana, who is said to have found the plants and delivered their powers to the centaur. In ancient Greece, the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates (circa 400 B.C.), and the first-century physician, Dioscorides, prescribed St. John's Plant as a specific to ease and hasten childbirth, and the herb was frequently mentioned in first-century Greek and Roman writings.

Legend claims that the Romans planted St. John's Plant on roadsides, so that passing soldiers might put it in their sandals on long marches to soothe sore feet, and herbalists still recommend it in footbaths to invigorate tired feet. St. John's Plant appears in Chinese medical literature dating back to A.D. 500, and was used to ease rheumatism and is still used for acupuncture points on the skin. In Ayurvedic medicine, St. John's Plant has been used for the female reproductive system, nervous complaints and as a wash for fungal infections.

Legend tells us that in the wilderness, Saint John the Baptist wore a
cingulum
, or belt, that was woven from the plant, giving us its name and one of its common names, Cingulum Sancti Johannis. Moreover, another of its common names, Felon Plant, comes to us because the plant was said to draw the pus from a "felon" or purulent infection at the end of a finger or toe. St. John's Plant was important in Druidic and Anglo-Saxon times and was one of the nine sacred herbs given to the world by the god, Woden, that were used to repel evil and poisons. Called the "Mother of Herbs," St. John's Plant was associated with witchcraft and fertility rites.

Placed on a pillow, it was said reveal the future in dreams, and it was also a traveler's remedy, not only protecting medieval pilgrims from fatigue and sunstroke, but also from wild beasts and demons. Old-time wayfarers put it in their shoes to keep from becoming footsore (echoing one of its ancient uses). In 1636, John Gerard's important "
Herbal”
was published in England, and he recommended St. John's Plant for epilepsy and palsy, noting that it "cureth the shakings of the joints, inclining to the palsy."

Long ago it was used in England as a tea substitute and in beer brewing, and St. John's Plant is also natural insect repellent that has been utilized in clothes closets as a protection against moths. St. John's Plant is very popular in Europe as a medicinal herb, and it is an important ingredient in traditional recipes of the U.K., Germany and Spain in dishes of eels or carp and in stuffings for geese, duck, pork and game. St. John's Plant is a bitter, aromatic, tonic herb, and the roots and leaves are used in herbal medicines. Some of the constituents included in St. John's Plant are essential oil (containing terpenes and terpene derivatives, such as cineol, camphor, linalool, thujone, borneol, etc.), flavonoids (quercetin), silica, antibiotic polacetylenes, inulin, hydroxy coumarins, resin, tannin, beta-carotene, fiber, calcium, zinc and vitamin C.

Medical Uses:

St. John's Plant root contains a bitter principle that makes it a fine digestive stimulant and stomachic. It tones and gives strength to the stomach, helping to relieve gastric disorders and bowel complaints and is said to relieve acute bowel and stomach pain. As a digestive, it cools the digestive tract, peps up the appetite, and eases nervous and sluggish digestion, dyspepsia, stomach acidity, travel sickness and indigestion.

As a cholagogue, St. John's Plant stimulates bile flow from the gallbladder and bile ducts into the duodenum and has a beneficial effect on liver and gallbladder function. It is used for liver stagnation and is useful in cases of jaundice. The improved liver function also helps the digestive tract.

St. John's Plant is said to be splendid for female complaints. As an emmenagogue, it promotes the onset of suppressed menstruation and, further, regulates its flow, easing prolonged bleeding. It is said to relieve menstrual pain and cramps; and as a uterine stimulant, it has been employed by herbalists to facilitate childbirth when labor is prolonged, and to expel retained placenta. (It should be noted that because it is a uterine stimulant, pregnant women should never use this herb.) Some herbalists recommend it as a sedative for women during menopause and for painful symptoms of menopause.

St. John's Plant is a mild tonic for the nervous system that is soothing for the nerves, helping to reduce tension and nervousness. It is said to be mildly narcotic and has been used to calm hysteria, uncontrollable shaking and as a sedative to promote sleep in cases of insomnia. St. John's Plant is believed to be helpful in cases of depression, especially with loss of appetite. Long ago it was used to treat epilepsy and palsy.

As a mild purgative, St. John's Plant is said to be helpful in cases of constipation.

St. John's Plant is a parasiticide and has been used to destroy and expel intestinal parasites, especially roundworm and threadworm infestations. The herb's laxative qualities may also facilitate this action.

As a diuretic, St. John's Plant encourages the flow of urine and helps to flush the kidneys of impurities and the bladder of gravel and stones, and may also be helpful for gout.

St. John's Plant is considered a diaphoretic that promotes sweating and helps to clear toxins through the skin as well as lower intermittent fever. It is said to be excellent at the outset of a cold, helping to reduce fever and ague (fever with chills), and some even claim that it prevents malaria.

St. John's Plant acts as an antifungal and antiseptic, combating infections, and it is also thought to be an antidote for many poisonous mushrooms.

Used externally, St. John's Plant has been used to alleviate bruises, the itching of poison oak and is said (probably because of its antiseptic qualities) to be good for abscesses, carbuncles, whitlows/felons (a painful, purulent, pus-filled infection at the end of a finger or toe in the area surrounding the nail). Added to baths, the herb was used to relieve rheumatism, gout, and soothe tired legs and sore feet.

Dosages:
Take one (1) to two (2) capsules, two (2) times each day with water at mealtimes.

Precautions:
As a uterine stimulant, St. John's Plant should not be used by pregnant women, and it is not recommended for nursing mothers. Overuse (many times the recommended amount) or prolonged use should be avoided, as it is toxic in large doses.

* * * * *

The
Tea Tree
is unique to Australia, and although a native of New South Wales, where it flourishes in wet, swampy ground, it is also cultivated on plantations in other Australian states, including Queensland.

Plant Description:

The shrubby tree produces needle-like leaves, similar to cypress, with heads of pale flowers, and it generally reaches about twenty to twenty-five feet in height. It is an aromatic tree, owing to glandular dots on the leaves, which, when crushed, release it precious essential oils. The Tea Tree is fast-growing, and it possesses a distinctive feature in that even when the tree is cut down, it will “re-grow” and be ready for harvesting again in two years.

History:

Long before Captain Cook named the plant after he arrived in New South Wales in the eighteenth century, the aboriginal people had used Tea Tree Oil to heal wounds and infections. In 1923, Dr. Penfold proved that Tea Tree Oil was not only much stronger than the common antiseptic of the day, carbolic acid, but Tea Tree Oil did not burn the skin. In World War II, a severe outbreak of foot-fungus hospitalized hundreds of Australian soldiers with no effective treatment at hand.

An Australian aboriginal medic remembered Tea Tree Oil, and after the doctors applied the infected feet with the pungent oil, the fungus was killed within a few days. During the war, the producers of Tea Tree Oil were exempted from military service until there was an adequate supply to meet the demands of the military. All Tea Tree Oil was issued to the army, and every serviceman was required to carry it in his first-aid kit to treat tropical infections and wounds.

Next to Lavender, Tea Tree Oil is one of the most popular essential oils in the world, and aside from its therapeutic value, it is an important ingredient in soaps, lotions, deodorants, disinfectants and even air-fresheners.

The essential oil that is extracted from the leaves and twigs of the Tea Tree is produced only in Australia and has a yield of about 1.8%.

Facts about
Tea Tree


        
Common Method of Extraction:
Steam Distilled


        
Color:
Clear with a Yellow Tinge


        
Consistency:
Thin


        
Aromatic Description:
Light, spicy, pungent with a myristic fragrance


        
Ingredients it Carries:
1, 8-cineole, y-terpinen-4-ol, a-terpineol, cineole, a-pinene, a-terpenene, b-caryophyllene, linalool, p-cymene, myrcene


        
Therapeutic properties:
Antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-microbial, antiseptic, antiviral, balsamic, cicatrisant, expectorant, insecticide, stimulant and sudorific


        
Contraindications:
Most references list no precautions when using Tea Tree Oil, but it may cause skin sensitization in some people

* * * * *

Thyme
is indispensable in the kitchen, but it is also indispensable in your herbal closet as a powerful antiseptic (it is an ingredient in
Listerine
) and expectorant that has been used for thousands of years to
loosen phlegm 
in deep-seated chest infections and to ease bronchitis and asthma.  It also supports the gastrointestinal system, especially helping to rid the body of flatulence, as well as
easing indigestion
, gastritis, dyspepsia and stomach cramps.  Thyme is said to
calm the nervous system
, induce sleep, dispel nightmares, and lift the spirits during depression and increase energy.

Plant Description:

Thyme is a small, shrubby evergreen that is native to the Mediterranean regions of southern Europe and widely cultivated in the warm, sunny fields of Europe and North America, where it also grows wild in some places. There are many varieties of Thyme, and the cultivated, garden plant is most commonly used in herbal medicine. The woody, downy stems of this hardy perennial are stiff and bear gray-green leaves with blue-lavender-pink to whitish flower clusters that bloom from April to July. The highly aromatic plant, which may reach a height of fifteen inches, has a strong, spicy taste and odor and has been esteemed as an important medicinal herb for thousands of years.
 

History:

It was known to the Egyptians, who used it in the embalming process (it is still used in embalming fluid) and also as a preservative.
  The Greek physician, Dioscorides ( c.40-90 AD), described its use to calm convulsions and other spasms and nervous conditions, and the first-century Roman scholar, Pliny, recommended it for snakebites, headaches and the poisons of marine creatures. 

The origin of the botanical name,
Thymus
, is slightly ambiguous, but it is believed to be derived from the Greek word,
thymon
, or
thumus,
meaning "strength" or "courage," and although it is a Greek derivative, its roots go deeper. Tracing it back beyond the world of Socrates and Plato, we find that
thymos
 comes from the Indo-European root
dheu
, which is the base of a wide variety of derivatives meaning "to rise into flames," "to rise in a cloud" or "to smoke."  In Sanskrit, the word was
dhuma
, from which comes "fume" and "perfume," and in ancient Greece, the Thyme plant itself was burned as incense to the gods.  The altar like elevation in the center of the orchestra of a Greek theater was called the
thymele
, and sacrificial incense was placed in the
thymiaterion
, or censer.

Thymos
, then, was a rising of smoke, a burning of incense, a sacrifice to the gods - all taking place within the chest, the inner altar.Roman soldiers bathed in it to maintain their courage and strength before battle, and in medieval times, departing Crusaders received Thyme-embroidered scarves from their ladies to keep up their spirits and inspire courage.  There was a popular belief that a tea made from Thyme's leaves prevented nightmares and even encouraged dreams of fairies and nymphs.  Herbalists in the Middle Ages considered Thyme as an important tonic stimulant and antispasmodic that treated epilepsy and melancholy. 

During the waves of plague that spread across Europe from the fifteen to the seventeenth centuries, Thyme was used as a germicide (they were right!), and in 1653, the great English herbalist, Nicholas Culpepper, recommended Thyme to treat respiratory ailments as "a noble strengthener of the lungs" (he was right!). In 1725, a German apothecary discovered that the plant's essential oil contains a powerful disinfectant, thymol, which is effective against bacteria and fungi, supporting the herb's historical use as an antibacterial disinfectant and preservative.
  (It was not only used for embalming, but was also used to preserve meats, as well as botanical and anatomical specimens.  In World War I, Thyme was used extensively as an antiseptic to treat soldiers' wounds and purify the air of hospitals and sickrooms (a practice that continued well into the twentieth century).