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The Armored Inheritance — Part One: The Aerial Plant & the Spring Medicine This monograph is the first of two parts. Part One covers the aerial plant: botanical identity, historical record, Galenic and astral framework, phytochemistry of leaf and stem, the therapeutic use of urtication, and the spring medicine harvest calendar. Part Two — The…
If wormwood is Saturn’s great representative in the Carolingian garden — cold, austere, and uncompromising in its clinical work — then fennel is its counter-weight and complement: Jupiter’s herb, warm and expansive, the carminative that moves what bitterness has loosened, the digestive physic that asks nothing difficult of the client. Foeniculum vulgare has been in…
Saturn’s Great Regulator ~ Absinthium in Carolingian Physic and Modern Practice Artemisia absinthium occupies an unusual position in the European materia medica: it is simultaneously one of the most ancient, most consistently described, and most persistently misunderstood plants in the clinical tradition. Its presence in the Carolingian garden is documented not in the administrative plant…
Salvia officinalis has been cultivated in European medicinal gardens without interruption since at least the ninth century, when the Capitulare de Villis — Charlemagne’s imperial plant mandate — required it by name in every estate garden across the Frankish empire. It is listed in Chapter 70 alongside a carefully chosen roster of plants that the…
Botanical Name Artemisia vulgaris L. Latin Name Artemisia vulgaris L. Plant or Common Name Mugwort, Armoise [Fr.], Common Wormwood, Felon herb Family: Asteraceae Native Region: Artemisia vulgaris has a wide native distribution across: • Europe• Northern Africa• Asia (including Siberia, Japan, and parts of China) It has been naturalized in many other parts of the…
Bellis perennis L., the English or lawn daisy, is a humble, cooling and drying herb of European lawns and meadows, long paired with arnica for bruising and swelling. This herbal monograph sets out its botany, energetics, constituents, traditional uses and cautions, with references. Botanical Name Bellis perennis L. Latin Name Bellis perennis L. Plant or…
Boswellia serrata, Indian frankincense, is a warming, drying resin. This herbal monograph sets out its botany, energetics, constituents, traditional uses and cautions, with references. Botanical Name Boswellia serrata Roxb. ex Colebr. Latin Name Boswellia serrata Plant or Common Name Indian Frankincense, Salai guggul, Indian Olibanum Family Burseraceae Actions Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-arthritic, astringent, expectorant (Siddiqui, 2011)…
Cinnamomum verum Ceylon cinnamon is the true cinnamon, a warming, drying bark. This herbal monograph sets out its botany, energetics, constituents, traditional uses and cautions, with references. Botanical Name Cinnamomum verum J.Presl Latin Name Cinnamomum verum Plant or Common Name Ceylon Cinnamon, True Cinnamon, Sri Lankan Cinnamon Family Lauraceae Actions Carminative, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, blood…
Matricaria chamomilla L., German chamomile, is a cooling, gently drying flower. This herbal monograph sets out its botany, energetics, constituents, traditional uses and cautions, with references. Botanical Name Matricaria chamomilla L. (syn. Matricaria recutita L.) Latin Name Matricaria chamomilla Plant or Common Name German Chamomile, Hungarian Chamomile, Wild Chamomile Family Asteraceae Actions Carminative, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory,…
