Medicine and Messages from St. John's Wort

Embracing the Seasons with St. John’s Wort

Colder temperatures encourage us to hunker down, go within and spend essential hours recouping our inner selves in the dreamtime. Still, it’s human nature to look for bright spots when shorter days and increased darkness can lower our energy levels and dampen our spirits. Working with a vibrant plant like St. John’s Wort can be the antidote to winter blues, or other psychological downturns that occur during any season of the year.

A Multipurpose Plant for Healing

This multipurpose plant holds useful physical and emotional medicine, and I’m excited to explore its spiritual healing potential as well. Unlike many other herbs where the medicine is more concentrated in the root, the healing power of this plant is found in its upper portion, mostly in the flowers. The brilliant yellow blooms bring a jolt of warmth and sunshine that can dispel a gloomy frame of mind, boost immunity, and lift a waning spirit. St. John’s Wort works its magic in several ways-- physically as a tea, liquid extract or topical oil as well as energetically in a homeopathic remedy or plant essence. 

The Doctrine of Signatures

Ancient Wisdom and Observations

Our ancestors didn’t have herb books or internet sites, so they had to figure out a plant’s healing potential on their own. Back in the day, healers looked to the appearance and behavior of plants to determine their medicinal powers. Keen observation of color, shape, scent, texture and growth pattern provided clues that led early herbalists to a process of trial and error that became known as “The Doctrine of Signatures.”

Symbolism of St. John’s Wort

The outward appearance and flowering habits of St. John’s Wort’s bright yellow blooms is a good example of how the folk history of an herb evolves into its current use. These intensely colored blossoms have been (and continue to be) associated with the fiery radiance of sunlight. Interestingly enough, this plant flowers in its native European habitat around the Summer Solstice or mid-summer when the sun is at its peak and daylight at its longest. Its medicine is said to be the most powerful on or around the feast day of John the Baptist or the third week in June, but its ritual use in pagan ceremonies dates back to the pre-Christian era.

Protective Properties

Repelling Negativity

Like numerous herbs, St. John’s Wort is also reputed to be a protector from evil forces. It was believed that the presence of this herb was enough to repel anything negative. Even the botanical name “Hypericum perforatum” has a rather courageous ring to it! Ancient practices included wearing parts of this plant on the body, hanging it over entrance ways and burning it in ceremonial bonfires. Its dominating element is fire, so the plant is imbued with Yang (masculine) energy which is associated with vitality, passion and strength along with heightened divination and creative abilities.

Psychological Support

It’s no wonder that this herb’s sunny personality can lighten up a dark day and ignite an energetic spark where the body, mind or spirit might need it the most! If you take the concept of “evil” or negative threats a step further, it’s similar to the idea of a dark mood or depression that can creep up on you. Hippocrates is said to have used St. John’s Wort to treat insanity, and more recently, this herb was touted for its ability to alleviate mild depression, especially in the form of seasonal affective disorder. It also supports the body’s neurological system. Topical use of the oil or salve made from the plant soothes nerve-damaged skin. When used in its homeopathic form, it can relieve other forms of nerve-related pain from toothaches to shingles.

Exploring Flower Essences

Understanding Flower Essences

Along with taking advantage of these physically healing properties, using the flower essence of St. John’s Wort is a unique and beneficial way to experience its personality and subtle vibration. For anyone unfamiliar with this form of healing, flower or plant essences are sometimes confused with herbal extracts, essential oils and perfumes. Actually, they are highly diluted substances that contain the frequency or energetic signature of a plant that is recognized by the body as a healing agent.

Journey to Meet the Spirit of St John's Wort

Since I’m so drawn to the spiritual dimension of botanical medicine, I was anxious to experiment with the essence of Hypericum to assist in connecting to the spirit of this vital plant. The generally recommended dose of plant essences is 3-7 drops several times a day. I used 4, but more personalized dosing can be determined with the use of a pendulum or by muscle testing. I made it a practice to ingest the drops while stating my intention for three days before doing a meditative journey. This felt like an advantageous way to initiate a relationship with the plant before asking to meet its spirit.

Preparing the Space

When I was ready to begin the process, I mixed a few drops of St. John’s Wort flower essence in a water bottle and sprayed it around my healing room to help protect the sacred space around me. I then took a few drops internally and turned on some background drumming while focusing on my solar plexus and settling into my usual trance-like state.

Encountering the Plant Spirit

As usual, I met my guide in the center of the giant sequoia tree that has no doubt become accustomed to allowing me entry. We traveled along a path that was brighter than the ones I’m used to and found ourselves in a far-reaching, sunny meadow. It was easy to spot the brilliant yellow flowers, and I jumped into a large one that seemed especially inviting. It felt quite warm, and the many projecting stamens characteristic of this flower appeared like tiny eyes. They swayed rapidly, introducing an animated and illuminated presence.

Wisdom from St. John’s Wort

When I asked for what advice or wisdom this spirit had to offer, the response was to focus on movement. People, I was told, do not move enough physically and mentally, and this leads to stagnation on both levels. The spirit continued to give examples of the obvious forms of motion like walking, running, dancing, swimming, Yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi etc., but also mentioned less structured ones such as twirling, spinning or simply moving about. When I asked about people whose movements are restricted, he said they’re fortunate since they’re more likely to concentrate on the fertile activity of their thoughts. This would lead to creativity, an important process we all need to cultivate in order to prevent a devitalized mental state.

This must have been all he wanted to say because I was then propelled out of the flower. Mindful of the suggestions I was just given, my guide and I retraced our steps through the meadow with a rapid, jogging pace.

An Afterthought: Year-Round Benefits

In retrospect, this message is in keeping with the dynamic vibration characteristic of St. John’s Wort. We may be well past the sunny days of midsummer, but ingesting a few drops of the plant essence, adding them to a bath or spraying them into the surrounding air can be quite a valuable spiritual tool that enlivens and stimulates. Since this plant is connected to power and vitality, its essence has an affinity to the third chakra or solar plexus and pairs nicely with related healing stones such as Citrine and Amber.

Regardless of the time of year, we could all benefit from this lively plant’s ability to reignite our inner fire and boost our levels of resilience and well-being. I for one welcome its transformative light and protective presence!