Saint John's Wort

by Patricia Kaminski		print version
		print version (graphics)

Saint John's Wort is an outstanding herbal remedy steeped in many folk legends and traditions of healing. It has five-petaled, bright yellow blossoms with protruding stamens which flower at the height of summer. This erect, woody-stemmed plant is filled with many oil glands and thrives in sunny, hot and dry conditions, as though exulting in the light.

The Greek name for this plant is Hypericum (also its Latin botanical name), which means "over a spirit." It was so named because it was believed to provide special protection, particularly during the summer months, when there is a tendency to feel overly expanded and adversely affected by heat and light. Later, it was associated with St. John the Baptist, regarded as a great solar adept within the Essene tradition, and whose feast day is commemorated at high summer. Despite the great spiritual power of St. John the Baptist, he pointed to the Christ as the very source of the Sun. His famous words, "I must decrease, so that He may increase," refer to the descent of Christ into the Earth. Through Christ, a solar initiation is possible, not in high summer, but at the midnight hour of winter, when the sun is in the depths of the Earth. The alchemical significance of this great Christ mystery is reflected in the St. John's Wort oil. Also called the "Blood of Christ," the St. John's Wort oil is made from a sun-infusion of bright yellow blossoms of the plant. Gradually, this substance changes to a deep blood-red color.

When analyzed bio-chemically, the St. John's Wort is found to contain significant amounts of hypericin, a photosensitizing substance that reacts with the light to cause skin burns in light-skinned persons. This plant is also known to produce adverse reactions in animals who over-graze on it. However, when prepared as a herbal medicine or as a homeopathic tincture, the St. Johns Wort protects against sunburn, and is a highly effective remedy for wounds, injuries, and nerve pain.

As a flower essence, these themes of Light and Incarnation are further enhanced. Those who need St. John's Wort flower essence are always highly sensitive people, who carry a great deal of light within themselves. They may even be very fair-skinned. However, it is hard for them to contain the light, or to incarnate into the Earth with their light, thus the bodily sheath of the skin is often highly sensitive and easily prone to disturbance. Many such persons are allergic or unusually subject to environmental stress or trauma, or immune-related illnesses.

It should be noted that St. John's Wort flower essence can also be indicated from the opposite polarity of healing. It can help regulate and sustain light within souls that are too depressed ("deep-pressed"). Those who are prone to melancholia, and especially those who experience depression due to light deprivation, can be helped very much with this remedy.

St. John's Wort is one of the premier remedies for protection during the night-time and is indicated for a wide variety of sleep disturbances such as insomnia, nightmares, night-sweats and night-time incontinence. Though the St. John's Wort herb has become popular for its ability to successfully treat depression, a deeper understanding of this five-pointed, radiant yellow-blossomed plant, is that it helps the soul encounter darkness, and gives protection from negative spiritual entities.

The St. John's Wort plant blooms at the height of summer, and the soul who needs this plant has many naturally expansive qualities. However, this expansiveness leaves the soul too open and sensitive. The consciousness becomes frayed and open to invasion or attack from negative elementals or parasitical entities. Also, such persons maintain a loose connection to their earthly body and can expand quite far with their astral body during sleep. The spiritual lesson or journey for those who need St. John's Wort is to anchor the Spiritual Sun as a source within, rather than outside the Self.

A night-time bath or massage with the St. John's Shield oil as well as use of the St. John's Wort flower essence is highly beneficial in helping such individuals. For children who have nightmares or who are prone to bed-wetting, the St. John's Shield oil should also be applied to the inner thighs and urinary tract area before sleep.

Dream Affirmation:

My Spirit-Self is a being of pure Light.
A shield of radiant light protects me as I travel in Starry worlds.
I learn to trust my own inner Light.
The Sun is shining in my Soul.

Patricia Kaminski is co-director of The Flower Essence Society. "The Society promotes plant research and empirical clinical research on the therapeutic effects of flower essences, conducts training, certification programs, and seminars throughout the world"

(Photo of  Saint John's Wort & Patricia Kaminski courtesy of Flower Essence Society. Reprinted with the kind permission of The Flower Essence Society. See page two for information about FES)