Un-Break My Heart - Hawthorn's Story

Known as an adaptogenic heart tonic 💗, Crataegus monogyna

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Name: Crataegus monogyna / Hawthorn
Family: Rosaceae
Planets: Mars & Venus
Body affinity: Heart ❤️, blood, circulatory system
TCM: Heart & Digestion
Energetics: Cooling & Moistening
Parts used: berries (haws), leaf & flower, thorns
Notable constituents:
Oligomeric procyanidins, flavonoids - Rutin, Quercetin, Vitexin, among others
Medicinal properties:
anti-arrhythmic, antiseptic, cardiac, hypertensive, hypotensive, diuretic, astringent

Ways to use:
tea/decoction, tincture, elixir, syrup, glycerite, flower essence, energetic medicine

Symbolism:

Enchantment, Fertility, Protection (specifically the vulnerable heart), The gateway, Strength, Possibility/Opportunity

This confetti covered tree has an affinity for the heart, in all the ways at all the times.

Hawthorn/e (Crataegus monogyna) aptly nicknamed for the haws (hips/berries) and thorns that cover the tree.

A gentle heart tonic. Hawthorn berries have a gentle, yet powerful, way of toning & strengthening the heart and circulatory system.

These little red berries and delicate white flowers, FULL of bioflavonoids, assist the heart when blood pressure is high and palpitations are frequent. Easing tension and toning the circulatory system, the same system that when left unsupported leads to varicose veins.

Many studies have shown that toning the heart improves the oxygen uptake of the heart. When the heart is better able to distribute oxygen via blood cells, the limbs are better able to receive the blood and pump it back. (Hello, Raynauds)
It’s a bit more complicated than that; I hope my lay description will suffice.

Incorporating Hawthorn into your lifestyle and daily routine helps maintain healthy heart function as a preventative measure. In conjunction with a diagnosis from a physician, the herb helps improve cardiovascular health.

This of course is not an overnight quick-fix. This herbal remedy requires consistency, patience, and intention - exactly what the heart deserves.

Woah!

Dioscorides, the wild and game changing herbalist & military physician, used and wrote about Hawthorn in the first century A.D.!

Hawthorn berries held (by me) in Seattle, WA

The effects of a supported heart muscle can ripple, spreading to other areas of the body on a systemic level. These positive effects may be seen in reducing stress levels and improving digestion.❤️

Bringing more oxygenated blood to the body in a more efficient manner helps, who knew? Haha

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is rich in flavonoids, the leaves and flowers having the highest concentration. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hypo/hypertensive actions of the bioflavonoids support the heart in incredible ways. Reducing & reversing the effects of free radicals on the cardiovascular system is RADICAL!

Like many members of the Rose family (Rosaceae), Hawthorn is energetically cooling; beneficial for hot constitutions and warming situations. There are ~100 members of the Crataegus genus, commonly found in the U.S., Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa. The flowers are delicate, beautiful petals falling like confetti and smelling pretty distinctly of fish and fish food. 🤷🏻‍♀️ maybe there is a message there?

Folk Method Hawthorn Berry tincture

This jar features wild-crafted hawthorn berries (with leaves) in 40% ABV organic vodka, labeled, shaken daily, and macerated for 3+ months.

This lovely & loving cardio-tonic is generally safe for long term use. I am NOT a doctor; it’s important to work in conjunction with your healthcare provider and listen to what your body and instinct tells you. Always.

Devil's Club - Forest of Thorns

:+:Devil’s Club:+:

Devil’s Club

The Devil’s Walking Stick, or Oplopanax horridus, is a shrub native to the Pacific Northwest (PNW.) Covered in thorns and growing up to 10ft tall, this plant can be difficult to harvest. Be sure to wear full pants, sleeves, and leather gloves when harvesting the root / low bark (discard the thorny outer bark and dry the chopped pieces of inner bark for use.)

The inner bark of Devil’s Club has long been used in form of tincture and decoction to help support blood sugar regulation in those with PCOS, type 2 diabetes, and stress induced overeating. This plant medicine is also used for arthritis, easing prickly and achy inflammation in joints. The grandmother, protector, is most well-known in for its use in cases of infection both internally and externally.

The chemical compound, oplopanone, found in Devil’s Club bark has been identified for anti-tussis effects, often used as an expectorant in many respiratory issues.

“If we parse this striking plant’s latin name into three segments, we find ‘opolo’ meaning armored, ‘panax’ meaning heal-all, and ‘horridus’ meaning to stand on end, fiercely. So this plant literally means fiercely armored heal-all; an apt description.” -Mel Kasting

The Devil’s Club - a spiritual tool and resource, a staff for protection and medicine for cleansing. Traditionally used to ward of evil influences. Many used an infusion of the inner-bark as a purifier, washing away the negative energies on physical items and the physical body.

The leaves are large and umbrella-like, which is helpful when walking through the wet rainforest of the Pacific Northwest. Be mindful of where you step as the root and stalk of this plant grow horizontally along the ground before they reach up towards the skies. Thorn covered stalks are symbolic of the boundaries created with its use, both physical and spiritual. Oplopanax horridus, a spirited plant linking the spiritual realm to the physical realm - a sacred partner in the connection and protection between the two.

Plant medicine isn’t just the use of the physical plant material (no matter the intention); plant meditations are incredibly powerful. If given the opportunity, please, please sit with Devil’s Club in plant meditation. Draw her, take her in, listen to what she has to teach you - about you, about her, about boundaries. This is good practice with all plants, doing so helps you build a relationship with the plant and aids in your own healing as well. Always ask permission to harvest and show gratitude if the plant grants permission. The Devil’s Club will be firm in her boundaries if the answer is no, listen and oblige. Be kind and learn from the wisdom of someone so self-assured that protects their self as well as those around them.

In beauty and in grace the Devil’s Club clears space.

I highly recommend the incredibly well researched and detailed herbal monograph/ethnobotanical review by Trevor C. Lantz, Kristina Swerhun, and Nancy J. Turner.