St Mary's Thistle - unbeatable for detoxification

St. Mary’s Thistle is one of the corner stone plants of the Western Materia Medica . It is one of the most important medicinal herbs for general daily detoxification of environmental toxins as well as a treatment in more serious liver conditions. It has the unique ability to not only repair ill liver cells but also promote their healthy regrowth. Come on a journey and meet Her Majesty St. Mary’s Thistle.

What the name is telling us

Nomen est omen and any plant with a name that refers to a holy person, a saint or is inferred to be blessed or magical is bound to be a powerful plant. Legend has it that the milk-white veins on the leaves originated in the milk of the Virgin which once fell upon the Thistle, hence the English name ‘Our Lady’s Thistle’ or ‘St. Mary’s Thistle’. The holy mother is named as the patroness of the plant in other languages too: ‘Mariendistel’ in German, ‘Chardon Marie’ in French and ‘Cardo mariano’ in Italian. Variegated Thistle or Milk Thistle are its plain English names. The Latin name Silybum marianum comes from the Greek word silybon meaning tassel or tuft and marianum refering to St. Mary. An older name of this Asteraceae is Carduus marianus which sometimes can lead to a botanical confusion with other Carduus species.

Whilst the heads were formerly eaten like those of the Artichoke it is the seeds harvested in autumn that are medicinally most valuable. The plant is native to southern Europe, southern Russia and North Africa and may be found growing wild in warm and dry waste areas where other plants would struggle to grow. In New Zealand, St. Mary’s Thistle is unfortunately classified as a weed and is therefore not cultivated. As the world wide demand of this beneficial plant with detoxifying properties is high, shortages of supply, especially of the certified organic quality, can be experienced at times.

St. Mary’s Thistle in nature

The plant is impressive in every way. In my garden she displays an extraordinary manifestation, having flown in from heaven into a well composted area meant to be food for other herbs. St. Mary’s Thistle can grow in both in dry and wet soil as long as the plant receives a lot of light and warmth. However, it is in nutrient rich soils like my composted garden patch where she realises her full potential. Over 1.5 meters tall with large, deeply cut spine-edged shiny green leaves which can be up to 30-50cm long she a majestic sight indeed. When switching to ‘soft eyes’ one can imagine the pink-purple blossom – which appears in the second year if the flower stems are not cut back – like a regal crown and the artistically and symmetrically arranged spikes underneath like the collar of noble clothing as seen on old paintings. No, this is no ordinary thistle, if there is anything like that in the first place! This is a plant with a mission, tenacious in character, her presence unmistakable and her job is going to be thorough and far reaching.

When navigating carefully around the myriad of very sharp tiny spikes one can carefully touch her decorative leaves. They feel surprisingly comforting, cool and soft to touch. This is a nourishing plant and if she didn’t protect herself with her (admittedly rather nasty) spikes she would have been eradicated long ago by animals in search of nutrient rich foods. As the old herbalists saw it, this plant symbolises the essence of St. Mary’s Mothermilk: nourishing, restoring, protecting and unconditionally benign. Interestingly, the seeds contain fixed oil which can give liquid extracts a milky colour.  This plant is very safe too and long term studies failed to demonstrate any toxicity or teratogenic effects, meaning that it can be safely used on a daily bases, including by pregnant women [1].

In the next blog I explain the  medicinal properties of St. Mary’s Thistle and how you can make use of this valuable plant to stay youthful and healthy.

St. Mary's Thistle blossom - the seeds are the most potent part of the plant, which I use the ARTEMIS Liver Detox Tea

Stirring bio-dynamic fertiliser preparations for healthy soil and plants

We have been preparing our gardens for the winter time. On the weekend we were putting special preparation onto our herb areas to improve soil fertility. A healthy soil provides plants which are strong and full of healing properties.  And  plants grown in fertile soils are full of essential nutrients like minerals, vitamins and trace elements that increase people’s health.

For our garden we use a bio-dynamic system which is like organic agriculture but goes a step further in that we are using additionally to organic compost biodynamic (100% natural, non-chemical) fertiliser preparations which further support the soil and the crops. These preparations are natural sprays made with silica and manure, as well as compost preparations made from herbs such as Chamomile, Dandelion, Nettle and Yarrow, bringing abundant life to the soil and its microorganisms which support healthy plant growth.

The biodynamic method of agriculture was developed by the Austrian scientist and doctor of philosophy Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) and is thought to be based on ancient principles of agriculture. It is applied world-wide as a long-term sustainable method for both growing safe and healthy food and herbal medicine.

Healthy Nettle crop which is used freshly harvested for the 'ARTEMIS Itch Calm Cream' (extra strength) and the corresponding internally taken oral drops 'Itch Calm Tincture' to treat itchy skin conditions due to insect bites, grazes, eczema and dermatitis.

Filterning the berries: these Hawthron berries have released all their gooddness into the wine.

Have you made your Hawthorn Wine yet? Check out the previous post how to do it.  I am already making my second batch, but it is getting more difficult to harvest enough from the shrubs in my garden as the birds had a field day! Check out the photo on the left  how the berries look like when the are properly infused with the wine and ready to be filtered.

I have started drinking my daily glass of Hawthorn wine. Hawthorn is one of the most important heart remedies in the Western Materia Medica and used since antiquity. There are numerous scientific studies backing up its effectiveness. Hawthorn is used both in herbal medicine and conventional medicine to prop up the heart muscle in an aging heart (heart failure/cardiac insufficiency) or to increase  oxygen output and coronary blood flow in sporting, in angina pectoris, high blood pressure, arrhythmias and as a circulatory support in arteriosclerosis, Buergers’s disease, cold hands and feet and as a general antioxidant laden tonic.

If you are unable to make your own wine then you can drink your daily heart health tea with hawthorn in it as in my  Cardio Care Tea.

I look forward translating the Hawthorn chapter in Tabernaemontanus, but presently I am battling through 10 huge original pages of Chamomile which have yielded so far 64 translated German pages….

Hurry and gather your Hawthorn berries before the birds eat them all!

Ripe Hawthorn berries ready to be harvested for making delicious hawthorn wine

Autumn is here and with it an abundance of wonderful fruits and herbs that will keep us well over winter time. I always love making Hawthorn wine at this time of the year. A small schnapps glass a day of this delicious remedy over the colder months is good for the circulation to keep warm hands and feet. It is also strengthening and invigorating the stressed heart and the ageing heart. The berries are full of antioxidants and therefore protect the body from degenerative damage.

The hawthorn wine is very easy to make. Buy some good but not expensive red wine, one that you like. Don’t go for the really cheap ones as you want to enjoy the wine. Add fresh hawthorn berries and add to wine. Make sure that they are covered with wine. They may float a bit first, so shake every day. When the berries turn white and float to the bottom of the glass the wine is ready.  Have fun!

Making Hawthorn wine - fill glass with berries (no leaves!)

Add wine of your liking, covering all the berries. When the turn white and sink to the bottom filter and enjoy!