Vervain Monograph by Student Contributor Meg Houston

    Confessions of a Vervain Girl: Glandularia Bipinnatifida “We are at home on this planet – we have but to recognise it. From the ills of humanity through the gift of herbal remedies comes a clue, a signpost, to this reality. We are part of a wonderfully integrated whole. This is not the stuff of vague […]

    Confessions of a Vervain Girl:
    Glandularia Bipinnatifida
    “We are at home on this planet – we have but to recognise it. From the ills of
    humanity through the gift of herbal remedies comes a clue, a signpost, to this reality.
    We are part of a wonderfully integrated whole. This is not the stuff of vague idealism
    and mysticism but a solid reality.” – David Hoffman
    Vervain. The name itself sounds like the beginnings of an ancient spell; some
    mystical incantation locked away in a spring storm. The first time I saw her,  the
    Enchanter’s Plant, La Herba Sacra, or Glandularia Bipinnatifida, she was sprouting up
    in the greenbelt of Austin, Texas like quiltwork patches, her purple flowers quenching
    the heat of the day. She radiated a cool, charming, ego-taming love. I gathered her at
    sundown and hiked back up, intuitively chewing on her sweet flowers and feeling the
    heat of the day leave my body.
    While Vervain often feigns coyness, waving in the fields daintily, her history
    paints a regal image of purple and blue flowers adorning the heads of young maidens,
    and priests in ancient Rome burning her to cleanse the altars of Jupiter. Also called the
    Holy Herb, she is known for her powers in the realms of love, protection, purification,
    peace, money, youth, sleep and healing (Cunningham 251-252). Interestingly, when
    I asked several herbalists about their use of her, they responded with a healthy dose
    of diffidence, followed by an outright confession of never having a desire to use her.
    “Vervain is one of those plants I’ve never used much,” says herbalist Anne Merrill, “then
    this morning I woke up grouchy and out of sorts. Liverish. I decided to give Vervain a
    try…nasty tasting stuff. Within twenty minutes the grouchiness was resolved. So I guess
    it’s time to try Vervain!”
    Vervain is one of many magical herbs that spreads its medicine throughout
    multiple body systems. Carrying with it cold, new moon energy, it even speaks the
    language of the secret endocrine system. Though not much is known about this
    mysterious realm, Kiva Rose, Nicole Telkes and David Hoffmann all note that Vervain
    has an equally elusive effect on it. The Spanish even call vervain “el dormilón” or
    “sleepy head.” Perhaps she has an effect on the pineal gland which regulates melatonin
    and controls other hormone production. This would make sense considering the third
    eye clarity that many people experience with Vervain. During a Materia Medica proving
    with her, several students also noted a tingling sensation down the throat, indicating the
    medicine she offers aids in recovering from colds and flus and has an affinity to the
    respiratory system. The New Holistic Herbal recommends Vervain for those healing
    from influenza, as it eases the depression that often follows the illness. In addition,
    Vervain acts as both an expectorant and a febrifuge, ridding the body of excess mucus
    while reducing fever (Hoffman 143-147). Kiva Rose adds that Vervain treats body
    aches, irritability and general tension that can accompany an illness and has a
    particularly potent diaphoretic effect when paired with elderflower and bee balm. It can
    also relieve headaches, and works best in a preparation of tea or tincture (Richo Cech).
    Anne Merrill’s language for Vervain indications as “liverish” is fitting if not
    intuitive. A hepatic, Vervain strengthens, tones and stimulates the secretive functions of
    the liver, increases bile flow and can even help rid the body of excess bile in jaundice
    conditions. Folk remedies have used it as a “spring tonic” to cleanse the liver after a
    harsh winter’s diet. (Hoffman 52, 61). Vervain’s claim to fame, however, is her ability to
    charm and soothe the nervous system. Richo Cech classifies Vervain as a nervine
    sedative, while Nicole Telkes notes her ability to treat hypersensitivity. A mild to
    moderate relaxant, Vervain elevates mood and feeds nervous tissue (Hoffman 65). In
    both alcohol and vinegar preparations, Vervain offers a clue to her powers in her taste;
    slightly pungent and bitter, she makes a perfect gut medicine. Paul Bergner calls her a
    “digestive bitter” while Richo Cech describes her as an herb to “improve sluggish
    digestion,” one that can possibly help to clear out any intestinal parasites. Marika
    Alvarado uses Vervain to calm the stomach, especially after birth when a woman’s
    uterus is swollen and exhausted. As a patera, Marika uses Vervain as an important
    component in an after-birth ritual she performs, adding that she also gives the tea to
    women before performing La Sobada massage. The image of Vervain, with it’s purple
    flowers opening up from dark centers, seems to beckon to women. Added to a female
    tonic, she stimulates and normalizes menses, and calms the feminine center as an
    antispasmodic (Hoffman 143). Both David Hoffman and Richo Cech describe Vervain
    as an effective galactagogue, increasing milk production in lactating women as well
    providing a healthy dose of tranquility to the baby’s mood. Additional uses include
    treating hemorrhoids with a Vervain tea sitz bath and using a fresh plant poultice to treat
    sore muscles, the pain of rheumatism and to speed up the healing of wounds, burns
    and lesions. Paul Bergner has even included Vervain in a heart tonic (that’s one
    powerful, multi-useful plant spirit)!
    Vervain’s indications (like all plant spirits) create a certain picture of those who
    need her medicine the most. Kiva Rose suggests this plant for those who carry tension
    in their shoulders and neck. Vervain types are intense, adrenally dominated, driven and
    highly critical, or as Michael Moore would say, “metabolically brittle.” He notes that
    alcoholism and/or a tendency toward addiction are not uncommon. The New Holistic
    Herbal describes the typical Vervain woman (specifically around her mense) as edgy
    and anxious, with a personality that fluctuates between increased dissatisfaction and
    feelings of being wired. Hot flashes, digestive upset and hypersensitivity are common,
    along with intervals of intense binges followed by feelings of deprivation. The Vervain
    woman can be critical toward self and, according to Nicole Telkes, adapt a “whiny, poor
    me” attitude. With bouts of rage, she can one minute experience a deep craving for
    chocolate, the next feel the need to “bathe in blood,” (David Hoffman). Perhaps the
    bloody Queen Mary herself was a Vervain girl (a spoonful of psychotherapy also
    recommended).
    Spiritually, Vervain is an ego-charmer, cooling down the excitement or arrogance
    one can experience following the absorption of new knowledge (Sheri Hupfer). A Bach
    flower remedy of Vervain treats “over-enthusiasm, over-effort and straining; fanaticism,”
    while Traditional Chinese Medicine uses it as a remedy for yin not holding down yang
    (Hoffman 67). Worn on the body, Vervain offers love, protection and a sense of being
    grounded, a power attributed to her Earth element (Cunningham 252). Kiva Rose
    describes the spiritual properties of vervain as providing a clear path and perspective.
    “Vervain is a mender of broken edges,” she eloquently writes, “and sometimes, a great
    giver of dreams.”
    In preparation, both Richo Cech and David Hoffman recommend using the aerial
    portions of vervain in the early flowering stage. All above ground parts can be used
    fresh or dried (although Cech prefers a concoction without the stems). To create an
    optimal tincture, a fresh plant to solvent ratio should be 1:2 (75A:25W) while the dried
    herb should be a ratio of 1:5 (50A:50W) (Cech 233). Hoffman suggests an infusion of
    Vervain using 1-3 teaspoons of the plant to a cup of water, two to three cups a day.
    Vervain is particularly effective as a bitter, in tea form, taken 15-20 minutes before a
    meal (Cech 232). While vervain is typically benign in nature, it is “not to be used during
    pregnancy or in the presence of overt liver disease,” (Cech 232).
    In our Materia Medica class proving, I found Vervain to be cooling and
    moistening. Something about her sweet flowers reminded me of honey, and with a
    single sip I felt third eye clarity, an improvement in vision and a tingle down my throat
    and spine. Secondary effects upon my physiological being were an intensity of vivid
    colors and a release of tension in my neck, yet I still felt myself denying the spiritual
    changes. Alas, these are the confessions of a true Vervain girl: the liverish fog soaking
    up the days around my menses, the grouchiness that follows, the intense cravings, self-
    criticism, feelings of guilt that result in deprivation. I denied myself vervain, although she
    was beckoning to me with her medicine, simply because I didn’t want to recognize
    those parts of me that yearned for her. With a few drops of her power, the tingle down
    my spine allowed all of that intensity to leave my body with a final bow, a relief that
    seemed to venerate her magic and embrace her with gratitude. Through my studies
    with Vervain, I created an uncanny image that came together like puzzle pieces, but
    didn’t quite speak to me wholly until I accidentally thumbed over a passage titled
    “Patterns of disease of the nervous system” in the New Holistic Herbal. In the passage,
    David Hoffman details a representative list of “a number of conditions [that] have an
    especially strong relationship with the nervous system, whilst not producing neurological
    symptoms.” This list includes the circulatory system (noting high blood pressure and
    coronary disease), the respiratory system, the digestive system, the skin (with a
    connection to the liver), the endocrine system and the reproductive system. Every
    single indication listed has been mentioned in relation to Vervain. All things in nature
    are interrelated, the body is no different. After spending several months with Vervain,
    her spirit, the education surrounding her, it is blatantly obvious that whatever effect she
    has on the nervous system cascades down to other systems, creating optimal wellness
    in the human spirit. She is pure summer magic, growing underneath the rising of the
    Dog Star, waiting for a girl like me to pluck her.
    Works Cited
    Hoffman, David. The New Holistic Herbal. Great Britain: Element Books Limited, 1990.
    Print.
    Cunningham, Scott. Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn
    Publications, 2011. Print.
    Cech, Richo. Making Plant Medicine. Williams, OR: Horizon Herbs LLC, 2000. Print.
    Paul Bergner. North American Institute of Medical Herbalism. medherbs.com
    Kiva Rose. Folk Herbalism. bearmedicineherbals.com
    Contributing Herbalists:
    Anne Merrill
    Michael Moore
    Kiva Rose
    Paul Bergner
    Nicole Telkes
    Marika Alvarado
    Sheri Hupfer
    Scott Cunningham
    David Hoffman
    Richo Cech
    Works Cited