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Betony - The Healing power of Herbal teas – Ceres Esplan
Identifier
019453
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
The Healing power of Herbal teas – Ceres Esplan
Betony – Stachys officinalis – Bishop’s wort, Wood betony, Bitny, Sentinel of the woods is a wild flower with a tight terminal head of dark crimson flowers. It had the reputation of being a holy herb with powers for holding evil spirits at bay.
An old Herbal compiled late in the 17th century says ‘tis hot and dry, acrid and bitter …… it opens and cleanses’. Another recommended it as a very precious herb.
Wood betony is picked when it is coming into flower and then dried in a warm place to be used as an astringent nervine. It is ‘useful for hysteria, but also for a tonic and alterative. A few leaves infused in boiling water still proves to be a helpful drink for those who feel completely languid and have slight nervous headaches and for those who loathe and cannot digest their food’