Of Weeds and Weans: Lifting heavy little hearts

iii: Of Weeds & Weans

Lifting heavy little hearts

Joseph Nolan

Sometimes rough winds really do shake ourdarling buds of May, and cuddles just aren’tenough. Things beyond our control— andcertainly beyond that of our children —cancause heartache and heartbreak, grief andfear, and reveal the awful fragility of lifefrom which we try to shield them. Death inthe family or community, the loss of a pet,illness or accident, divorce, moving faraway, changing schools, witnessing atraumatic incident, even the birth of a sibling… all of these can destabilise a child’sworld and cause deep unhappiness. Forolder children and adolescents, the betrayalof friends, trouble at school, anddisappointment in sports or academics canbe terrible. Children may also be navigatingtheir own and others’ identities in terms ofrace, gender, gender expression,orientation, disability and neurodivergence,and those on the receiving endof bullying will need extra support.So how to heal and safeguard the hearts ofchildren?

La Vie en Rose

For the emotional heart and its injuries, you just can’t beat Rosa damascena (Rose). For grief and sadness, insecurity, poor selfesteem, low confidence and fretfulness, Rose is the cure. Rose has been associated with love since time immemorial. It could be considered an aphrodisiac— its intoxicating smell quickly evokes the sensual —but Rose’s love is deeper. It opens the heart and improves the capacity for compassion and love— and, most importantly, the capacity for compassion and love for oneself, the lack of which is so often at the heart of emotional and physical ills. Rose is the number one remedy for patients as diverse as babies who have experienced a traumatic birth, their mothers and fathers (the latter too often forgotten in the birth narrative), nursery-goers struggling with separation, bullied school children, and adolescents experiencing their first heartbreak. I use it, too, for those who have suffered unspeakable abuses and traumas as children. It is a remedy as sure and reliable as any in the dispensary, invaluable for healing the emotional ailments of even decades past.

Rose tincture is fine, especially homemade in brandy, but I prefer it in tea— usually as an admixture in blends for other ailments — or in sublime aromatic water. Floral waters are made by distillation and so contain none of the tannins or other large molecules found in teas, but only light volatile aromatic compounds— the spirits of the flowers. Rose floral water can be given to absolutely anyone as a medicine, as well as used to wash the skin and freshen the air, and can also be added to beverages. I also like to use the syrup and glycerite sometimes for especially complex, serious cases, and for people who need a little extra love.

Hawthorn for the Heart

For matters of the heart, physical or emotional, Crataegus monogyna (Hawthorn) is supreme. I use it or C. laevigata (Midland Hawthorn) to treat anxiety, fear and sadness. Palpitations or awareness of the heart beating, sometimes coinciding with a fear of death, are good indications for Hawthorn. For grief, or to treat a more general sadness, listlessness or lack of sparkle, Hawthorn helps restore a sense of cheerfulness and fun. Simply put, it lifts the heart.

As a physiological remedy, Hawthorn is an excellent treatment for heart palpitations, for poor circulation, and for Raynaud’s Phenomenon. Children with chronically cold or red hands (and, indeed, their grown-ups) can benefit from long treatment with Hawthorn. For these physical ailments, Hawthorn is slow but sure; as it may take many weeks before the benefits are felt, I find it valuable to combine it with more immediate actors. For circulation in the hands and/or feet, I use Zingiber officinalis (Ginger), especially if there are also digestive problems like wind or constipation; Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) if the child is listless, sad or lacking appetite; Curcuma longa (Turmeric) if there is inflammation; Cinnamon zeylanicum (Cinnamon) if the child has sweet cravings and a family history of diabetes; and Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) where there is eczema or a tendency for fungal infections. For emotional ills, I have found that Hawthorn is much quicker acting.

If you have even a passing interest in foraging or medicine-making, you will probably be aware that the Hawthorn tree offers us two medicinal parts: the May flower and the berry, known as the Haw— and what fun can be had Hawing around in the Autumn hedgerow! Tradition dictates that the flower is used for emotional ailments and the berry for physical ones; in practice, I prefer to use both for both. Being related to the Apple (Malus)— and, indeed, Haws resemble tiny red Apples rather closely —the berry is an effective adaptogen: a nourishing and supportive remedy to carry us through the hardships of Winter with a strong and merry heart. If you positively identify a Hawthorn tree, do put some of the Haws in brandy until they are white (yes, they turn white), and then bring the resulting spirit out at Yuletide for a truly stunning and cosy tipple. Meanwhile, the creamy white flowers you find drifting on the trees like early Summer snow make a lovely flower wine, if you are so inclined. The May flower does have a peculiar scent which is not to everyone’s taste, but luckily it vanishes when the flowers are dried.

If hedgerow foraging is not possible, you can easily find both parts of the plant dried and tinctured; I prefer to mix them if possible. For tinctures, be aware that they can be harsh tasting, especially for children, so I try to reduce the alcohol content in my tincture bottles as much as I can. If making tea, do not use dried Haws— you’ll have to simmer them for at least 20 minutes or get precious little goodness out of them. What you buy as Hawthorn tea is a flower and leaf mix (and if you do try to pick the flowers in any quantity you will see why it is always a flower and leaf mix!), which makes a fine infusion. However, my favourite way to use Hawthorn is as a juice. There is a juice on the market made from both parts of the plant, produced by a company called Salus; it tastes wonderful and is nothing but herb— no alcohol or preservatives. Hawthorn juice is a firm favourite in my dispensary. There is one other way that you may wish to use Hawthorn:

Herbal Helper: Hawthorn Flower Remedy

Flower remedies are subtle preparations capturing the most ethereal qualities of flowers. There is nothing sciencey about them; they are pure, unapologetic magic. Devotees say that the flower’s energetic essence imbues the water and is active in incredibly small quantities, influencing the energetic and spiritual parts of a person’s being. Dr Edward Bach is the fellow credited with their invention, and he spent many years observing the subtle effects that different English flowers— prepared as flower remedies or ‘essences’ —had on peoples’ emotional states. From this work he developed a group of thirty-eight remedies indicated for very specific emotional states. Make of it what you will, but there is great power in selecting a remedy— or two, or three —to help with one’s own particular discontent and then taking that remedy each day while recalling why and what you wish to accomplish by doing so. The process can be transformative— even more so if you have made the remedy yourself, full of the intention to heal and become a better, stronger, freer person. Here is how you do it:

You will need a glass bowl, some spring water (or filtered tap water, clean rainwater or whatever you have available), a large glass bottle of 300- 500ml in brown or blue, a small glass dropper bottle of 30ml or so in brown or blue for the remedy itself, brandy (or cider vinegar, glycerine or honey), labels and a pen.

On a clear sunny day, head out to pick your flowers. Hawthorn is a small tree with very distinctive fleur-de-lis shaped leaves and flowers that are ivory white or, occasionally, a ludicrous pink (never let it be said that plants have no sense of humour). Before picking, be sure you have correctly identified your tree, as there are many shrubs with white flowers at this time of year. You want to use May flowers in full bloom or just before, so keep your eyes open for a subtle colour change: the tiny stamen anthers go from pink to brown as the flower reaches maturity and then passes over. Try to pick flowers with pink anthers.

Having found your tree, pick enough flowers to completely cover the surface of the water held in the glass bowl. You probably want at least one good-sized adult handful. For flower remedies, most people favour not touching the blossoms to avoid contaminating the plant’s energy, preferring to snip them off with scissors; others just pluck them with their fingers.

Fill the bowl part way with water and place your flowers onto the surface. Traditionally, the flowers are lifted using a large leaf and placed onto the water’s surface without touching, but this is up to you and your wee person.

When the water is covered with flowers, place the bowl to sit in the sun undisturbed. It needs the sun to properly infuse, so pick a spot where the bowl will enjoy direct sunlight for three or four hours.

Using a leaf, wheech the flowers out of the water and place them, if possible, under the tree from which they came.

The water is now what is called a Mother Essence. Half fill your larger bottle with it and then top it up the rest of the way with brandy. Now you have a preserved Mother Essence to last you many years.

To prepare the remedy, place 2-10 drops of Mother Essence into the small dosing bottle and fill with brandy, water or a 50/50 mix. The more brandy, the longer it will last.

To use the flower remedy, administer 2- 4 drops from the dosing bottle either directly into the mouth or into a beverage. Flower remedies work nicely in sprays as well.

Any flower remedy can be made and used in this way, provided it is not toxic or poisonous. Do be very careful with identification.

Hawthorn flower remedy is typically used for intense, heartrending stress and upheaval, inconsolable loss, and existential devastation— events from which the heart might not recover. But you can use it for small-scale tragedies too, like broken toys, dropped ice creams, highly anticipated but ultimately disappointing birthday gifts, schoolroom embarrassments, and the upsetting realisations of growing up.

Happy Herbing!