Autumn Time Remedy
September- Crataegus Monogyna
Poetry
In this Green & Gallant Spring by Robert Louis Stevenson
In the green & gallant Spring, Love & Iyre I thought to sing, And kisses sweet to give & take By the flowery hawthorn brake. Now is russet Autumn here, Death & grave & winter drear, And I must ponder here aloof While the rain is on the roof.
Hello again,
As promised, I’m sharing an additional herbal post this month. The herbal content was sparse over the summer so I’d like to make the most of September’s abundance. We’ve just passed the Equinox & are now in Mabon. The nights are closing in & there’s a blustery chill in the air that makes me think of open fires & cups of cacao with nutmeg. I love this time of year but it is a busy one. The kitchens full with apples, hawthorn, rosehip, conkers & acorns and my spare time is spent making flours, jelly, chutneys, ferments & medicines for the months ahead.
Surely, you will have seen the ruby gems glistening in our hedgerows. I’m positive that most folks know this to be Hawthorn, not to be confused with Rosehips. Though both are medicinal, edible & delicious. I make a point of illuminating this fact after an encounter last week. An encounter that saw a woman walking past me & my partner laughing mockingly at our basket and busy hands. Declaring as she laughed, that the Hawthorns we were picking were poisonous. It was an odd & unpleasant interaction. Odd enough that I considered she might have been joking. But, these are strange times we are in. Today, the ancient Sycamore tree that grew through a gap in Hadrian’s Wall has been felled illegally under the darkness of night. Within the same 12 hours of the felling, the UK State nature report has been published showing more devastating declines in abundance & wildlife; 1 in 6 species are at the risk of disappearance.
These times call for an antidote. A remedy, to keep the heart warm & our spirits high. For that reason, this newsletter is going to focus on the hedge-grown heart wonder Hawthorn: Crataegus Monogyna.
Lore of Hawthorn
A range of legends and superstitions cling to hawthorn trees. It appears in Christianity as the ‘thorn’ of Christ’s crown of thorns. Elsewhere, Joseph of Arimathea (he who allegedly brought the Holy Grail to Glastonbury) carried a staff made of hawthorn. Hence the hawthorn tree on Glastonbury Tor.
In Irish mythology hawthorn marks a gateway to the Otherworld. In some legends, fairies actually live inside hawthorn trees. Cutting them down incurs their considerable wrath. Unsurprisingly, folklore states that Westminster Abbey stands on a marshy, boggy part of London, on what used to be a “sacred stand of thorn trees” that was then called Thorney Island. Perhaps, this is the reason why things are the way they are there…
Over the waters in Ireland, this thorny shrub is known as sgitheach. Thomas the Rhymer, the thirteenth century Scottish mystic and poet met the Faery Queen by a hawthorn from which a cuckoo was calling. She led him into the Faery Underworld for a brief sojourn. Upon re-emerging into the world of mortals he found he had been absent for seven years. Similar themes are also common in Celtic mythology. Below is the ballad Thomas The Rymer by Ewan McColl.
The trees are said to stand on the threshold between our world and the Otherworld. As such, they are under the protection of the fairies, so you risk punishment if you cut them down. The only time you could bring the branches indoors was on May Day. It spelt disaster to do so at any other time. This is why you might often find a lone hawthorn tree seemingly standing in an inopportune place.
Medieval folk also asserted that the smell of hawthorn blossom was just like the smell of the Great Plague in London. Botanists later discovered the reason for this. The chemical trimethylamine present in hawthorn blossom is also formed in decaying animal tissue. In the past, when corpses were in the house for several days before burial, people would have been very familiar with the smell of death. Folklorist suspect this to be the reason why so much superstition surrounded bringing the hawthorn into the home.
Properties of Hawthorn
Circulation
Hawthorn is the best remedy for the heart & circulation, improving blood flow through the heart & arteries & regulating blood pressure.
It lowers harmful cholesterol, reducing the build-up of deposits causing atherosclerosis
It strengthens heart muscle, regulates heart rhythm & is prescribed in coronary insufficiency, palpitations, arrhythmias, angina & degenerative heart disease.
It has a protective effect on heart muscle, reduces inflammation in blood vessels & helps prevent clots & heart attacks.
It can be used for anaemia and be helpful in altitude sickness
Musculo-skeletal System
Hawthorn benefits the joint linings, synovial fluid, collagen, ligaments, vertebral discs.
It makes a good antioxidant for inflammatory connective tissue disorders & useful in arthritis, gout & tendonitis.
Mento-Emotional
It’s relaxant effect is helpful in relieving anxiety & stress, it promotes sleep
Hawthorn is recommended in attention deficit disorder (ADD) & (ADHD)
It has been used traditionally to ease emotional heartache
Urinary System
Its diuretic action helps reduce fluid retention
It also dissolves stones & gravel
Digestion
Hawthorn is used in the East more as a digestive tonic. It can be helpful in diarrhoea, dysentery & dyspepsia.
It is nutritive, regulates metabolism & can be helpful in obesity
Reproductive System
Hawthorn can be used to regulate blood flow and ammenorrhoea
It promotes libido & fertility & is recommended in threatened miscarriage
During menopause it can be helpful for night sweats & hot flushes
Cautions
Hawthorn may potentiate the effects of heart drugs including digoxin & beta blockers. It is advised to monitor blood pressure when hawthorn is combined with hypotensive drugs.
All notes from ‘The Complete Herbal Tutor’ by Anne McIntyre.
Recipes
Hawthorn Tincture
Equipment
Rolling pin
large ziplock bag
Glass Jar
Muslin
Funnels
Dropper bottles
Ingredients
1 cup fresh hawthorn berries (or 3/4 cup dried)
2 cup Brandy* (40-50% alcohol)
Instructions
Pick the red berries from hawthorn trees in autumn. Choose plump red berries in an area away from traffic.
Remove the leaves and brittle stems and rinse the berries to remove dust and other impurities. Allow to drip dry in a strainer or sieve. They can still be a little moist for the next step.
Place the berries in a ziplock bag and then roll over them with a rolling pin. This opens the berries but doesn't crush the seeds inside. You should avoid crushing the seeds when making hawthorn tincture.
Empty the crushed hawthorn berries into a glass jar. Pour the brandy over them, if you abstain from alcohol use Vegetable Glycerine or Apple cider Vinegar, seal tightly with a lid, then shake for about a minute.
Store the jar in a dark and cool (to room temperature) place such as a kitchen cupboard. Leave it to infuse for two to four weeks. Shake the jar every couple of days. As the soluble components of hawthorn extract into the brandy/glycerine/vinegar, the berries lose their colour.
After the allocated time has passed, strain the hawthorn tincture through a muslin laid over a fine mesh strainer to remove the berries.
Get every last drop of tincture that you can from the berries. Gather the muslin up and squeeze as much liquid out, as you can. Afterward, discard the berries.
Pour the tincture through a funnel and into a dark glass bottle. Label it with the type of tincture and the date made, and store it in a cool to room temperature place out of direct sunlight. It has a shelf-life of about two years in alcohol infusion. Around 3 months in Apple Cider Vinegar.
Get yourselves out & enjoy the Autumn air!
Mabon blessing,
Hannah-May