Cover art by Cecilia Brendel
“An ancient Irish prescription calls for seven balls of ground ivy, vervain, eye-bright, groundsel, foxglove, bark of elder tree, and young shoots of hawthorn well mixed together. These are made into a potion with bog water and salt and boiled in a vessel with a piece of money and an elf stone. The elf stone was an ancient arrow head dug up on the site of an old battlefield. When once lifted, it must never be permitted to touch the ground if it was to retain its wondrous virtues. If it was allowed to fall from the spade to the earth, it lost its magic power. Most of the plants named in the prescription are used more or less commonly today.”
George Niles Hoffman, The Pharmaceutical Era, Volume 55, 1922
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2 responses to “Vervain: The Druid’s Heal All”
Good morning
When I read this post I can just visualize myself back then gathering all the item to whip up this wonderful concoction. How I wish I could just for a moment transform back to that Era in time and smell all the smells and take in the atmosphere of the said battlefield. How amazing would that be?
Thank you Isla Skye for this beautiful journey back in time.
Awen, ahoy and so it is 🧙♀️🧙♂️🧚♂️
Thank you so much Roberta! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂