Held in the heat

a month with self heal

Self heal
Heal all
All heal
Woundwort
Hook heal
Heart-of-the-earth
Carpenter’s herb
Sicklewort
Blue curls

I have spent this month with Prunella vulgaris, Self heal. She is a member of the mint family and all about adaptability. She likes shade, but will grow in bright sun. She loves well-drained, loamy soil, but will grow in a wide range of soils. She self-seeds and creeps and, like all mints, can quickly populate an area. Low and persistent, if she is walked over she will reflower. A healer of whatever has been worn down, inflamed, or broken.

There’s a poem I love by Anne Carson — ‘The Glass Essay‘ in God and Glass. It’s extraordinarily layered. A persona who has suffered a terrible break-up and, wounded, goes home to a not altogether sympathetic mother. She carries Wuthering Heights with her, and its tragedy, as well as Emily Brontë’s life and no-nonsense approach, wind into her own story.

Give and take were just words to me

at the time. I had not been in love before.
It was like a wheel rolling downhill.
But early this morning while mother slept

and I was downstairs reading the part in Wuthering Heights
where Heathcliff clings at the lattice in the storm sobbing
Come in! Come in! to the ghost of his heart’s darling,

I fell on my knees on the rug and sobbed too.
She knows how to hang puppies,
that Emily.

It isn’t like taking an aspirin you know, I answer feebly.
Dr. Haw says grief is a long process.
She frowns. What does it accomplish

all that raking up the past?
Oh—I spread my hands—
I prevail! I look her in the eye.
She grins. Yes you do.

I prevail. From praevalere, from theLatin, ‘be stronger or more able, have greater power’. So like Self heal’s persistence, from the Latin persistere, ‘abide, continue steadfastly’.

July is a month of persistence. I’ve always loved summer, but lupus makes it tricky to be in sun and heat is not so welcome. And this July has also brought surgery, the need to stop and be with the body in order to persist.

How are you summering?

The world is heating up, emotionally and physically.

Self heal stays cool, simply puts one foot (or creeper) in front of the other. She prevails.

She contains a huge array of active compounds that work synergistically giving her the reputation as a ‘heal all’ herb, who works across conditions and body systems. She supports cell health, modulates inflammation, disrupts viruses, bacteria and fungi, protects the liver and is helpful in controlling blood pressure. She’s also helpful in improving insulin sensitivity and balancing the immune system.

She will strengthen capillary walls, aiding circulation and tones and tightens tissues which makes her a vulnerary herb, helping to staunch bleeding and heal wounds. Self heal is also mineral rich with calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron and contains vitamin C and vitamin A precursors.

She is wonderful where there is stagnant heat and congestion:

swollen glands, lymphatic congestion, mastitis, tension headaches.

She moves while cooling — a soothing combination. And when we are depleted after heat or illness she is gently restorative.

This is an enormous range of actions for such an unassuming plant who is often overlooked, even in herbal circles. And she does all of this gently. She’s not a herb that overstimulates or pushes. Her triple powers of healing wounds, calming inflammation and supporting immunity are most often used in skin conditions. From minor cuts to slow-healing ulcers, from eczema to haemorrhoids, from insect bites to sore throat gargles.

She’s a bitter, which makes her cooling (though not deeply chilling) and astringent for toning tissues, as well as giving her the liver protection qualities and ability to stimulate bile for digestion. As a bitter, in a tea she can be an acquired taste — a little pungent, though there is also a subtle sweetness and in combination with other herbs she is still good in teas.

teas
wound washes
gargles
mouthwash
sitz baths
compresses
tinctures
poultices
infused oil
salves

As with her many names, as with her many actions, she is adaptable in form. And although she has astringency she also has a moistening layer. Her tannins are slightly drying and toning, but her mucilage softens and protects.

I’ve taken drop doses of Prunella singly as I’ve sat with her this month and she is also one of the core herbs of the lupus-modulating tincture I take daily.

Cooling and moistening, she works alongside violet, plantain and marshmallow to soften, soften, cool, protect, and rehydrate, a summer essential. Lymph congestion is a recurring issue and extremes of cold or heat add to this. Self heal joins with calendula to resolve and move what is stuck. And she sits with hawthorn and rose to stabilise rhythm and soothe emotions – at the meeting place of the vascular and the psycho-spiritual.

Prunella is the keystone that prevents the protocol from becoming too soft, too diffuse. She adds gentle tone to the violet, plantain and marshmallow. She grounds calendula, allowing movement without heat and push. She bridges the heart and tissues. With her daily presence, moisture is held, movement regulated heat not simply eased, but resolved. With her daily presence my system feels more coherent. She allows other herbs to soften the body without it becoming a soggy collapse.

Where there is damage that is emotional, she is present for us, restoring energy and vitality. Where there is grief, despair, anger… she offersthe possibility of repair.

A common plant with extraordinary power, she’s found underfoot, a remedy of ordinary resilience. She has long been included in healing charms, especially after nightmares, and her common name comes from Nicolas Culpeper, a 17th century botanist,

when you are hurt, you may heal yourself.

The body and spirit know how to heal wounds, but Self heal is there to remind and support.

Astrologically she is associated with Venus, healing not only tissues, but emotional wounds.

She sits between plantain and yarrow. Plantain is a wound healer who is more moistening. Yarrow a wound healer who is sharper, more directive. She is the closing of the wound, the drawing together, the remembering that your body knows the way. She is the disperser of excess heat and congestion while restoring tone so that the body can hold itself again.

What has she told me in this month together?

When inflammation is low-grade in my body there’s dryness, a little fatigue, mild lymphatic stagnation, emotional and vascular sensitivity. On those days she holds me steady, less reactive, more resilient. If something flares a little — a skin eruption, sore eyes, a stiff joint… — there is less intensity with Prunella in my terrain. In an acute flare of several body systems, she allows the other herbs to do their work of soothing and cooling, of moving and modulating. But Prunella is also central, reducing inflammatory pressure, holding hurt tissues, containing the body’s response; insisting ‘when you are hurt, you may heal’. I’m five days after surgery, her healing a soft balm.

In the heat of summer, in the heat of a crazy world, Self heal talks as a companion, one who walks with the body rather than taking over. She whispers: I will hold you while this passes. I will not let you break while you burn.

Finding your allies

Each month I meet with a small group of amazing women who are exploring their allies Along the Herbal Path.

We dive deep into an aspect of these companions in the animate world. Sometimes we pause to write, to centre ourselves in quiet meditation. Always we ask questions and make space for one another.

Together with the herbs, we create a little alchemy.

I’d love you to join us. Find out more, including how to join, on the triskelewell page