St. John's Wort Products
Spanning many traditions, cultures and countries St. John's Wort is native mostly to Europe but has been incorporated into Chinese as well as Ayurvedic practice. Indigo Herbs has sought these traditional remedies for the good of those who want to try a more natural approach to the blues. Here we have St John's Wort Leaf Tea, St John's Wort Powder and St John's Wort Tincture to incorporate into your daily supplements of botanical ingredients. We also stock St John's Wort capsules from one of our leading guest brands.
St. John's Wort was recognised as early as 400 BC by early Greek physicians as being both an excellent herb for internal use and also a ward to keep evil spirits at bay. The official Latin name for St. John's Wort, 'hypericum perforatum', comes from the Greek 'hyperikon'. This combination of the two words hyper and ikon mean 'over' and 'apparition' respectively and point to the use of St. John's Wort as a ward against evil spirits. Early references by Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Theophrastus and Galen all noted St. John's Wort as a remedy for snake and reptile bites.
Regarded as very special all over Europe, the common name, St. John's Wort, came from the observation that the golden flowers would bloom before or exactly on the 24th of June. This date happens to be the birthday of the early Christian Saint John the Baptist. Christians also gave this plant a heavily religious significance because of the crimson juice that seeps out of the stems when they are broken, as well the flowers resemblance to a halo. All over England the St. John's Wort was mostly used in the medieval period as a charm to ward off evil spirits when woven into wreaths, hung upon doors and amulets or around the neck. This popular plant was even used to tell the span of life of ones family. Everybody in the family would go and pluck a branch of St. John's Wort and then hang it from the rafters of the house. In the morning the plants that were the most wilted were considered an omen of short life.
St John's Wort is a perennial native to Europe which has now spread to many temperate climates around the world. The flowers usually have five petals and the single leaves show translucent dots filled with essential oils when held up to sunlight. Being so common it is regarded as an invasive weed in some countries.