Sorrel & Salt
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Reference

Compendium

Ingredients for spellwork: their formal and folk names, categories, deities and forms, with the sources behind them.

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    313 ingredients

    313 ingredients

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    Botanical Name
    Prunella vulgaris

    Self-Heal

    Self-heal is a low, creeping perennial of the mint family, native to Europe, Asia, Africa and North America and common through most temperate regions. Its squarish, often reddish stems carry pairs of blunt oval leaves and end in a dense, cylindrical spike of two-lipped purple flowers, with a pair of stalkless leaves standing out beneath it like a collar. It is plentiful in pastures, roadsides and waste ground, and can spread into dense mats and turn weedy in lawns. Its English names record its old standing as a wound herb: Gerard rated none better, saying the bruised herb alone made a healing salve, and Grieve gives an infusion as a general tonic and, sweetened with honey, as a gargle for a sore throat or ulcered mouth. Its Latin name is traced to the German word for diphtheria, which it was once used to treat. Peoples of the Pacific Northwest put its juice on boils, it is the xia ku cao of Chinese medicine, and its young leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salads. Folklore gave it two faces: the Irish held it so strong that nothing natural or supernatural could harm it and used it to cure a fairy-struck child, while English children were told it was the devil's and that he would carry off whoever picked its flowers. Kynes places it under earth and Venus, for clarity, healing, peace and release.

    Caution

    AHPA safety class 1 (safe when used appropriately) and interaction class A (no clinically relevant interactions expected): no contraindications, precautions or drug interactions are known. Rare allergic reactions have been reported, with rashes, swelling of the throat, lips and tongue, and nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. An animal study found it may alter blood-sugar regulation, so anyone with diabetes should watch their blood sugar closely and talk to a qualified practitioner before using it. Little is known of its safety in pregnancy or while nursing, so its safety then has not been established.

    Forms

    • Herb

    Correspondences

    Elements
    Earth
    Celestial Bodies
    Venus

    Folk Names

    • All-Heal
    • Blue Curls
    • Brownwort
    • Brunella
    • Cailleach's Tea
    • Carpenter's Herb
    • Carpenter's Weed
    • Heal-All
    • Heart of the Earth
    • Hook-Heal
    • Prunella
    • Slough-Heal
    • Woundwort

    Categories

    • Clarity
    • Healing
    • Peace
    • Release
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