Yarrow, The Warrioress
Summer is in full swing here. Most mornings and evenings, I'm in my garden harvesting my beloved medicinal herbs making fresh plant tinctures and oils for my clinic. The yarrow flowers are just beginning to open, which means it's time to make my favourite herbal-infused honey. Since the Xia dynasty (c. 2070 to c. 1600 BCE), the Chinese divination tool, the I-Ching has been made of yarrow sticks, and the Druids used the stalks to divine weather. In the Hebrides islands, it was believed a leaf of yarrow held against your eye would give you the Second Sight. As I harvest flowers from my garden, I marvel at the fact that two ancient cultures, located in vastly different parts of the planet, used yarrow for divination. This beautiful wildflower grows naturally across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and has been used as a medicinal plant throughout various cultures for thousands of years.
Yarrow has been found in Neanderthal burials, suggesting its medicinal use dates back 60,000 years ago. The botanical name, Achillea, refers to the Greek warrior Achilles, who was taught the way of healing herbs from the god Chiron and, in turn, provided yarrow to his soldiers to heal wounds. This is why yarrow was known as the herba militaris for its use to staunch bleeding from war wounds.
Their strong, fibrous stems are much stronger than they look, just like the plant and the people for whom this plant is intended. Yarrow grows wild and free in meadows, at the edge of forests, high up in the Alps, and even in roadside ditches. Like many important first-aid plants, it will grow (and even thrive) in places where the land has been disturbed. I remember once seeing yarrow growing through a rusted car that had been abandoned in a dumpyard. Yarrow teaches us resilience. It makes sense that this wise plant has been used as a divination tool; its medicine is precise and exacting. It gets deep down, right to the heart of one’s trouble, clearing poison from our body and even our mind.
Yarrow helps us with boundaries. Our skin is a physical boundary, as is our immune system, but we also have an energetic boundary system, sometimes called the auric field. This is one of the first herbs I turn to for patients who feel overly vulnerable to other people’s moods and energy. These individuals are also sensitive to the environment. They feel as if they are absorbing negative energy or psychic impressions from others, leading them to feel depleted and raw. Yarrow knits together the overly porous auric field of such an individual so they do not bleed into their environment and so their environment does not bleed into them. Yarrow moves stuck energy. Just as it helps to improve the assimilation of minerals from our food, improving our energy and our inner source of power.
Yarrow can staunch bleeding. It is used topically for all kinds of cuts, abrasions, and even nosebleeds. It is used internally for hemorrhage, varicose veins, and to improve the entire cardiovascular system. Yarrow’s complex chemistry also makes it an important remedy for the digestive system, respiratory system, and skin. In gynecology, we use this herb to reduce excess vaginal secretions such as leukorrhea, profuse bleeding, and uterine fibroids.
Yarrow Infused Honey
In just 5 minutes or less, you’ll have one of the most treasured gifts from the bees and flowers in your hands. Honey is a wonderful solvent that prevents spoilage—it’s one of the best preservatives in the world. I wouldn’t have thought to make yarrow-infused honey, except one day I had so much honey on my hands I thought I would try it. To my delight, yarrow honey is now one of my all-time favourite infused honeys. It is so delicious and a great way to take in the medicinal benefits.
Use Yarrow-infused honey on toast, drizzled over cheese or desserts, and apply it to the skin for its healing effect.
Ingredients:
- Fresh yarrow flowers
- 2 cups of unpasteurized honey (liquified, not creamed)
Supplies:
•1 litre-sized wide-mouthed canning jar
•Pen and label
•1 chopstick
•Double boiler or sauce pan
•1 fine mesh strainer
•1 bowl or wide-mouthed jar
•1 spoon
•Optional: cookie sheet or small jar
•1 decorative, litre-sized jar
Shelf Life: Infused herbal honey is very shelf-stable and lasts years.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Be sure to harvest fresh yarrow on dry days so they are free of moisture, and do not wash your harvest.
- Place flowers into a wide-mouthed glass jar and cover with warm liquified honey. Use a chopstick to mix the honey and flowers together, taking care to have each petal well-coated.
- Keep adding more honey, bringing the volume up to the brim of the jar.
- Fasten the jar with a lid, and be sure to label your medicine with a date and the ingredients.
- Let the jar stand indoors by a sunny window to macerate and infuse for 7–10 days. During this time, gently shake your jar every few days. While you do this, you can imbue your prayers and intention into the steeping honey.
- After 7–10 days, place the contents of the jar into a double boiler or into a saucepan on very low heat: just low enough to warm the honey so it becomes thin.
- Once the honey is warmed, it liquifies to a thin fluid, making it easy to strain and separate the petals from the honey. Strain and separate the petals from the honey by pouring the mixture into the strainer nested over a wide-mouthed jar or bowl. Use a spoon to gently, yet firmly, press the honey from the petals, squeezing out as much honey as possible.
- I like to put all the strained, yet still honey-saturated petals into a separate jar or lay them flat on a cookie sheet to crystallize. They are delicious, and make for a lovely treat or nice decoration on desserts. Store them in a dark cupboard. They will not spoil.
- Pour the strained honey into a decorative jar and use on toast, in tea, drizzled over warm brie cheese, or to garnish desserts—or eat by the spoonful. It makes a wonderful gift. Be sure to taste it before you bottle it to enjoy the gorgeous flavor. It’ll surely uplift the spirits!
Also, remember to label the jar of honey and of honey-saturated petals with the date and ingredients. Store both of these remedies in a cool dark place; neither needs to be refrigerated.
Note:
I never use dried herbs for herbal honey as I find the taste, flavor and magic just isn’t there. But by all means, don’t take my word for it—try it yourself, you might like it!
Yield: 2 cups
