Included in my bedtime tea mix is St. John’s Wort. It’s also know as Hypericum: The genus name Hypericum is from the Latin word hyper, meaning “above,” and icon, meaning “spirit.” The herb was once hung over doorways to ward off evil spirits or burned to protect and sanctify an area.
Below, a post from Lilith’s Apothecary with relevant info:
A friend recently passed along a fabulous blog called BibliOdyssey, as well as a post with illustrated manuscript belonging to a 15th c. herbal text titled the Codex Sloane 4016. Like other early manuscripts focusing on herbs, these treatises documented accumulated knowledge about medicinal plants from the oral tradition. In the image above you will immediately recognize St. John’s Wort as the medieval “ypericon”, known now by the latin hypericum perforatum. With the myriad uses for the invaluable St. John’s Wort, SSRI action, anti-viral activity, and vulnerary for nervous system-related symptoms among them, what I did not know was that St John’s Wort was also considered a demon repellent. And what a cute little demon we have here in this medieval illustration, not unlike the many forms of hybrid creatures found on the column lintels that would have surrounded monastic herb gardens of that period. I…
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The Narrative Within 