St. Johns Wort(Hypericum perforatum) eo/Bulgaria wild harvest

Images of St. Johns Wort

Olfactory Properties of St. Johns Wort(Hypericum perforatum) eo/Bulgaria wild harvest
The essential oil of St. John's Wort displays a delicate, fresh, sweet, fruity, green herbaceous bouquet with a delicate hay-like, balsamic, floral undertone. It is a very cheering perfume capturing beautifully the scent of sunlit mountain meadows dispensing their aroma to the fresh high altitude air. The elegant, sweet herbaceous, hay-like note remains deep into the dry-out becoming more rich and mellow with the passage of time.

Blends beautifull with artmesia annua eo; basil eo, co2 and abs; beeswax abs; boronia abs; broom abs; cananga eo; chamomile, blue eo and abs; chamomile, english eo; chamomile, morocco eo and abs; citrus oils; elderflower eo and abs; erigeron eo; eucalytus macarthii eo; fir oils and abs; geranium eo and abs; hay abs; helichrysum eo and abs; henna flower attar; hyssop eo and co2; kadam attar; lavender eo, co2 and abs; lemon balm eo, co2 and abs; lemon tea tree eo; lemon myrtle eo; litsea cubeba eo; pine eo's and abs; sage eo and co2; rose eo's and abs; spruce eo's and abs; tonka bean abs; vanilla abs and co2; verbena, lemon eo and abs; yarrow eo and co2; ylang eo and abs

In natural perfumery would be effective in herbal bouquets; apothecary blends; geographical perfumes; high class florals; sacred perfumes


Interesting facts about Hypericum perforatum/St. John's Wort
1. In the old Germanic solstice cultures, St. John's Wort played an important role. On the one hand, the shape and colour of its flowers referred to the sun, and on the other, it was regarded as a ’bringer of light’. With Christianity, the solstice and its plants were dedicated to John the Baptist since the plant begins flowering on Midsummer Day (June 24) and therefore contains the highest amount of active ingredients
2.The genus name Hypericum is derived from the Greek words hyper (above) and eikon (picture), in reference to the traditional use of the plant to ward off evil, by hanging plants over a religious icon in the house during St John's day.
3.The species name perforatum refers to the presence of small oil glands in the leaves that look like windows, which can be seen when they are held against the light.
4. Whatever the reason for its name, by medieval times people believed that if you slept with a sprig of St. John's wort under your pillow on St. John's Eve (the night before St. John's Tide),the Saint would appear in a dream, give his blessing, and prevent one from dying during the following year.
5. The oil made from the flowers was listed in the first Pharmacopoeia Londinensis (1618). 1630 Angelo Sala stated that St. John’s wort treated illnesses of the imagination, melancholia, anxiety and disturbances of understanding. He wrote, “St. John’s wort cures these disorders as quick as lightening.” Gerard wrote that its use as a balm for wounds, burns, ulcers and bites was without equal (Gerard 1633).
6.It was used in exorcisms, as its name Fuga daemonum (Demon's flight) indicates. In 1525, Paracelsus wrote of St. John's Wort: ’Each physician should know that God has placed a great arcanum (secret) in the herb, just for the spirits and mad fantasies that drive people to despair. ’

St. Johns Wort in Literature

And through the green gloom glows the light
Of ST. JOHN'S-WORT--a nimbus of gold.
A Floral Fantasy in an Old English Garden, by
Walter Crane

To deliver a man from a devil,—give him some of our Quinte Essence with that of gold and pearl, and St. John’s Wort water: at once the devil will flee away.
‘fuga demonum’
The Book Of Quinte Essence Or The Fifth
Being (1889), by Unknown

Then she whose gown is gold, and gold her hair,
Swept down the golden steep straight sunbeam-stair,
She lit the tulip-lamps, she lit the torch
Of hollyhock beside the cottage porch.
She dressed the honeysuckle in fringe of gold,
She gave the king-cups fairy wealth to hold,
She kissed St. John's wort till it opened wide,
She set the yarrow by the river side.
The Rainbow and the Rose, by E. Nesbit

He very seldom associated with his equals. He went out into the woods
on Sundays, when he took me with him; he did not talk much when he was
out, but would sit silently, sunk in deep thought, whilst I ran about
and strung strawberries on a straw, or bound garlands. Only twice in
the year, and that in the month of May, when the woods were arrayed in
their earliest green, did my mother go with us, and then she wore a
cotton gown, which she put on only on these occasions, and when she
partook of the Lord's Supper, and which, as long as I can remember, was
her holiday gown. She always took home with her from the wood a great
many fresh beech boughs, which were then planted behind the polished
stone. Later in the year sprigs of St. John's wort were stuck into the
chinks of the beams, and we considered their growth as omens whether
our lives would be long or short. Green branches and pictures
ornamented our little room, which my mother always kept neat and clean;
she took great pride in always having the bed-linen and the curtains
very white.
True Story of My Life by H. C. Andersen

Cola-Mattheo, who was, as I have said before, a great simpleton, made no
reply; but before sunrise next morning he went to the wood and gathered
a bunch of St. John's Wort, and rosemary, and suchlike herbs, and rubbed
them, as he had been told, on the floor of the palace. Hardly had he
done so than the walls immediately turned into ivory, so richly inlaid
with gold and silver that they dazzled the eyes of all beholders. The
King, when he rose and saw the miracle that had been performed, was
beside himself with amazement, and didn't know what in the world he was
to do.
THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK
By Various
Edited by Andrew Lang

"Tell us some more fairy lore about the plants!" begged the girls.

"Well, the St. John's wort is called 'the fairies' horse.' If you pick it
after sunset a fairy horse will rise from the ground and carry you about
all night, leaving you in the morning wherever you may chance to be at
sunrise. You know if you keep fern-seed in your pockets you'll have the
chance of seeing the pixies. The moonwort is supposed to be a very
supernatural plant, and to have the power of opening locks if you place a
leaf of it in the keyhole. No, I've never tried to burgle with it! I've
never found any moonwort. It's an exceedingly rare plant now, and it's
not been my luck to come across any. If you're troubled with warts, you
ought to go at sunrise to an ash tree, stick a pin into the bark, and
say:

"Ashen tree! Ashen tree!
I pray thee buy these warts of me!
Monitress Merle, by Angela Brazil

It was September now, and the turf on the slope to the Railway was dry and crisp. Little long grass spikes stood up like bits of gold wire, frail blue harebells trembled on their tough, slender stalks, Gipsy roses opened wide and flat their lilac-coloured discs, and the golden stars of St. John's Wort shone at the edges of the pool that lay halfway to the Railway. Bobbie gathered a generous handful of the flowers and thought how pretty they would look lying on the green-and-pink blanket of silk-waste that now covered Jim's poor broken leg.
The Railway Children, by E. Nesbit









Links for St. John's Wort/Hypericum perforatum
Medicinal plants of the world: By Michael Wink
Studies in natural products chemistry,By Atta-ur- Rahman
The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook: By James A. Duke
A contemplation upon flowers: garden plants in myth and literature
By Bobby J. Ward
Rodale's illustrated encyclopedia of herbs
By Claire Kowalchik, William H. Hylton, Anna Carr
The golden bough: a study in magic and religion, Volume 11
By Sir James George Frazer