bugleweed is a quiet woodland herb in the mint family. 

it's deeply relaxing and is famously paired with lemon balm for hyperthyroid presentations.
it peaks in mid to late summer, i harvest it fresh and tincture it immediately to preserve it's complex constituents.
i long steep it in vodka to make a top tier tincture. it's very important to tincture this remedy with care
as this is the most potent form of remedy for bugleweed.

i had read old accounts claiming that 'heat destroyed the virtues of bugleweed'
i found a huge patch of bugleweed in an open field this year (an unusual spot)
and decided to harvest it for tea. i think bugleweed is more important than it ever gets credit for and was glad to add tea to the shop if i could.
i spent an hour cutting fresh plants for tea. they were truly perfect looking (pictured)
i spread them out on mats to dry in the sun.
i came back a half hour later and they were blackened and sickly looking, half crisped and burned, half green and limpy.
many thanks to nicholas culpepper who knew since the 1600s and tried to warn me.next year i'll hang to dry in the shade.
to anyone who may find them fresh, a cold infusion of fresh plant would be incredible.
as always, we build deeper relationships with plant + mushroom allies by spending time and having experiences with them.
this is their language to teach us.

 

A NOTE ON LIVER HEALTH AND CHRONIC ILLNESS

nicholas culpepper has really opened my eyes to the more serious indications for this humble plant 

he considers it indispensable for 'inward and outward wounds, congealed blood, sores and ulcers of all kinds' 

especially if they are festering. he goes on to describe its excellent actions on 'those who are liver grown'

what would modernly be considered serious liver disease. he mentions that it is often but not always from chronic alcoholism. 

he says that two spoonfuls of the syrup taken after dinner and before bed quells the nocturnal troubles common to this condition. 

he describes in extended detail a state of fitful sleep and delusion. 

this could be describing a handful of related imbalances that all stem from 'liver imbalance' 

and it's important to note that these issues are common and don't necessarily imply an alcohol issue:

nightmares, night terrors and sleep paralysis are often satisfactorily remedied with peppermint, 

another obvious member of the mint family. 

insomnia is almost always considered some form of liver imbalance in TCM 

i find this to be true and useful for successfully uprooting even long term and serious insomnia issues. 

people with these kinds of long-time sleep issues will let you know that things can get weird and loopy after a while. 

i often use my daily detox tincture or st johns wort here but have a handful of other liver herbs that i often choose from. notwithstanding, bugleweed is an honorable mention in considering a full body clean-up, which always starts with a liver detox. 

it's important to consider over all presentation and matching an herb or minimal formula carefully. 

because if the filter for your body is dirty, your blood is dirty. 

and if your blood is dirty, everything else is dirty. 

this is the root of greek humoral medicine which evolved into modern western medicine as we know it. 

ironically, we've thrown the baby out with the bath water and have lost the heart of all good paradigms of medicine: 

keep the body clean so pathology doesn't have an environment in which it can thrive and resolve matters from the root. 

if we would have held true to this foundational principle, we wouldn't have so much chronic and degenerative illness. 

we also wouldn't have so much chronic pain.  

it's not complicated, dangerous, elite or expensive. 

when you help the body clean itself up, it works better and a lot of problems go away.