Ruler: Mercury
Colour: Yellow
Element: Soil
Season: Autumn
Aromatics: Sweet Marjoram, Thyme and Lavender
Sweet marjoram (Origanum majorana)
Marjoram, from the Greek words meaning ‘Joy of the Mountains’, is a warm, comforting oil with an affinity for the joints and muscles, as well as the respiratory system. It has a calming effect on the body and mind and is beneficial for nervous anxiety, fear, panic attacks, low self-esteem, night waking and restlessness. It is also used to relieve back pain, knee and hip pain, constipation, nausea and frequent colds and is often used before going to bed. Avoid during pregnancy.
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
Thyme was first used by Hippocrates and has been used in most cultures since then. This warm, comforting and spicy oil is believed to stimulate and strengthen the mind in times of adversity. It has an affinity with the digestive system and is often used in aromatherapy blends for the joints and muscles, relieving sports strains and stiffness, arthritis and rheumatism and promoting joint mobility in the hands and feet. It is also beneficial for people suffering from irritable bowels and indigestion. Avoid during pregnancy.
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Lavender essential oil is distilled from the flowers and leaves of the herb and is a very well-known, widely used and inexpensive essential oil that is an effective antidepressant. It is a good “balancer” so it is useful in helping people recover from mood swings, it is a well-known treatment for insomnia and is equally good for relieving tension headaches. It has a restorative, tonic effect making it useful for treating people with disabling fatigue or lethargy. It is an effective analgesic and antispasmodic and thus is valuable in the treatment of tension-related ‘aches and pains’ of a muscular nature. The name is derived from Roman Lavare which means ‘to cleanse’. It refers to the Roman custom of perfumed baths with the leaves and flowers of the plant. Matthiole, the sixth-century botanist, considered lavender flowers to be the most effective against ailments melancholy. Lavender was popular in the medicinal monastery gardens of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and even earlier, in the twelfth century, Abbot Hildegarde devoted an entire chapter to the medicinal use of lavender in her herbal medicine. Lavender has been used since pagan times to purify the air and the mind. This is related to another pagan use of it, namely to drive away evil spirits and later witches. Gerard said in his Sixteenth Century Herbal that the flowers helped heal “love sicknessAnd keep yourself chaste. But in the seventeenth century, prostitutes wore a sprig of lavender to advertise their profession. The Victorians thought it was an excellent remedy for headaches and often wore a sprig under their hats.
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