Echinacea - Magical & Medicinal Correspondence
MATERIA MAGICA: ECHINACEA
From ApothecaryTinctura.com :
The Flower Essence of Echinacea angustifolia enables us to create healthy boundaries. It reminds us of the importance of remaining open to how safety can show up via healthy boundaries when circumstances involving elevated protection arise. Echinacea spirit medicine strengthens our understanding of what is self and what is not self. Just like our immune system defines the boundaries of what is self by recognizing pathogens so can echinacea enable us to create healthy relationships with our own ego’s. It creates greater connection between our day to day selves and our souls, thus fortifying our entire being. Like the root of echinacea that gives nourishment to the whole plant so does connection with our essential selves fortify our whole identity.
According to Judy Ann Nock in The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs: Your Complete Guide to the Hidden Powers of Herbs :
Native Americans have purportedly used echinacea as a cure for a variety of ailments for over four hundred years. It has been associated with indigenous American tribes including the Cheyenne, Choctaw, Comanche, and Dakota Sioux.
Echinacea is a perennial plant that grows 2–4 feet tall. It is recognizable by its bright purple cone flowers. It is tolerant of droughts and is used as an immune booster as well as a treatment for cold and flu symptoms. Echinacea has been widely scrutinized for its efficacy, particularly for its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial characteristics. Echinacea is also attractive to bees, butterflies, and birds.
Seeds of the echinacea plant are used in spells for abundance as well as fertility. It is also used as an amplifier and an opener of psychic doors to perception.
According to GoldenPoppyHerbs.com :
MATERIA MEDICA: ECHINACEA
Latin Name: Echinacea angustifolia, E. pallida, E. purpurea
Family: Asteraceae (Daisy Family)
Parts Used: Root, rhizome, leaf, flower, seed
Sustainability Issues: Echinacea is an at-risk plant in the wild, so be sure to purchase organically cultivated or grow your own.
Key Constituents: Polysaccharides, glycoproteins, echinacoside, echinacin, polyacetylenes, betaine, caffeic acid glycosides, inulin, sesquiterpene esters, alkamides, volatile oils, flavonoids, and others (Hoffman, 2010; Buhner, 2012; Chevallier, 2000).
Actions: Alterative, anodyne, antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory (mild), antioxidant, antiseptic, antitumor, antiviral, astringent, carminative, depurative, diaphoretic, digestive, febrifuge, immune stimulant, sialogogue, stimulant, vulnerary
Preparation and Dosage:
Tea: Making a tea with the flowers and leaves use 1-2 tsp in 12oz of hot water, steep for 15 minutes and enjoy! For a decoction of the roots use 1-2 tsp of echinacea root and simmer for 30 minutes, strain, and enjoy!
Tincture: 10-30 drops taken by mouth 1-3 times a day.
Topically: Echinacea can be made into salves, compresses, and washes to help treat and relieve: cuts, boils, burns, hives, infected wounds, tendonitis, venomous bites from snakes and spiders, gangrenous tissue, sties, and carbuncles. Echinacea can also be used in a mouthwash to help treat canker sores, gingivitis, pyorrhea.
Uses: reduce illness, abscess, acne, allergy, blood poisoning, boils, bronchitis, cancer, candida, chicken pox, chronic fatigue, colds, diphtheria, ear infection, eczema, fever, flu, gangrene, herpes, laryngitis, Lyme disease, lymphatic congestion, mastitis, measles, mumps, pneumonia, prostatitis, scarlet fever, sinusitis, smallpox, snakebite, sore throat, tonsillitis, tuberculosis, typhoid, and urinary tract infection.
Cautions:
People with compromised immune systems (i.e. tuberculosis, HIV) should not use echinacea.
Echinacea may be used every couple of hours during a common cold but this should only be carried out for a few days.
Excessive use of echinacea may cause throat irritation, nausea, dizziness, and excessive salivation.
It may cause a tingly sensation on the tongue, but don’t worry as it is a harmless reaction!!
According to HerbalGram.org & German Commission E:
In human and/or animal experiments, Echinacea preparations given internally or parenterally have produced immune effects. Among others, the number of white blood cells and spleen cells is increased, the capacity for phagocytosis by human granulocytes is activated, and the body temperature is elevated.
Name
Echinaceae purpureae herba, purple coneflower herb.
Composition
Purple coneflower herb consists of fresh, above-ground parts, harvested at flowering time, of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench [Fam. Asteraceae], as well as its preparations in effective dosage.
Uses
Internal:
Supportive therapy for colds and chronic infections of the respiratory tract and lower urinary tract.
External use:
Poorly healing wounds and chronic ulcerations.
Duration of Administration
Preparations for parenteral use:
Not longer than 3 weeks.
Preparations for internal and external use:
Not longer than 8 weeks.
Parenteral application:
Depending upon dosage, short-term fever reactions, nausea and vomiting can occur.
In individual cases, allergic reactions of the immediate type are possible.
Interactions with Other Drugs
None known.
Dosage
Unless otherwise prescribed:
Internal:Daily dosage:
6 - 9 ml expressed juice;
equivalent preparations.
Parenteral:
Depends on individual kind and seriousness of condition as well as specific nature of the preparation. Parenteral application requires a gradation of dosage, especially for children; the manufacturer is required to show this information for the particular preparation.
Safety:
No parenteral administration in case of tendencies to allergies, especially allergies to members of the composite family (Asteraceae), as well as in pregnancy.
Warning : The metabolic condition in diabetics can decline upon parenteral application.
Contraindications: External:
None known.
Internal:
Progressive systemic diseases, such as tuberculosis, leucosis, collagenosis, multiple sclerosis.
SOURCES
Herbalgram.org & German Commission E
GoldenPoppyHerbs.com
ApothecaryTinctura.com
The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs: Your Complete Guide to the Hidden Powers of Herbs by Judy Ann Nock
