Agrimony, a member of the rose family, is another herb
that one will probably never see for sale in most garden centers.
But it is an herb with a long and distinguished history as a folk medicine.
All parts of the agrimony plant that grow above the ground
can be used for healing teas and poultices.
Agrimony is one of the Bach flower remedies, prepared infusions of flowers
said to be soothing for the spirit and the emotions.
The description I've read for the Bach agrimony flower remedy
is that it is useful for treating someone who wears a happy face
but is secretly suffering inside.
I suspect that would describe a lot of us at one time or another.
I suspect that would describe a lot of us at one time or another.
Historically, agrimony has been used for various ailments of the liver,
wound healing, diarrhea, acne, and kidney and pulmonary issues.
Of course, some old herbals recommend mixing the agrimony
with "pounded frogs and human blood" (Grieve, A Modern Herbal).
Fortunately for the modern reader, the presumption was
that we would already know how many frogs to catch and how long to pound them.
In other words, thanks for not sharing that information.
For the squeamish, agrimony will also work without mixing it with anything fleshy.
A sprig placed under one's pillow is supposed to be good for inviting a deep sleep.
Ironically, Witchipedia.org (yes, witchipedia, not wikipedia--I was surprised too)
says that agrimony was once used to detect witches.
Witchipedia also says agrimony can deflect evil spells and wrongdoing.
It's too bad the medieval frogs didn't know where to get some.
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