Vervain: The Plant, History, Myth, and Facts

Vervain plant

The Myth about the Birth of Vervain

Egyptian myths say that Vervain was born from the tears of Goddess Isis as she cried, gathering the remains of her deceased husband Osiris from the ground. Romans called Vervain Herba Sacra, the holy herb, and used it to cleanse their sacred spaces. They believed this plant was connected to their Goddess of Love, Venus.

The Verbenalia festival of the Romans was held in honour of Venus and the herb. Believed to be a strong aphrodisiac, Vervain was made part of bridal bouquets, and blacksmiths mixed it with the water they used, as they thought it would impart better strength to the weapons they made. Roman soldiers wore Vervain on their bodies as a protection charm. In war, messengers to enemy camps wore Vervain in sacred boughs to indicate that they meant peace. The herb evokes many mythical and cultural memories and preserves its aura of mystery across centuries.

The common names of Vervain are,

Herb of Grace

Herba Sacra

Holy Wort

Druid’s Weed

Van Van

Enchanter’s Plant

Dragon’s Claw

Tears of Isis

Mercury’s Moist Blood

Pigeon Grass

Wild Hyssop

Pigeonwood

Demetria

Persephonion

The German word for Vervain is Eisenkraut, which is related to iron. However, the plant has no iron content. Blacksmiths using the plant to harden iron could have led to this nomenclature.

The plant can grow up to 36 inches tall. It is widely seen in Europe and North America. It blooms from mid-summer through the beginning of fall. The plant has a spike inflorescence that carries pale lilac, purple, pale blue or white flowers having five petals. It is assumed to be a Mediterranean-origin plant.

Vervain, a Druidic Herb

In the ancient Celtic religion, a Druid could be a priest, a magician, a religious authority or a soothsayer. Roman scholars such as Cicero and Pliny have written about the Druids. Between 58 and 50 BCE, the Romans defeated the Celtic race of Gauls, who inhabited today’s France and parts of Germany, Belgium, and Italy. The battle marked the end of Druid culture.

Vervain, also known as the Druid’s weed, was a special herb used by Druids in medicinal healing and divine rituals along with mistletoe, Selago and Samolus. Ceridwen’s brew, a concoction used to anoint the bard, contained Vervain and primrose oils. The Roman author and naturalist Pliny mentioned Vervain as among the Druids' favourite herbs.

Gathering Vervain from the wild was accompanied by a strange Druid ritual. They collected the plant when the moon was up, and in exchange for taking the herb from nature, they would offer honey to the earth from where it was removed. Before removing the plant from the Earth, they would draw a circle around it using an iron object. The Druids also believed that sprinkling Vervain water in a sacred grove before presenting their offerings to the Gods helped purify the place and ward off evil spirits. There is a 14th-century Welsh poem describing the initiation rite of a bard and the rituals involved. Boiling Vervain, with other magical herbs in the ‘Cauldron of Inspiration’, is part of the ritual.

Hold this amazing thought- if a cauldron of inspiration could be prepared to unleash one’s creative abilities! Pliny has written that the Celts used Vervain for soothsaying. According to him, the Druids thought that by rubbing Vervain on their body, they could attain their wishes, keep away diseases, and solve the quarrel with a friend. Vervain was also thought to be a remedy for snake bites.

The ancient Welsh people used Vervain to sprinkle holy water in the church. Dry Vervain leaves sewn into a silk bag and tied around the neck of an ill child was supposed to cure him/her in Sussex. The Welsh wore dried and powdered Vervain inside an amulet around their necks. This herb was also thought to give witches the power of invisibility. If you are offered Vervain as a gift, one superstition is that you should refuse it two times before accepting it. Another age-old superstition goes like this- if you put Vervain oil in a river mid-stream, it will lead to where a dead body is floating.

Vervain in Scandinavian and Aztec Mythology

Thor, the Scandinavian god, is the god of lightning, and the Vervain flower is believed to have gained its colour from lightning. This plant is also associated with Nehallennia, the goddess of plenty, in Nord mythology. The Aztecs and the North American tribes knew the medicinal properties of Vervain and used it for healing headaches sleep disorders, and as a diuretic.

Herb of the Cross

Some people believe that Vervain was the herb applied to the wounds of Jesus Christ to contain the blood flow on Calvary Mount. J. White, Minister of God’s Word, wrote in 1624 that people wore Vervain as protection against blasts, and before wearing it, they would utter the following verse as a chant,

“Hallowed be thou, Vervein,

As thou growers on the ground

For on the Mount of Calvary

There thou wast first found

Thou healed our Saviour Jesus Christ

And staunchest his bleeding wound

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,

I take thee from the ground.”

Herb of Love

Medieval witches are known to have prepared love potions out of Vervain. The lore is that Vervain would generate affection in the minds of those who receive it towards those who give it. In northern France, the rural people were heard to be using Vervain as a love charm as recently as in the late 1800s. The German tradition is to gift a Vervain hat to the new bride. In Fen Country of Eastern England, married couples used to exchange Vervain leaves to keep carefully inside their Bibles. The leaves staying green inside the Bibles was thought to be a sign of mutual true love. In Piedmont of North-West Italy, young men would collect Vervain on Midsummer Eve, and then if they shook hands with the young girls they loved, it was believed that those girls would love them back.

Medicinal Properties of Vervain

Vervain reduces stress and fever, is a diuretic, improves digestion, and increases milk production in nursing mothers. It is also helpful in bringing in menstruation. The renowned Greek physician, the father of modern medicine, is known to have prescribed Vervain for fever and plague. Vervain-infused tea is consumed as medicine and a digestive supplement, but its regular use is not recommended. The taste of Vervain is bitter, and like many other bitter plants that are good for health, this herb is also beneficial in moderate quantities. The main chemical ingredients of the plant are glycosides, tannins, and alkaloids.

Vervain in German Medicine and Hildegard of Bingen

In the High Middle Ages, between 1000 CE and 1300 CE, a German Abbess, theological writer, and mystic, Hildegard of Bingen, documented and practised herbal healing techniques. She noted that Vervain has cooling properties. She has also documented this herb can cure swelling, throat infection, ulcers, jaundice, and tooth and gum inflammations.

Gargling with Vervain-infused water helps heal gum and mouth ulcers. This plant is also a common ingredient of traditional German medicine. It has antispasmodic properties that help cure cramps. Sinus and respiratory tract infections are also relieved by the intake of Vervain. Vervain crushed into a pulp can be directly applied to wounds. Pregnant women should not use Vervain, and if you are taking any other medication or have any health condition, you should consult a certified medical practitioner before using this herb. If taken in excess quantities, Vervain will cause diarrhoea and vomiting.

Vervain Tea Recipe

10 grams of dried Vervain

10 grams of Thyme

10 grams of Elderflower

10 grams of Cowslip Primrose

10 grams of Peppermint

Mix two teaspoons of the above mixture in one cup of hot water

Allow to steep

After 10 minutes, strain.

You can take this tea hot and at a frequency of one cup per day. Drinking Vervain tea continuously for more than one week is not advisable. Also, please remember that Vervain tea is a sedative. Physicians of Myddfai, a Welsh village, had prescribed Vervain tea for a good sleep without dreams.

Vervain in Literature and Movies

William Faulkner wrote in his novel, ‘The Unvanquished’,

“Again, I watched her arms angle out and upward as she removed the two verbena sprigs from her hair in two motions faster than the eye could follow, already putting one of them into my lapel and crushing the other in her other hand while she still spoke in that rapid, passionate voice not much louder than a whisper: ''There. One I give to you to wear tomorrow (it will not fade), the other I cast away, like this--'' dropping the crushed bloom at her feet. ''I abjure it. I abjure verbena forever more; I have smelled it above the odor of courage; that was all I wanted. Now let me look at you.”

Verbena is another name that describes Vervain. Vervain flowers have no scent at all. Another plant named lemon Verbena has fragrance but does not have flowers. It seems Faulkner combined these two plants into a fictional single plant so that he could use it as a powerful metaphor, a symbolic presence, in his story.

In the web series Vampire Dairies, Stefan, the protagonist and the vampire, tells his human friend, Elena,

“That necklace contains a herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Damon's influence. But I also wanted to... protect you from me.”

The imaginary place where the story unfolds is Mystic Falls. Vampires live among humans there, and many humans know this. Humans either wear or consume Vervain to protect themselves from the vampires. This web series evoked a renewed interest in Vervain and the superstitions surrounding this herb. It also sparked interest in the plant’s medicinal properties.

References

Plant Lore, druidry.org

The Religion of the Ancient Celts, J.A. MacCulloch.

The Mythic Moons of Avalon: Lunar and Herbal Wisdom from the Isle of Healing, Jhenah Telyndru, 2019.

Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics: Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folklore of the Plant Kingdom, Richard Folkard, 1884.

Vervain (Verbena): A Forgotten Medicinal Herb, healthyhildegard.com

Vervain, mhealthknowledge.org

Gods, Goddesses, and Other Beings, Nordicwiccan.blogspot.com

The Significance of Verbena in William Faulkner’s “An Odor of Verbena.” Maryanne M. Gobble.

The Unvanquished, William Faulkner, 1991.

Vervain, vampirediaries.fandom.com