Hawthorn is considered a superior heart tonic by many herbalists. It is useful for congestive heart failure, hardening of the arteries, chest pain/angina, and high blood pressure. Its effects on the heart are manifold. Many consider hawthorn to be transformational for the emotional or spiritual heart as well.
Hawthorn uplifts and strengthens the physical, emotional and spiritual heart as it promotes healthy heart and strengthens cardiovascular and circulatory function. Hawthorn warms the heart chakra. Hawthorn is bio-flavonoid and antioxidant rich. The tastes are sweet, sour, warm, spicy and astringent/drying (leaves + flowers). For extract {tincture}, I hand harvest the leaf and flower during Beltane (May Day). I macerate the leaf and flower in small batches of cane alcohol and spring water for a minimum of one moon cycle. Later in the autumn, I hand harvest the berries before the first hard frost. I macerate the berries in cane alcohol and spring water for a minimum of one moon cycle. I then blend the herbal extracts infused with the seasons, festivals, lore and rhythmic energies. I also utilize dried hawthorn flowers, leaves and berries in infusions/teas and chai. Hawthorn is also a great ally or ‘food as medicine’ herb used in jams, jellies, wines and cordials.
“As a heart medicine there is no other herb with such a positive, yet gentle influence than Hawthorn’”~ Charles Kane, Herbal Medicine: Trends and Tradition
Hawthorn has recorded use dating back to the Middle ages, with some accounts going back as far as the first century. Hawthorn is a symbolic tree with much lore and magical myths surrounding it. In Celtic tradition, the hawthorn was used commonly for inscriptions along with the yew and apple. Said to heal the broken heart. In Gaelic folklore, hawthorn ‘marks the entrance to the otherworld’ and is strongly associated with the fairies. The hawthorn has been regarded as the emblem of hope, and its branches are stated to have been carried by the ancient Greeks in wedding processions and were also used to decorate alters worshipping the goddess of marriage, Hymen. In Ireland, couples desiring hawthorn’s blessing would dance around it at marriage ceremonies. The sprigs were attached to newborn’s cradles to protect them from evil and also used to decorate the maypole for the May Day or Beltane ceremony, which celebrates fertility and renewal. The blooming of this tree occurring halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.
