i grew this wood betony from seeds from Strictly Medicinal Seeds.
it seemed like it wasn’t ready to be tinctured for a few years.
it was a tougher one to grow and get established!
i tinctured the fresh flowers and leaves in late summer at their peak form.
mint family members and aromatic plants at large must be tinctured fresh to preserve their complex oils
and deeper medicinal qualities. tinctures made from dried plants are absolutely not the same quality and do not have the same depth of effect.

wood betony is strongly aromatic and spends the summer covered in pollinators.
it is hardy once established and kept its flowers until the second hard frost in my 6b zone.
i grew it in a few different garden areas to see what it liked and how it was best established.
it did best in part sun-full sun with damp-sodden soil.

i have yet to work extensively with wood betony, so i will share what i’ve learned in my studies.
this is a plant that is no longer ‘en vogue’ but in the distant past was wildly popular.

it is a nervine in the mint family. it is very safe.
it is said to be excellent for:
-headaches (especially from stress, emotional origins, exhaustion)
-digestive troubles and weak digestion (said to increase bile)
-physical discomforts that arise from stress and overexcitement
-trauma recovery and coming back into the body, reestablishing groundedness
-strengthening the solar plexus
-facial twitching and spasms (common side effect for certain kinds of medications)
-nightmares, intense dreaming, sleep paralysis and other strange scary experiences

the latter indication may be due to it being used for spleen and liver issues, which spills over into its indications for digestive issues, headaches and nightmares. one of the main root issues for chronic insomnia is needing to support the liver through a gentle detox (peek my daily detox tincture) but liver stagnation can also lead to emotional issues like anger, frustration and struggling with big feelings. needing liver support is also the #1 reason for nightmares and in my experience, very easy to clear up. nightmares can definitely also come from trauma and repressed emotional situations, but i have had no problem correcting the issue with other mint family relatives like skull cap, peppermint or bugleweed. there is ancient gnosis for the mint family being reliably used for nightmares.

along that vein, wood betony was considered sacred, was used by religious figures and used as a strong protection against evil, witchcraft, love spells etc.
matthew wood says he’s used it for ‘unwanted alien abduction experiences’

many old sources considered it *excellent* for protecting against plagues and contagions, which they attributed to miasmas and evil origins when these indications were recorded.

is it actually useful as a preventative measure during cold and flu season? i don’t know yet, but i wouldn’t be surprised. white horehound (another mint family member) absolutely rocks as a preventative measure and is the only remedy i have found to keep covid from fully coming on at the earliest signs of infection. in my experience elderberry is 10/10 for colds and flus but doesn’t seem to show the same grit against covid specifically. anise hyssop is a heavy hitter against colds and flus- another mint family relative that looks very similar to wood betony.

i will adjust my descriptions as i gain personal gnosis from working with wood betony. i would love to hear about your experiences with wood betony if you have any! herbal gnosis is ever evolving, always so glad to learn from others!

safely packaged

cool room temp out of sun and humidity

instructions included