Manuka

Manuka – leptospermum scoparium

Marigold

Marigold – Calendula officinalis – Also known as Calendula, Holigold, Pot Marigold and Bride of the Sun. A Druid sacred herb, this cheerful annual or perennial has hairy leaves and golden-orange daisy flowers. The leaves are added to salads and garnishes of flowers color rice and fish dishes. Calendula is antiseptic and antifungal and contains hormone and vitamin A precursors. Essential oil is extracted from the petals but is extremely expensive.
This is the “pot marigold” not the African variety so common in American gardens. The flowers are a healing agent. Added to fomentations, poultices and salves, they speed healing of wounds and of nerve damage. The infusion is given for intestinal problems and to clean lymph and blood. Useful in fevers, the herb can be used fresh, dry, or in tincture. For tea, steep two teaspoons of flowers per cup of water for twenty minutes; take one teaspoon per hour. Using tincture, take five to twenty drops four times a day.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Added to fomentations, poultices and salves, they speed healing of wounds and of nerve damage. The infusion is given for intestinal problems and to clean lymph and blood. Useful in fevers, the herb can be used fresh, dry, or in tincture.

Other Uses: Known as “summer’s bride”, the yellow calendula embodies the Sun’s fire and life sustaining virtue. Calendula is carried into court for a favorable verdict. In the mattress it encourages prophetic dreams. Marriage spells; Love; Divination; Protection .

Marijuana

Marijuana – cannabis sativa – An annual plant. Narcotic – affects nerve centers. Illegal in many countries. This herb is a pain reliever. For people with glaucoma, marijuana reduces the build up of pressure in the eye. For chemotherapy patients, it relieves the feeling of nausea. It has laxative properties and is an appetite stimulant.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: A narcotic, pain-killer, relieves glaucoma, lowers blood pressure, relieves arthritis and rhematism pains.

Mastic

Mastic – pistachia lentiscus – Also known as Gum Mastic. This aromatic, evergreen shrubby tree has scented pale green spring flowers in clusters and red to black berries. The bark is tapped for mastic, its resin, which chewed in the eastern Mediterranean as a breath freshener and employed as a flavoring for bread, pastries, and the liqueur Mastiche. This resin can be difficult to find, if unavailable try substituting a combination, equal parts of gum arabic and frankincense.

Other Uses: Love; Magical Power; Psychic Awareness; Adds potency and power to any incense.

Meadowsweet

Meadowsweet – filipendula ulnaria – Also known as Queen of the Meadow, Gravel Root, and Meadowwort. One of the three most sacred Druid herbs, the others being Mint and Vervain, this herb has upright stems of wintergreen-scented, divided leaves, topped by frothy umbels of almond-scented cream flowers. The stems grow up to four feet tall and are sometimes purple. The leaves smell like almonds and the flowers give an almond flavor to mead, herb wines, jam and stewed fruit. Dried flowers scent linen and yield an astringent skin tonic. Flower buds contain salicylic aced, a chemical from which aspirin was synthesized, not from Filipendula but from Spirea, a related herb, but the herb as a whole is gentler on the stomach. Herbalists use flower tea for stomach ulcers and headaches, as an antiseptic diuretic, and for feverish colds, diarrhea, and heartburn. Meadowsweet was a favorite strewing herb of Elizabeth I.
Traditional herbalists simmered the flowers in wine to treat fevers and to cure depression. The fresh flower tops, taken in tea, promote sweating. Steep two teaspoons of the herb in one cup boiled water for twenty minutes. Take one-quarter cup four times a day. A distilled water of the flowers makes an eyewash to treat burning and itching. Meadowsweet is a classic for diarrhea, especially valued for children. The leaf is added to wine to bring a “merry heart”, that is, to treat depression. Meadowsweet contains methyl salicylate, making it a good herb for rheumatic compaints and flus. It is astringent and helps with indigestion. It has diuretic properties, which make it helpful in edema. The tea hads been used for respiratory tract infections, gout, and arthritis. It can help bladder and kidney problems, epilepsy, and rabies.
The whole plant is used – roots, flowers, and leaves – with the root being more useful for fevers. To prepare the root, simmer two tablespoons of the dried root in one cup of water for twenty minutes. Take one cup a day. The leaf is placed in claret wine to enhance the tast, and it was at one time added to mead.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Herbalists use flower tea for stomach ulcers and headaches, as an antiseptic diuretic, and for feverish colds, diarrhea, and heartburn. Meadowsweet contains methyl salicylate, making it a good herb for rheumatic compaints and flus. It is an astringent.

Other Uses: According to Grieve, meadowsweet, water mint, and vervain were the three most sacred herbs of the Druids. Fresh flowers should be included in the bridal bouquet. Use for: Love; Happiness; Divination; Peace.

Mexican Coriander

Mexican Coriander – eryngium foetidum

Mexican Tarragon

Mexican Tarragon – tagetes lucida

Mexican Tea

Mexican Tea – chenopodium ambrosioides – This plant was used by Native American Indians to cure their children of round worms and hook worms. It has been a much used herb but is no longer recommended due to severe side effects – it has been known to cause death.

Aromatherapy & Health Uses: Has been cure for round worm and hook worm, no longer considered safe