Think St. John's Wort, or as we prefer to call it, Solstice Wort, is a weed? Think again!

Here in Western Montana, fields swarming with yellow heads bobbing in the wind like blonde teens at a concert is a common sight in late July and August. This year, I had the joy of joining Sasha in harvesting Solstice Wort, also known as St. John’s Wort, from her idyllic home, Springhill Acres. As cows dozed in the distance, rows of lavender sashayed in the breeze, and her little daughter dropped sticks into the stream to watch them cruise by, I plucked like a woman obsessed, determined to fill my basket before Sasha in a competition to one was playing but me.

Oh, yeah, mindfulness.

After a mini reboot–i.e., exhale, shoot my invisible grounding cord into the earth, and find center–now I was ready to harvest. Expressing a profound thank you to our plant ally Solstice Wort, and spilling a bit of water from my water bottle as an offering, I began anew, in the proper spirit and yet again grateful for do-overs and try-agains.

Yesterday, I strained and bottled the Solstice Wort harvested that day back in August (I leave it to you, gentle readers, to guess who gathered more, had it, hypothetically, been a competition). As we wade deeper into November and experience very different weather from the sunny expanse of late summer, I’m glad to have Solstice Wort tincture in my herbal stock and to share with my GWBW family. Above all, I’m grateful to our herbalist, MacKenzie, for adding about 20 ways to work with this plant compared to my previous, this-is-the-only-thing-I-know-to-make-with-it.

The benefits of Solstice Wort are about as numerous as the blooms! Here are some of MacKenzie’s go-to recommendations and information on this herbal ally.

Solstice Wort

Solstice Wort, also called St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum), is an abundant wild herb that blooms around the summer solstice. Used on the skin it works wonders for wounds, soft tissue damage and even varicose veins. Taken internally it works to support the liver and GI tract. Think of Solstice Wort as clearing things out physically, emotionally, and mentally. Solstice Wort works so well at moving things through the liver, it may cause medication to clear out the system too quickly. Energetically, work with Solstice Wort to process and let go of what you no longer need.

For more, check out the fantastic online materia medica of our in-house herbal line, Ancient Root Apothecary website.

How to Use

For use on the skin, Solstice Wort-infused oil is best. The infused oil is applied directly to the skin. For a tincture, 30 drops in 1-2oz of water is common. Solstice Wort is also really nice in an herbal tea blend with 2 parts peppermint, 1 part Solstice wort, 1 part rose petals or chamomile flowers, steeped in hot water. Herbs can be fresh or dried.