by Stephen Byrnes, PhD, DNT, CNC
The late Stephen C. Byrnes was a nutritionist and natural therapist who practiced in Honolulu, HI. His articles have appeared in The Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation's Health and Healing Wisdom Journal, Common Ground, Vitality, Explore!, and Health Freedom News.
Tanacetum vulgare, or tansy, is a perennial favorite among gardeners who value its height, beautiful leaves and long-lasting yellow flowers. Although nowadays mostly used as a trimming and border plant, tansy is, in fact, a very old herb with a rich history steeped in Greek mythology and Christian theology. Tansy was also a very often used medicinal herb and its unique healing powers have rescued many unfortunates from a variety of illnesses and ailments.
But tansy’s remarkable powers and gifts provide benefit only to those who know how to use it. Taken carelessly, tansy will harm rather than help.
It is this double-edged sword that has led to tansy’s current “exile” by many medical herbalists, particularly in the United States. However, one need not be afraid of using tansy, as it has a history of safe medicinal and culinary use, despite the possible dangers from overuse. This is not unusual as many herbs will also induce toxic reactions if overused or used without proper attention to the correct dose.
Tansy was a well-known herb to various ancient peoples, particularly the Greeks. It is postulated that tansy’s very name comes from the Greek word for “immortal,” athanaton. This, according to the ancient writer Dodoens, was due to the long life of tansy’s flowering buds. Another writer, Ambrosius, believed the connection was with tansy’s role in preserving the dead from physical corruption. Apparently tansy had a place in Greek funeral rites. Ganymede, the beautiful Trojan prince, was supposedly made immortal by taking tansy after he was carried away to Mt. Olympus by Zeus, who was enamored by Ganymede’s physical perfection.
It is tansy’s role in medieval Christianity, however, that is most fascinating. Tansy was one of the plants dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and each year Lent officially ended with the eating of a special dish called a “tansy.” The fresh young leaves of the plant were mixed and cooked with eggs, cream, flour, sugar, and wine and eaten on Easter Sunday. Christian writers at the time believed that tansy could purify “bad humours” from the body that had accumulated there during the long Winter and restrictive Lenten diet of salted fish. Other writers believe that Christians ate the “tansies” as a remembrance of the bitter herbs traditionally eaten by the Jews at Passover.
Medieval Europeans used tansy as a culinary spice and as a replacement for nutmeg and cinnamon. Tansy was also brewed up as a tea which, despite its bitter taste, was a popular Lenten beverage and many a hearty meal was topped off with tansy pudding. All of this leads us to the inevitable conclusion that tansy was once a very popular and well-known herb that was safely used by many, and that it had mythological links to immortality and eternal life.
In medieval times, tansy was used for a variety of ailments. Its most well-known use was for expelling intestinal worms, particularly in children. Children infected by these parasites would have a cup of tansy tea in the morning, and another at night. Tansy leaves were also used by elderly Europeans for such things as stomach upset, a wash for wounds, fever, and the roots were used for gout. Tansy, however, is of value in resolving several other conditions which we’ll discuss below. But what makes tansy “tick?”
Tanacetin, a bitter principle, is found mostly in the flowers. Bitter herbs typically stimulate the digestive tract to greater activity. The herb also contains smaller amounts of tannic acid (an astringent found in a great many plants), sugars, various glycosides, camphor, and essential oil. The essential oil contains thujone. Thujone is found in other herbs, most notably sage, and is a good antiseptic. It has also been shown to be a uterine stimulant in animals. It is for this reason that tansy has an age-old reputation as an effective abortifacient.
Because of this, tansy should never be given to or used by pregnant women.
Tansy is also an excellent carminative that removes excess gas from the digestive tract. Nausea, feeble digestion, and ulcers can all be helped by tansy. Tansy has also been used successfully in resolving jaundice.
Tansy is a good diuretic, making it useful for some kidney complaints and excessive water retention. Tansy is also a little-known remedy for prostatitis. Tansy is a powerfully antispasmodic herb. This quality, and tansy’s ability to act specifically on the prostate, make it valuable for acute prostatic difficulties. Tansy is usually combined in equal parts with either kava kava, golden seal, or agrimony in resolving prostatitis.
While tansy needs to be avoided by pregnant women, its ability to stimulate the uterus, makes it superb for blocked or painful menstruation. Tansy is usually combined in equal parts with chamomile or peppermint for relief of amenorrhea or dysmenorrhea. Along these same lines, tansy is effective as a douche for leukorrhea.
Externally, sprains, inflammations, swellings, and painful joints can all be eased with a hot fomentation of tansy. Soak some torn cotton towel strips in the hot infusion and then wrap the strips around the affected area. Remove and replace when cool, and repeat several times. Tansy can also be used externally as a wash for eruptive skin diseases like scabies and chicken pox.
Dosage & Administration
All three times a day:
Infusion*: 3-6 oz.
Tincture: 3-5 ml.
Extract: 1-3 ml.
Powdered herb: 1-3 grams
Oil: Use of tansy oil, externally or internally, is NOT recommended due to its toxicity.
* Recipe for infusion: Pour 16 oz. of boiling water over 1-2 oz. of the dried herb, cover and steep for 20 minutes. Strain out the herb when finished and refrigerate the infusion. The infusion will stay fresh for about 2 days. Tinctures and extracts are usually commercially available.
Do not use tansy for more than ten days continuously and do not exceed the doses given above. It is recommended that parents consult with an herbalist, a reliable medical herbal guide, or a health professional familiar with herbal therapeutics before administering tansy (or any other herb or medicine) to a child.
Sources
Tansy plants are widely available at garden shops. Seeds may be ordered from the Thompson and Morgan garden catalog. (Tansy plants make excellent insect repellents in the garden!) Dried tansy and tincture may be ordered from Herb Products Company (818) 877-3104 or Nature’s Herbs (510) 601-0700.
Making a Tansy: From an old recipe book
Beat seven eggs. Add 2 cups of cream, a pint of spinach juice, a little tansy juice obtained by pounding a few leaves in a stone mortar, a quarter of a pound of Naples biscuit, honey to taste, a glass of white wine, and half a teaspoon of nutmeg. Put into a dish lined with a paste [pie crust] to turn out and bake it. [Note: 1/2 cup pulverized almonds may be used in place of Naple’s biscuit, probably a form of cracker.
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