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Valeriana Officinalis
The agricultural course by Rudolf Steiner:
Now you have one more river to cross. Before making use of the manure thus prepared, press out the flowers of the valerian. Dilute the extract very highly. (you can do it at any time and keep it, especially if you use warm water in dilution.) Add this diluted juice of valerian flower to the manure in a very fine proportions. Then you will stimulate it to behave in the right way in relation to what we call the ‘phosphoric’ substance.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phosphorus like sulphur has to do with light working into matter.
Personal experience:
The valerian seemed to come and go before I could get a good hold on it. The delicate radiant little flowers seem cute on close inspection.. There looks to be an order in the structure of the clumps of flowers which come from the steam, like a bunch of flowers they are ordered yet have a natural quality.
The pink colour of the flowers is very attractive and alluring. The process of color movement is interesting as the flower is a pink bud type thing then blooms as this white expression.. Personally this makes me aware that it is moving to a higher expression. From a darker colour to a lighter one. Through this line of thought I feel that the colour red can not be too far away.
The smell of the juiced valerian is one which I have always liked.
We had a preparation weekend where we tasted the different plants. Valerian root was lifted. What a potent smell and taste it has. We cooked it for a while then drunk the tea that was very calming and relaxing, like a warm blanket was just put around you. The dried root was there too and had a concentrated taste, I nibbled just a bit too much and had a little sore head for a while.
I find it mysterious as so little is spoken of it in the Agriculture course. It is clearly this warm sheath which contains the other preparation plants and allows the alchemy between them to happen in a sealed space.
Extraordinary plant qualities for Biodynamics:
The plants ability to give off this refined sweet musty scent depends on the year before. After germination the plant has very rounded irregular blades these become longer and pointed. It forms a rosette then dies back in that first year. The small tap root it has formed dies away. The shoot which was in the rosette forms a rhizome. Out of that grow round adventitious roots of equal thickness from the top down, they penetrate the ground in an arch formation.
Towards winter the roots show how they enclose a spherical space. The concentrated musty, aromatic smelling sap with camphor like invigorating taste is similar to that of the flowers, albeit not so sweet more musty.
IT is a smell which is related to the ripening of many fruits.
The rhizomes sometimes send out runners above the ground. In the second year the rosette comes out again but the juicy green leaves have a different shape.
There is a greater number of leaflets per leaf, they are longer and narrower with less dentate. Before midsummer the long, forked, hollow stem shoots upwards. The leaves are well separated and decrease in size and become more pointed and compact as they move up the stem.. The flower come in an undefined bud initially which then shows itself as a umber-like panicle. The individual flowers before opened are pink to reddish tightly packed by three small leaflets. The opened flower reveals five white to bright pink colored sepals joined at the base.
The vegetative organs lack the characteristic scent we see it emerge here again refined at the opposite pole to the root. All the flowers do not open at the same time . The plants forked from the stem sending out further bunches of flowers. This can gradually give rise to thousands of individual flowers.
As the flowers fade the fruit is revealed. The sepals have formed airy light pinnate hairs which will carry the fruit around the area on the wind. The structure of the whole head of flowers becomes a site of drying seeds and emerging parachutes. As the plant rots and wilts the smell returns.
The plant has a strong tendency to rampant growth. When the rosette is preparing for autumn there is a stronger concentration of scent in the roots.
The smell rouses the instinct of cats they become intoxicated..
The transition between rampant growth and dying reveals the scent most strongly. The smell that is given off by the fading valerian is similar to ripening fruit. This is interesting as most of the familiar aromas of fruit strawberries bananas are esters of valeric or isovaleric acid. Valerian stimulates ripening processes in the soil.
The biodynamic compost preparations as sense organs: Manfred Klett:
The function of valerian is to be a mediator of mainly warmth suspended in the air and the etheric forces beyond. It is active between the borderline between nature and supernature. Valerian is not like nettle which envelops itself but is enveloped by the cosmic circumference. It forms a sheath of warmth whenever it is sprayed, compost heap, crown of a tree. It may be regarded as the continuation beyond the working of dandelion..
It was afterwards found to be useful in certain kinds of epilepsy. The plant was in such esteem in mediaeval times as a remedy, that it received the name of All Heal, which is still given it in some parts of the country.
Valerian is cultivated for the sake of the drug in England (in Derbyshire), but to a much greater extent in Prussia, Saxony (in the neighbourhood of Colleda, north of Weimar), in Holland and in the United States (Vermont, New Hampshire and New York). English roots have always commanded about four times the price of the imported. In Derbyshire, the cultivation of Valerian takes place in many villages near Chesterfield, the wild plants occurring in the neighbourhood not being sufficient to supply the demand. Derbyshire Valerian plants are of two varieties: V. Milkanii (Syme), on limestone, and V. sambucifolia (Mikan) on the coal measures. The former yields most of the cultivated Derbyshire rhizome.
Professor Henslow quotes a curious recipe of that period, a translation of which runs as follows: 'Men who begin to fight and when you wish to stop them, give to them the juice of Amantilla id est Valeriana and peace will be made immediately.'
---Cultivation---Valerian does well in all ordinary soils, but prefers rich, heavy loam, well supplied with moisture.
In Derbyshire, cultivation is from wild plants collected in local woods and transplanted to the prepared land. Preference is given in collecting to root offsets - daughter plants and young flowering plants, which develop towards the close of summer, at the end of slender runners given off by the perennial rhizomes of old plants. These should be set 1 foot apart in rows, 2 or 3 feet apart. The soil should first be treated with farmyard manure, and after planting it is well to give liquid manure from time to time, as well as plenty of water. The soil must be well manured to secure a good crop. Weeding requires considerable attention.
Propagation may also be by seed, either sown when ripe in cold frames, or in March in gentle heat, or in the open in April. In the first two cases, transplant in May to permanent quarters. But to ensure the best alkaloidal percentage, it is best to transplant and cultivate the daughter plants of the wild Valerian.
---Chemical Constituents---The chief constituent of Valerian is a yellowish-green to brownish-yellow oil, which is present in the dried root to the extent of 0.5 to 2 per cent though an average yield rarely exceeds 0.8 per cent. This variation in quantity is partly explained by the influence of locality, a dry, stony soil, yielding a root richer in oil than one that is moist and fertile.
Lindley's Treasury of Botany states: 'What is known to chemists as volatile oil of Valerian seems not to exist naturally in the plant, but to be developed by the agency of water.'
The oil is contained in the sub-epidermal layer of cells in the root, not in isolated cells or glands. It is of complex composition, containing valerianic, formic and acetic acids, the alcohol known as borneol, and pinene. The valerianic acid present in the oil is not the normal acid, but isovalerianic acid, an oily liquid to which the characteristically unpleasant odour of Valerian is due. It is gradually liberated during the process of drying, being yielded by the decomposition of the chief constituent, bornyl-isovalerianate, by the ferment present. It is strongly acid, burning to the palate and with the odour of the plant. The oil is soluble in 30 parts of water and readily in alcohol and ether. It is found in nature in the oil of several plants, also in small proportion in train oil and the oil of Cetacea (whales, porpoises, etc.), which owe their smell to it. It is also one of the products of oxidation of animal matters and of fat oils, and is secreted in certain portions of animal bodies. Its salts are soluble and have a sweetish taste and fatty aspect.
The root also contains two alkaloids - Chatarine and Valerianine - which are still under investigation and concerning which little is known, except that they form crystalline salts. There are also a glucoside, alkaloid and resin all physiologically active, discovered in the fresh rhizome by Chevalier as recently as 1907. He claims that the fresh root is of greater medicinal value than the dry on this account.
On incineration, the drug, if free from adherent earthy matter, yields about 8 or 9 per cent of ash.
The chief preparation of the British Pharmacopoeia is the Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, containing Valerian, oil of Nutmeg, oil of Lemon and Ammonia: it is an extremely nauseous and offensive preparation. An etherial tincture and the volatile oil are official in some of the Continental Pharmacopceias, and a distilled water and syrup in the French Codex.
Valerianate of oxide of ethyl, or valerianic ether is a fragrant compound occurring in some vegetable products. The valerianic acid in use is not prepared from the root, but synthetically from amyl alcohol. Valerianic acid combines with various bases (the oxides of metals) to form salts called Valeriana. Valerianate of zinc, prepared by double decomposition, is used as an antispasmodic and is official in the British Pharmacopoeia.
Oil of Valerian is employed to a considerable extent on the Continent as a popular remedy for cholera, in the form of cholera drops, and also to a certain extent in soap perfumery.
Ettmuller writes of its virtues in strengthening the eyesight, especially when this is weakened by want of energy in the optic nerve.
The juice of the fresh root, under the name of Energetene of Valerian, has of late been recommended as more certain in its effects, and of value as a narcotic in insomnia, and as an anti-convulsant in epilepsy. Having also some slight influence upon the circulation, slowing the heart and increasing its force, it has been used in the treatment of cardiac palpitations.
Valerian was first brought to notice as a specific for epilepsy by Fabius Calumna in 1592, he having cured himself of the disease with it.
Culpepper (1649) joins with many old writers to recommend the use both of herb and root, and praises the herb for its longevity and many comforting virtues, reminding us that it is 'under the influence of Mercury, and therefore hath a warming faculty.'
Constituents: 1% volatile oil (including valerianic acid, isovalerianic acid, valerenone, valerenal, hydroxyvaleric acid, citronellyl isovalerate, borneol, pinene, camphene, methyl-2-pyrrole ketone and assorted sesquiterpenes), epoxy iridoid esters (valepotriates, including valtrate and didovaltrate, which are rapidly lost during storage), glycoside (valerosidatum), volatile pyridine alkaloids (valerine, valerianine, actinidine, chatinine), choline, flavonoids, sterols, phenolic acids, sugars, fixed oil, resin, gum
Research:
Valeriana officinalis extrtactAn extract isolated from the root of the plant Valeriana officinalis. Valeriana officinalis extract inhibits the metabolic enzyme gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transaminase and stimulates the synaptic release of GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, resulting in sedation.
Our understanding of how valerian might function remains similarly incomplete. Several studies suggest that valerian affects GABA, a naturally occurring amino acid that appears to be related to the experience of anxiety. Conventional tranquilizers in the Valium family are known to bind to GABA receptors in the brain, and valerian may work similarly. However, there are some significant flaws in these hypotheses, and the reality is that we don't really know how valerian works (or if, indeed, it really does).
The best positive study of valerian for insomnia followed 121 people for 28 days. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, half of the participants took 600 mg of an alcohol-based valerian extract 1 hour before bedtime, while the other half took placebo. Valerian didn't work right away. For the first couple of weeks, valerian and placebo were running neck and neck. However, by day 28, valerian pulled far ahead. Effectiveness was rated as good or very good by participant evaluation in 66% of the valerian group and in 61% by doctor evaluation, whereas in the placebo group, only 29% were so rated by participants and doctors.
Although positive, these results are a bit confusing. In another large study, valerian was immediately more effective than placebo, which is what most practitioners believe to be typical. This trial followed 128 subjects who had no sleeping problems. On nine nonconsecutive nights, each participant took one of three treatments: valerian, a combination of valerian and the herb hops, or placebo. The results showed that on the nights they took valerian alone, participants fell asleep faster than when they were taking placebo, or the combination. In contradiction to this, other studies have failed to find any immediate mental depressant effects with valerian; most substances that rapidly induce sleep also sedate the mind.A 6-week, double-blind study of 202 people with insomnia compared valerian extract (600 mg at bedtime) with the standard drug oxazepam (10 mg at bedtime) and found equal efficacy.
The foke Lore of plants: Margaret Baker:
It botanical name comes from Latin valere “to be strong”.
It is said to be a witch deterrent, to provoke Love and a telling aphrodisiac. In the West of England a girl who wore a sprig would never lack lovers.. Rats like it so was used by rat catchers. Cats will dig up the root, hence the alternative name “ cats valerian”. Some have allocated Pied Pipers charms to valerian in his pockets than music.
The agricultural course by Rudolf Steiner:
Now you have one more river to cross. Before making use of the manure thus prepared, press out the flowers of the valerian. Dilute the extract very highly. (you can do it at any time and keep it, especially if you use warm water in dilution.) Add this diluted juice of valerian flower to the manure in a very fine proportions. Then you will stimulate it to behave in the right way in relation to what we call the ‘phosphoric’ substance.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phosphorus like sulphur has to do with light working into matter.
Personal experience:
The valerian seemed to come and go before I could get a good hold on it. The delicate radiant little flowers seem cute on close inspection.. There looks to be an order in the structure of the clumps of flowers which come from the steam, like a bunch of flowers they are ordered yet have a natural quality.
The pink colour of the flowers is very attractive and alluring. The process of color movement is interesting as the flower is a pink bud type thing then blooms as this white expression.. Personally this makes me aware that it is moving to a higher expression. From a darker colour to a lighter one. Through this line of thought I feel that the colour red can not be too far away.
The smell of the juiced valerian is one which I have always liked.
We had a preparation weekend where we tasted the different plants. Valerian root was lifted. What a potent smell and taste it has. We cooked it for a while then drunk the tea that was very calming and relaxing, like a warm blanket was just put around you. The dried root was there too and had a concentrated taste, I nibbled just a bit too much and had a little sore head for a while.
I find it mysterious as so little is spoken of it in the Agriculture course. It is clearly this warm sheath which contains the other preparation plants and allows the alchemy between them to happen in a sealed space.
Extraordinary plant qualities for Biodynamics:
The plants ability to give off this refined sweet musty scent depends on the year before. After germination the plant has very rounded irregular blades these become longer and pointed. It forms a rosette then dies back in that first year. The small tap root it has formed dies away. The shoot which was in the rosette forms a rhizome. Out of that grow round adventitious roots of equal thickness from the top down, they penetrate the ground in an arch formation.
Towards winter the roots show how they enclose a spherical space. The concentrated musty, aromatic smelling sap with camphor like invigorating taste is similar to that of the flowers, albeit not so sweet more musty.
IT is a smell which is related to the ripening of many fruits.
The rhizomes sometimes send out runners above the ground. In the second year the rosette comes out again but the juicy green leaves have a different shape.
There is a greater number of leaflets per leaf, they are longer and narrower with less dentate. Before midsummer the long, forked, hollow stem shoots upwards. The leaves are well separated and decrease in size and become more pointed and compact as they move up the stem.. The flower come in an undefined bud initially which then shows itself as a umber-like panicle. The individual flowers before opened are pink to reddish tightly packed by three small leaflets. The opened flower reveals five white to bright pink colored sepals joined at the base.
The vegetative organs lack the characteristic scent we see it emerge here again refined at the opposite pole to the root. All the flowers do not open at the same time . The plants forked from the stem sending out further bunches of flowers. This can gradually give rise to thousands of individual flowers.
As the flowers fade the fruit is revealed. The sepals have formed airy light pinnate hairs which will carry the fruit around the area on the wind. The structure of the whole head of flowers becomes a site of drying seeds and emerging parachutes. As the plant rots and wilts the smell returns.
The plant has a strong tendency to rampant growth. When the rosette is preparing for autumn there is a stronger concentration of scent in the roots.
The smell rouses the instinct of cats they become intoxicated..
The transition between rampant growth and dying reveals the scent most strongly. The smell that is given off by the fading valerian is similar to ripening fruit. This is interesting as most of the familiar aromas of fruit strawberries bananas are esters of valeric or isovaleric acid. Valerian stimulates ripening processes in the soil.
The biodynamic compost preparations as sense organs: Manfred Klett:
The function of valerian is to be a mediator of mainly warmth suspended in the air and the etheric forces beyond. It is active between the borderline between nature and supernature. Valerian is not like nettle which envelops itself but is enveloped by the cosmic circumference. It forms a sheath of warmth whenever it is sprayed, compost heap, crown of a tree. It may be regarded as the continuation beyond the working of dandelion..
It was afterwards found to be useful in certain kinds of epilepsy. The plant was in such esteem in mediaeval times as a remedy, that it received the name of All Heal, which is still given it in some parts of the country.
Valerian is cultivated for the sake of the drug in England (in Derbyshire), but to a much greater extent in Prussia, Saxony (in the neighbourhood of Colleda, north of Weimar), in Holland and in the United States (Vermont, New Hampshire and New York). English roots have always commanded about four times the price of the imported. In Derbyshire, the cultivation of Valerian takes place in many villages near Chesterfield, the wild plants occurring in the neighbourhood not being sufficient to supply the demand. Derbyshire Valerian plants are of two varieties: V. Milkanii (Syme), on limestone, and V. sambucifolia (Mikan) on the coal measures. The former yields most of the cultivated Derbyshire rhizome.
Professor Henslow quotes a curious recipe of that period, a translation of which runs as follows: 'Men who begin to fight and when you wish to stop them, give to them the juice of Amantilla id est Valeriana and peace will be made immediately.'
---Cultivation---Valerian does well in all ordinary soils, but prefers rich, heavy loam, well supplied with moisture.
In Derbyshire, cultivation is from wild plants collected in local woods and transplanted to the prepared land. Preference is given in collecting to root offsets - daughter plants and young flowering plants, which develop towards the close of summer, at the end of slender runners given off by the perennial rhizomes of old plants. These should be set 1 foot apart in rows, 2 or 3 feet apart. The soil should first be treated with farmyard manure, and after planting it is well to give liquid manure from time to time, as well as plenty of water. The soil must be well manured to secure a good crop. Weeding requires considerable attention.
Propagation may also be by seed, either sown when ripe in cold frames, or in March in gentle heat, or in the open in April. In the first two cases, transplant in May to permanent quarters. But to ensure the best alkaloidal percentage, it is best to transplant and cultivate the daughter plants of the wild Valerian.
---Chemical Constituents---The chief constituent of Valerian is a yellowish-green to brownish-yellow oil, which is present in the dried root to the extent of 0.5 to 2 per cent though an average yield rarely exceeds 0.8 per cent. This variation in quantity is partly explained by the influence of locality, a dry, stony soil, yielding a root richer in oil than one that is moist and fertile.
Lindley's Treasury of Botany states: 'What is known to chemists as volatile oil of Valerian seems not to exist naturally in the plant, but to be developed by the agency of water.'
The oil is contained in the sub-epidermal layer of cells in the root, not in isolated cells or glands. It is of complex composition, containing valerianic, formic and acetic acids, the alcohol known as borneol, and pinene. The valerianic acid present in the oil is not the normal acid, but isovalerianic acid, an oily liquid to which the characteristically unpleasant odour of Valerian is due. It is gradually liberated during the process of drying, being yielded by the decomposition of the chief constituent, bornyl-isovalerianate, by the ferment present. It is strongly acid, burning to the palate and with the odour of the plant. The oil is soluble in 30 parts of water and readily in alcohol and ether. It is found in nature in the oil of several plants, also in small proportion in train oil and the oil of Cetacea (whales, porpoises, etc.), which owe their smell to it. It is also one of the products of oxidation of animal matters and of fat oils, and is secreted in certain portions of animal bodies. Its salts are soluble and have a sweetish taste and fatty aspect.
The root also contains two alkaloids - Chatarine and Valerianine - which are still under investigation and concerning which little is known, except that they form crystalline salts. There are also a glucoside, alkaloid and resin all physiologically active, discovered in the fresh rhizome by Chevalier as recently as 1907. He claims that the fresh root is of greater medicinal value than the dry on this account.
On incineration, the drug, if free from adherent earthy matter, yields about 8 or 9 per cent of ash.
The chief preparation of the British Pharmacopoeia is the Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, containing Valerian, oil of Nutmeg, oil of Lemon and Ammonia: it is an extremely nauseous and offensive preparation. An etherial tincture and the volatile oil are official in some of the Continental Pharmacopceias, and a distilled water and syrup in the French Codex.
Valerianate of oxide of ethyl, or valerianic ether is a fragrant compound occurring in some vegetable products. The valerianic acid in use is not prepared from the root, but synthetically from amyl alcohol. Valerianic acid combines with various bases (the oxides of metals) to form salts called Valeriana. Valerianate of zinc, prepared by double decomposition, is used as an antispasmodic and is official in the British Pharmacopoeia.
Oil of Valerian is employed to a considerable extent on the Continent as a popular remedy for cholera, in the form of cholera drops, and also to a certain extent in soap perfumery.
Ettmuller writes of its virtues in strengthening the eyesight, especially when this is weakened by want of energy in the optic nerve.
The juice of the fresh root, under the name of Energetene of Valerian, has of late been recommended as more certain in its effects, and of value as a narcotic in insomnia, and as an anti-convulsant in epilepsy. Having also some slight influence upon the circulation, slowing the heart and increasing its force, it has been used in the treatment of cardiac palpitations.
Valerian was first brought to notice as a specific for epilepsy by Fabius Calumna in 1592, he having cured himself of the disease with it.
Culpepper (1649) joins with many old writers to recommend the use both of herb and root, and praises the herb for its longevity and many comforting virtues, reminding us that it is 'under the influence of Mercury, and therefore hath a warming faculty.'
Constituents: 1% volatile oil (including valerianic acid, isovalerianic acid, valerenone, valerenal, hydroxyvaleric acid, citronellyl isovalerate, borneol, pinene, camphene, methyl-2-pyrrole ketone and assorted sesquiterpenes), epoxy iridoid esters (valepotriates, including valtrate and didovaltrate, which are rapidly lost during storage), glycoside (valerosidatum), volatile pyridine alkaloids (valerine, valerianine, actinidine, chatinine), choline, flavonoids, sterols, phenolic acids, sugars, fixed oil, resin, gum
Research:
Valeriana officinalis extrtactAn extract isolated from the root of the plant Valeriana officinalis. Valeriana officinalis extract inhibits the metabolic enzyme gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transaminase and stimulates the synaptic release of GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, resulting in sedation.
Our understanding of how valerian might function remains similarly incomplete. Several studies suggest that valerian affects GABA, a naturally occurring amino acid that appears to be related to the experience of anxiety. Conventional tranquilizers in the Valium family are known to bind to GABA receptors in the brain, and valerian may work similarly. However, there are some significant flaws in these hypotheses, and the reality is that we don't really know how valerian works (or if, indeed, it really does).
The best positive study of valerian for insomnia followed 121 people for 28 days. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, half of the participants took 600 mg of an alcohol-based valerian extract 1 hour before bedtime, while the other half took placebo. Valerian didn't work right away. For the first couple of weeks, valerian and placebo were running neck and neck. However, by day 28, valerian pulled far ahead. Effectiveness was rated as good or very good by participant evaluation in 66% of the valerian group and in 61% by doctor evaluation, whereas in the placebo group, only 29% were so rated by participants and doctors.
Although positive, these results are a bit confusing. In another large study, valerian was immediately more effective than placebo, which is what most practitioners believe to be typical. This trial followed 128 subjects who had no sleeping problems. On nine nonconsecutive nights, each participant took one of three treatments: valerian, a combination of valerian and the herb hops, or placebo. The results showed that on the nights they took valerian alone, participants fell asleep faster than when they were taking placebo, or the combination. In contradiction to this, other studies have failed to find any immediate mental depressant effects with valerian; most substances that rapidly induce sleep also sedate the mind.A 6-week, double-blind study of 202 people with insomnia compared valerian extract (600 mg at bedtime) with the standard drug oxazepam (10 mg at bedtime) and found equal efficacy.
The foke Lore of plants: Margaret Baker:
It botanical name comes from Latin valere “to be strong”.
It is said to be a witch deterrent, to provoke Love and a telling aphrodisiac. In the West of England a girl who wore a sprig would never lack lovers.. Rats like it so was used by rat catchers. Cats will dig up the root, hence the alternative name “ cats valerian”. Some have allocated Pied Pipers charms to valerian in his pockets than music.
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