ACONITE
Aconitum napellus: Ranunculaciae
THE HERB
PART USED: leaves, stem, flowering tops, and root. The leaves and tops fresh, gathered in June. The root gathered in the fall and dried.
| TASTE: pungent, sweet | VIPAKA: pungent |
| WARMTH: very hot | DOSHAS: V- P+ K- |
MERIDIANS: heart, spleen, kidney
ACTIONS: anodyne and local anaesthetic, diuretic, diaphoretic, cardiac. Cardiac tonic action can be followed by cardiac depression, arrhythmia, arrest, or even death.
INDICATIONS: neuralgia, rheumatism, lumbago, wounds and bruises, pleurisy, and aneurism (for pain relief), has been used for cardiac failure.
PRECAUTIONS: ACONITE, ALSO KNOWN AS MONKSHOOD, IS ONE OF THE DEADLIEST POISONS KNOWN. Symptoms of poisoning are: tingling, numbness of the tongue and mouth, a sensation of ants crawling over the body, nausea and vomiting with epigastric pain, laboured breathing leading to respiratory arrest, weak and irregular pulse leading to cardiac arrest, cold clammy skin, giddiness, staggering, although the mind remains clear. To treat, induce vomiting, pump stomach, ( Mrs Greeve advises administering 20 minims of tincture of digitalis; I'd take them to an ER), artificial respiration may be needed.
CONSTITUENTS: 0.3 - 1 % alkaloids including ACONITINE (crystalline, alkaloid, and very toxic), PICRACONITINE, and ACONINE, ACONIC ACID, starch
PREPARATION AND USE:
-tinctures vary greatly in strength (the indication of strength used
to be the amount needed to kill a guinea pig) I would advise against
internal use. Advised dose 1/30th drop of 10% tincture.
-mostly used externally for pain, but caution necessary, as it can be
absorbed through the skin
-much used in homeopathy at 6X - 30X potency for pain and shock
-Chinese herbalists use it as a metabolic stimulant, soaking the roots
in vinegar and then salt water for a month each, three times in alternation
to diminish the toxic alkaloids. The prepared product is sold as Aconitum
Praeparata (fu zi), and is one of the most yang remedies known for cold
conditions. 3-9 g of this product is the recommended dose.
NUTRITIONAL USE: none
USE IN MAGIC: Invocations to Hecate, Psychic power, Consecration of
Blades
-also supposedly used in flying ointment
-elixer used to penetrate the secrets of death, sometimes all too
successfully
-used in incenses to Hecate and to cleanse magickal blades
USE IN PERSONAL GROWTH:
-carry as a talisman to maximize potential and overcome indifference
and apathy
"I look upon things through a filter of love and light, and they are less fearsome to me."