St. John's Wort Healing Salve

Last time I mentioned that we like to keep some homemade herbal salves on hand for aches and itches.  These can be made with various herbs like calendula petals or even lavender or mint, but we like to use one that grows wild just about anywhere and can remind us of the reflection of God's wonder in the natural world He created.  This is St. John's Wort:

These cute little yellow flowers are named for St. John the Baptist, because in most areas, the flowers tend to appear around his feast day, June 24.  My children eagerly await his feast each year, not only so they can begin harvesting these little flowers, but because of the chocolate and rice krispy " locusts" we make...more on that another day!  The children pick these little yellow treasures and put them all into a clean jar.  When they have enough, they cover them with olive oil (any kind will do) and put the jar on a sunny window sill, shaking it well every day and wait for the little miracle.  After a few days, the oil in the jar begins to turn a brilliant red!  

They love it!  We talk about things like poor St. John, who gave his life for speaking the truth and trying to convert the sinful King Herod to Christ.  We talk about the saving Blood of Christ which washes and heals.  We talk about how miraculous things happen all around us every day, if we would only stop and see them.

If the flowers are harvested around the feast of St. John, the oil is usually ready by the time this season rolls around, so the timing of it couldn't be better. The oil is wonderful as it is for things like bug bites and little aches and pains of childhood, but my little bunch of saints also like to make salve from it...we find that it goes farther...they tend to use it for everything.  :)

To make the salve, we strain and measure our oil to see how much we've got, then we put about one fourth of that amount of beeswax with it in a saucepan and slowly melt everything together on the stove over low heat.  When it is melted, we take it off the heat and add a teaspoon or so of raw honey to the mixture ( honey is known for its antiseptic properties and adds nicely to the smell of the salve!) and stir to combine.  We then pour the salve into a container with a tight fitting lid to keep it until we need it.

In our house we have found that this salve usually heals little hearts and minds much better than it heals scrapes or injuries, but that there is much more peace of mind for the little patient who has made use of it!  Truly miraculous indeed!   ;)