Lovely Lavender

It feels like I've been around forever. The truth is, I've been around for a long, long time. I'm even in the Bible! Back then, I was called spikenard. You know me as lavender.

You'll find references to me throughout history. The Egyptians used me in the mummification process. The Phoenicians and people in the Arabic regions used me to make luscious perfumes. (And I've been helping people smell good ever since.)

Widely known for her knowledge of plants and medicine, the Abbess Hildegard von Bingen used me for healing and grew me in her walled "infirmary" garden during the twelfth century. So did the fictional Brother Cadfael who lived during the same period and was created by Ellis Peters. In sixteenth century France, I helped folks escape the ravages of cholera.

Much folklore has grown up around me. In both Medieval and Renaissance Europe, washing women were called "lavenders" because they used me to scent drawers and dried their laundry on my lovely bushes. On St. John's day (June 24th), I was used to drive away evil spirits.

The mountainous areas of the western Mediterranean were my original home. About 600 BC, it is thought that I came from the Islands of Hyeres in Greece into France and then to England where I was introduced by the Romans. In the 1600s, I was introduced into North America where the Shakers were the first to grow me commercially, both in the United States and in Canada. Today my fame has really spread, and I'm cultivated in many countries including France, Italy, Spain, England, Australia, Canada and the United States.

In modern times, I've been re-discovered. I've become an important ingredient in folk medicine healing and aroma therapy. Because I'm so versatile, I'm used for my calming influence on the mind, easing depression, irritability, headaches, migraines and the pain of sciatica, rheumatism and sore muscles.

Healers also use me to relieve stress, neurasthenia, to soothe insect stings, induce sleep, decrease anxiety, to heal wounds more quickly and as an antiseptic.

I can also be used as a natural insect repellent and to keep moths away. While in the minority, moths really do not like me.

Find out all about me in any fine folk medicine or herbal healing book. I have numerous uses besides those I've boasted about here, and I'd like you to get the most out of my natural healing properties.

So splendid spikenard or lovely lavender, call me what you will. I smell terrific and do wonderful things to heal, soothe and comfort folks just like you.