Natasha Richardson and Claire Goulding
Passiflora incarnate (Passionflower)
Plant Profile
Names: Maypop, Passion vine, Granadilla, Maracoc
Element: Water
Planet: Venus
Magical uses: associated with Jupiter and Uranus (some say Neptune), calms and brings peace to the house, increases charisma, dream pillows, love spells, helps promote empathy, to calm a brutal lover, breaking bad habits fuelled by passions, personal transformation.
Keywords: Soft, Imaginative, Divine, Spirit, Floaty, Gentle, Deep, Calming, Soothing.
Tissue type: Irritation, Constriction
Qualities: Cooling, MoisteningActions: Anti-inflammatory, Hypnotic, Vasodilator, Anti-spasmodic, Mild sedative, Analgesia, Hypo-tensor, Tranquilliser, Central nervous system relaxant, Strengthens the heart muscle.
Physical Uses: Insomnia due to mental restlessness, Nervous excitability, Over-active brain, Hyperactive children, Hysteria, Alcoholism, Twitching of limbs, Neuralgia, Constrictive headache, Tremor (in elderly), Benzodiazepine and Valium addiction, Rapid heartbeat, Pain of shingles, Anxiety neurosis, Tension, Irritability, Panic, Toothache, Period pain, Asthma, Palpitations, High blood pressure, Muscle cramps.
Emotional Uses: Brings on a dream-state, Improving clairvoyance and instinct, Helps when you’re struggling to digest something, Stress and shock, Grief, Highly-strung individuals.
Parts used: Aerial parts
Known constituents: flavonoids, indole alkaloids, fatty acids, and sterols.
Legend & Tradition
Passionflower Is named so by the Spanish conquistadors who associated it with Christ. Because of this (and its purple colour), I associate it with divinity and spirituality. (Grieves, 1992)
Medicinal Uses
NERVES
It is a relaxant and helps to down-regulate an over-stimulated nervous system. It’s perfect for people who over-think or chronically worry, as they can’t switch off (Yarnell, 2018). These people usually struggle to get to sleep at night because they can’t stop thinking about what needs to be done or what’s happened in the day. It works on the oblongata that governs sleep, temporary changes of blood pressure and the vagus nerve (Guerrero & Medina, 2017). I usually get patients who struggle with this type of insomnia to write whatever is on their mind down before trying to sleep. (Bartrams, 1995)
Another side effect to an over-stimulated nervous system is that the muscles can become spastic. This means they can go in and out of spasm but they can also get stuck in a chronically tense state as well. If you experience headaches that feel like a weight on your head Passionflower is indicated.
Traditionally Passionflower was used in more severe cases of spasm such as epilepsy, eclampsia and whooping cough (Ingale & Kasture, 2012). I wonder about it’s possible application in the more modern diagnosis; ADHD, as well. (Wood, 2008)
DIGESTION
The connection may not seem obvious but actually, the digestive system has as many (if not more) nerves than the brain does. For this reason, it’s sometimes called the “second brain”. It’s why, when we’re nervous, we sometimes get diarrhoea, and don’t want to eat anything. It’s also the reason that long-term stress is interlinked with IBS. It’s often the missing link that doesn’t get made when treating the condition and is perhaps the “secret ingredient” to successfully treating it. (Wood, 2008)
It’s also good for nervous indigestion (Dülger et al., 2018), dysentry and was once used for cholera. In fact it’s especially nice for diarrhoea in children as it’s so gentle but effective. The effects of Passionflower seems to be via the vagus nerve, a massive nerve which links the brain to the gut.
Safety Considerations
No known safety considerations.
References
Dülger, D. , Ergün, F. & Demır, N. (2018). Investigation of Bioactive Chemicals of Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata L.) . Türk Tarım ve Doğa Bilimleri Dergisi , 5 (4) , 471-476 . DOI: 10.30910/turkjans.471285
Guerrero, F. A. & Medina, G.M. (2017) 'Effect of a medicinal plant (Passiflora incarnata L) on sleep', Sleep Science (Sao Paulo, Brazil), vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 96-100. [Online]. Available at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29410738 10.5935/1984-0063.20170018
Ingale, S. and Kasture, S. (2012) 'Evaluation of analgesic activity of the leaves of Passiflora incarnata Linn', International Journal of Green Pharmacy, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 36-39. [Online]. Available at https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/evaluation-analgesic-activity-leaves-passiflora/docview/1021038804/se-2 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0973-8258.97121.
Yarnell, E. (2018) 'Alternative and Complementary Therapies', vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 91-98. [Online]. Available at https://doi.org/10.1089/act.2018.29153.eya
