Calendula is a member of a family of plants called the Asteraceae (formerly Compositae) also known as the daisy family. These radiant flowers of our central star, the sun, include bellis perennis (daisy), chamomile, echinacea and arnica all of which have become vital remedies in homeopathy. The remedies of the daisy family are for ruptures of the mind and body, when boundaries have been broken by accident, violence, abuse or invasion.
Calendula is also known as Marigold which means Mary’s Gold as it is one of the flowers dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The medicinal properties of the flower are found in a resin on the underside of the flower heads which make them feel sticky to the touch. Although radiant in sunlight, when clouds gather or darkness descends, the flower heads seal up. A mental symptom which is characteristic of calendula is ‘aggravation on dark, cloudy days’. There is a great deal of sensitivity especially to noise and pain, which is out of proportion to the injury.
Calendula is the one homeopathic remedy that I used every day from when my daughter was born until when she stopped wearing nappies because every time I changed her nappy I put on some calendula cream! She hardly ever got nappy rash because the calendula is brilliant for protecting a baby’s sensitive, soft skin from dampness and chafing from the nappy.
Calendula in potency is also very useful after childbirth to speed up the healing of an episiotomy or tear (in this case it can be alternated with arnica, bellis perennis or any other remedy that is needed). It could also be used after a C-section. The calendula cream can also be applied to nipples which have become cracked or ulcerated due to breastfeeding (used alongside other indicated remedies).
Calendula is one of the few remedies that is used in material doses in homeopathy. The mother tincture or a cream/salve is often used in first aid and invaluable in a first aid kit. It can be very comforting to apply a hot compress of Calendula to a wounded part. Add 10 drops of Calendula mother tincture to a cup of hot water, soak a wad of lint int the solution and apply externally.
Calendula mother tincture can be combined with Hypericum (St John’s Wort) mother tincture where there is a wound or infection along nerve pain such as when a tooth is extracted; the combination tincture is called “Hypercal”. In the case of a scratch on the surface of the eye you could use Calendula and Hypericum together in potency (i.e. as pillules).
Calendula is a specific for external wounds and lacerations and is used to promote the healing process. Wounds are tender, red, swollen and tending towards the production of pus. The wound may typically look like a cat scratch – tender, puffed-up and infected. A keynote (mentioned above) is that the pain is out of proportion to the injury. It is also a general remedy for inflamed conditions of the skin from burns (including radiotherapy burns), sunburns, irritation and chafing.
Modern research shows that Calendula in material doses is not an antiseptic but a bacteriostatic; it does not kill bacteria, it contains them, keeps the wound clean and thus helps the body to cure itself. It seems to clean the wound from the inside through the lymphatic channels beneath the skin.
Matthew Wood has a brilliant chapter on Calendula in ‘The Book of Herbal Wisdom’ in which he describes the appearance of the flower thus: “the golden-orange flowers look like a piece of the sun fallen to earth”. Calendula has also been called ‘herbal sunshine’ and he says it is useful for places ‘where the sun doesn’t shine’ by which he means these lymphatic structures which lie like a vast netting under the structures of the body.
Calendula is a general immune tonic and is useful for lymphatic glands which become swollen, congested and stagnant with lingering remnants of infection. It helps where there is ‘dampness’ or oedema in the tissues, such as with thrush or candida, because like the sun Calendula will dry out the dampness in the tissues.
Colin Griffiths has remarked that very high potencies of Calendula can be used when someone has never been well since serious wounding to the body or mind. It seems to have the ability to bring past psychological wounds out of the subconscious into awareness so they can be gently examined and healed.
All in all Calendula is an extremely useful and versatile remedy and I hope that this introduction to this wonderful little plant will encourage you to make sure you always have it in the house and in your first aid kit!