St John's Wort: Working?

Simone Cantarini
(1612-48)

São João Evangelista

It has been two weeks since I started taking St John's Wort.

I can say that I have noticed an improvement in my overall mood, but the grimness still appears.

Within the first week, I experienced a period of general love, which while I can't state it was due to SJW, I can't state that it wasn't.

I have a good routine in place: 1 tablet in the morning, one mid afternoon, and the last one just before sleep.

I have also been drinking some SJW tea as an alternative to normal tea. It is quite nice: bitter, but drinkable. It also has the advantage of tasting fine cold.

In terms of reading St John's works to see if I could find why this herb is names after him, I have found nothing concrete, only the following slithers:
Within 1 John, the terms

God is light
1 John 1:5

God is love
1 John 4:16

appear. Since taking SJW, I have had two very definitive results. One is that everything is brighter and glaring. Greens are more vivid than before, particularly in nature. It has been overcast and raining here, so that may explain the green (however, it is more dazzling), but does not explain the glare. I have since read the SJW does increase light sensitivity to the eyes, and of the possible dangers is cataract troubles. Maybe that is the light?

In terms of love, I have experienced a few days where love was dominant feel of the day, something unusual for me. Of course I feel love and loved everyday, but this was continuous and omnipresent. St John's Gospel is often referred to as the "Gospel of Love" (Love count for Gospels: Matthew 16, Mark 8, Luke 18, John 57)


But for all my musing, it seems as if SJW actually named after St John the Baptist. Some early Christian authors claimed that red spots, symbolic of the blood of St. John, appeared on leaves of SJW on August 29, the anniversary of the saint's beheading. It was the Baptist, not the Evangelist that was beheaded.

As long as it helps, I don't mind whether this plant is named after the Evangelist or the Baptist. Although the evidence (!) is against me, and it also doesn't really matter, I will continue to think of it as being named after the Evangelist. He has been an indescribable influence on my faith, and I like to think that the person who named this plant, how ever long ago, may have been in the same predicament: prone to melancholy, but inspired by St John.