Looking for fun medieval remedies? Here is a very old medieval remedy for cold and flu that has survived the passage of time.
English yew (Taxus baccata) is a tree that grows very slowly and is mainly planted as an ornamental tree. Its needles are dark green, its seeds are covered by the pulp of small, fleshy, red fruits, while its bark is reddish brown to dark brown and detaches from the trunk in thin strips. The English yew wood is highly valued, especially for making furniture, but also in medieval remedies. St Hildegard’s medieval remedy for cold and flu uses English yew wood fumigations. Let’s get to it.
Hildegard’s Medieval Remedy for Cold & Flu
English yew wood harvested in the winter is traditionally used for whooping cough, rhinitis, stuffy nose, or pulmonary viruses in the form of fumigations or smudging. For this remedy, you need a few English yew chips, hot coals, or a very hot iron pan. Put 2-4 chips of yew wood on smoking coals or the iron pan, and let the smoke that comes out penetrate through your nose and mouth for about 5 minutes. The procedure can be repeated several times a day.
Be very careful! Yew seeds and needles are poisonous!!!
“The English yew tree is more ‘cold’ than ‘warm’, it is also dry and symbolizes joy. When the wood is lit, neither the vapors nor the smoke it gives off are harmful. People with colds should inhale – through the nose and mouth – the smoke of burning wood and thus the “evil” will disappear from the body without any negative side effects”. Hildegard van Bingen
Read Also: Medieval Elixir for Lung Conditions
If you’ve enjoyed learning about this simple medieval remedy for cold and flu from St. Hildegard’s well-preserved herbalist treaties, please share it. This way you help more people interested in medieval remedies learn of the unique use of English yew wood fumigations. Stay healthy, naturally!
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