Crocus sativus
- VERMEULEN Frans
Croc.
The virtue of saffron pierceth to the heart, provoking laughter and merriment.
[Christopher Catton]
Signs
Crocus sativus. Saffron crocus. N.O. Iridaceae.
CLASSIFICATION Formerly included under the Liliaceae, Crocus is now placed in the Iridaceae, a widespread family of rhizomatous or cormous herbs in about 80 genera.
GENUS The genus Crocus comprises some 80 species of perennial, cormous herbs with funnel-shaped flowers that are borne at ground level and bear three stamens. Numerous species and cultivars are grown as autumn- or spring-flowering ornamentals. The flowers of most members of this genus close off at nighttime or in dull weather.
SAFFRON Crocus sativus has white to lilac or mauve flowers with darker veins. It is the source of the spice and dye Saffron that consists of the red stigmas. Unknown as a wild plant, the Saffron Crocus is a sterile cultigen probably derived from Wild Saffron [Crocus cartwrightianus], which is native to Greece. Saffron prefers a sunny position in well-drained sandy or loamy [calcareous] soil that is free from clay. The plant can withstand substantial frosts; in parts of India, saffron fields are covered with snow in the winter. Plants produce less saffron when grown on rich soils. Each season, new corms are formed above the old ones, which wither and eventually rot away. Crops rapidly increase in density because each corm produces 4-10 daughter corms. Blossoming lasts only a few weeks; flowers are collected daily as they open in order to remove the stigmas. Approximately 210,000 dried stigmas [from 70,000 flowers] make 1 pound of saffron. The high cost of saffron production encourages the use of turmeric and the synthetic colorant tartrazine [E102] as alternatives to saffron.
NAME The name comes from Gr. krokos, saffron, which probably derives from kroke, a thread, the filaments of the style [stigmas] being the source of the yellow dye. The name saffron comes from the Arabic sahafarn, a thread, or from za'faran, Arabic for yellow. It is thought that saffron is the meaning of karkom in the Song of Solomon, since karkom is Persian for yellow.
CONSTITUENTS Saffron contains a volatile oil, picrocrocin, crocin, a fixed oil, wax, and vitamin B1 and B2. The volatile oil consists of safranal, oxysafranal, pinene [which smells like turpentine], 1,8-cineole isophorone, napthalene and other compounds. Extracted saffron is a red-orange colour, and has an aromatic odour and a bitter taste. Principal colouring pigments of saffron include crocin [reddish yellow], crocetin [red], carotene, lycopene [the red pigment in tomatoes], zeaxanthin [the yellow pigment in yellow corn], and picrocrocin ['saffron bitter']. Picrocrocin exerts sex-determining influences in the plant organism. Crocin is such a powerful colouring agent that one part of it dissolved in 150,000 parts water will turn the water distinctively yellow. Crocetin increases oxygen content in the blood which may contribute to the prevention of plaque buildup in the arteries. Saffron needs heat to release its flavour, and thus has to be crushed into hot water [before using] or heated in a metal spoon over a burner.
HISTORY Saffron was first used as a dye in the Mediterranean basin over 3500 years ago. The yellow dye was the royal colour of ancient Greece. Roman emperors used saffron on a considerable scale to scatter in the streets when they went abroad. Public baths were perfumed with saffron. It became especially associated with the hetaerae, a professional class of Greek courtesans. The 13th-century Crusaders brought saffron from Asia to Europe, where it was used as a dye and condiment. The high prices soon gave rise to counterfeit saffron, e.g. by mixing the genuine product with flowers of marigold, arnica, and safflower. Worried about their reputations, medieval market towns in Italy and southern Germany established special offices to inspect all saffron before it passed onward. In most towns, the legal punishment for falsifying saffron was to be burned or buried alive. 1 In Britain, saffron was cultivated until the end of the last century; the town Saffron Walden, in Essex, England, obtained its name because of it. It is still widely grown in Spain, India, Iran, Turkey, and China. Crocuses grown in Spain produce, reputedly, the best saffron; cultivation is concentrated in southern Castille and, to a lesser degree, in Aragon. Fake or American saffron actually refers to safflower, Carthamus tinctorius L., whose flower heads yield a dye used as an adulterant to true saffron.
RELIGION The crocus was definitely associated with Minoan religion, where it appears on the votive robes [made around 1550 BC] dedicated to the great Minoan goddess Britomartis, meaning 'Sweet Maiden'. The saffron-coloured shoes of Persian Kings symbolized a heavenly light; in fact, the yellow hue went beyond the realm of royal power and stood for holiness. For Buddhist monks, with their traditional saffron-tinted mantles, the yellow hue is a mark of piety. [The pigment for their mantles, however, is not obtained from the saffron crocus.]
USES "To the nations of Eastern Asia, its yellow dye was the perfection of beauty, and its odour a perfect ambrosia. 'Saffron yellow shoes formed part of the dress of the Persian Kings,' says Professor Hehn. Greek myths and poetry exhibit an extravagant admiration of the colour and perfume. Homer sings 'the Saffron morn'; gods and goddesses, heroes and nymphs and vestals, are clothed in robes of Saffron hue. The Saffron of Lydia, Cilicia and Cyrene was much prized. The scent was valued as much as the dye; saffron water was sprinkled on the benches of the theatre, the floors of banqueting-halls were strewn with crocus leaves, and cushions were stuffed with it."2 Used in cosmetics as a perfume, as a colouring agent and as a compress for bruises, neuralgia, and rheumatism. Also used as a food colouring and in saffron rice, paella, bouillabaisse, Cornish cakes, Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, Schwenkfelder cake, soups, breads, and liqueurs like the Italian strega or the French chartreuse. Special Christmas bread and buns using saffron are traditional in Sweden.
EFFECTS Saffron is reported to contain a poison of the central nervous system and kidneys that can prove fatal; human fatalities have been recorded from consuming 20 g of pure saffron. Large doses may cause cough, headache, and drowsiness. Ancient Romans hoped to benefit from its reputed ability to prevent hangovers by steeping the spice in their wine, or wearing it on their heads. In classical times saffron had been noted medically as having a relationship to women and wine, "stirring up to venerie", as Dioscorides said.
MEDICINE As a medicinal plant, saffron has traditionally been considered an anodyne, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, and sedative. The plant has been used as a folk remedy against scarlet fever, smallpox, colds, insomnia, asthma, tumours, and cancer. Saffron figured in a large number of medicines, especially those designed to raise the spirits of men. Several herbalists mention that it moved men to laughter and Francis Bacon remarked that "it maketh the English sprightly." In 19th-century England saffron tea flavoured with brandy was a domestic medicine in cases of measles. Isolated in 1851, crocetin was prescribed by Eclectics in 19th-century America as a menstrual remedy, menstruation promoter, and treatment for childhood diseases. The Egyptian 'Papyrus Ebers', written around 1550 BC but believed to be a copy of a much older medical work, relates the virtues of saffron: "Saffron was one of the drugs used to 'remove rheumatism in the sacral region.' If rubbed on there, the pain was supposed to disappear immediately. Eating crocus seeds on bread would have the same effect. Saffron was also good for paralysis - though only on the right side of the body. Crocus-from-the-hills and crocus-from-the-delta, along with various other herbs, made a medicine 'to force out urine.' In sweet beer, it 'strengthened the teeth.' It was used in a plaster for gumboils and again with other herbs in a poultice to apply to the abdomen when there was an obstruction."3 A Chinese medical book, from about 2600 BC, contains the oldest reference to saffron. It was claimed to give strength and stimulation, for instance when making love. Similarly, the Phoenicians spent their wedding nights on sheets coloured yellow with saffron.
HEART "Culpeper may have been right when he said saffron 'strengthens the heart exceedingly.' ... Several animal studies show injected crocetin produces significant cholesterol decreases. Of course, people who ingest whole saffron orally may not receive the same benefit as animals injected with the herb's active constituent. Population studies, however, support the herb as a protector against human heart disease. Certain populations in Spain have little heart disease [or stroke] despite a relatively high-fat diet. Some experts credit the liberal use of olive oil in cooking. But an article in the British medical journal Lancet argued for saffron - also used liberally in Spanish cuisine - as the more important protective factor. Crocetin also increases the amount of oxygen in blood. Some researchers suggest this additional oxygen slows the growth of artery-clogging plaque deposits involved in heart disease. Animal research in China shows saffron reduces blood pressure, and in the United States, crocetin is used to treat high blood pressure in cats. These findings suggest it may help control another important risk factor in human heart disease."4
PSYCHOACTIVE The psychoactive effects of saffron have been described as "spasmodic laughter" and "delirium". "Zacutus Lusitanus speaks of having seen from it excessive gaiety, bordering on delirium, with pallor, headache, obscuration of vision. Boerhaave speaks of almost constant unbecoming laughter as an effect of it; and Schultze says that children laugh as soon as they smell at a bottle which had contained it."5 Saffron is known to have soporific and narcotic secondary effects similar to those of opium. In domestic medicine it served as an opium-substitute in the treatment of children. In small doses it cheers up and arouses laughter, while in large doses it stupefies and induces sleep. Saffron is an ingredient of the 'Oriental joy pills', which have been in use for thousands of years. Most of the ingredients were listed as medicinal plants and aphrodisiacs in the pharmacopoeias of the ancient Orient. The main ingredients of joy pills were Opium, Cannabis, Datura, and spices [including saffron]. Joy pills became known in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century and were consumed quite freely in certain circles. Saffron was also an important ingredient of Laudanam liquidum, also known as Tinctura Opii crocata, which was introduced into medicine by Sydenham in 1670 as a mixture of opium, saffron, cinnamon, cloves, and Spanish wine. An alcohol tincture of opium and saffron replaced Sydenham's tincture later.
SYMBOLISM Legend says that Crocus was the name of a beautiful young man that Hermes loved, but killed accidentally. Where his blood spilled onto the Earth is where the Crocus first bloomed. Another Greek myth relates that Crocus was so in love with the nymph Smilax that they never separated. The gods, tired of watching their courtship, ended it by changing Smilax into a yew-bush and Crocus into a saffron crocus. Again another myth tells that the crocus sprang from the ground where Zeus had made love to Hera. To the Greeks, saffron represented beauty, life and youth and was thus given as a gift to newlyweds. Pliny the Elder claimed that the saffron crocus stands for patience and humbleness because he believed it to thrive best when treaded upon. In Asia, saffron was a symbol of hospitality. In India, people used saffron to mark themselves as members of a wealthy caste. In flower language, saffron symbolizes mirth, with the additional warning: beware of excess.
PROVINGS •• [1] Stapf - 4 provers; method: the provings were conducted with "small quantities of the tincture, none of the provers taking more than 12 grains [= approx. 780 mg] in all, some much less."
[1] Swahn, The Lore of Spices. [2] Grieve, A Modern Herbal. [3] Hollingworh, Flower Chronicles. [4] Castleman, The Healing Herbs. [5] Hughes, A Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy.
Affinity
MIND. NERVES. Eyes. Circulation. Female organs. * LEFT SIDE.
Modalities
Worse: Motion. Puberty. Pregnancy. Reading. Heat. Morning. Fasting. WARM ROOM. Looking fixedly at an object. Lying down.
Better: OPEN AIR. After breakfast.
Comparisons
c COMMON SYMPTOMS OF CROCUS AND OPIUM
The effects of opium and crocus show a striking resemblance. In small quantities both exhilarate the mind, raise the passions, and invigorate the body; in large doses intoxication, languor, and stupor succeed this. The similarity becomes even more evident when comparing the symptoms of both substances in the materia medica. Opium is listed in about 3000 rubrics, and Crocus in some 1500 rubrics. Of these, they have 500 rubrics in common, such as: Ailments from excessive joy. - Anger alternating with cheerfulness. - Irritability alternating with joy. - Confusion of mind, as after being intoxicated. - Delusions: visions of fire; being light [without body]; being pregnant; familiar things seem strange. - Vivid, lively fancies. - Groping as if in the dark. - Indifference to pleasure. - Laughing involuntarily, loudly, spasmodically. - Mistakes in time. - Witty. - Unable to hold up head; vertigo while sitting up in bed. - Sensation of something alive in abdomen. - Movements of foetus painful and violent. - Stupefying sleep, or sleeplessness from excitement. - Dreams of unsuccessful efforts. - Hot weather <. Main symptoms M IMPRESSIONABLE, affectionate, changeable, and moody. INTENSE, passionate, but short-lived reactions. YIELDS, REPENTS QUICKLY. • "The slightest cause excites his anger, for which, next moment, he is sorry, which however, soon returns, because his calmness frets him and prevents his exposing his feelings; usually he changes a hard word which he has on his tongue to a mild one, but the latter seems too mild, and he now chooses a more severe word, which he again changes to a still milder one, and so on in speech, thought, and action." [Allen] c IRRESOLUTION, due to frequently changing one's mind and quickly repenting one's decisions. • "He suddenly repents of having injured others." [Allen] M RAPIDLY, almost abruptly CHANGING MOODS and facial expressions. ALTERNATING symptoms: of opposite moods. • "Is sometimes very angry with people, and next moment would like to embrace them. ... The manners of a relative whom she loves excite her anger, she is on the point of breaking out when she feels calm again, next moment this calmness seems to her weakness, at which she is vexed, and she is more angry than ever, - and so on for several hours [in a quite unwonted way]." [Hughes] • "The patient is alternately cheerful or depressed. In the former state she will sing, dance, jump, laugh and whistle, love and want to kiss everybody. In the latter, she will cry, get into a rage, abuse her friends, and then repent it." [Nash] • "It is a rapid alternation of mental conditions: anger with violence rapidly followed by repentance; laughter quickly followed by tears. I once cured with a few doses of Crocus a young artist who had become subject to violent outbursts of rage in which he would take up a knife to throw at his mother, with whom he lived, and almost immediately after would be abjectly repentant. The household was on the point of being broken up when the trouble was completely removed by Crocus." [Clarke] • "Saffron has variableness as a characteristic; the person requiring it is emotionally unstable, always up in the clouds or down in the dumps." [Gordon Ross] • [Crocus] "feels the need to keep the attention of the other person [esp. of the opposite sex] by his attractive behaviour, but at the same time shouldn't allow himself to be dominated by this person." [Sankaran] M CHILDISH [= FOOLISH] BEHAVIOUR. Playful. Delusion he is unfit for business. M ECSTATIC AND EXHILARATED. Jumping. Dancing. Kisses/embraces everyone. Full of inexpressible desires. Jesting, ridiculous or foolish. SPASMODIC LAUGHING. • "During great debility with dilatation of pupils, strong inclination to jest and laugh." [Hughes] • "On one occasion, in hospital, I happened to see a young girl who was really desperately ill with heart failure and valvular disease, in a fit of hysterical laughter. This made me think of Crocus. The only definite sensation she complained of in the heart region was a 'jumping' sensation. Crocus 30 was given, and very soon she was able to lie down flat [after having been propped up for weeks], and from that time she made a rapid recovery." [Clarke] M MUSIC. Cheerful from music. Involuntary laughter and weeping; < music. Involuntary joining in when hearing a person sing. Singing in sleep. • "Very cheerful mood, is witty, joking, loquacious; inclination to sing; if someone happens to sound a note she begins to sing involuntarily and then laughs at herself, soon, however, singing again in spite of determination not to do so; there suddenly comes before her fancy a concert at which she was present a long while ago, as vividly as if it were going on before her, so that she can distinguish the separate instruments." [Hughes] According to Schwarzhaupt, Crocus fits the combination of dancing, jazz music and sexual excitement. 1 • "Even when out of humour, quiet repetition of a lively melody." [Allen] M Spaced out. Vanishing of thought from emotions. Familiar things/persons seem strange. • "He does not recognize a person whom he frequently sees; on coming near she seems like one wholly unknown to him; he looks wonderingly at her, remembers having seen her, but cannot recall her name, and mistakes her for another; only recognizes her after a long time." [Allen] Confounds future with past, and past with present. > Focusing [mental exertion, occupation].
> Open air.
M Cheerful, witty loquacity with jesting.
Yet: speechless from anger [about reproaches].
• "Reproaches make her very angry, she wants to justify herself, but the words vanish on her lips, - vexed at her silence she tries to speak again and again becomes dumb, continuing wavering in this fashion, and not succeeding in uttering a single word in her defence though she tries very hard." [Hughes]
M Sensation as if something were ALIVE internally.
[stomach, abdomen, chest, head]
Sensation as if everything were moving in body.
G Alternating symptoms: of sides; of mind; of body.
G Increased sexual desire.
G Appetite wanting, or easily satiated.
Sleepiness after eating.
Excessive thirst for cold drinks.
G Desire for OPEN AIR.
> OPEN AIR, even cold air.
G Disagreeable body odour.
Wolff mentions as a characteristic symptom the offensive, unbearable, 'libidinous' smell of the female genitals [or sweat], which occurs during menses, with leucorrhoea, or during coition. 2
G < WARM ROOM. G > After breakfast.
G > HAND on PART.
G STRINGY, viscid DISCHARGES.
[leucorrhoea; lochia; nasal discharge; expectoration]
Dark blood. Clots with long strings.
[epistaxis; menses]
P Climacteric hemicrania; instead of menses; > pressure.
P Eye affections.
Lachrymation > open air, < while reading [or dryness of eyes while reading]. Burning [as from smoke] or pressing pain in eyes during menses, with inclination to rub or wipe eyes. Sensation of swelling; winking, while reading. P Epistaxis instead of menses; vicarious. Epistaxis in children who develop too rapidly or slowly. [Hering] [1] Allg. Hom. Zeitung, 1953. [2] Wolff, Crocus sativus; Allg. Hom. Zeitung, 1967, Heft 6. Rubrics Mind Abusive [1]. Ailments from excessive joy [1]. Anger, alternating with affection [1/1], cheerfulness [1], laughing [1], quick repentance [1], singing [1/1]; anger with laughing [2/1]. Cheerful, from music [2/1]. Childish behaviour [1]. Delusions, he is unfit for business [2], visions of fire [1], he is light [2], thinks he hears music [1], she is pregnant [2], body is smaller [1]. Full of inexpressible desires [1]. Embraces everyone [2]. Extravagance [1]. Groping as if in the dark [1]. Insanity, alternating with physical symptoms [2]. Jumping [2]. Lascivious [1]. Music, < [2], > [1]. Playful [1]. Sensitive, to noise, > music [1]. Somnambulism [1]. Weeping, at night [1], < [2]. Yielding disposition [1]. Head Distension, of blood vessels, during menses [2/1]. Empty, hollow sensation, in forehead [1]. Heat, vertex, during menopause [1; Lach.]. Eye Sensation of discharge hanging over eyes which must be wiped away [1; Puls.]. Sensation as if eyes were smaller [1]. Sensation of swelling of lids [2]. Vision Flashes, like electric sparks [2/1]. Spots, jumping up and down [2/1]. Stars, dancing [1; Psil.]. Hearing Impaired, < stooping [2; Merc.]. Nose Epistaxis, blood clotted quickly [1], blood dark, black [3], blood stringy [3], from blowing the nose [2], after headache [1; Sep.], during hot weather [3/1], during profuse menses [1], from suppressed menses [2], persistent [2]. Stomach Sensation as if something alive in stomach [3]. Sensation of fulness, after eating ever so little [1]. Sensation of jumping [1]. Abdomen Sensation of something alive in abdomen [3]. Jumping movements in abdomen [2]; movements before menses [1], during menses [2; Nicc.]. Female Menses, appear after injury [3/1]; clotted, dark clots, from slightest motion [3/1]; copious, from dancing [2; Erig.; Sec.], copious, from motion [2]; pitch-like [1]; ropy, tenacious [3]. Chest Sensation of something alive in chest [2]. Heat, in region of heart [1]. Limbs Sensation of looseness in joints [1; Stram.; Wildb.]. Restlessness, feet [1]. Sleep Disturbed, by perspiration [1]. Sleepiness, > mental exertion [1/1].
Dreams
Laughing [1]. Running vainly [1]. Striving [1]. Unsuccessful efforts to reach a distant place [1; Plat.].
Generals
Darkness > [2]. Narcotics < [1]. Rubbing gently with hand > [2]. Illusions of touch [2]. Weakness, > mental exertion [2; Hydrog.].
Food
Aversion: [1]: Fats and rich food.
Desire: [2]: Cold drinks.
Worse: [2]: Cold drinks.
Croc.
 |
| Crocus sativus |
[Christopher Catton]
Signs
Crocus sativus. Saffron crocus. N.O. Iridaceae.
CLASSIFICATION Formerly included under the Liliaceae, Crocus is now placed in the Iridaceae, a widespread family of rhizomatous or cormous herbs in about 80 genera.
GENUS The genus Crocus comprises some 80 species of perennial, cormous herbs with funnel-shaped flowers that are borne at ground level and bear three stamens. Numerous species and cultivars are grown as autumn- or spring-flowering ornamentals. The flowers of most members of this genus close off at nighttime or in dull weather.
SAFFRON Crocus sativus has white to lilac or mauve flowers with darker veins. It is the source of the spice and dye Saffron that consists of the red stigmas. Unknown as a wild plant, the Saffron Crocus is a sterile cultigen probably derived from Wild Saffron [Crocus cartwrightianus], which is native to Greece. Saffron prefers a sunny position in well-drained sandy or loamy [calcareous] soil that is free from clay. The plant can withstand substantial frosts; in parts of India, saffron fields are covered with snow in the winter. Plants produce less saffron when grown on rich soils. Each season, new corms are formed above the old ones, which wither and eventually rot away. Crops rapidly increase in density because each corm produces 4-10 daughter corms. Blossoming lasts only a few weeks; flowers are collected daily as they open in order to remove the stigmas. Approximately 210,000 dried stigmas [from 70,000 flowers] make 1 pound of saffron. The high cost of saffron production encourages the use of turmeric and the synthetic colorant tartrazine [E102] as alternatives to saffron.
NAME The name comes from Gr. krokos, saffron, which probably derives from kroke, a thread, the filaments of the style [stigmas] being the source of the yellow dye. The name saffron comes from the Arabic sahafarn, a thread, or from za'faran, Arabic for yellow. It is thought that saffron is the meaning of karkom in the Song of Solomon, since karkom is Persian for yellow.
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| Crocus sativus |
HISTORY Saffron was first used as a dye in the Mediterranean basin over 3500 years ago. The yellow dye was the royal colour of ancient Greece. Roman emperors used saffron on a considerable scale to scatter in the streets when they went abroad. Public baths were perfumed with saffron. It became especially associated with the hetaerae, a professional class of Greek courtesans. The 13th-century Crusaders brought saffron from Asia to Europe, where it was used as a dye and condiment. The high prices soon gave rise to counterfeit saffron, e.g. by mixing the genuine product with flowers of marigold, arnica, and safflower. Worried about their reputations, medieval market towns in Italy and southern Germany established special offices to inspect all saffron before it passed onward. In most towns, the legal punishment for falsifying saffron was to be burned or buried alive. 1 In Britain, saffron was cultivated until the end of the last century; the town Saffron Walden, in Essex, England, obtained its name because of it. It is still widely grown in Spain, India, Iran, Turkey, and China. Crocuses grown in Spain produce, reputedly, the best saffron; cultivation is concentrated in southern Castille and, to a lesser degree, in Aragon. Fake or American saffron actually refers to safflower, Carthamus tinctorius L., whose flower heads yield a dye used as an adulterant to true saffron.
RELIGION The crocus was definitely associated with Minoan religion, where it appears on the votive robes [made around 1550 BC] dedicated to the great Minoan goddess Britomartis, meaning 'Sweet Maiden'. The saffron-coloured shoes of Persian Kings symbolized a heavenly light; in fact, the yellow hue went beyond the realm of royal power and stood for holiness. For Buddhist monks, with their traditional saffron-tinted mantles, the yellow hue is a mark of piety. [The pigment for their mantles, however, is not obtained from the saffron crocus.]
USES "To the nations of Eastern Asia, its yellow dye was the perfection of beauty, and its odour a perfect ambrosia. 'Saffron yellow shoes formed part of the dress of the Persian Kings,' says Professor Hehn. Greek myths and poetry exhibit an extravagant admiration of the colour and perfume. Homer sings 'the Saffron morn'; gods and goddesses, heroes and nymphs and vestals, are clothed in robes of Saffron hue. The Saffron of Lydia, Cilicia and Cyrene was much prized. The scent was valued as much as the dye; saffron water was sprinkled on the benches of the theatre, the floors of banqueting-halls were strewn with crocus leaves, and cushions were stuffed with it."2 Used in cosmetics as a perfume, as a colouring agent and as a compress for bruises, neuralgia, and rheumatism. Also used as a food colouring and in saffron rice, paella, bouillabaisse, Cornish cakes, Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, Schwenkfelder cake, soups, breads, and liqueurs like the Italian strega or the French chartreuse. Special Christmas bread and buns using saffron are traditional in Sweden.
EFFECTS Saffron is reported to contain a poison of the central nervous system and kidneys that can prove fatal; human fatalities have been recorded from consuming 20 g of pure saffron. Large doses may cause cough, headache, and drowsiness. Ancient Romans hoped to benefit from its reputed ability to prevent hangovers by steeping the spice in their wine, or wearing it on their heads. In classical times saffron had been noted medically as having a relationship to women and wine, "stirring up to venerie", as Dioscorides said.
MEDICINE As a medicinal plant, saffron has traditionally been considered an anodyne, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, and sedative. The plant has been used as a folk remedy against scarlet fever, smallpox, colds, insomnia, asthma, tumours, and cancer. Saffron figured in a large number of medicines, especially those designed to raise the spirits of men. Several herbalists mention that it moved men to laughter and Francis Bacon remarked that "it maketh the English sprightly." In 19th-century England saffron tea flavoured with brandy was a domestic medicine in cases of measles. Isolated in 1851, crocetin was prescribed by Eclectics in 19th-century America as a menstrual remedy, menstruation promoter, and treatment for childhood diseases. The Egyptian 'Papyrus Ebers', written around 1550 BC but believed to be a copy of a much older medical work, relates the virtues of saffron: "Saffron was one of the drugs used to 'remove rheumatism in the sacral region.' If rubbed on there, the pain was supposed to disappear immediately. Eating crocus seeds on bread would have the same effect. Saffron was also good for paralysis - though only on the right side of the body. Crocus-from-the-hills and crocus-from-the-delta, along with various other herbs, made a medicine 'to force out urine.' In sweet beer, it 'strengthened the teeth.' It was used in a plaster for gumboils and again with other herbs in a poultice to apply to the abdomen when there was an obstruction."3 A Chinese medical book, from about 2600 BC, contains the oldest reference to saffron. It was claimed to give strength and stimulation, for instance when making love. Similarly, the Phoenicians spent their wedding nights on sheets coloured yellow with saffron.
HEART "Culpeper may have been right when he said saffron 'strengthens the heart exceedingly.' ... Several animal studies show injected crocetin produces significant cholesterol decreases. Of course, people who ingest whole saffron orally may not receive the same benefit as animals injected with the herb's active constituent. Population studies, however, support the herb as a protector against human heart disease. Certain populations in Spain have little heart disease [or stroke] despite a relatively high-fat diet. Some experts credit the liberal use of olive oil in cooking. But an article in the British medical journal Lancet argued for saffron - also used liberally in Spanish cuisine - as the more important protective factor. Crocetin also increases the amount of oxygen in blood. Some researchers suggest this additional oxygen slows the growth of artery-clogging plaque deposits involved in heart disease. Animal research in China shows saffron reduces blood pressure, and in the United States, crocetin is used to treat high blood pressure in cats. These findings suggest it may help control another important risk factor in human heart disease."4
PSYCHOACTIVE The psychoactive effects of saffron have been described as "spasmodic laughter" and "delirium". "Zacutus Lusitanus speaks of having seen from it excessive gaiety, bordering on delirium, with pallor, headache, obscuration of vision. Boerhaave speaks of almost constant unbecoming laughter as an effect of it; and Schultze says that children laugh as soon as they smell at a bottle which had contained it."5 Saffron is known to have soporific and narcotic secondary effects similar to those of opium. In domestic medicine it served as an opium-substitute in the treatment of children. In small doses it cheers up and arouses laughter, while in large doses it stupefies and induces sleep. Saffron is an ingredient of the 'Oriental joy pills', which have been in use for thousands of years. Most of the ingredients were listed as medicinal plants and aphrodisiacs in the pharmacopoeias of the ancient Orient. The main ingredients of joy pills were Opium, Cannabis, Datura, and spices [including saffron]. Joy pills became known in Europe at the beginning of the 19th century and were consumed quite freely in certain circles. Saffron was also an important ingredient of Laudanam liquidum, also known as Tinctura Opii crocata, which was introduced into medicine by Sydenham in 1670 as a mixture of opium, saffron, cinnamon, cloves, and Spanish wine. An alcohol tincture of opium and saffron replaced Sydenham's tincture later.
SYMBOLISM Legend says that Crocus was the name of a beautiful young man that Hermes loved, but killed accidentally. Where his blood spilled onto the Earth is where the Crocus first bloomed. Another Greek myth relates that Crocus was so in love with the nymph Smilax that they never separated. The gods, tired of watching their courtship, ended it by changing Smilax into a yew-bush and Crocus into a saffron crocus. Again another myth tells that the crocus sprang from the ground where Zeus had made love to Hera. To the Greeks, saffron represented beauty, life and youth and was thus given as a gift to newlyweds. Pliny the Elder claimed that the saffron crocus stands for patience and humbleness because he believed it to thrive best when treaded upon. In Asia, saffron was a symbol of hospitality. In India, people used saffron to mark themselves as members of a wealthy caste. In flower language, saffron symbolizes mirth, with the additional warning: beware of excess.
PROVINGS •• [1] Stapf - 4 provers; method: the provings were conducted with "small quantities of the tincture, none of the provers taking more than 12 grains [= approx. 780 mg] in all, some much less."
[1] Swahn, The Lore of Spices. [2] Grieve, A Modern Herbal. [3] Hollingworh, Flower Chronicles. [4] Castleman, The Healing Herbs. [5] Hughes, A Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy.
Affinity
MIND. NERVES. Eyes. Circulation. Female organs. * LEFT SIDE.
Modalities
Worse: Motion. Puberty. Pregnancy. Reading. Heat. Morning. Fasting. WARM ROOM. Looking fixedly at an object. Lying down.
Better: OPEN AIR. After breakfast.
Comparisons
c COMMON SYMPTOMS OF CROCUS AND OPIUM
The effects of opium and crocus show a striking resemblance. In small quantities both exhilarate the mind, raise the passions, and invigorate the body; in large doses intoxication, languor, and stupor succeed this. The similarity becomes even more evident when comparing the symptoms of both substances in the materia medica. Opium is listed in about 3000 rubrics, and Crocus in some 1500 rubrics. Of these, they have 500 rubrics in common, such as: Ailments from excessive joy. - Anger alternating with cheerfulness. - Irritability alternating with joy. - Confusion of mind, as after being intoxicated. - Delusions: visions of fire; being light [without body]; being pregnant; familiar things seem strange. - Vivid, lively fancies. - Groping as if in the dark. - Indifference to pleasure. - Laughing involuntarily, loudly, spasmodically. - Mistakes in time. - Witty. - Unable to hold up head; vertigo while sitting up in bed. - Sensation of something alive in abdomen. - Movements of foetus painful and violent. - Stupefying sleep, or sleeplessness from excitement. - Dreams of unsuccessful efforts. - Hot weather <. Main symptoms M IMPRESSIONABLE, affectionate, changeable, and moody. INTENSE, passionate, but short-lived reactions. YIELDS, REPENTS QUICKLY. • "The slightest cause excites his anger, for which, next moment, he is sorry, which however, soon returns, because his calmness frets him and prevents his exposing his feelings; usually he changes a hard word which he has on his tongue to a mild one, but the latter seems too mild, and he now chooses a more severe word, which he again changes to a still milder one, and so on in speech, thought, and action." [Allen] c IRRESOLUTION, due to frequently changing one's mind and quickly repenting one's decisions. • "He suddenly repents of having injured others." [Allen] M RAPIDLY, almost abruptly CHANGING MOODS and facial expressions. ALTERNATING symptoms: of opposite moods. • "Is sometimes very angry with people, and next moment would like to embrace them. ... The manners of a relative whom she loves excite her anger, she is on the point of breaking out when she feels calm again, next moment this calmness seems to her weakness, at which she is vexed, and she is more angry than ever, - and so on for several hours [in a quite unwonted way]." [Hughes] • "The patient is alternately cheerful or depressed. In the former state she will sing, dance, jump, laugh and whistle, love and want to kiss everybody. In the latter, she will cry, get into a rage, abuse her friends, and then repent it." [Nash] • "It is a rapid alternation of mental conditions: anger with violence rapidly followed by repentance; laughter quickly followed by tears. I once cured with a few doses of Crocus a young artist who had become subject to violent outbursts of rage in which he would take up a knife to throw at his mother, with whom he lived, and almost immediately after would be abjectly repentant. The household was on the point of being broken up when the trouble was completely removed by Crocus." [Clarke] • "Saffron has variableness as a characteristic; the person requiring it is emotionally unstable, always up in the clouds or down in the dumps." [Gordon Ross] • [Crocus] "feels the need to keep the attention of the other person [esp. of the opposite sex] by his attractive behaviour, but at the same time shouldn't allow himself to be dominated by this person." [Sankaran] M CHILDISH [= FOOLISH] BEHAVIOUR. Playful. Delusion he is unfit for business. M ECSTATIC AND EXHILARATED. Jumping. Dancing. Kisses/embraces everyone. Full of inexpressible desires. Jesting, ridiculous or foolish. SPASMODIC LAUGHING. • "During great debility with dilatation of pupils, strong inclination to jest and laugh." [Hughes] • "On one occasion, in hospital, I happened to see a young girl who was really desperately ill with heart failure and valvular disease, in a fit of hysterical laughter. This made me think of Crocus. The only definite sensation she complained of in the heart region was a 'jumping' sensation. Crocus 30 was given, and very soon she was able to lie down flat [after having been propped up for weeks], and from that time she made a rapid recovery." [Clarke] M MUSIC. Cheerful from music. Involuntary laughter and weeping; < music. Involuntary joining in when hearing a person sing. Singing in sleep. • "Very cheerful mood, is witty, joking, loquacious; inclination to sing; if someone happens to sound a note she begins to sing involuntarily and then laughs at herself, soon, however, singing again in spite of determination not to do so; there suddenly comes before her fancy a concert at which she was present a long while ago, as vividly as if it were going on before her, so that she can distinguish the separate instruments." [Hughes] According to Schwarzhaupt, Crocus fits the combination of dancing, jazz music and sexual excitement. 1 • "Even when out of humour, quiet repetition of a lively melody." [Allen] M Spaced out. Vanishing of thought from emotions. Familiar things/persons seem strange. • "He does not recognize a person whom he frequently sees; on coming near she seems like one wholly unknown to him; he looks wonderingly at her, remembers having seen her, but cannot recall her name, and mistakes her for another; only recognizes her after a long time." [Allen] Confounds future with past, and past with present. > Focusing [mental exertion, occupation].
> Open air.
M Cheerful, witty loquacity with jesting.
Yet: speechless from anger [about reproaches].
• "Reproaches make her very angry, she wants to justify herself, but the words vanish on her lips, - vexed at her silence she tries to speak again and again becomes dumb, continuing wavering in this fashion, and not succeeding in uttering a single word in her defence though she tries very hard." [Hughes]
M Sensation as if something were ALIVE internally.
[stomach, abdomen, chest, head]
Sensation as if everything were moving in body.
G Alternating symptoms: of sides; of mind; of body.
G Increased sexual desire.
G Appetite wanting, or easily satiated.
Sleepiness after eating.
Excessive thirst for cold drinks.
G Desire for OPEN AIR.
> OPEN AIR, even cold air.
G Disagreeable body odour.
Wolff mentions as a characteristic symptom the offensive, unbearable, 'libidinous' smell of the female genitals [or sweat], which occurs during menses, with leucorrhoea, or during coition. 2
G < WARM ROOM. G > After breakfast.
G > HAND on PART.
G STRINGY, viscid DISCHARGES.
[leucorrhoea; lochia; nasal discharge; expectoration]
Dark blood. Clots with long strings.
[epistaxis; menses]
P Climacteric hemicrania; instead of menses; > pressure.
P Eye affections.
Lachrymation > open air, < while reading [or dryness of eyes while reading]. Burning [as from smoke] or pressing pain in eyes during menses, with inclination to rub or wipe eyes. Sensation of swelling; winking, while reading. P Epistaxis instead of menses; vicarious. Epistaxis in children who develop too rapidly or slowly. [Hering] [1] Allg. Hom. Zeitung, 1953. [2] Wolff, Crocus sativus; Allg. Hom. Zeitung, 1967, Heft 6. Rubrics Mind Abusive [1]. Ailments from excessive joy [1]. Anger, alternating with affection [1/1], cheerfulness [1], laughing [1], quick repentance [1], singing [1/1]; anger with laughing [2/1]. Cheerful, from music [2/1]. Childish behaviour [1]. Delusions, he is unfit for business [2], visions of fire [1], he is light [2], thinks he hears music [1], she is pregnant [2], body is smaller [1]. Full of inexpressible desires [1]. Embraces everyone [2]. Extravagance [1]. Groping as if in the dark [1]. Insanity, alternating with physical symptoms [2]. Jumping [2]. Lascivious [1]. Music, < [2], > [1]. Playful [1]. Sensitive, to noise, > music [1]. Somnambulism [1]. Weeping, at night [1], < [2]. Yielding disposition [1]. Head Distension, of blood vessels, during menses [2/1]. Empty, hollow sensation, in forehead [1]. Heat, vertex, during menopause [1; Lach.]. Eye Sensation of discharge hanging over eyes which must be wiped away [1; Puls.]. Sensation as if eyes were smaller [1]. Sensation of swelling of lids [2]. Vision Flashes, like electric sparks [2/1]. Spots, jumping up and down [2/1]. Stars, dancing [1; Psil.]. Hearing Impaired, < stooping [2; Merc.]. Nose Epistaxis, blood clotted quickly [1], blood dark, black [3], blood stringy [3], from blowing the nose [2], after headache [1; Sep.], during hot weather [3/1], during profuse menses [1], from suppressed menses [2], persistent [2]. Stomach Sensation as if something alive in stomach [3]. Sensation of fulness, after eating ever so little [1]. Sensation of jumping [1]. Abdomen Sensation of something alive in abdomen [3]. Jumping movements in abdomen [2]; movements before menses [1], during menses [2; Nicc.]. Female Menses, appear after injury [3/1]; clotted, dark clots, from slightest motion [3/1]; copious, from dancing [2; Erig.; Sec.], copious, from motion [2]; pitch-like [1]; ropy, tenacious [3]. Chest Sensation of something alive in chest [2]. Heat, in region of heart [1]. Limbs Sensation of looseness in joints [1; Stram.; Wildb.]. Restlessness, feet [1]. Sleep Disturbed, by perspiration [1]. Sleepiness, > mental exertion [1/1].
Dreams
Laughing [1]. Running vainly [1]. Striving [1]. Unsuccessful efforts to reach a distant place [1; Plat.].
Generals
Darkness > [2]. Narcotics < [1]. Rubbing gently with hand > [2]. Illusions of touch [2]. Weakness, > mental exertion [2; Hydrog.].
Food
Aversion: [1]: Fats and rich food.
Desire: [2]: Cold drinks.
Worse: [2]: Cold drinks.
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