St John’s Wort aka St Joan’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) helps the body and mind receive
more light.
It’s indicated in depression where one feels isolated, lacking a sense of community and connection with the rest of the world.
The person needing this herb can feel disconnected from their own spirit cord, that part of our inner light that connects us to the earth light.
The result of this disconnect may be from trauma, head injuries, or emotional abuse leaving a person lacking
in confidence, feeling isolated, and often riding an
emotional rollercoaster.
So when you are feeling like a heavy cloud is all around you, burdened by pain, consider this light-bearer who blooms at solstice.
This ruby red is the result of the medicine made from these yellow flowers. hypericin, a molecule that turns the medicine red, is extracted when exposing the flowers to sunlight.
Sunlight is the plants medicine.
There are two ways I like to make medicine from SJW: oil for external use, and fresh-plant tincture, for internal use.
Oil:
Harvest on a dry sunny day, and lightly spritz with alcohol to begin the extraction process. The misting of alcohol initiates a potent extraction and also helps preserve the final product. Let it sit with the alcohol for 30min with a lid, then, add oil (thanks to Michael Moore, herbalist, who taught so many of this technique before he died in 2008). Set in the sun for at least 10 days, until it turns ruby red. Bring it indoors at night and on rainy, cold days of course.
Cover with muslin or paper towel so any naturally occuring water can evaporate, and critters stay out.
Tincture:
Simply add fresh buds and flowers to a jar, and cover with high proof alcohol. That’s it! It turns ruby red very quick, usually 1-3 days. Strain after two weeks, or a moon cycle.
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Love, Seraphina
Seraphina Capranos & The Center for Sacred Arts
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Seraphina Capranos is a herbalist, homeopath, ritualist & Founder of The Center for Sacred Arts. www.seraphinacapranos.com
https://bio.site/seraphina.capranos
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For the full article, and recipes, link in bio.
Our bodies know how to use the nutrients because we’ve co-evolved with plants. Nettles grow all over the world, so most of us have ancestral ties to this plant. We are evolutionarily familiar with one another. Nettles, like many green herbs that are suitable as food, are easy to digest and assimilate. I think of nettle as an ally that cleans up our waterways: the lymph, blood, kidneys, and bladder.
The spirit of Nettle is firm, ferocious crone—strong and tough like the fibres of the plant. Nettle medicine goes deep, breaking up stagnation and removing old, dead waste from our bodies, that’s why this herb can be used to alleviate constipation too. As Susun W**d says, nettle “cuts loose old patterns and re-weaves connections.”
Nettle improves iron absorption in those with anemia, improves circulation and reduces uric acid in gout. it’s also great for those with arthritis, and a wide variety of skin conditions from acne to eczema.
Many of these benefits are because of the phenolic and terpenoid compounds, but, as a vitalist practitioner, it’s safe to say there’s so much more going on in the plant. The whole plant, including the compounds we haven’t been able to isolate, make up the whole, it’s the essence of the plant at work, and this whole plant, offers our whole body, so much healing. Including an abundant variety of nutrients which make it so good for producing healthy, shiny, hair, strong nails, and an abundant of milk for nursing mothers.
It’s signature is for those who’ve had exhausted boundaries, and because of this they are depleted, and burnt-out.
The seeds are the concentrated form of all of this, namely for exhaustion and depletion. the seeds contain all the energy to remedy our exhaustion. I make a tincture from them to use therapeutically, and then a nourishing salt for daily use. It’s sooo delicious, and nutritious. And just takes 5 minutes to make.
There’s a whole article on this, that’s quite long and extensive on my blog. Check out the link in my b1o.
~ Seraphina
06/24/2026
ees have been teaching us about healing and community for thousands of years. 🐝
Ariella Daly (Ariella Daly | Sacred Beekeeping | Dream Teacher) has kept bees for 15 years on her Northern California property, not as a hobby but as a practice. She’s a Cornell Certified Master Beekeeper and founder of Honey Bee Wild, and she’s spent that time studying how honeybees have shaped ecosystems, agriculture, and human culture across ancient Mediterranean, European, and indigenous traditions.
This Thursday she’s joining Seraphina Capranos (Seraphina Capranos | The Center for Sacred Arts) live inside ⁕ Not Your Average Garden Club ⁕ to talk about what it actually means to keep bees in relationship with the land. Colony behavior, natural hive management, and how to begin with bees whether or not you ever plan to keep a hive.
🐝 Comment GARDEN CLUB below and or grab the link in bio to join us.
The knowledge of how to live alongside bees has always been there. If you’ve ever felt drawn to bees without knowing why, this session is for you.
. .
06/17/2026
Join these legendary teachers and visionaries next Monday at the Vancouver Island Herb Gathering! This is a very special opportunity. The weekend conference event is sold out, but the Monday intensives are still open. I hope you can be there!
Monday June 29th 9am-12pm
🌿 Plant Walk: The Energetics of Herbs · David Winston and Patrick Kooyman
Monday June 29 · 9am–12pm
🌿 Garden Walk: Edible and Medicinal Uses of Common Garden and Wild Plants · Rosemary Gladstar
Monday June 29 · 1:30pm–5:30pm
🌿 Poison Plants: Materia Medica and Magic · the Seed Sistas
All three at Innisfree Farm, Vancouver Island. Tickets at herbconference.com
The Canadian Herb Conference is one of my all-time favourite gatherings. I’ve had the good fortune of teaching there several times, and it’s where I get to hang out with so many beloved colleagues, teachers, and legends. It takes place at Innisfree Farm, a very special plant sanctuary and Botanic Garden.
Sadly I won’t be there this year, as I’ve had too many commitments, but, I hope you go!
Let me know in the comments if you”ll be there!
Much love,
Seraphina
06/16/2026
We are at a critical juncture in human history.
Millions of us are longing to restore our connection with the earth. We are remembering the profound kinship we share with the wider web of life, for our own wellbeing, the planet, and future generations. This turning is becoming harder and harder to ignore as we navigate the immense ecological and social challenges of our time.
This is exactly why the Embodied Ecology Live Solstice Series, happening through this weekend, was called into being.
Beginning June 18th, I’m joining 20 voices, including therapists, herbalists, artists, educators, somatic practitioners, and writers, for seven days of live, experiential sessions exploring how reconnection with the living world can become a form of resilience, resistance, reciprocity, and healing.
This gathering will resonate with you if you are longing for deeper connection with the living world, navigating burnout, grief, uncertainty, or transition, drawn to embodiment, ecosomatics, and relational healing, or simply seeking more grounded and reciprocal ways of living.
It is free to attend, live, and held in community.
Over seven days, we’ll explore nervous system tending through nature connection, grief and ecological belonging, somatic practices for everyday life, forest therapy and ecosomatics, animism and relational awareness, creativity, ritual, and meaning-making, and much more.
I’ll be sharing The Secret Teachings of Rose on Thursday, June 18th at 10:00AM Pacific Time, and I’m so looking forward to it.
It’s completely free to attend. I hope to see you there,
Much love,
Seraphina
Register here: gather.innateecology.ca
06/03/2026
If you feel the call to join, see the link in comments for more.
This is such a special container. Alumni return year after year.
See you in the circle!
see link in comments for more information about the program & how you can enroll 🌹
05/28/2026
It's my favourite time of year.
At some point in our lives, we encounter the renowned beauty of Rose. Hand-delivered flowers, rose petal baths, the alluring scent of our favorite cream. While much of our familiarity is with her soft and sultry side, rose is also a powerful healer.
She tends heartaches. Eases disappointment. Brings boundaries to the places in our lives that need fortification. She is rich in myth and magic.
Rose has long been associated with the Goddess the Greeks call Aphrodite and the Romans call Venus. It is said that roses grew where Aphrodite's tears fell and mixed with her lover’s blood.
Rose is an emblem for love, romance, and matters of the heart and also spiritual fulfillment and divine union, which is why so many religious and spiritual traditions, such as the Rosicrucians, Mary Magdalene, Lakshmi, Our Lady of Guadalupe and the gods and goddesses through pagan cultures, have the Rose woven into their iconography.
And yet, Rose also offers profound medicine for the body, mind and spiritual heart. As Steve Johnson states,
“This herb is for those lacking trust and faith; feeling hopeless; apathetic and disinterested in life; unable to keep the heart open when involved in adverse circumstances. Rose helps us remain openhearted when we are faced with conflict and struggle; builds trust; encourages openness and courageous interest in life."
read more on the blog...
Rose Honey, Rose Vinegar & A Heavenly Rose Elixir (Enrollment is open for The Rose & Root Apprenticeship. This post is a small taste of what’s featured in the program. ) At some point in our lives, we encounter the renowned beauty of Ros…
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