Clary Sage

Description:
Another member of the genus Salvia. It is a lovely plant to grow in the garden; it is a biannual, but produces many seeds, so it is easy to propagate. As to the scent, opinions vary. The oil is used in the perfume industry to add to men's perfumes - but rarely to women's! Apparantly, the scent should resemble male pheromones. It has been described as musk-like. Still, it also has that special Salvia-scent, which is often associated with purity and cleanliness - quite a different story, then. Clary Sage is hard to place.

Culpeper calls it an aphrodisiac: "the seeds of it being beat to powder, and drank with wine, is an admirable help to provoke lust". It has, in fact, a traditional use of giving taste to wine, though some sources claim that wine with Clary Sage gives you nightmares and terrible hangovers.

Medicinally, Clary Sage has been used in digestive disorders and kidney diseases. It is not used in modern medicine.
A traditional application: make a decoction of the leaves and/or flowers, put on cotton balls and apply to tired eyes. Some say the name Clary comes from the fact that the herb improves the eye-sight. Culpeper recommends putting a seed into your eye, that this should somehow clean it, and remove the film covering the eye - if you have such problems. He says it is safer than using a needle - sure!

This essential oil is great for relaxation when stressed or depressed. Some even describe the effect of Clary Sage oil as euphoric. Maybe it is the pheromone-story again? The oil should be great for people suffering from anxiety and panic attacks: " one of several prime stress busters, its euphoric action on consciousness helps to dispel depression, especially when depression arises from nervous burn-out, helps relieve anxiety states: including those involving fear, paranoia and delusions, grounding, centering, strengthening, senseenhancing. Clary sage also restrains secretions and stops discharges, including diarrhea, excessive sweating and sebum production. Clary sage quickly dispels shallow feeling and emotional posturing. The oil directly affects the uterine muscles and other parts of the females reproductive organs. Useful in treating menstrual cramps due to its spasmolytic action on the womb. The oil’s linalyl acetate helps explain this relaxant effect in the presence of spasmodic dysmenorrhoea.”(1)

Davis recommends it for asthma patients, as "it both relaxes the spasms in the bronchial tubes, and helps the anxiety and emotional tension often found in asthma sufferers". It can also be used to relieve menstrual cramps.

Magically: Beyerl describes it as a herb of protection, and corresponds it with the Moon. He also recommends Clary Sage as an enhancer of visions found within the state of meditation.

Both the herb and the essential oil is safe to use. Unlike Salvia officinalis, Clary Sage does not contain any significant amount of thujone.

1) Peter Holmes, “Clary sage”, The International Journal of Aromatherapy, Spring 1993, Vol 5 No 1, p. 15.