Lemon Balm: Magical Properties & Uses

Lemon balm is the herb of grief eased and joy returned: the green sweetness that follows a period of loss or difficulty. Where valerian produces sedated sleep and hops produce heavy unconsciousness, lemon balm produces the lighter, happier sleep of someone whose heart has been gently settled. Its primary magical uses are in healing the emotional body, attracting love after grief, working with bee spirits and the goddess Melissa, and in psychic work where a calm, open, and lightly joyful state is the prerequisite for clear perception. It is one of the safest and most freely usable herbs in the apothecary.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) has been studied more rigorously than most traditional nervine herbs. Clinical trials have demonstrated measurable effects on anxiety, mood, and cognitive performance in healthy subjects. It is believed to work through mild inhibition of GABA transaminase. It has also shown antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus in laboratory and clinical studies; topical lemon balm preparations for cold sores have clinical support. It is extremely safe, approved in Germany for sleep disturbance and nervousness, and can be used as a tea with no significant side effects.

Diana, Artemis

Sacred to the bees and called Melissa for them (her name means bee in Greek) lemon balm has been cultivated in herb gardens since at least the medieval period. The philosopher Paracelsus called it the elixir of life; John Evelyn wrote in 1699 that it was sovereign for the brain, strengthening the memory and powerfully chasing away melancholy. The Benedictine monks produced Carmelite water from it: a prepared spirit distilled with lemon balm that was considered a panacea for nervous conditions, sold throughout France from the 17th century. It was strewn in churches and scattered at doorways on festivals. Beekeepers rubbed lemon balm on new hives to attract swarms and settled restless bees.