Passionflower: Magical Properties & Uses

Passionflower is the herb of deep peace, of the stilling of a mind that will not quiet, and of the kind of sleep that is also a form of spiritual surrender. Its primary magical uses are in workings for peace in the home (placed in the house it calms arguments and creates an atmosphere of goodwill) and in sleep and dream work where the goal is genuine restfulness rather than visionary experience. In protection workings it creates a specifically peaceful protection: rather than repelling what is unwanted, it establishes a vibration of calm that makes disturbance unlikely. In friendship and love workings it draws gentle, uncomplicated affection.

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is one of the most evidence-supported herbal anxiolytics. Clinical trials have found it comparable to low doses of benzodiazepine drugs for generalised anxiety disorder, with fewer side effects and no significant sedation at therapeutic doses. It is approved as a herbal medicine for anxiety and nervous restlessness in Germany. It is also used for insomnia. It should not be combined with pharmaceutical sedatives or anxiolytics without medical guidance. It is not for use in pregnancy. Its safety profile for short-term use in healthy adults is good.

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A vine whose extraordinary flowers were read by Spanish missionaries as the very symbols of Christ's Passion: the three stigmas as the three nails, the five anthers as the five wounds, the corona as the crown of thorns, the ten petals as the ten faithful apostles. This act of theological botanising gave the plant its name and embedded it in European consciousness. The plant is native to the Americas and was used by indigenous peoples of the Southeast, particularly the Cherokee, as a sedative and anxiety remedy long before European contact. The Cherokee used it for boils and inflammation as well as for sleep. Its medicinal properties are genuine and were known to indigenous American peoples for centuries before any European encounter.