Calendula

Botanical Name: Calendula officinalis

Family: Asteraceae

Other Names: Pot Marigold, Golden Marigold, Gold-Bloom, Holigold.

Parts Used: Flowering tops

Energetics: Bitter, Drying and Cooling

Herbal Actions: anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmotic, astringent, anti-septic, anti-fungal, lymphatic, anti-viral, emmenagogue, diaphoretic

What do we use Calendula for?

Calendula has been used successfully for many types of skin issues, especially when inflammation is involved. It has a minor liver detoxifying effect as it stimulates the production of bile, so it treats skin conditions internally as well as externally. It is best used when conditions are hot in nature and because it's a diaphoretic, it will promote the cooling of the body when fever is present. I like to use it when the fever is caused by an inflamed condition like an infected wound as opposed to a virus, although it can be used successfully this way as well. Because of it's anti-fungal qualities, you can use calendula flowers for ring worm or athletes foot and also for yeast infections, be that in the vagina or thrush in the mouth of babes.

This plant promotes a healthy menstrual cycle by gently effecting hormone regulation and promoting bleeding. Calendula is also a lymphatic and can be taken to help release a clogged lymphatic system, along with activity. This is one of my must have plants when it comes to first aid. It can be used on many minor wounds, for inflamed eyes (conjunctivitis), chapped skin, diaper rash (I have had huge success with this), scrapes, and even treating chicken pox externally.

Calendula is wonderful for use with children. It is gentle on the system but very effective. As I said before, I have used it for diaper rash and it can be safely used in the mouth of even the smallest of infants who have contracted thrush.

Indigo helping mama harvest calendula flowers.

I am also a fan of using calendula cosmetically, it promotes elasticity and healing of the skin so it's great for stretch marks and scars. It also has detoxifying and hormone regulating effects and so it's used well for acne or other skin break outs.

How do we use Calendula?

Calendula is most often found infused in oils and made into a salve. It works so well this way because it is easy to spread on an effected area, the oil extracts a lot of the medicine and you get the added benefits of the carrier oil used. This is especially good when treating rashes or dryer inflamed conditions. Calendula is the main herbal ingredient in most general healing salves including my own "The Balm", which I use for all rashes concerning my family.

Calendula officinalis

This plant is also used as a tea, internally and externally and whole fresh flowers are used as a poultice directly on the skin. You can use this tea as a rinse for irritated eyes or as a mouth or vaginal wash (externally, I do not recommend douching) when there is an overgrowth of yeast. Calendula also makes a nice steam cosmetically for the face or for the vagina when wishing to treat something a bit more deeply. You can also add an infusion to your bath if you have a condition which effects the whole body, like chicken pox.

While less popular, you can also make a alcohol tincture of the the plant which is best when used internally for it's anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmotic, hormonal and diaphoretic effects.

Though I have no experience with this so far, I have heard of calendula being used as a yellow-orange dye and the petals of this lovely flower are also edible.

Who should use Calendula?

Anyone with acne or other skin issues, anyone experimenting with herbal cosmetics and everyone as a first aid plant.

Who should not use Calendula? Contraindications. 

As calendula effects the hormones and stimulates bleeding, it is not recommended for internal use in women who are pregnant or excessively in nursing women.

Cultivation, Harvest and Wildcrafting:


Calendula grows quickly from seed and will proliferate in your garden. It attracts beneficial insects and pollinators, but beware as it also attracts vegetable eating insects and so either use as a trap crop or with caution in a vegetable garden.

You can harvest throughout the blooming period which is pretty much all of summer and fall by clipping the flowering tops and drying or putting in oil. If left alone, the flowers will produce many seeds you can collect or allow to drop naturally in your garden.

Calendula is mainly cultivated and not wildcrafted though it can be found wild in warm climates, mostly in Europe.

In Conclusion:

As I said before, calendula makes a great first aid herb and I would not be without it in my kit. I hope that you will take this info and make a calendula creation of your own. Also try growing some this spring, in your garden or in a pot. :) Share your thoughts, ideas, recipes and questions in the comments below. Bless!

Can't wait to make your calendula oil? Here is where I get my bulk herbs!

The Spirit of the Natives

In this post I am not talking about the native indigenous peoples (though I am certain we have much to learn from them), what I wish to speak about is the spirit of our native outdoors and the plants that thrive there. There are so many plants that I have found helpful from around the world and indeed some that are particular in their healing where others have failed. Though I have little experience with Traditional Chinese Medicine, I have used and appreciate many Ayurvedic herbs and consider many of them favorites. Also, many of the herbs used today in Western Herbalism are indigenous to Europe. Though I will continue to learn about and use these herbs, I wish to express to you my desire to understand and use of the native plants around me and how important I feel it is for everyone to get to know the wild spirits that dwell close by.

Yerba de la Negrita 

I live in the southwest and I am surrounded by native american and hispanic traditions and lore as well as it's folk medicine. The mountains turn pink in the majestic sunsets, the land is home to so much wildlife that I have come to love; coyotes, owls, roadrunners, mountain lions, bears, wolves, elk, deer, rabbits and so many others. I have the joy of residing in a desert that is full of life and color, cactus flowers and granite rocks and the privilege of also residing in the forested mountain lands of New Mexico where the ponderosa pines grow tall and the undergrowth is rich with life.

Here I am surrounded by plants of many families with a great history in folk indigenous medicine of the native and hispanic americans. These plants have been here long before us and carry within them the wisdom of our ancestors and an understanding of the human body in some ways greater than ours. I love the feel and smell the plants create together in the landscapes here and being in my native nature feels like home. I'm sure it is like this for everyone in their native wilds and indeed I love to experience the natural environments of all climates and places, but being raised here, I have a kinship with the land and also with the plants.

During the beginnings of my herbal education, I spent time learning about plants that were popular in medicinal use and mentioned widely in herbal texts. Certainly not a bad idea as some of the most popular plants can be some of the most power medicines. This is not always the case however and oftentimes there is a treasure trove of strong medicine under our noses that has not even been documented by contemporary herbal texts. Much of it's understanding lies in the indigenous cultures of the area and even more so, within the plant itself.

I have recently turned my focus to my homeland, striving the learn the names and spirits of the plants and animals wild around me. Because of this, after the calendula post, I will be writing herb profiles about native plants for a while. This doesn't mean that I wont return to the more well known herbs or that you will be completely unfamiliar with some of the ones I post. I simply feel I owe tribute to the medicine that surrounds me and I am called to it. I believe that it is one of the greatest steps we can take as healers and caretakers of this land, to get to know and understand the wildlife in our homelands. Not only do I believe this will benefit our further connection to Spirit and the the rest of the healers of the world but I think that these plants have a way of healing that is particular to the area in which they grow. There is much more exploring to do on this subject and I will continue to write about it as I delve deeper into it but my intention in writing this now is to encourage herbalists, plant lovers, earth lovers, healers and lightworkers that have an interest in the power of plants to set aside your books and mentors for a little while and step out into your forests, deserts, groves and meadows, to feel the powers that surround you. If you wish to learn about plants it is a wonderful thing to read, teach and take classes but the ones who can tell you the most are the plants themselves. Gratitude for the Earth and our Plant Elders.