TCM Basics 101: Supermarket Herbs - Hawthorn (Shan Zha)
TCM Nature: Slightly warm
TCM Taste: Sour, Bitter, Astringent, Slightly sweet
TCM Meridian Affinity: Heart, Pericardium, Liver, Stomach
Benefits:
· Relieves food stagnation
· Aids weight loss
· Renourish the Heart
· Aids circulation
· Moves blood stasis
· Soften nodules
Spirituality:
In the ancient Middle East, it is suggested that hawthorn was the source of Jesus’s crown of thorns.
In Britain and Ireland, it is considered bad luck to uproot the plant.
In Gaelic folklore, hawthorn is said to mark the entrance of the “otherworld” and is strongly associated with the fairies.
Serbian and Croatian folklore notes that hawthorn is deadly to vampires and stakes used for their slaying must be made from the wood.
