Cuckoo Pint Elixir

Decoctum Ari Rhizoma

Historical tradition – not medical advice, and no health or healing claims. more

Historical botanical drawing: Cuckoo — Cuckoo

Tradition (Hildegard's writings)

In Hildegard's tradition, cuckoo pint elixir was associated with mood and inner calm, and also with the years around the menopause.

Ingredients

Cuckoo pint roots and wine.

Preparation

Chop or pulverise 12 g of dried cuckoo pint roots and boil them in 1 litre of wine for five minutes. Do not strain, but pour straight into bottles. With fresh roots, about nine of them are used (at least 32 g), cut small and treated in the same way.

Note

Cuckoo pint is a protected species; use only plants you have grown yourself. Only the red berries and the leaves are poisonous — the roots lose their toxicity when boiled in wine.

Botanical background

The Greifswald pharmacologist Hugo Schulz wrote about cuckoo pint as early as 1919. The fresh root contains the skin-irritating substance aroin, which disappears on drying and boiling. Hildegard advises boiling the roots in wine for a mucus-laden stomach and for fever, and warming the decoction with a hot iron rod.

Sources & references

Strehlow, Wighard: Die Hildegard-Naturapotheke. Heilmittel und Rezepte von A bis Z. Knaur Verlag 2014. S. 35.
Strehlow, Wighard: Der Hildegard-Kompass. Die wichtigsten Heilmittel und Anwendungen. Knaur Verlag 2014. S. 18.
Hildegard von Bingen: Heilsame Schöpfung. Die natürliche Wirkkraft der Dinge (Physica). Hrsg. von der Abtei St. Hildegard, Eibingen. Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012 (4. Auflage 2024). Cap. 1-49 (Aronstab).
Heepen, Günther H.: Das Heilwissen der Hildegard von Bingen. Gräfe und Unzer Verlag 2015. S. 65.
Breindl, Ellen: Das große Gesundheitsbuch der Hl. Hildegard von Bingen. Bassermann Verlag 2004. S. 162.

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Historical tradition. The above describes how this preparation was recorded and used in the tradition of Hildegard of Bingen. This is cultural-historical information, not medical advice and not a health or healing claim, and it is no substitute for advice from a doctor or pharmacist. If you have health complaints, please consult your doctor or pharmacy.

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