Herbal Notebook: Myth, Magic, & Green Medicine

Rue: An Herb for Second Sight

My research notebooks are crammed with intriguing bits of plant history and lore that didn’t make it into the books. I’d love to share a few pages with you. This is the third in the Summer Herbal Notebook series.

You can find links to the previous Notebook pages here. If you’re looking for my books, you’ll find them here. If you’d like to choose which posts you receive from me, you can do that here.

Rue (Ruta graveolens)

Besides being a treat to look at, rue just might be a treat for your eyes. This cheerful, tidy plant also illustrates the intriguing ways stories have evolved around certain plants—and where those stories might take us.

Consider, for instance, the often-repeated tale that Michelangelo and other painters consumed great quantities of this bitter-tasting plant, especially in salads, as well as using it as an eyewash. They believed that rue sharpened their eyesight and allowed them to see things in their true colors—a valuable asset, if you're an artist. And since rue is also a digestive herb, a rue-full salad was a healthy idea.

When it came to magic, the notion that rue helped you see better took an intriguing turn. In medieval Europe, for instance, this plant was believed useful in seeing through the outer to the inner. Suppose, for instance, that you are wearing an amulet containing rue. You are walking down a street in a medieval village. Coming toward you, a stranger. By virtue of your rue amulet, you are able to see into the heart of this person. If he or she is a witch or has otherwise bad intentions, you'll know it.

The seventeenth-century English poet, John Milton, knew all about rue and eyes. That's why, in Milton's famous poem, Paradise Lost, the angel Michael uses rue, along with the herb eyebright (euphrasia) to cleanse the eyes of the sinful Adam. As Milton tells it (Book 11, lines 412-428), Adam's sight was clouded after he ate the apple, the “false fruit that promised clearer sight.” But when Michael bathed Adam’s eyes with rue and eyebright (another eye-cleansing herb), Adam was able to look into the future and see—voila!—the true consequences of his rebellious behavior.

However legendary and folklorish all this might seem, scientists have discovered that there may be something more than poetic license going on here. Rue (along with other dark green vegetables such as spinach and collard greens) contains the bioflavonoid rutin, Rutin possesses important antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and vascular-protective properties. These attributes have made rutin a candidate for the treatment of various eye diseases, including glaucoma.

But watch out for rue. In large doses it can be toxic. Don't take it internally if you're pregnant, for it can cause abortions. Keep an eye on it in the garden, as well. The fresh sap can cause your skin to blister.

But these cautions only make rue more interesting. As Adam discovered, the world outside of Eden can be a scary place. A little second sight surely couldn't hurt.

Everyone, thank you very much for reading! Look for me here again next Wednesday (Aug 1) with an announcement of a new monthly feature to augment China Bayles’ newsletter, All About Thyme, and celebrate the second year of Thyme, Place & Story. This project is something that Ruby Wilcox and I (Ruby is the owner of the Crystal Cave, Pecan Springs’ only New Age shop) are collaborating on. We hope you’ll find it both interesting and informative.