Sambucus Nigra

Elder

The lore surrounding the Elder is immense and mysterious. The Elder serves as a doorway to the Underworld, or magical faery realm. Elder was sometimes called “Hylde Moer” or “Elder Mother” . Elder Mother is the Queen of the Underworld, a different dimension . In Iceland, where faeries are still taken very seriosusly, they are known as the “Huldafolk”, meaning “hidden people” . The name Elder also has to do with “Eld”, fire, as it is a fever remedy.
Sambucus comes from the latin term for a musical instrument – The Pan Pipes – which were origianlly made from the hollow stems. Anything which was held in the hand of the Lord of the Hunt- the guardian of the Animals and the spouse of the Lady of the Underworld - ought to be powerful indeed.

In The Little Elder Mother by H C Andersen, the tree serves as metaphore for the poetic genious , the origin of fairy tales.

The person travelling to the Underworld is faced with three choices. It is possible to remain in that enchanted world. Another choice is to return to the Middle World (the ordinary world) : This is the difficult road, on this road one becaomes the mediator of gifts from that magical realm to everyday society.The last choice is to take the easy way, that leads to Heaven or Hell they say, for one can become spiritually corrupted and use the spiritual gifts one has obtained for egoistical use.

The Imagination is often ignored by people concerned with making a living amid the dust and thorns of the material world, Imagination is the channel of communication from another dimesnion. Tubular plants such as Elder and Angelica have long been associated with the shamanic journey to the Underworld.

This hollow signature is reflected as Elder used as a remedy opens all tubes of the body (skin, lungs, colon, kidneys, blood vessels) improving oxygenation , blood flow, perspiration, and elimination by the colon or kidneys. Elder is a relaxant, removing spasmodic caugh , spasm in the stomach and colic. The berries are bloodbuilding and are very good cooked down with sugar as a syrup for colds , flu and sore throats.

Elder is the “Great Infant Remedy” good for red dry irritaded skin of the cheeks, opens the tubes and pores and lubricates the skin , improves respiration , digestion and kidney funktion. It is as well good for adults with red hot skin.

Information from Matthew Woods book "The book of herbal wisdom"

I started to prepare the Elixir in july where I distilled the flowers and let them macerate until I collected the berries and let them macerate together with the flowers, creating a doubble tincture from the white flowers that look like five pointed stars and the dark purple almost black berries , the polar qualities of father time and mother of death and rebirth .

The spagyric tincture is a great antioxidant and aids to improve immunity in winter time. It is also a gatekeeper to the spirit world. It is called Elder for a reason! It is a teacher of Nature , of time, life and death.

I connect it to Saturn as a gatekeeper to the invisible realm and a teacher of time.

The spagyric tincture contains the spirit, essential oil and purified mineralsalt of Sambucus Nigra flower and berry.