Copyright © 1990-2023 by Robert Dale Rogers. All rights reserved.
No portion of this book, except for a brief review, may be reproduced, or copied and transmitted, without permission of author. This book is for educational purposes only. The suggestions, recipes and historical information are not meant to replace a medical advisor. The author assumes no liability for unwise or unsafe usage by readers of this book.
FIELD HORSETAIL
(Equisteum arvense L.)
(E. calderi)
SCOURING RUSH
(E. hyemale L.)
SWAMP HORSETAIL
WATER SCOURING RUSH
(E. fluviatile L.)
WOODLAND HORSETAIL
(E. sylvaticum L.)
MEADOW HORSETAIL
(E. pratense Ehrh.)
MARSH SCOURING RUSH
(E. palustre L.)
DWARF SCOURING RUSH
(E. scirpoides Michx.)
VARIEGATED HORSETAIL
(E. variegatum Schleich. Ex F. Weber & D.M.H. Mohr)
(Hippochaete variegata Schleich. ex F. Weber & D. M.H. Mohr [Bruhin])
SMOOTH SCOURING RUSH
(E. laevigatum A. Braun)
(H. laevigata)
(E. kansanum)
PARTS USED- STERILE AND FERTILE STEM
It’s like living inside a pearl
Where the light is so fantastic and all the beauty of the world
I’m talking about the Horsetail
Truly a gracious thing in all creation
Humble too like some blind man with a tin cup whispering in the rain.
TOM REAUME
INTRODUCTION
EQUUS is from the Latin for horse; and SETUS means, bristle or tail. ARVENSE is from Latin for field or land.
Horsetail reminds one of the days of dinosaurs and swamps, as these prehistoric plants have been around for some 300 million years.
In the rainforest of Panama I have seen horsetail (H. myriochaetum) over thirty feet tall. It is found everywhere in the world save for Australia and Antarctica.
Field Horsetail is a perennial, while Meadow Horsetail is an annual.
The first sign of Field Horsetail growth in spring is a fertile, light brown spore bearer that only lasts two to four days.
The green-spiked plants soon follow, with their inverted upward stems the sign for medicinal gathering. After they begin to droop, they not only lose health benefit, but are harsh on the kidneys. Once the top part of horsetail is formed, the need for silica in solution in the plant is low, so pick in late spring or early summer.
The ancient Romans boiled the young fertile stems like asparagus. In Japan today, the stems are boiled, salted, pickled in vinegar or simmered with soy sauce and sugar. It is known as TSUKUSHI.
It is associated with Saturn, the planet that symbolizes contraction and hardening, and the power of giving form, abstraction and minimalism.
Horsetail has an affinity to gold and concentrates it more than most plants (0.03-0.075 ppm). Dr. James Duke suggests horsetail be used to mine gold from sewage sludge experimentally (yielding about 125 grams per fresh ton).
Silica and calcium oxide grit, from plant, has been utilized by wood and metal polishers throughout history.
The controlled, gentle abrasiveness of horsetail is prized by campers and backpackers for scrubbing pots and pans. Combine it with the acidity of high bush cranberries, for polishing your great aunt’s tarnished silver. Today, scouring rush (E. hyemale) is used commercially to file wind instrument reeds.
It was said music from whistles made from the stem calls snakes. Who’s to say?
Because of its rich minerals, horsetail has been used by many cultures in fertility mixtures. In Guatemala, horsetail is used in treating bone cancer.
Rudolph Steiner prepared various biodynamic plant sprays for crop protection. Horsetail spray can be used against all fungal disease like rust, mildew, monilia and scab, as well as athlete’s foot and toenail fungus in humans.
The Cree call Field Horsetail OKOCAKAN-ASKOS and prepare it for menstrual irregularity. I have heard it called MISTATIMOSOY, horse’s tail, and KIYCHIWIYKUSK, squeaky plant.
Natives of Alberta used the tuberous spring roots as the first “berry” of spring; eating them raw or with bear grease. The Gwich’in from the Mackenzie delta ate the raw roots, and in the Teetl’it dialect called the roots, Mouse Food, or DAZHO ZHII.
The sterile green stems, KHEH DYE’, were steamed for nasal congestion, colds and stomach ailments. Numerous tribes used the roots in basketry.
The Blackfoot call it SA-PO-TUN-A-KIO-TOI-YIS or joint grass (E. hyemale). They boiled and fed the liquid to their sick horses, particularly for coughs. The roots of the fertile stems of E. arvense were infused and given to humans either as a diuretic or laxative tea.
The Slave called various species HAHDO, meaning Geese Eat. The Gitksan of northern BC used the liquid from E. hyemale stems for water retention. It is called MAAWIN, and is said to increase in juice content if cut and left for a few days.
Sophie Thomas, Sai’Kuz healer knows this horsetail as KL’UKWUSZIH, and a tea prepared is known as “men’s medicine”.
The stems are boiled for prostate problems, colds and colic, increasing urination.
The Haida ate the young buds of E. arvense and Giant Horsetail (E. telmateia), and possibly the rhizome buds. Various names included Fog Medicine, Beach Knife, Rain Liquid, or SK’IN meaning Sandpaper. The Dena’ina of Alaska refer to the plant as goose or duck food, as well as NILGHULGHIGI meaning, “joined together”. The small tubers were eaten like berries; one name for them TAHGIGA translates as underwater berry. They are sweet and juicy very early in spring, but later hard and dry.
The root is placed on toothaches, while the stem and branches are burned and the ash applied to sores.
The Iroquois, further east, infused the roots with hazel branch tips for soothing teething in infants, while the Ojibwa used stem decoctions of AIANKOSING for dropsy or dysuria. Other Ojibwemowin or Anishinaabemowin names include CINGWAKO’NS, little pine, and GIJIB’INÛSKON’ meaning, “it is round”.
The Meskwaki fed the plant to captive geese. Field Horsetail was said to fatten them up in about a week.
The Lacandon Natives made a tea from the fresh segments as an aphrodisiac; believing the power with which the plant shoots up is transferred to the penis.
Horsetail powder has a thickening texture and is used in numerous cosmetic and shampoo products. One example is Freeman Botanicals Hair Thickening Shampoo.
The rhizome buds of Marsh and Woodland Horsetail begin to swell in late fall, and can be steamed or boiled. The buds attain a soft, floury texture with a taste between potato and hazelnut.
Woodland Horsetail has been used various native tribes for medicine. The burned ashes help heal running sores, while the roots are mixed with other plants as a wash for skin disease. The root is heated and applied to toothaches. When decocted, the root tea is used as a diuretic and for stomachache.
The Ojibwa made a tea from the whole plant for dropsy and kidney trouble.
Meadow horsetail was used along with wild bergamot for stomach trouble, while E. hyemale stems were burned to a powder for disinfecting wounds, and burns.
In British Columbia, the Thompson used Scouring Rush shoots in decoction for repressed urination, removing afterbirth, or for delayed labor in childbirth.
Stem decoctions were used as eyewash or sore, itchy eyes and to remove cataracts. The liquid inside fresh spring horsetail is collected, and kept in the fridge for above when needed.
Dwarf Scouring Rush is used by the Cree of northern Saskatchewan as part of a mixture for treating cancer. One reference cites that “during the cold months the elders would smoke horsetail grass tobacco around the lodge fires.”
Variegated Horsetail was dried and the hollow stems thrown into the fire by shaman to cause a small explosion as part of ceremonial cures.
Horsetail (E. laevigatum) aerial parts were boiled and used by native healers of California to control bladder infections. In the Himalayas, horsetail root is used internally for gonorrhea.
Stinging pain caused by nettle is eased by pulling stem apart for the soothing water.
The Thompson splashed this liquid on weeds as a natural herbicide.
A number of patents, including the production of sodium silicates, silicon carbide, elastomer strengtheners, absorbents for toxic industrial effluent, heat insulating materials, polymers for boat hull paints, finger nail polish and toothpaste have been filed for uses from horsetail.
Patents exist for various horsetail extracts in bath, hair and cosmetic products.
Veterinary uses include nasal hemorrhage, intestinal ulcers, uro- genital inflammation, and enlarged anal glands. Biogenetic silica in an amorphous state has been used to absorb hazardous liquid chemicals and radioactive wastes.
YOUNG HORSETAIL SHOOTS
MEDICINAL
CONSTITUENTS- E. arvense- apigenin, luteolin, naringenin, aromadnedrin, taxifolin, numerous flavonoids including isoquercitrin (main flavonoid), flavone 5-glycosides, 6-chloroapigenin, proto-genkwanin, naringenin, aconitic acid, gossypitrin, saponaretin, methyl esters of protocatechuic and caffeic acids; brassinosteroids, indanone, nicotine (0.00004%), palustrine, silica (8%-present as amorphous colloidal silica and monosilicic acid), and equisetonin ( 5%) amixture of various sugars; sterols composed of beta-sitosterol (60%), campesterol (32.9%), isofucosterol (5.9%), and trace cholesterol; equisitonin (saponin), dimethylsulphone, thiaminase, thiamin, ferulic acid, and vitamin C (0.7%). The ash contains up to 70% silica. Di-E-caffeoyl-meso-tartaric acid is a marker compound found in higher concentrations in spring, specific to this species.
The North American chemotype contains apigenin and luteolin 5 glucosides and their malonl esters, while the European does not. Only the European chemotype contains quercitin 3-0-sophoroside and genkwanin.
fertile stem- styrylpyrone glucoside.
rhizome- stryrlpyrone glucosides, including 3’-deoxyequisetumppyrone and 4’-0-methylequistumpyrone.
E. hyemale- thymine, dimethyl sulfone, diaclyglyceroltrimethyl-homoserine; aconitic, caffeic, ferulic acid, silica, nicotine, palustrine, and flavones including kaempferol, kaempferol-3,7-diglycoside, kaempferol-3-diglucoside, hippochaete, herbacetrin, gossypetin, herbacetin-3-beta-D-glucopyranosides, and various trace minerals. The knob and thin layer below the cuticula is almost pure amorphous hydrated silica.
Louis Pasteur predicted over 100 years ago, that silica would play an important role in health. His insight has come true.
Field Horsetail is rich in trace minerals, but especially calcium and silica. Its main herbal action is a urinary astringent and diuretic. That is, it will tighten the inflamed epithelial tissue of the kidneys, as well as exert an anti-spasmodic action on the smooth muscles irritated by urinary infection.
It is not vaso-constricting, but acts as a hemostat, combining well with shepherd’s purse for blood in the urine; and green oats for renal exhaustion. Combine with nettle root for prostatitis and benign enlargement of prostate.
For gravel and stones of the urinary tract, use the root tincture for greater benefit. It is a nourishing diuretic that does not alter electrolyte balance in the body.
In a double-blind, randomized clinical trial of 36 healthy males, the dried horsetail extract produced diuretic effect equivalent to hydrochlorothiazide, without loss of electrolytes. Cameiro DM et al, Evid Based Complement Altern Med 2014 Mar 4.
The lungs are influenced favorably by horsetail, combining well with petasites, lungwort, nettles and plantain in respiratory mixtures.
Field Horsetail candy, called Tsukushi Ame, is now marketed in Japan for relief of pollen allergies. One spring day 1998, Koichi Shimakata, dean at Nihon University was walking to work. He suffered hay fever and when he collected field horsetail and cooked them for a meal, his allergy symptoms disappeared almost immediately. Researchers followed up in 2000 and confirmed presence of an anti-allergy substance, now manufactured into a functional candy. A bag of 20 candies sells for 2,000 yen, about a buck each.
Allergy symptoms were relieved in about 60% of more than 100 university employees that tried the candy, with effect lasting from 15 minutes to several hours.
It possesses anti-bacterial properties that inhibit both Streptococcus and Staphylococcus infection. One Japanese patent filed in 1990, lipopolysaccarides (LPS) from horsetail, was for the treatment of toxoplasmosis infection (0.1mgLPS/0.5g tablet)
Fresh Horsetail juice has a very favorable effect on nasal polyps. The fresh juice is good for anemia caused by internally bleeding of stomach ulcers. The hemostatic activity is due to fatty acids and phytosterols. Expressed juice extracts show activity against mycobacterium, and the silica content helps stabilize scar tissue. It combines well with plantain juice for chronic bronchitis and catarrh. But perhaps its most valuable contribution is organic silica; and maintaining health of connective and elastic tissue in the body.
Matthew Wood notes “Horsetail has the ‘intelligence’ to deal with silica and share this ‘knowledge’ with the organism in need of the substance.”
Weakness in the joints and bones, accompanied by pain in the right kidney, and continuous desire to urinate, is specific to horsetail. The Russians use horsetail as a diuretic for cardiac edema, liver conditions, including “smoothing the liver” (spasmophilia), and chelating lead from body.
Childhood bedwetting, of a physical nature, often responds well to horsetail, St. John’s wort and goldenrod tea.
Pink eye, and swelling eyelids are relieved by cool, filtered horsetail decoctions in an eyecup application.
As silica levels decline in the body, the tissues lose tone. Dr. Kervran, in his brilliant book, Biological Transmutation, showed that the body may change organic silica into calcium as required.
In one experiment, rats were divided into groups. Their legs were broken, and x-rays monitored the healing process. In the control group, a normal diet with generous amounts of calcium was given; and in the other horsetail extract was added. The horsetail group healed in one- third the control group’s time.
High amounts of organic silica help strengthen, not just bones and connective tissue but hair, skin, nails and lymph nodes. For these conditions, consider adding agrimony in equal parts.
Organic silica is absorbed as orthosilicic acid (OSA), which has been shown to stimulate the synthesis of collagen type 1, as found in bone matrix; and to induce osteoblast enzymes in osteoblast-like cells. Tucker et al, Curr Pharm Des 2003 9:32.
A recent study led by Dr. Tim Spector, Saint Thomas Hospital, London found the addition of orthosilicic acid to calcium and D improved markers on bone formation. The researchers suggest the addition of OSA has benefit on bone turnover, especially bone collagen, and possibly femoral BMD. Tuberculosis patients have been found to have up to 50% lower silica levels than necessary for optimal health. Silica added to diets showed the tuberculin sites encapsulated much faster. And certain types of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women showed bones containing absolutely no silica. It is therefore indicated in osteoporosis, and Paget’s disease. As a diuretic, it is useful for nephritic syndromes, edema and night sweats due to weak adrenals in menopausal women. A small study by Strause et al, J Nutrition 1994 24:7 found women taking silica had significantly increased bone mineral density of the femur. Work by Costa-Rodrigues et al, Cell Prolif 2012 45:6 found increased osteoclast activity from alcohol/water mixtures.
Research today shows that organic silica acts on degenerating albumins in cancer patients. Cancer of the mouth responds well to horsetail gargles.
Horsetail is a white blood cell stimulator, adding to its value. Horsetail should, perhaps, be avoided in active prostate cancer due to the high content of beta sitosterol that may or may not encourage growth of prostate cancer cells.
Organic silica plays an important role in arteriosclerosis. Studies in Finland, over a 25 year period, reveals a death rate nearly double in areas with low silica content in water.
This may be due to the silica re-establishing elasticity of the arterial walls, something essential for absorbing blood pressure variation. It also affects lipid metabolism, dissolving fats that deposit on arteries, combining well with linden flower.
Silica may not be the only factor in the efficacy of horsetail. Work by Bye et al, J Herbs Spices & Med Plants 16:2 found water extracts only release a maximum of 0.3% silica and suggest other compounds may be responsible for health benefits. Agreed.
Horsetail sitz baths, combined with oatstraw, are good for rheumatic and neuralgic pains, as well as eczema and various neuro-dermatitis conditions. For dry eczema, combine with internal use. Peripheral vascular disorders, leg pains, and chilblains likewise benefit from daily baths.
Husson et al, Ann Pharm Fr 1986 44 41-8 showed anti-viral effect from silica extracts. Methanol extracts of E. arvense given orally to lab rats show significant anti-diabetic activity. Soleimani et al, Pak J Biol Sci 2007 10:23.
Brassinosteroids, isolated from E. arvense strobilus, are a growth hormonal steroid. More research into this would be useful.
There are apparently two chemotypes of E. arvense with different flavonoid composition. In either case, the highest quercitin content is found in the new spring growth, up to 50% of total flavonoid content. This decreases throughout summer.
Work by Graefe et al, Phytomedicine 1999 6:4 found hippuric acid, the glycine conjugate of benzoic acid, increased twofold after ingesting horsetail tea.
Field Horsetail has been found to possess anticonvulsant and sedative effects in a water alcohol extract. Santos et al, Fitoterapia 76:6.
Anti-anxiety benefit, superior to diazepam, was noted from ethanol extracts of horsetail stem in lab animals. Singh et al, Ind J Exp Biol 2011 49:5.
Marsh Horsetail (E. palustris) 80% ethanol extract possesses significant anti-ulcerogenic activity. Gurbuz et al, J Ethnopharm 121:3.
The closely related Giant Horsetail (E. gigantheum) has been found to contain a nerve growth factor. Li et al, conducted this work at Tohoku University, Japan in July of 1999.
Giant Horsetail reduces inflammation, and has an immunomodulating effect on both B and T lymphocytes. Farinon M et al, Open Rheumatol Journal 2013 30:7 29-33.
Swamp Horsetail (E. fluviatile) extracts show activity against both gram positive and negative bacteria.
Woodland Horsetail (E. sylvaticum) shows activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Borchardt et al, J Med Plants Res 2008 2:5.
The Chinese have used Scouring Rush (E. hyemale) for centuries, to remove film from eyes, and other superficial visual obstructions, including corneal opacity. This species is more hemostatic than E. arvense, making it useful in bleeding hemorrhoids, and functional bleeding problems.
Dr. Eli Jones, the Eclectic physician used it as a specific for bladder cancer, with urinary distress, severe pain after voiding, and extreme and frequent urination.
The herb is sweet with a mildly bitter flavour and neutral properties; with its main activity on the lung, liver and gall bladder meridians.
Scouring Rush is known as MU ZEI in Mandarin, and MAAN CHOK in Cantonese. It is usually combined with Chrysanthemum, for various eye afflictions, including excessive tearing.
Studies by Xu et al, Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi 1993 18:1 showed rats fed E. hyemale and high fatty foods had reduced levels of both triglyceride and cholesterol.
Work conducted in 1993, has shown some in vitro evidence of activity against tumours of the stomach, tongue and liver.
The herb possesses appetite-stimulating effect, proven experimentally.
It possesses mild anti-inflammatory, diuretic, sedative and anti-platelet activity. Zhong Yao Xue 1998 109:110; and Yi Xue Xue Bao 1980 15:6321.
The plant showed activity against Streptococcus mutans and other pathogenic oral bacteria. Ferrazzano GF et al, Evid Based Complement Altern Med 2013 Nov 4.
Extracts inhibit leukemia L1210 cancer cells through apoptosis and by inducing G2/M arrest. Li H et al, J Ethnopharm 2012 144(2): 322-7.
The ash of burned horsetail is up to 80% silica, and was recommended for sour stomach, and dyspepsia taken at 5 grains two to three times daily. The ashes were sprinkled on wounds and burns by various native tribes, sometimes mixed with animal fats.
Aerial parts of the related E. myriochaetum of Mexico possess significant hypoglycemic activity in a study on 11 type 2 diabetics. Significant changes in insulin levels and blood sugar were noted within 90 minutes of intake, compared to controls. Revilla et al, J of Ethnopharmacology 83:1.
The related E. telmateia shows huge free radical scavenging ability (98.9%) based on work by Stajner et al, Phytother Res 2009 23:4.
FIELD HORSETAIL
HOMEOPATHY
Field Horsetail acts principally on the bladder. It relieves the severe dull pain and fullness in bladder that does not go away with urination.
At times, the severe pain is at the end of urination that comes out one drop at a time. After childbirth, some women suffer cystitis that is soothed with this remedy. For bedwetting, it is indicated after the primary emotional stress is dealt with.
Then, children may wet out of habit, and complain of dull pain in bladder. Older women who pass urine when they sneeze, or exercise, will find relief from equisetum.
DOSE- Tincture to the sixth potency. Hot decoctions or tincture in hot water is better. Mother tincture is from the fresh, sterile shoots in late summer. A more recent proving by Peter Zillmer has been done, but is only available in German (SORRY).
Equisetum hyemale is for chronic cystitis, where there is abundant clear urine, and pain in the right kidney region. Wet, damp conditions aggravate the condition, and it should be considered when E. arvense does not work completely.
DOSE- same as above. Mother tincture is produced from the whole fresh plant.
ESSENTIAL OIL
Hydro-distillation of horsetail has led to extraction of leaf odors that are employed in the perfumery and frozen food flavour industry. The yield is about 1.0 % and contains cis-3-hexenal, and trans-2-hexenal, hexahydrofarnesyl acetone 18%, cis geranyl acetone 13.7%, thymol 12%, and trans phytol 10%.
The essential oil was widely used in the 1970s, but less so at present time.
A 1991 Japanese patent exists for essential oils or plant extracts for bath preparations.
The stem odour constituents have been used as a repellent for dogs, cats, crows, and rats, and as a biocide.
Work by Radulovic found the essential oil at 1:10 dilution strongly anti-microbial against a variety of bacteria and fungi. Phytother Res 20:1.
HYDROSOL
CONSTITUENTS- linalool 53%, dimethyl sulphide 26%, as well as alpha terpineol, terpinen-4-ol, carvone, geraniol, camphor, eucalyptol, bornyl acetate, nerol, endo borneol, and other compounds.
The hydrolat is composed of nearly two-thirds alcohol with anti-microbial, stimulating and decongesting properties.
The distilled water of horsetail is good for blood spitting, and heals injured intestines, liver, kidneys and bladder. It stops over-flowings of the menses, and is serviceable for all sorts of ruptures, dysenteries, and diarrhea, provided 4-5 spoonfuls of it are drunk each morning and evening. This water will also heal putrid wounds and injuries, especially in the privates, provided you wet a small piece of cloth with it and then apply this as a warm dressing. SAUER
Horsetail water is distilled in spring. It relieves piles when applied externally and when warmed as hot as can be suffered it is used to saturate a cloth that is wrapped around swollen testicles. It is cold to the first degree, and eases spitting blood, menses, strangury, erysipelas, stone and flood in the nose, for which it is snuffed up. BRUNSCHWIG
FLOWER ESSENCES
Horsetail (E. arvense) essence is for strength and regenerative powers. MIRIANA
Horsetail (E. arvense) is for connectedness; the flower essence opens and expands the internal communication between both sides of the brain. It helps release old patterns of isolation and limitation. ALASKA
Field Horsetail (E. arvense) essence helps create a relaxed and peaceful mind, calms the nervous system and witness consciousness. It helps release obsessive thoughts, worries, tension and nervousness. ICELANDIC
Horsetail (E. hyemale) is a mild tonic for the meridians after slight shock or trauma. PEGASUS
Horsetail (E. fluviatile) flower essence is about hidden paths- and reconnection to parts of the unconscious. It is an opening to the many intricate parts of oneself, bringing integration, step by step growth and understanding. Every level must be completed for wholeness. CANADIAN
Horsetail (E. hyemale) essence is for people who are experiencing fragmentation or a sense of too many life changes without any clear continuity and a deep lack of flow within events within a person’s soul experience. HIGH SIERRA
PERSONALITY TRAITS
The horsetail person is droopy, with thin, weak hair and nails. They have a history of poor teeth with many dental fillings. They may bite or chew their fingernails. Broken bones heal slowly, or result in calcified spurs or lumpy growths. They tend to favour this “weak area” the rest of their lives.
Silica is stored in the nerve sheath, the insulator. With enough silica, there is plenty of energy. In personality, these people are communicators (silica chips?). They speak and think rapidly; always in danger of mental exhaustion.
In the negative mood, the posture slumps, the nervous system becomes tired and energy is exhausted. As the back stoops, the spine puts pressure on the kidneys, via the lumbar. Accidents and falls are more frequent.
The nervous tension increases and the individual takes longer to recover mentally.
Calcium metabolism, kidney stones, lower back pain, osteoporosis, and poor hair and skin are all consequences.
The positive and silica rich individuals have a great interest in life. They are patient with those mentally slower. They are also capable of turning off their brain for a rest.
It is interesting to note that Horse named herbs suit the Sagittarians. Horsetail, horse chestnut, and horseradish all fit this astrological picture.
Even the lumbar spine is the position of Caudi equini, or “horse’s tail”!
When you first take horsetail, there may be nervy, tingling sensations in the area, as the herb begins its eliminating and strengthening action. DOROTHY HALL
Equisetum clears blockages on all levels, strengthens the will and gives structure and organization to life. Pain in the limbs, the lower part of the body, and persistent headaches are a continual reminder of the frailty of the material body…
These people can be fearful of life and what it asks of the individual. Just as the plant itself is not highly evolved, the horsetail individual has trouble evolving, or moving on. Horsetail will assist in transmuting the inner qualities of self into the higher spiritual virtues. CLARE GOODRICK-CLARKE
SPIRITUAL PROPERTIES
Horsetail can be used externally as a poultice for bruises, contusions, and other injuries where the skin is not broken. Boil the plant to make the poultice, which should include some of the plant itself along with the water in which it was boiled.
It can also be used for the spiritual purpose of balancing the mental, emotional and physical bodies. In this case, the poultice is placed warm over the third eye, while lying still on one’s back. HILARION
In the Himalayas, horsetail is used in psycho-medicine by the local people. A plant with 21 nodes is said to destroy the curse of the Goddess Kali.
Horsetail herb’s regulating effect is caused by the bio-energy aluminum.
Although the plant actually contains some aluminum, the quantity present is unrelated to its effectiveness as a bio-energy on the energetic level. While harmonizing and enabling the work of silica and calcium energies, aluminum’s effect are clear from Horsetail’s excellent resolvent action with hard deposits and detoxicant action in conditions of metabolic toxicosis such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout and chronic eczema. The way it adjusts sweating and urinary functions, and infact all eliminative processes, is another example of its fundamental regulating character. HOLMES
The presence of silica in the horsetail plant structure is significant. Remember that crystal consciousness within the life-form of the Horsetail is a lot more powerful than it would appear to be. This is not a plant to be underestimated.
HIGH SIERRA
Every spring and early summer I wage a losing battle with horsetail weeds in my rock garden. After a little rain they pop up with a vengeance, spreading underground rhizomes and sprouting shoots everywhere that demand space from my flowers. I pull at their jointed stems, but it does little good, as they just break off at the soil level and continue to proliferate underground.
In the Middle Ages, it was used as an abrasive by cabinetmakers to clean pewter, brass and copper, and for scouring wood containers and milk pans.
Irritating, abrasive, stubborn and intrusive. These nicely describe horsetail in my mind. Unfortunately, they also apply to a few individuals that I’ve met. The kind of people who just rub me the wrong way, but whom I can’t seem to get away from completely.
Of course, viewed from another angle, I probably seem exactly the same to some folks.
Now, in my own case, I’d like to be given the benefit of the doubt, so it’s only fair that I should do the same for another. After all, we just might find something to appreciate in each other. G. MOHAMMED
EMOTIONAL STATES
Horsetail individuals are eternally misunderstood, too vulnerable in defending themselves. They have a constant sense of injustice.
Horsetail can help them be more adaptable and capable of taking an objective look at life. BORREL
ASTROLOGY
Saturn rules the bones, teeth and joints. In addition, the spinal column, with its ligaments and its alignment, comes under this planet’s governance. Saturn also relates to Cronos, the god of time, so many
of horsetail’s therapeutic effects are for those of late middle age. The Saturn aging cycle begins in the late fifties, a time when bones weaken and joints stiffen; when uric acid may build up in the extremities, causing gout; and kidney energy begins to fail.
Saturn brings in responsibility, order, integrity, and endurance.
Beginning in the late fifties, the Saturnian phase of life is a time of consolidation of patterns that were established in youth—but these can go too far. Rigidity, fixed ideas, and closed thinking can begin to dominate. Life’s opportunities may begin to contract. With bones and joint mobility weakened, this time of life can be the beginning of restriction and limitation. Steps must be taken to remain flexible, outgoing, and ready for new adventures in life. It is important for such an individual to remain connected to the present, to keep active and interested in his own affairs, and not to accept decline and limitation.
CLARE GOODRICK-CLARKE
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
We have a legend that tells of Maawin as our only liquid before water came to the world. Botanists tell us that the horsetail is one of the most primitive and ancient forms of plant life. It is interesting that our legends name this primeval plant as the earliest source of water. GITKSAN MYTH
Field Horsetail is called KISI’BANUSK [squeaky noise weed]. This last name arose as the result of an experience of Mana’bozo. One time he heard the squeaky noise, as he walked along a forest path. On putting his ear close to the ground to find out the cause of the noise, the Horsetail seemed to say “they always eat me. They always eat me”. So he agreed and ate a piece of the stem. As he proceeded along, he was startled by a sudden explosion noise behind him, like ‘poh’.
Facing about suddenly he was unable to discover the cause. This happened several times, until it became continuous with every step he took.
He had to come to the conclusion that he himself was the cause of these peculiar noises, which were the outcome of eating the Field Horsetail. HURON H. SMITH
BOTANICA POETICA
Here is Horsetail, Scouring Rush
Looking like a fat paint brush
Of Silica, it’s got a lot
Enough to scour out a pot
Pick it when the plant is young
Helps control a bleeding wound It’s a useful diuretic
With properties that are astringent
Rheumatism it may ease
Make a poultice for your knees
Caution not to overdo
Horsetail may not be for you
Not pregnancy nor heart disease
And used too long, it can deplete
Be sure to get the species straight
Not all Equisetum is safe
But if your prostate’s getting big
Equisetum Arvense improves your gig
For internal irrigation
Urinary inflammation.
Make a tincture, put in your bath
Horsetail get you back on path.
SYLVIA CHATROUX
RECIPES
INFUSION- 2-4 oz. 4X daily
DECOCTION- One tablespoon of dried herb to each cup of water. Simmer slowly for three hours. One ounce every 2 hours. Adding a small amount of sugar helps extract the silica and makes a more pleasant tea.
FRESH JUICE- Juice yourself or buy commercially. To make the juice yourself, collect in early morning, wash in cold water, pour boiling water over herb and juice in blender.
Filter, and bring the juice to a boil over low heat for few minutes. Store in fridge up to one week.
One tablespoon four times daily diluted in six parts of water.
TINCTURE- 2-4 ml 3X daily. The best tincture is made by decocting the fresh spring herb as above and adding an equal quantity of vodka (40%). Or prepare the fresh tops at a 1:2 ratio and 40% alcohol. Then burn the marc to a dry ash and add it back to formula.
The tincture of E. hyemale is used for bladder cancer at the rate of 15 drops every two hours.
VINEGAR- Cover one part fresh horsetail with three parts apple cider vinegar. Shake daily in a cool, dark place for 4-6 weeks. Strain. Take one tablespoon daily for rich source of calcium (150 mg).
ROOT TINCTURE- Use 10 drops every 15 minutes for the pain of kidney or bladder stones. Reduce to 5 drops 6-8 times daily for up to two weeks.
SITZ BATH- Four oz. of dried horsetail is steeped in cold water overnight. The next day bring to a boil, and add to bath water.
Submerge to cover kidneys. After bathing , cover up and keep warm.
POULTICE- Place a handful of horsetail -fresh or dry- in a sieve and hang it in boiling water. When hot and soft, wrap in linen and apply to affected area. Keep warm.
CLEANING SOLUTION-Soak one part horsetail stems in two parts water overnight. Strain and use to soak out stains and build up gunk on hard to clean items.
HORSETAIL TEA- PREPARATION 508- Four oz. of dried herb per gallon of water, simmered for 20 minutes. Or if used in season, the green plant extract is made by covering the fresh plants with water and letting them ferment for ten days.
Simple Horsetail decoctions can be sprayed on tomatoes with blight, and roses and berry bushes with powdery mildew.
CAUTION- Horsetail is contraindicated in patients with edema due to impaired heart and kidney function. It may also change the flavour of breast milk.
Horsetail use can drain B vitamins, especially B1, or thiamine from the body. Horsetail can be mildly irritating on its own and is best combined with a demulcent herb. The HPB in Canada currently only allows the sale of horsetail in forms with proven thiaminase in-activity.
A study conducted by Fabre et al, 1993 showed thiaminase activity was in-activated at 80 degrees Celsius and is not present in alcohol extracts of the dried aerial parts.
Other plants with anti-thiamine activity include mung beans, flax seed, blueberries, black currants, beets, brussel sprouts, red cabbage and methyl sinapate from the seed of indian mustard (Brassica juncea).
Articulatin, a substance soluble in both alcohol and hot water is the thermostable component of thiamine decomposing factors. Exact chemical nature is unknown.
And despite its name, the plant can be poisonous to horses and cattle, causing equisetosis, especially in dried hay mixtures with over 20% content.
Contamination of horsetail with E. palustre is problematic, as the latter contains the toxic alkaloid palustrine; and although not proven toxic to man, is probably responsible for some horse poisoning. The issue is anti-thiamine factors, as horses are particularly susceptible to vitamin B1 deficiency, as unlike ruminants, it is an essential exogenic factor for them. Symptoms are referred to as staggers, with twitching of muscles, falling over and dying of exhaustion. In cows decreased levels of milk, loss of weight, diarrhea and in some acute cases, paralysis and death.
It is different from common horsetail as all of its shoots are green and the branch segment is shorter than the stem sheath; in common horsetail it is longer. A test for contamination of horsetail with E. palustre is the presence of a specific flavonoid, kaempferol-3-0-rutinosyl-7-0-glyco-side. E. arvense is the only horsetail contains large amounts of dicaffeoyl-meso-tartaric acid, and this can be used as a marker or indicator of species.
Scouring Rush (E. hyemale), or Mu Zei in the Chinese tradition, is contra-indicated in pregnancy, liver yang rising (red eyes), or for long term.
Otherwise, it follows many of the uses listed above for horsetail.
One case of allergic reaction has been reported with passive inhalation and sensitivity to nicotine, combined with exposure to the fresh plant, resulting in dermatitis of hands and face. Various studies have shown that ultrasonic extraction of silica yields twice the amount in forty minutes, as that obtained by boiling in water for four hours. Vilarem et al, Economic Botany 1992 42.
Silica is optimally extracted by placing the fresh herb in water at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with 10% glucose or sucrose for six hours. It extracts four times faster from the fresh rather than dried material.
Do not gather horsetail in regions suspected of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer drainage. Horsetail will bio-accumulate and create a toxic nitrate product.
This is not harmful to adults, but infants under four months are prone to nitrite conversion and methemoglobinemia. But what good herbalist would give an infant horsetail tea?
Use spring horsetail, not just for optimal quercitin content, but to help reduce content of calcium oxalates.