The terpenoids in Queen Anne’s lace seeds have been shown in Chinese laboratory tests to block progesterone synthesis in pregnant animals.[421] When progesterone receptor sites in the uterine lining are blocked, the uterus cannot make a nutritive bed for the fertilized ovum, thus preventing implantation. The terpenoids in Queen Anne’s lace’s seed are recorded as having been studied as a promising substance in the development of a postcoital antifertility agent.[422]
Queen Anne's lace seeds' antifertility effects were recorded in a New York City study on 13 women from March 1992 to February 1993. The study was conducted by Robin Bennett, a woman with eight years of experience harvesting and using Queen Anne's lace seeds for contraception. The study showed a 98% success rate in contraceptive action.[423]
Gathering: One should always use an accurate field guide when gathering Queen Anne’s lace; many poisonous look-alikes exist in the carrot family. Queen Anne’s laces’ mature seeds are gathered when ripe in the fall. The leaves of Queen Anne’s lace have been used in the treatment of urinary stones. Leaves are traditionally gathered prior to flowering. Dry both seeds and leaves thoroughly, out of direct sunlight and not by artificial heat. Store in airtight containers.
Purchasing: Queen Anne’s lace seeds should be organic. Beware of non-organic seed which may be treated with chemicals to increase germination rates.
Preparation: Queen Anne’s lace seed prevents implantation and interferes with proper development of the endometrium (uterine lining), thus causing abortion. Queen Anne’s lace is usually used as a simple in the first two weeks of pregnancy.
Words to the Wise: Some women who have used Queen Anne's lace seeds have noticed an occasional side effect of constipation. This side effect may be remedied by increased water consumption. Women with a history of kidney or gall stones should not use Queen Anne's lace seeds. Queen Anne's lace seeds are estrogenic. Estrogenic herbs contain estrogen-like substances, which act to produce the effects of the female sex hormone estrogen. Estrogenic herbs can cause estrogen-like side effects: abnormal blood clotting, liver problems, and may encourage the growth of estrogen-dependent tumors. Estrogenic herbs should be avoided by anyone taking birth control pills, estrogen medications, or blood pressure medications. Estrogenic herbs may not be as effective for premenopausal women.
Implantation Inhibiting Queen Anne’s Lace Seed: Stir 1 tsp. (3 g) Queen Anne’s lace seeds into a glass of water and drink the day after unprotected sex to inhibit implantation. OR One teaspoon (3 g) can also be chewed daily during ovulation or for up to one week to inhibit implantation.
Tincture (dried seeds): 1:5, 60% alcohol, 20 - 60 drops of tincture are taken once or twice the day after unprotected sex to inhibit implantation.
Rosemary
…the oil of rosemary and a strong tea of the leaves are among the numerous devices in all large cities for inducing abortions.
-Thomas Duché Mitchell in Materia Medica and Therapeutics, 1857
AKA: Rosemary, rosemarine, polar plant, compass plant, and incensier (Old French).
Parts Used: Leaves and flowers.
Medicinal Properties: Antispasmodic, aromatic, antimutagenic, astringent, carminative, cephalic, chologogue, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, nervine, and tonic.
Effects on the Body: Soothing to digestive and respiratory system, stimulating to heart and uterus, strengthens nervous system, promotes liver function and the production of bile.
Abortifacient Action: Contains uterine contracting thujone. Estrogenic.
Contains: Alpha-thujone (abortifacient), beta-thujone (abortifacient), oleanolic acid (hepatoprotectant), and beta-sitosterol (phytoestrogen).
Description: Perennial aromatic rosemary grows in the form of a shrub, usually around 3 ft. (1 m) tall. Branches become woody as they mature. Leaves: evergreen, needle-like, simple, opposite, leathery, ½ - 1 in. (1.3 - 2.5 cm) long, smooth, dark green on top with tiny, soft, silvery-green hairs underneath. Small flowers, late spring to early summer, are pale blue, occasionally pink or white. In North America, rosemary is cultivated in gardens in mild regions.
Rosemary, in the language of flowers, represents the power of rekindling lost energy. The French name for rosemary, ‘incensier,’ indicates the use of rosemary as incense when expensive imported incenses were not available. Spiritually, shamans have inhaled the burning rosemary smoke or chewed on the root to produce trances in which they prophesy and heal the sick.[424] The people of Spain held that rosemary was one of the bushes that sheltered and protected the Virgin Mary on her flight into Egypt.[425] The old Sicilian belief that young fairies, taking the form of snakes, could be found lying in branches of rosemary is reminiscent of the Biblical myth of the snake in the tree of knowledge. To the Europeans, rosemary’s aromatic enduring scent was equated with remembrance. Rosemary was valued for its protective powers against insects, evil spirits, and sickness.
Rosemary branches were burned or steamed as an antibacterial vapor in sick rooms or carried at funerals. Rosemary has long been held as having protective powers against evil. For protection, rosemary was planted around one’s home, used in spells to ward off black magic, worn as a charm against the evil eye, or placed in a pillow to dispel bad dreams. As a love charm during the middle ages, if a person tapped someone with a rosemary twig containing an open blossom, it was believed they would fall in love. In European weddings, rosemary was traditionally worn in the bride’s wreath, and the bridal bed was decked with flowering rosemary twigs.[426] In Europe during the Middle Ages, protective emmenagogual rosemary became symbolic of the powers of women and came to be despised by the patriarchy. People said that where rosemary flourishes, the lady rules. During the 1500’s, men were known to tear out rosemary bushes around the home to prove that they, not the women ruled.[427]
The French historian, L. Ruetter, reported in 1923, that a decoction of rosemary leaves, 10 - 20 grams in 200 grains (½ ounce) of water, was administered in Mexico as a carminative and an abortive.[428] James A. Duke in Handbook of Medicinal Plants notes Central American folk healers used rosemary and Artemisia maritima (related to mugwort and contains thujone) in combination for fertility control. A decoction of rosemary in combination with Artemisia maritima is also recorded as being used by Native Americans of the Opata tribe to produce abortion in combination with vigorous abdominal massage until contractions occur. Then, “they place her on her knees, take position before her, and holding her by the hips shake her back and forth with all their force, as in normal labor.”[429] Rosemary oil is also noted as being used to promote menstruation.[430] Studies on rosemary extract on pregnant rats indicate that rosemary inhibits implantation, and rosemary shows no teratogenic effects on the fetus when the extract is given after implantation.[431] Studies of rosemary extract on male rats showed decreased spermatogenesis.[432]
421
Kong Yun Cheung, Jing-Xi Xie, and Paul Pui-Hay But, “Fertility Regulating Agents From Traditional Chinese Medicines,”
422
Kant, Ashwini, Dennis Jacob, and N.K. Lohia, “The Oestrogenic Efficacy of Carrot
423
Robin Bennett, “Wild Carrot Seeds for Herbal Contraception,”
424
Christian Ratsch,
429
Ales Hrdlicka,
430
James A. Duke,
431
I. P. Lemonica, D.C. Damasceno, L.C. Di-Stasi, “Study of the embryotoxic effects of an extract of rosemary (
432
M.K. Nusier, H.N. Bataineh, and H.M. Daradkah, “Adverse Effects of Rosemary on Reproductive Function in Adult Male Rats.”