Digging Deeper: Winter Savory

History and folklore

Summer savory is native to the Mediterranean basin of southern Europe, and winter savory, as its species name, montana, implies, to the mountains of southern Europe and North Africa. Savory, along with chervil, coriander, dill, garlic, and parsley, was on the emperor Charlemagne’s list of seventy-eight tasty herbs to be grown in his royal gardens in a.d. 812.

The Romans used winter savory as we use pepper today, and it is said that they introduced the herb to England. Medieval walled gardens held savory, hyssop, and parsley in company with beans, onions, leeks, and garlic; the herbs must have gone a long way to punch up the monotonous, plain, starch-filled diet of the poor as well as lend a robust tang to the meatier diet of the rich. Savory also grew in herb “gardens of delight” kept by the leisured rich, and it was used in sweet syrups and conserves to soothe the throat. Several sixteenth- and seventeenth-century garden writers suggest savory as a component of a fragrant garden.

In garden folklore of the Middle Ages, a garland fashioned of savory leaves and flowers was worn as a crown or cap to revive the wearer from drowsiness. The satyrs of Greek mythology—lascivious woodland deities with the horns, ears, and legs of a goat—also were depicted wearing crowns of savory. Because of this, savory’s generic name, Satureja, has been linked with the word “satyr”, but apparently it is actually derived from the Latin satur, meaning “full” or “satiated”. Both savories were believed to affect the sex drive, but in opposite ways: winter savory was thought to decrease it, summer savory, to increase it. Which kind do you suppose the satyrs wore?

Read more at https://www.motherearthliving.com/cooking-methods/savoring-savories.

Just like summer savory, winter savory possesses powerful carminative, antimucolytic, expectorant, digestif, and antiseptic properties, although it is more often than not infused instead of decocted, as its more powerful aroma is prized by herbalists.

It is most often employed in its fresh, rather than its dry state, as it has a tendency to mellow-out when dried, although ancient methods have suggested its employment in dried form. Regardless of however it is used, winter savory is believed to possess more potent medicinal properties than does summer savory. It shares a number of summer savory’s medicinal properties, and may be used in lieu of, or in tandem with summer savory to treat problems like colic, indigestion, flatulence, diarrhea, and bronchial and nasal congestion. Strong infusions of winter savory can also be given as an emmenagogue, and, in earlier times, was even specifically brewed with other emmenagogue herbs or spices and employed as an abortifacient.

• When applied topically, it can be used as a powerful antihistaminic, and, like summer savory, can help to treat insect stings and other types of inflammation.
• It also possesses powerful antifungal and antibacterial properties, and, if allowed to infuse in oil, may be applied to the skin directly as a remedy for fungal and viral infections.
• Concentrated macerations of the herb may be applied as a mild to moderately potent analgesic ointment for the relief of arthritis and rheumatism. 
• Like summer savory, winter savory may also be applied topically to help relieve tremors and epileptic fits, although the latter is far more preferred than is the former.
• Alternatively, one may also employ the extracted essential oil of winter savory to treat various topical fungal infections, especially Candida.
• This essential oil, typically employed in its diluted form can also be used as a scalp tonic, and is generally applied for the treatment of eczema, psoriasis, dandruff, and even mild to early cases of alopecia (balding).  
• In stark contrast to summer savory’s purported aphrodisiac properties, winter savory was supposedly an anaphrodisiac. Infused or decocted, it was drunk, usually by ascetics and individuals who prescribe to ascetic practices in the belief that it dulls the senses and helps to deaden one’s sexual appetites. In spite of its having had a long-standing tradition as an anaphrodisiac, its effects may only act as a sort of placebo, in a similar manner to the purported aphrodisiac benefits of summer savory.

Nowadays, summer and winter savory are often used interchangeably in medicinal practices, although this is only common for inexpert herbalists, with more expert practitioners preferring to use each type distinctly for a specific purpose. It is more popular as a culinary herb than it is as a medicinal herb, and is usually thought of as ‘bean herbs’, literally, partners to bean-based dishes, in the long-held belief that it reduces flatulence purportedly caused by the overconsumption of beans – this being true due to both savory variants’ powerful carminative properties. 

Read more at http://www.herbs-info.com/savory.html.

Esoteric / Magickal Uses

When used for magickal purposes, summer savory seems to be far more favoured by most magickal practitioners than winter savory, although both varieties being a type of savory nevertheless, they can (and have been) employed interchangeably. Both summer and winter savory are often used in sex-based fixing spells, or otherwise brewed into tisanes or decocted into potions and drunk as aphrodisiacs. It was initially associated with Satyrs, and later on, with the idyllic god Pan, by the Early Greeks and, afterwards, the Romans, further cementing its ‘lustful’ properties.  By the Middle Ages, its magickal uses somehow expanded, and the two savories took on polar opposite properties. Where summer savory was still employed as an aphrodisiac herb, winter savory became its counterpart in that it was drunk or consumed to elicit apathy when it comes to sexual matters.

Outside of the realm of magickal healing, summer and winter savory plays a very minor to almost non-existent role, although summer savory (and in rare cases, even winter savory) can be employed in the creation of talismans. It can be encased in medicine pouches or juju bags and carried on one’s person to help relieve negativity or ease all sorts of physical ailments, while at the same time supposedly assisting with concentration and memory enhancement. With this in mind, it may be employed ritualistically as a cleansing, empowering, or mild banishing incense, although traditional corroboration does not support this application.

Read more at http://www.herbs-info.com/savory.html.

Mountain Savory has been used historically as a general tonic for the body.

Medical Properties: Strong antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, immune stimulant, anti-inflammatory action

Uses: Viral infections (herpes, HIV, etc.), scoliosis / lumbago / back problems

Fragrant Influence: Revitalizes and stimulates the nervous system. It is a powerful energizer and motivator.

Directions:
Aromatic: Diffuse up to 10 minutes 3 times daily or directly inhale.
Topical: Dilute 1 drop essential oil with 1 drop V-6 or other pure carrier oil and apply on location, chakras, and/or Vita Flex points.
Dietary: Dilute 1 drop with 4 drops of carrier oil. Put in a capsule and take 1 daily as needed.

Excerpted from The Essential Oils Desk Reference, 7th Edition, pages 113-114