Take Control of Your Fertility!

Queen Anne’s Lace – Daucus carota carota – Wild Carrot – is an ancient way to prevent pregnancy. Using the crushed seeds as a way to prevent pregnancy has been attributed to Hippocrates. And yes. He did write about it. But you know, it wasn’t his idea. He was only saying what women had already known for thousands and thousands of years.

Figures that he would get credit for women’s ancient understanding. Not surprising though, is it? Men have been doing this to us since the Bronze Age. Violently suppressing our knowledge was integral to the male medical model being able to take over Women’s Wisdom – and dismissing it, ultimately, as irrelevant nonsense.

With the war on women is raging as intensely as ever, and with the possibility even of medical abortions (sword energy) becoming less and less secure, it’s time we returned to our roots.

Queen Anne’s Lace works. But how does it work?

Is Queen Anne’s Lace an Abortifacient?

If you search around, you will find Queen Anne’s Lace referred to as an abortifacient, and/or a contraceptive.  Neither of these are accurate.  An abortifacient is something that induces the abortion of an early pregnancy.  QAL does not do that. And she is not a contraceptive, either, as she does not prevent ovulation or conception.  

Queen Anne’s Lace is an Implantation Inhibitor  

An egg can still become fertilized, but it cannot implant itself into the endometrial lining.  QAL alters the normal hormonal balance enough to make the endometrial lining reject a burrowing zygote. 

So, no implantation, no pregnancy. It simply does not proceed past fertilization.

Working with Plant Medicine

Working with Plant Medicine is not like popping a pill. It is nothing like western medicine. It is an on-going exercise, a relationship. It’s a practice of mindful observation, interpretation and expanding understanding.  It’s not the kind of thing a “patient” is qualified to take upon herself.  There is too much negative conditioning she would have to un-learn, first. The helplessness of patients is not real, it’s created. But once it’s been internalized, it might as well be real.

And, incidentally, referring to Queen Anne’s lace as “Nature’s morning after pill”…? Is an insult to her. She came first.

Women who work with Daucus carota are women who do not want to become mothers. They are also women who have educated themselves about Big Pharma and the medical industry – especially pertaining to women’s health – and want no part of it. They are holistic minded/hearted women who have the fortitude to take responsibility for their own life, health and awareness.

This is an aspect of Eco-Spirituality, and as such, it is a subject, not an object.  Meaning it cannot be objectified enough for the scientific method to thoroughly grasp. Which is probably why there are very few scientific studies about it.  It wouldn’t work very well, anyway.  Too uncontrollable. Too many variables. No bunnies to strap down and torture.

Plants are individuals, just like the humans who use them.  They all grow in different places, soils, weather…all of these are variables and can influence their efficacy.  And women have various degrees of regularity, fertility and fertility awareness*.  Some women are super-fertile, some are not. Plus the woman’s intention, and her level of both persistence and decisiveness play a huge role. And the emotional/relationship component is, of course, totally unquantifiable/objectifiable. 

This is why Plant Medicine has to be an on-going relationship.

*Digression…

---

---

End of Digression

Used properly, Queen Anne’s Lace prevents pregnancy in most women, most of the time. But that doesn’t mean it’s right for all women. There are contraindications. You shouldn’t use it when lactating, or if you have an irregular cycle. You shouldn’t use it if you’re on, or recently off strong hormone-based pharmaceuticals, like birth control pills. You should discontinue using it if you experience rapid changes in your cycle or breast tenderness. And you should be very clear, not conflicted, about not wanting to get pregnant. Consulting with a midwife or herbalist should be an integral part of your research process.

Here is an excellent article about a year long, collective empirical study, done in 2009-2010. It showed an over 90% effectiveness rate.   It was only done with 30 women, though, so that’s a very small sample. And it’s anecdotal, meaning it’s real people talking about real effects on their real bodies. The scientific method deplores that. If you deplore it too, you’re in the wrong place. The women who use Daucus carota would, as said above, need to not be of the “patient” mentality. It’s not something done for you or to you, it is a relationship you enter into.

There are very interesting notes, in this article, on the small number of pregnancies that still resulted. The notes about the individual women’s particular situations made a lot of sense about why it didn’t work. Nothing works perfectly and this needs to be part of your understanding before entering into a partnership with the lovely Lacey one. Perhaps, if a baby manages to come through, anyway, it was meant to be…

You should read it. It’s quite fascinating.

WARNING!!!

Proper Identification is a Must

If you’re only a budding herbalist and aren’t actually familiar with Queen Anne’s Lace, do yourself a favor and just buy a tincture, to start. There’s plenty of time to learn how to make your own, later. Romantic notions of roaming in the woods, collecting plant material in your pretty basket should not take the place of genuine knowledge. Because…

She is very easy to confuse with Poison Hemlock

One of these is Poison Hemlock and one is Queen Anne’s Lace. I’m not gonna say which is which. If you don’t know how to identify her, don’t find out the hard way. You could end up dead.

Sorry to be so blunt, but it’s true. We want you alive. But honestly? She is really quite easy to distinguish from Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum. Search around the internet and you will find a lot of fear surrounding how to tell them apart. In the Big Picture, this is probably for the best. Re-learning what has been so long suppressed will inevitably have fear as part of the process. But fear is the opposite of Love. It’s best to move through it and resolve it.

Medical-based blogs actually say QAL and Poison Hemlock are chemically similar. This is a lie that contains a grain of truth. Gaslighting, in other words.

Poison Hemlock is in the Apiaceae family…the Carrot family. It’a a huge family, containing 3,700 species. They are plants that have flowers in umbels, that flatish dome shape. Poison Hemlock’s roots are chemically similar to other members of the Carrot family, such as carrots, parsnips, parsley and celeriac. But it’s not the roots of Poison Hemlock that are deadly poisonous. It’s the aerial parts, the parts above the soil. Those parts – the stems, leaves, flowers, seeds – are TOTALLY poisonous. Wild carrot, Daucus carota carota, is no more toxic than domesticated carrot, Daucus carota sativus.

Visually, they are similar in the spring, when they’re both still young. But by the time QAL’s seeds – the part we want – are ready to harvest in the fall, there’s no question about which is which. None.

So don’t be afraid. Be informed. Research it for yourself.

Take Back Your Power!

 

First of all…

Queen Anne’s Lace is not something you should take every day. If you did that, your body would quickly develop a tolerance and you’d be knocked up before you could say, “Where’d I put my tincture?”

Only take it after unprotected sex. Take it as soon as you can, within 8 to 12 hours.

Take it three times, all together, every 8 hours, or so.

Use the same form for each of the three times. Whether you’re doing tincture, or eating the seeds, or drinking a flower infusion, do the same thing, all 3 times.

Then stop.

These three doses should be spaced across 24 hours, minimum and up to 72 hours at the absolute maximum. 8×3=24 You can get all three doses in, in one day, but it shouldn’t be faster. It doesn’t have to be exact, just not too fast or too slow.

The three doses should only be taken when there is a possibility of fertilization. If you have unprotected sex during an un-fertile part of your cycle, take it anyway. Ovulation can be triggered by sex.

And…obviously…this is something you should have gotten together ahead of time.

 

The different methods

Dried Seeds

This is the oldest method. You can do it in any one of the three following ways, just make sure to do it the same way, each time.  It should always be on an empty stomach.

1. Take a teaspoonful of dried seeds and chew them up for a while, before washing them down with a glass of water or juice. On an empty stomach.

2. Grind up a teaspoonful of seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar & pestle and mix into a small amount of water or juice. On an empty stomach.

3. Put a teaspoonful of ground seeds put into a cup, pour 8 ounces of boiling water over them and let steep for 15 minutes. Be sure to drink the seeds along with the tea. On an empty stomach.

Dried Flowers, as a tea
Put 2-3 dried flower heads in a teacup. Pour in 8 ounces of boiling water and let steep for 15 minutes. Drink it on an empty stomach

Fresh flowers, as a tea
Same as above, but 3 – 6 fresh flower heads.

Tincture
A dropper full of tincture, 30-60 drops, straight into your mouth, or diluted in a shot glass glass of water. On an empty stomach.

Tincture Recipe #1 – Simple. No measuring. Made with fresh seeds.
In the fall, when QAL has gone to seed, collect a nice big basket of seed heads. Separate the seeds out from the umbel, picking out all the little stems. Grind them up in a blender. Put the ground seeds into a wide-mouthed jar and pour in enough 80 – 100 proof vodka to cover them well. (If it’s easier to grind them with the vodka, do it like that.) Put on a non-metal lid.
There’s no need to measure. Just use as big a jar as you like and only use enough vodka to cover the amount of seeds you have. It doesn’t have to be full. The seeds just need to be covered.
Put in a dark place for 4 – 6 weeks, checking and shaking it every so often. You want to make sure the seeds remain covered by the vodka. Top it off a bit, if need be. When it’s ready, strain the whole thing into a cheese-cloth lined sieve, into a large enough container. Wring it out good, to get every last drop of tincture. Decant into brown eye-dropper bottles, or any clean dark glass bottles you have and label. You don’t have to use a dropper. You can pour it into a teaspoon.

Tincture Recipe #2 – More complicated. With measuring. Made with dried seeds.
This is a 2 part recipe.
Part 1 – Same method as above, but dry the seeds first. Do it in a dehydrator. If you don’t have one, spread them evenly on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and put into a very low oven. As low as your oven will go. 100-120F, overnight or up to 24 hours. Don’t let them burn. Take them out earlier if they seem to be getting too dark.
Combine 2 cups dried, ground seeds with a quart of 80-100 proof vodka. Let sit in a dark place for 4-6 weeks, as above.
On the day you’re ready to decant it, do part 2 of the recipe.
Part 2 – put 2 cups dried QAL seeds in a blender with 16 ounces of vegetable glycerine + 1/2 cup distilled or filtered water. Pour the water into the empty glycerine bottle first, to rinse it out, then pour into blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into 2 pint sized canning jars with canning lids. Put both into an appropriate sized pot. Pour in enough water to just come up to the bottom of the lids. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes.
During the 20 minutes, remove each jar, periodically, with a pair of tongs, and give it a good shake…with a pot holder! Do this a few times. It will get darker as it heat cures.
After 20 minutes, remove the jars to cool.
While still warm, but not hot, strain each jar through a cheese-cloth lined sieve, squeezing out thoroughly. Pour each of the strained glycerine tinctures into a 1/2 gallon glass jar, with a plastic lid.
Strain the 4-6 week old alcohol tincture the same way and add it to the same jar. Shake well.
Decant into brown glass jars with dropper lids. Label and date. 50% alcohol, 50% glycerine. It will be effective for at least three years. Store at room temperature in a dark place.

In Closing

Many prefer to make tinctures out of Apple Cider Vinegar instead of vodka. It needs to steep a little longer than with the alcohol, and it’s only good for about a year, as opposed to indefinitely, like the alcohol. In most cases, you can simply swap out the ACV for the vodka, no problem. That’s probably true for this, too, but I’m not sure. I started to look into it, but honestly? Just didn’t have the energy to pursue it. So I don’t know. If you DO know, I would love to hear from you and have it confirmed or denied.

While I know more about herbalism than the average person off the street, that’s not saying a lot. I, in no way, claim to be an herbalist. It is an unbelievably vast subject. I’ve scratched the surface pretty good but I will always bow to superior knowledge. And besides, the whole idea is for you to do your own research.

Resources

Robin Rose Bennett
Molly Dutton-Kenny, CPM
April Graham
National Library of Medicine