The healing potential of rose hips
In the latest issue of Harvests magazine, Holistic Health Consultant Nic Parkes shared her recipe to make a gentle rose hip glycerite rather than the usual sugar syrup.
Here, she delves deeper into the healing potential of rose hips, observing their qualities through the lens of anthroposophy. Inviting us to follow her journey, she experiments with these unique fruits and uncovers how, when combined with others, they may form a powerful, holistic remedy for both body and spirit.
Anthroposophy: a path to understanding plants and healing
Anthroposophy, the spiritual science developed by Rudolf Steiner, provides a path to cultivate our spiritual-sensing faculties, starting with developing attention, and an attitude of wonder and gratitude. Steiner described it as “a path of knowledge, which intends to lead what is spiritual in the human being to what is spiritual in the universe”.
Plants not only serve as food and remedies, but also embody spiritual principles and forces that connect us with the rhythms and energies of nature. They bring the mineral earth to life, with their roots sensing into the earth, and their blossoms and fruit connecting with the warmth and light of the cosmos. Food is a little like a rainbow, a bridge between earth and the cosmos. The human spirit is able to transform the nutrition taken in.
Much has been written about roses and rose hips. How does an anthroposophic view look?
A closer study of the rose shows that it bears the sun’s signature. The pentagonal blossom dances with the play of light and darkness. Red roses have the colour of irradiated blood.
A closer study of the rose shows that it bears the sun’s signature. The pentagonal blossom dances with the play of light and darkness. Red roses have the colour of irradiated blood.
The Rosaceae family, to which the rose belongs, is the greatest fruit-producing family in the temperate regions, the middle ground between the cold pole and the hot tropics. These fruits of today, apples, strawberries, pears, cherries and more, are all related to the rose, tracing their origins to a common ancestor.
In anthroposophy, the connection between body and spirit is fundamental to understanding health and well-being. The nutritive qualities of fruit help body and spirit work harmoniously together. The physiological basis of this function is circulation, which Steiner viewed not just as a means of transporting nutrients, but as a vital force linking the physical body to the spiritual realms. The blood alternates between downward densifying (contraction) and upward sublimation (expansion). Fruit feeds the circulatory processes and even has a direct part in making the blood.
A storehouse of light and vitality
Within the Rosaceae family, there are different groups of fruit, each with different characters. Rose hips, also referred to as haws, are the fruit of the rose. Haws have numerous pistils, all contained within one receptacle. There is a motherly quality of embracing the pistils.
Radiating out from the receptacle, like rays of light, are the styles, with their bright yellow stigma. Rose hips are rich in Vitamin C, which Rudolf Hauschka, Austrian chemist and anthroposophist, refers to as “latent light” in The Nature of Substance.
The physical substances found in the fruit of the rose are tannins, some volatile oils, and carotene — the pigment that absorbs light energy for photosynthesis, relating to the dynamics of light. Additionally, it has sugars, pectin, and fruit acids such as malic acid and citric acid, with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) being particularly abundant. The seeds in the fruit contain vanillin, a fatty oil, and silica. At the mineral level, the rose hip is rich in iron, calcium and phosphorus, all of which play important roles in the blood process.
Unlocking the healing power of rose hips
We’ve analysed the nutritive qualities, but how would I now look to see if a medicine could arise? What is the “one-sidedness?” What pharmaceutical processes are required to bring the plant into the right relationship with the illness process in the human body so that it can address and treat it? Is a compound medicine needed, bringing together different plant parts or substances, and if so, what would the other substances be? For inspiration, I look to the nature around me in my garden and my country, as well as the cosmos. Steiner talked about making preparations from the individual parts of plants and then using them singly or in different combinations to achieve the right healing effect.
Regarding the rose hip, the special relationship to the sugar process points to using the hips, with seeds removed, to help diabetes. The inversion of the fruiting process in the rose and the direction of the silica process relate to enhanced kidney elimination. Here we would want to use the seeds of the fruit.
The fruit acids, carotene and vitamin C are revitalising. The whole fruit becomes a boosting tonic for the metabolism and brightens the senses bringing equilibrium. What am I looking for here? A way to bring the sun, the light inside, as we go through winter. Winter is the time when we develop our inner light.
The distillation process to produce a hydrosol, a water-based solution containing the beneficial compounds of plants, using the warmth and water elements, could be useful. I am a fan of mixed distillations using the right still (Alquitar, column or traditional), devices designed to separate the plant’s different compounds through heating and condensation. To find the right ingredients to bring together in the process, I first need to observe and converse with nature’s gifts, research using the tools of natural science, and then bring this together with the spiritual scientific research process.
I’ve already used rose blossom flowers in my Pounamu/Helianthus oral liquid and Pounamu/Aurum salve, but am now inspired to explore rose hips. When combined with other plants or minerals they could potentially form a powerful, holistic healing remedy.
Many other Rosaceae family members are used in anthroposophic medicine, like quince, hawthorn, and herb bennet, each addressing different imbalances such as allergies, circulation, and digestion.
As I continue this exploration, I invite you to follow me as I share future discoveries and formulations that may come to life on my website. I also encourage you to embark on your own journey of discovery through embodied, Goethean-style observation—an approach to understanding nature holistically and intuitively. For more insights, consider exploring Taruna College’s ‘The Art of Well Being’ programme, which includes foundational anthroposophy courses and workshops.
Nic is the Honorary Treasurer for the Anthroposophical Society in New Zealand and works closely with the International Circle of Treasurers of the General Anthroposophical Society. She is a Holistic Health Consultant with a background in pharmacy, Bowen therapy, and organic growing, and expertise in herbal, homeopathic, and anthroposophic medicine. Nic handcrafts personalised remedies imbued with her spirit at her clinic Healing Lands in Hastings. She has been a member of Biodynamics New Zealand for 25 years.
