Opopanax

Rough Parsnip
Picture Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491

Picture Woodville, Hooker, Spratt, Medical Botany, 3th edition, 1832

Picture Opopanax opopanax
(Photo by Consultaplantas) (Wikimedia)

BUY OPOPANAX
Picture

Botanical name:


Commiphora guidottii (syn. Opopanax opopanax, O. chironum, Ferula opopanax, Pastinaca opopanax, P. sylvestris)

Parts used:


Gum

Temperature & Taste:


Very Warm, dry. Pungent
mollifies, digests

Classifications:


2B ATTENUATERS    2M. DRAWING    2Q. ANODYNE
3M. ARTHRITICS
4f. SPLENETIC    4i. UTERINE    4j. NERVINES    4k. ARTHRITIC

Uses:


1. Clears Wind-Damp, Stops Spasms:
-Discusses wind (similar to Asafetida)
-Wind-Damp, Wind-Phlegm affecting the Nerves or Brain
-mental disease from Wind-Damp obstructing the mind
-Apoplexy, Epilepsy

2. Clears Cold-Phlegm:
-thick and tough Phlegm from the remote parts such as the Brain, Nerves, Breast and Joints
-Very good for old Coughs from Cold-Phlegm

3. Moves Qi and Blood, Opens Obstructions:
-obstruction or hardness of the Liver, Spleen, or abdominal organs
-Amenorrhea, Dysmenorrhea, Uterine tumors, Infertility
-Cold pain of the abdominal organs


Dose:
1–3 grams (½–1 dram)

Correctives:


1. Mastic
2. Indian Spikenard

Substitutes:


1. To move the Blood: Myrrh, Bdellium, Galbanum
2. Wind-Phlegm affecting the Head and Nerves: Asafetida, Gum Ammoniac
3. Clear Cold Phlegm and Damp: Asafetida, Galbanum

Preparation:


1. Often, as with similar gums, it is purified to remove foreign matter such as stones and sticks. It can be heated in water until dissolved, strained through cloth and evaporated to purify.
2. Sometimes it is dissolved in vinegar to purify. This makes it stronger to move the Blood and resolve stasis.

Main Combinations:


1. Nervous diseases from Wind Phlegm:
i. Opopanax with Aloe, Bdellium, Wild Rue, Agaric, Turbith, Triphala, Saffron (as in Pills of Opopanax)
ii. Opopanax with Aloe, Gum Ammoniac, Bdellium, Syrian Rue, Chebulic Myrobalan, Agaric, Cinnamon, Saffron (as in Foetid Pills Major of Galen)
2. Apoplexy, Opopanax with Aloe, Bdellium, Gum Ammoniac (as in Pills for Apoplexy)
3. Infertility from obstruction, Opopanax with Aloe, Agaric, Indian Spikenard, Madder, Cinnamon, Saffron (as in Pills to Purge in Barrenness)
4. Ascites, Opopanax with Wormwood, Turbith, Fennel seed, Aniseed, Mace, Spurge (Euphorbia), Mastic (as in Powder to Purge in Ascites)
5. Gastrointestinal pain and spasm from Cold and Wind, with Cumin, Caraway, Bitter Almond, Long Pepper, Marjoram, Wild Mint, Calamus Bay berry, Rue (as in Electuary of Bayberries)
6. Liver obstruction or Hardness, Opopanax with Gum Ammoniac, Bdellium, Turbith, Yellow Myrobalan, Rhubarb, Mastic, Indian Spikenard, Aloe (as in Pills of Rhubarb (Greater) of Mesue)
7. Dysmenorrhea and Uterine Tumors, Opopanax with Myrrh, Madder, Rue, Dittany, Cumin, Asafetida (as in Troches of Myrrh of Rhasis)

Major Formulas:


Pills of Opopanax
Pills of Rhubarb (Greater) (Pil. de Raved Sceni) (Mesue)
Foetid Pills Major of Galen
Pills for Apoplexy (Arnold de Villa Nova)
Pills to Purge in Barrenness (Wirtzung)
Pills to Crumble Kidney Stones (Unani)
Hiera Logadii
Powder to Purge in Ascites (Nicholas)
Troches of Myrrh (Rhasis)
Electuary of Bayberries (Electuarium de Baccis Lauri)
Electuarium Acharistum (Nicholas)
Antidote Proven for Diverse Diseases (Nicholas)
Plaster for Uterine Tumors (Aristotle)

Cautions:


1. Not used in Yin or Blood deficiency
2. Not in Heat conditions

Main Preparations used:


Depurated (dissolved in Vinegar, then dried), Extract