How to Manage Your Anger, c. 1150
British Library, Egerton MS 747, f. 83r (c. 1280-1310)
One who is inclined to wrath should take rose and less sage and pulverize them. When the wrath is rising in him, he should hold this powder to his nostrils. The sage lessens the wrath, and the rose makes him happy.
Hildegard of Bingen, Physica (trans. Priscilla Throop)
Feeling some wrath coming on? One sniff of this medieval powder and ahhhhh…
In Dutch we have a nursery rhyme:
Ben je boos?
Pluk een roos.
Zet hem op je hoed,
dan ben je morgen weer goed.
(Are you angry? Pick a rose. Put it on your hat, then you feel better tomorrow.)
Hm, now I wonder whether there is connection to Hildegard von Bingen. :-)
I've read that Hildegard von Bingen may have suffered from migraines. Perhaps it was an adverse reaction to snorting all that sage and rose. Descending wrath today, debilitating neurological illness tomorrow.
It's true: she doesn't dwell on side effects.
That's great! It sounds like the nasal administration is faster acting, though.
Take out your wrath by pulverizing a flower or two...