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☀ Gaokerena Medicine

The Sacred Plant
Encyclopedia

The Magi's pharmacopoeia — reconstructed. Every plant Ahura Mazda gave Thrita for the healing of the world.

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Sacred Plants
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Amesha Spenta
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Tier I — Sacred Core (Named in Avesta & Bundahishn)
Tier II — Pahlavi & Classical Persian Medicine
Tier III — Avicenna's Canon & Makhzan ul-Adwia
Entry 001 · Tier 1
Haoma
هوم (Hom)
Ephedra spp. (E. vulgaris, E. procera, E. intermedia)
Vohu Manah
Chief of all medicinal plants. King of the pharmacopoeia. Both a physical plant and a divine being (Yazata). The Bundahishn (24.18) states: 'Haoma which is out-squeezed is the chie...
respiratory cardiovascular nervous immune
Entry 002 · Tier 1
Pomegranate
انار (Anār)
Punica granatum
Ameretat
Primary companion plant in the Haoma preparation. Source of Baresman twigs. Fruit, leaves, twigs, bark, and rind all used medicinally. The fruit of Paradise — the word 'paradise' i...
cardiovascular digestive immune nervous integumentary
Entry 003 · Tier 1
Espand (Wild Rue)
اسپند / اسفند (Espand, Esfand)
Peganum harmala
Asha Vahishta
Sacred fumigant. Burned on coals to produce purifying, psychoactive, antimicrobial smoke. The most widely surviving Magi practice in modern Persian culture. Carried by Zoroastrian ...
nervous respiratory immune musculoskeletal
Entry 004 · Tier 1
Garlic
سیر (Sir)
Allium sativum
Haurvatat
One of the fundamental medicinal plants of ancient Persian medicine. Used continuously for cardiovascular, antimicrobial, and immune support for over 4,000 years. Mentioned in the ...
cardiovascular immune digestive respiratory integumentary
Entry 005 · Tier 1
Saffron
زعفران (Za'farān)
Crocus sativus L.
Khwarshed
The Red Gold. The most precious spice on earth by weight. Iran produces over 90% of the world's saffron. One of the most pharmacologically potent plants known — with documented ant...
nervous cardiovascular digestive visual reproductive
Entry 006 · Tier 1
Basil (Sweet Basil)
ریحان (Reyhān)
Ocimum basilicum L.
Shahrevar
Named in the Avesta among medicinal herbs. One of the Bundahishn's sacred plants. Basil-Royal is specifically designated as the flower of Shahrevar (Desirable Dominion — guardian o...
digestive nervous respiratory cardiovascular integumentary
Entry 007 · Tier 1
Sweet Violet
بنفشه (Banafsheh)
Viola odorata L.
Mithra
Named in the Avesta among medicinal herbs. All violets are designated as flowers of Mithra in the Bundahishn. A foundational plant in Traditional Persian Medicine, used continuousl...
respiratory nervous integumentary digestive cardiovascular
Entry 008 · Tier 1
Chicory
کاسنی (Kāsni)
Cichorium intybus L.
Haurvatat
Named in the Avesta among medicinal herbs. A fundamental liver and digestive medicine in Traditional Persian Medicine. Avicenna classified it as cold and dry in temperament. Used f...
digestive hepatic cardiovascular urinary nervous
Entry 009 · Tier 1
Peppermint
نعنا فلفلی (Na'nā Felfeli)
Mentha × piperita L.
Tishtar
Named in the Avesta among medicinal herbs. One of the most widely used medicinal plants in Persian and world medicine. Classified as Cold-Moist in Traditional Persian Medicine. Pri...
digestive respiratory nervous musculoskeletal integumentary
Entry 010 · Tier 1
Frankincense
کندر (Kondor) / لبان (Lobān)
Boswellia sacra / B. serrata / B. carterii
Atar
Sacred resin burned in Zoroastrian fire temples and Persian households since antiquity. One of the Magi's primary aromatic offerings to the sacred fire. Classified as Hot-Dry in Tr...
musculoskeletal respiratory nervous digestive immune
Entry 011 · Tier 1
Myrrh
مر (Morr / Mur)
Commiphora myrrha / Commiphora molmol
Asha Vahishta
Sacred resin — classified in the Bundahishn among 'scented' plants (bod). Burned in Persian households alongside frankincense to purify air and repel disease. One of the oldest con...
integumentary oral respiratory immune digestive
Entry 012 · Tier 1
Rose (Damask Rose)
گل سرخ (Gol-e-Sorkh) / گل محمدی
Rosa damascena Mill.
Spenta Armaiti
Sacred flower of the Iranian homeland. The Bundahishn assigns jasmine and myrtle to Ahura Mazda, white jasmine to Vohu Manah, and in the broader Zoroastrian flower-correspondence s...
cardiovascular nervous reproductive integumentary immune
Entry 013 · Tier 2
Black Seed (Nigella / Black Cumin)
سیاه دانه (Siyah Daneh) / شونيز (Shuniz)
Nigella sativa L.
Ameretat
Universal medicine of the ancient world. Known in Persian tradition as 'the seed that heals everything except death.' Avicenna (Ibn Sina) devoted a dedicated section to Nigella sat...
respiratory immune cardiovascular endocrine nervous
Entry 014 · Tier 2
Licorice Root
شیرین بیان (Shirin Bayan) — 'Sweet Speech'
Glycyrrhiza glabra L. / Glycyrrhiza uralensis
Sraosha
The healer of voice and speech. Named 'Shirin Bayan' (Sweet Speech) in Persian — a plant whose medicinal power is named after its most immediate observable action. Central to Persi...
respiratory digestive endocrine nervous immune
Entry 015 · Tier 2
Turmeric
زردچوبه (Zardchubeh) — 'Yellow Wood'
Curcuma longa L.
Asha Vahishta
The golden root. Called 'yellow wood' in Persian — the color itself is medicine. Turmeric arrived in Persia via ancient trade routes from India and became deeply embedded in Persia...
musculoskeletal nervous hepatic digestive immune
Entry 016 · Tier 2
Ginger
زنجبیل (Zanjabil)
Zingiber officinale Roscoe
Atar
The warming root. One of the most universally used medicinal plants across all traditions that intersected with Persian medicine — Indian Ayurveda, Greek Hippocratic, Arabic Unani,...
digestive musculoskeletal cardiovascular respiratory reproductive
Entry 017 · Tier 1
Fennel
رازیانه (Razianeh)
Foeniculum vulgare Mill.
Haurvatat
The herb of sight and digestion. Native to the Mediterranean and endemic across the Iranian Plateau, fennel was one of the most commonly used daily medicinal plants of Persian medi...
digestive reproductive visual respiratory urinary
Entry 018 · Tier 1
Cumin
زیره سبز (Zireh Sabz) — 'Green Cumin'
Cuminum cyminum L.
Ameretat
The seed of digestion. Among the oldest continuously cultivated spice-medicines in human history — cumin seeds have been found in Egyptian archaeological sites and are documented i...
digestive endocrine immune cardiovascular hematopoietic
Entry 019 · Tier 1
Coriander (Cilantro)
گشنیز (Gishniz)
Coriandrum sativum L.
Haurvatat
The cooling seed. One of the few plants named directly in the Bundahishn — 'torn shoots of the coriander' are specifically listed as part of the salad (terak) category: 'Whatever i...
nervous digestive cardiovascular hepatic hematopoietic
Entry 020 · Tier 1
Tamarisk
گز (Gaz) / شورگز (Shur-Gaz)
Tamarix spp. (T. aphylla, T. gallica, T. ramosissima)
Ameretat
The tree of salt and sacred fire. The Bundahishn explicitly names tamarisk in its classification of perennial trees: 'as the cypress, the plane, the white poplar, the box, [the gra...
hepatic digestive integumentary immune hematopoietic
Entry 021 · Tier 1
Myrtle
مورد (Moord) / آس (As)
Myrtus communis L.
Ahura Mazda
Sacred bridal and healing shrub. The Bundahishn assigns myrtle to Ahura Mazda alongside jasmine: these are the Lord's own plants. Also assigned to Spandarmad (Spenta Armaiti) in so...
respiratory digestive integumentary nervous endocrine
Entry 022 · Tier 1
Jasmine
یاسمن (Yasaman) / یاس سفید (Yas-e-Sefid)
Jasminum officinale L. / Jasminum grandiflorum L.
Vohu Manah
The flower of the Good Mind. The Bundahishn Ch. 27 explicitly assigns white jasmine to Vohu Manah — Good Mind, the first and greatest of the Amesha Spentas, the principle of clear ...
nervous reproductive integumentary immune hepatic
Entry 023 · Tier 2
Aloe Vera
صبر (Sabr) / آلوئه ورا
Aloe barbadensis Mill. (Aloe vera)
Haurvatat
The succulent physician. Native to the Arabian Peninsula and widely cultivated across the Middle East and North Africa. Aloe vera entered Persian medicine through ancient trade rou...
integumentary digestive immune endocrine oral
Entry 024 · Tier 2
Fenugreek
شنبلیله (Shanbalileh)
Trigonella foenum-graecum L.
Ameretat
The bitter gift of the earth. Fenugreek is one of the oldest cultivated plants in recorded history — seeds found at Halaf culture sites (6000 BCE) and in Tutankhamun's tomb. Native...
endocrine digestive reproductive cardiovascular musculoskeletal
Entry 025 · Tier 1
Henna
حنا (Henna)
Lawsonia inermis L.
Asha Vahishta
The dye of sacred protection. The Bundahishn classifies plants used for dyeing clothing under 'rag' (dye-plant category): 'Whatever one can dye clothing with, as saffron, sapan-woo...
integumentary immune nervous hematopoietic oral
Entry 026 · Tier 2
Wormwood / Mugwort (Persian Wormwood)
درمنه (Dermaneh) / افسنتین (Afsantin)
Artemisia absinthium L. / Artemisia annua L. / Artemisia aucheri (Persian wormwood)
Asha Vahishta
The medicine of fever and parasites. The Artemisia genus contains over 500 species, many native to the Iranian Plateau and Central Asia. In Persian medicine, 'dermaneh' refers to t...
immune digestive hepatic hematopoietic nervous
Entry 027 · Tier 1
Thyme
آویشن (Avishan)
Thymus vulgaris L. / Thymus kotschyanus (Iranian wild thyme)
Asha Vahishta
The herb of the heart and the voice. The Bundahishn makes a specific and extraordinary statement about thyme: 'from the middle of the heart thyme for keeping away stench.' In the Z...
respiratory immune digestive oral integumentary
Entry 028 · Tier 2
Chamomile
بابونه (Babooneh)
Matricaria chamomilla L. (German chamomile) / Anthemis nobilis L. (Roman chamomile)
Spenta Armaiti
The gentle healer. Chamomile is among the most widely used medicinal plants in both the Western and Eastern medical traditions. Native to Europe and western Asia including the Iran...
digestive nervous integumentary immune reproductive
Entry 029 · Tier 1
Walnut
گردو (Gerdoo)
Juglans regia L.
Vohu Manah
The brain-shaped nut of the mind. The Bundahishn Ch. 24 lists walnut in its fruit-tree (mivak) category: 'The produce of everything welcome as food of men, that is perennial, as th...
cardiovascular nervous endocrine digestive immune
Entry 030 · Tier 1
Fig
انجیر (Anjir)
Ficus carica L.
Ameretat
The sweetest medicine. The Bundahishn Ch. 24 names the fig explicitly in its fruit-tree category: '...the peach, the fig, the walnut, the almond...' The fig is among the oldest cul...
digestive respiratory cardiovascular integumentary endocrine
Entry 031 · Tier 1
Date Palm
خرما (Khurma / Khorma) / نخل (Nakhl — the tree)
Phoenix dactylifera L.
Ameretat (Amordad)
The Tree of Life. Phoenix dactylifera has sustained civilization for 6,000+ years. Its very genus name — Phoenix — links it to the immortal bird of Persian and Egyptian mythology: ...
metabolic reproductive cardiovascular digestive nervous
Entry 032 · Tier 1
Frankincense (Sacred / Kondor)
کُندُر (Kondor / Kundur) / لُبان (Luban)
Boswellia sacra Flück. (primary sacred species) / B. carteri / B. serrata (Indian frankincense)
Asha Vahishta (Ardibehesht)
The Sacred Smoke. Entry 010 covered frankincense in its cosmological and ritual aspect. This entry extends the pharmacological depth with emphasis on boswellic acids — one of the m...
immune nervous respiratory digestive integumentary
Entry 033 · Tier 2
Valerian
وَلِریان (Valerian) / سنبل الطیب (Sunbul al-Tayyib — 'Good Spike/Fragrant Spike')
Valeriana officinalis L. (and V. sisymbriifolium, V. hardwickii on Iranian Plateau)
Spenta Armaiti (Spandarmad)
The Sleep and Peace Plant. Valerian's Persian name — Sunbul al-Tayyib (Good Spike) — reflects its long history in Persian and Islamic medicine. Avicenna documented it extensively i...
nervous cardiovascular reproductive digestive
Entry 034 · Tier 1
Fig
انجیر (Anjir)
Ficus carica L.
Vohu Manah (Bahman)
The Ancient Fruit of Wisdom. Ficus carica is one of the first plants ever cultivated by humans — archaeological evidence from the Jordan Valley dates fig cultivation to 11,400 year...
digestive respiratory metabolic integumentary cardiovascular
Entry 035 · Tier 1
Walnut
گردو (Gerdu / Gerdoo)
Juglans regia L.
Vohu Manah (Bahman)
The Brain Nut. Juglans regia — the Persian walnut, the Royal Walnut — originated in the region stretching from the Balkans through the Caucasus and into Central Asia, with its cent...
nervous cardiovascular metabolic immune integumentary
Entry 036 · Tier 2
Lavender
اُستوخودوس (Ostokhodus) / لَوَند (Lavand)
Lavandula angustifolia Mill. (L. officinalis Chaix)
Spenta Armaiti (Spandarmad)
The Brain Broom. Persians, Indians, and Tibetans named lavender 'the broom of the brain' — a medicine that sweeps the mind clear of agitation, grief, and confusion. In Traditional ...
nervous cardiovascular respiratory integumentary immune
Entry 037 · Tier 2
Cinnamon
دارچین (Darchin — 'Chinese Wood') / قِرفه (Qerfe)
Cinnamomum verum J.Presl (= C. zeylanicum Blume) — Ceylon/True Cinnamon
Asha Vahishta (Ardibehesht)
The Royal Bark. Listed among the top 14 'simples' — single-plant medicines that can be used alone — in Avicenna's Canon of Medicine (Volume 2). Also in Hippocrates, Dioscorides, an...
metabolic cardiovascular digestive nervous immune
Entry 038 · Tier 1
Persian Black Cumin / Mountain Cumin
زیره سیاه (Zireh Siah — 'Black Cumin') / زیره کرمانی (Zireh Kermani) / شاه زیره (Shah Zireh — 'Royal Cumin')
Bunium persicum (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch.
Shahrevar (Khshathra Vairya)
The Royal Cumin of Iran. Bunium persicum is native to the mountainous regions of Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and northern India — growing wild in the Alborz mountains, Zagros ...
digestive respiratory nervous immune metabolic
Entry 039 · Tier 2
Cardamom
هِل (Hel) / هِیل (Heil) / قاقُله (Qaquleh)
Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton
Vohu Manah (Bahman)
The Queen of Spices. Cardamom is second only to saffron and vanilla in value per weight — and unlike either, it is consumed daily across the entire Persian world. Every cup of Pers...
digestive respiratory cardiovascular nervous oral
Entry 040 · Tier 1
Pomegranate Rind & Leaf Medicine
پوست انار (Pust-e Anar — 'Skin of Pomegranate') / برگ انار (Barg-e Anar — 'Leaf of Pomegranate')
Punica granatum L. (see Entry 002 for full botanical)
Haurvatat (Khordad)
The Extended Pharmacopoeia of the Sacred Fruit. Entry 002 established pomegranate fruit's role in Zoroastrian medicine and its ellagitannin chemistry. This entry documents the equa...
digestive immune metabolic integumentary oral