Hand collected and naturally dried wild herbs from the mountains of Crete. Dittany or Dictamus is also known as Erontas (the herb of youth) and is renowned for giving strength and vitality. Enjoy a cup of this invigorating drink which is suitable for headaches, neuralgia, period pains, stomach and liver problems and is also an aphrodisiac. Also helps throat pains while it acts against diarrhea and acme. It is antiseptic and anti-inflammatory.
In Ancient Greece, Hippocrates prescribed plant cures to aid all manner of ailments, and considered dittany of Crete useful for stomach aches and complaints of the digestive system and as a poultice for healing wounds, as well as inducing menstruation.[5]
The Greek philosopher Aristotle in his work The History of Animals (612a4) wrote: “Wild goats in Crete are said, when wounded by arrow, to go in search of dittany, which is supposed to have the property of ejecting arrows in the body.”
The Greek scholar and philosopher Theophrastus agreed with Aristotle about the healing properties of dittany of Crete. In his work Enquiry into Plants, he noted that dittany was peculiar to Crete, and that it was “said to be true, that, if goats eat it when they have been shot, it rids them of the arrow” (9.16.1).
Other scholars of Ancient Greece and later have made reference to dittany, but probably referred to Dictamnus albus, known as false or white dittany.
Today, the wild, naturally grown dittany of Crete is classed as “rare” and is protected by European law so it does not become extinct. The cultivation now centres on Embaros and the surrounding villages, south of Heraklion, Crete, and is used to make herbal tea and for use in natural beauty products.
