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Ashwagandha
Withania somnifera
The calming adaptogen for stress, sleep and vitality.
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- 20linked sources
The research
▶ 49 min
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Planets & cycles · Plants & herbs · Video research · The Sun · Sajah Popham · Hawthorn · Angelica · Ashwagandha · St John's wort
The Sun's herbs: heart, warmth, vitality and spirit
In medical astrology the Sun rules the heart and the vital force, and Sajah Popham matches its four sides with four herbs: hawthorn for the heart, angelica for warmth, ashwagandha for vitality and St John's wort for the spirit. The astrology is the old one — Lilly in 1647 gave the Sun “the Heart, the Brain and right Eye, and vitall Spirit”. The evidence behind the herbs runs from strong to none: St John's wort matches antidepressants for mild to moderate depression; hawthorn eases heart-failure symptoms without saving lives; ashwagandha has small trials for stress and sleep; angelica has no trial of its own.
1647 Lilly: the Sun “governeth the Heart, the Brain and right Eye, and vitall Spirit”
9 min read · 12 sources (9 peer-reviewed)
▶ 6 min
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Plants & herbs · Video research · Mind & nervous system · Ashwagandha · The Sun · Sajah Popham
Ashwagandha, the calm adaptogen
Sajah Popham's herb of the Sun's vitality is ashwagandha, the Ayurvedic rasayana: gently warming, building strength without overstimulating, calming but not sedating, and balancing the immune system. In small trials, mostly in India, ashwagandha root extract lowered cortisol and stress scores and improved sleep; two 2025 reviews agree on cortisol but disagree on whether people feel less stressed. His claim that it raises iron rests on one student's blood test. The lesson leaves out its cautions: rare liver injury, effects on the thyroid, and a ban in Denmark.
15 trials, 873 people: anxiety, stress and cortisol fell at 8 weeks
7 min read · 10 sources (8 peer-reviewed)
The videos
Each one is summarised and fact-checked in its entry, with every claim timed to the video.
- The Sun's herbs The Plant Path with Sajah Popham · 49 min · checked in “The Sun's herbs: heart, warmth, vitality and spirit” Read the summary → YouTube ↗
- Ashwagandha for vitality: the Sun's herbs The Plant Path with Sajah Popham · 6 min · checked in “Ashwagandha, the calm adaptogen” Read the summary → YouTube ↗