Chapter from Healing Plants of the Bible
Senna
Cassia senna
Leguminosae
Exodus 3:2-4 And the angel of the lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush , and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And moses said, I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. When the lord saw that he turned aside to see, god called to him out of the bush . Moses, Moses, And he said, Here I am.
Acts 7:30 Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush . Acts 7:30
There is a lot of debate as to exactly what plant spontaneously caught fire while Moses was out on his walk. This is one of the most popular lines in the Bible and as such biblical scholars have tried doubly hard to figure out what plant spontaneously combusted. I am bored by the debate and will spare you the details. If you read someone else you are
likely to see another plant listed as the burning bush. I am of the mind that the plant in question is the senna plant. The word in the Hebrew Bible for this bush is sneh. This word is remarkably similar to the Arabic word, seneh. Seneh in Arabic refers to the plant Cassia senna. Cassia senna in English is senna. The plant is native to the region, specifically native to Egypt and Arabia. You know what lies between these two pieces of real estate, the Holy Land. The Sinai, known as the Wilderness of Sin, may have gotten its name as a large stand of senna trees once grew there. It is my conclusion that the burning bush was the senna tree.
Senna pods are world famous for one action and one action alone. Its a powerful laxative. It may or may not have been the burning bush, but it will give you a burning desire to visit the toilet. It has always been a laxative and it will always be one. 2000 years ago the constipated sought relief in its leaves and pods. They will do the same 2000 years from now.
Maude Grieve, in her book, “A Modern Herbal” gives an interesting account of how cassia got to the market in her day. I am including this story as I think it shows how spices moved about the ancient world. Because so many of the plants discussed in the Bible were imported, it will shed light on many of the spices that made their way to the Holy Land spice market. Her account comes from Ignatius Pallem. “Two crops(of senna) are collected annually in Nubia, the more abundant in September, after the rains, the other in April,in dry seasons a very bad one. The plants are cut down, exposed on the rocks in hot sunshine until thoroughly dry, then stripped , and packed in palm leaf bags, being sent thus on camels to Essouan and Darao, and by the Nile to Cairo or via Massoway and Suakin on the Red Sea. It is made up at Boulak, near Cairo, under the superintendence of the Egyptian government, though much adulteration takes place there. The leaves are loosely packed, and as they curl when drying, often present this appearance, while Indian senna is packed tightly, and the leaves come out flat.”
The journey the senna leaves or pods made by camel back and boat along the Nile to Cairo reported by Grieve in 1930 is an ancient route. From the earliest day, senna was shipped far and wide from the ports of Cairo. Because the Israelites had their own supply, they would not have had to buy this medicinal plant from the spice merchants. The best senna came from Egypt and physicians working at the time the Bible was happening may have preferred the Egyptian senna to the local material.
In Dr.Lloyds book on the history of medicinal plants, written at the end of the last century, we learn more about senna as a travelling commodity. “Senna leaves are from two species of cassia, one of which is native to Nubia and the other sections of Africa, while the other abounds in Yemen and Southern Arabia as well as in some parts of India, where it is cultivated for its medicinal use. The cultivated plant, originally the product on Arabian seed, furnished the leaves known in commerce as Tinnevelly senna. The drug was introduced into Western Europe by the Arabians, and in this connection it may be stated, that, notwithstanding its present abundance in some parts of Africa, according Isaac Judaeus, a native of Egypt who lived about 850-900 AD, senna was brought from Mecca to Egypt. In early Arabian medicine the pods of the senna were preferred to the leaves. This writer found senna in the Orient, carried in shops selling foods and provisions, as well as in the Oriental bazaars, it being everywhere a familiar domestic cathartic. Its native use introduced the drug to medicine and antedates historical record.”
Imagine the incredible journey these spices and medicines made so long ago. More importantly, imagine the lives of the people that carried the goods from Nubia to Rome, or from Sri Lanka to Arabia. Their life could not have been easy. Their caravans were prime targets for ambush and the highways they travelled were not paved. Practically speaking, getting herbs prior to the age of plastic from point A to point B, dry, was an accomplishment. When you read “imported plant”, imagine where it came from and how that would have happened.
Senna, unlike our other biblical plants, had a very singular purpose. It was a medicine and a medicine only. It did not make a refreshing beverage, it did not make a nice smell, and it was not used in cookery. Unless the cook had a sick sense of humour.
Gerard knew it, and said the following of senna. “It is a singular purging medicine in many disease, fit for all ages and kindes. It purgeth without violence or hurt, especially if it be tempered with anise seed or other like sweet smelling things added, or with gentle purgers or lenitive medicines. It may be given in powder, commonly the infusion thereof is used.” Let us not forget, when Gerard was writing bleeding and purging were standard treatments. Physicians thought that disease was caused by humors or spirits having settled on the body. The humour had to be exercise out of the body and bleeding and purging people was a way to do it. Senna was another plant used to empty people of spirits affecting their health. Barbaric is the word I like to use when it comes to these European practices.
Doctor Scudder,writing in 1883, knew the plant well and repeated what Gerard had to say of it, ” Senna is a safe, prompt, and very efficient cathartic, and may be employed in all cases where an efficient cathartic is required. It does not, however, act so efficiently on the secretions as do many others, yet it produces copious alvine evacuations. (bowel movements). It is not infrequently producing tormina, but this is readily counteracted by combining it with sacharine matter, as sugar, manna, etc, or by the addition of bitartrate or bicarbonate of potash, or aromatics, as dill, fennel, peppermint,etc. The tendency which this agent has to irritate the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, renders it objectionable in all cases where a predisposition to that state exists.” Tormina is a great word and it refers to the sensation that occurs just before you have a massive bout of diarrhoea. How delicate! As I said earlier, senna might be called the burning bush for a variety of reasons.
Another American Physician, Doctor Fyfe, writing in 1911, says more of the same, “Indications: irritation of the gastro-intestinal canal, producing colic, cases requiring a purgative effect. In large doses senna is a safe and efficient cathartic. When used in doses sufficient enough to produce its purgative effects it is usually associated with other substances, such as manna, etc, to correct its gripping. In small doses it gives speedy relief in flatulent and bilious colic. A domestic tea is made by adding one half to on tablespoon of senna leaves, with a teaspoonful of fennel or caraway seeds, to a cupful of boiling water.”
I think we can conclude that senna is an effective laxative. It is the world opinion. The reason it works so well is due to the chemicals, sennosides, found in the leaves and the seeds of the tree. Like aloe, the New Testament laxative, senna’s action is three fold. It has the following actions which result in bowel movements.
1. It Increases the colonic mucous membranes excretion of water.
2. It Decreases the colonic mucous membranes absorption of water. 3. It Increases the intensity of the colons contraction by stimulating the nerves of the colon.
The end result is that bowel movements occur. Like aloe, the drug works overnight, so you take it before bed and in the morning, all hell breaks loose, so to speak. Using it to treat occasional constipation is reasonable, using it to treat chronic constipation is a mistake. If you can’t go to the toilet without the help of laxatives you have a problem and you need to see a health care practitioner. It is not natural to be unable to empty your bowels on a regular basis. I would not wait for the problem to sort itself out. Get help and get the problem solved.
There was a time in western medicine when a bizarre form of medicine came into being. It was called heroic medicine. In heroic medicine, the treatment was worse than the disease. People were bleed and purged to within an inch of their life, sometimes for the simplest of conditions. Leaches were grown in great quantities as they made bleeding a little less painful. During this period, the Egyptians did a big business in the senna trade. The sadists passing themselves off as physicians felt senna one of the best purgers around. The sick part is that doctors of the day believed they were doing their patients a favour. They thought heroic medicine was good medicine. You get a glimpse of the positive light in which they saw the practice in Gerard’s lines.
“If sene be infused in whey, and then boyled a little, it becometh good physicke against melancholy, clenseth the brain , and purgeth it, as also the heart, liver, milt, and lungs, causeth a man to looke yonge , ingendreth mirth, and taketh away sorrow, it cleareth the sight, strengtheneth heating, and is very good against old fevers and diseases that arise of melancholy. As you can see, a good old fashioned purging would do wonders for anyone. Scary.
According to Gerard, a little near death experience made a man look younger. I bring this up as heroic medicine still exists to an extent today. Electroshock therapy is being used by the modern sadists known as Psychiatrists. Any medical technique that damages the body is of questionable utility. I believe medicine is meant to assist the body heal itself, not heap more damage upon it. I recommend all my patients carefully review the medical treatments they receive. A high blood pressure medication that destroys the liver may not be worth taking. A treatment for a skin condition that destroys the immune system is a questionable medicine. We have a legacy of heroic medicine and in a strange way, medicines that damage the whole, while treating a part, are entirely acceptable to the medical establishment. Ask questions and make an informed decision before taking any drugs or subjecting yourself to any treatment.
Getting back to senna, as I said, it is effective in the occasional case of constipation. There are better ways to accomplish the same goal. Most contemporary herbalists are of the same mind. Joe Nasr, had some words to share, ” Senna is a widely used laxative. It is called Sena makeah, and is mainly imported from different parts of africa. It is quite irritating and is usually mixed with chamomile or fennel to reduce the griping it causes. It is a good cleanser if there is a retention of faeces which is allowing toxins to be reabsorbed into the body. I warns against the habitual use of the drug as the anthraquinones will eventually cause damages to the myenteric plexus, or the nerves which serve the bowels. After a time the nerves no longer react normally and people require a stronger laxative. It is now it being used in mixtures for slimming, an improper and potentially dangerous use.”
Animals, living in the wild, do not get constipated. The only reason people get constipated is because they eat an entirely abnormal diet. Every patient I have with chronic constipation has a ridiculous diet. They eat artificial food all day long, have no fixed eating schedule, and they wonder why they are constipated. They do not wonder for long when in my care. You were meant to eat fresh fruit and vegetables three times a day. If you suffer from constipation, change your diet before you start taking laxatives. There is a link between constipation and a number of nasty diseases, constipation is more than an inconvenience. The Israelites believed in a healthy lifestyle as the first course in the treatment of disease. This is a sound approach and one you should adopt.
In the case of occasional constipation, herbal medicines like aloe and senna are safely used. It is not appropriate to use them in lieu of a healthy lifestyle! Spread the word as it is a message that needs to be passed around. Millions of pounds of senna still make their way from “Nubia” to the modern spice markets. Practitioners are aware that most of the people taking senna take it on a regular basis. This is good for the Egyptians but is not good for the client