Barberry and Healthy Personal Boundaries

Barberry refers to several species in the genus Berberis. All of the herbs in this genus contain berberine, a yellow-colored alkaloid with antimicrobial properties. In this article we're talking about the main species of barberry. The common barberry from the Old World, Berberis vulgaris, the American species, B.canadensis, and  Japanese barberry, B. thunbergii.

Barberry is illegal to grow in many areas because it is a host for a fungus, Puccinia graminis, which causes stem rust in wheat and related grains. However, you’ll often see barberry shrubs planted around government buildings, professional offices, and banks. In Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, herbalist Michael Moore makes some humorous observation about this. 

 “Somewhere in the United States is a secret school that rigidly trains landscapers of public buildings and places to always plant Oregon Grape and or Barberry around the town square... You can always make midnight runs on government spaces to get Barberry or Oregon Grape… I have come to the conclusion that Republicans plant Barberry and Democrats, Oregon Grape.”

Whether this is true or not, there is an interesting difference in the energy of Oregon grape, which is also in the Berberis genus, versus barberry, which I’ll discuss later. Meanwhile, let’s talk about some of the medicinal uses of barberry.

Benefits of Barberry

Although the berries and stems of barberry have been used for medicine, the bark of the root is the strongest medicine. It is used to stimulate bile flow and aid conditions such as gallbladder pain, gallstones, and jaundice. It combines well with fringe tree and turmeric for gallbladder problems

It’s also used for GI tract infections, such as amebic dysentery and cholera. It reduces intestinal irritation and helps balance the gut microflora in cases of intestinal dysbiosis or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). It also stimulates digestive secretions.

Barberry is an alterative, used to clear up morbid conditions in the body, and may be combined with other alteratives such as burdock, dandelion, yellow dock, and red clover for this purpose. It helps to clear up skin conditions such as dry psoriasis and eczema, as well as acne.

The Energetics of Barberis Plants

There is a practical reason for planting barberry in public places. Being a very thorny shrub, it serves as a form of traffic control; it keeps people from cutting through the landscaping. It can also be planted underneath windows to discourage intruders from breaking and entering. This suggests that barberry has a protective energy. 

Oregon grape is prickly as well, but the thorny part is the leaves, not the stems. Oregon grape flower essence is used for people who are “prickly” because they are paranoid. They anticipate that other people are out to harm them and thus project ill intent where none was intended.

Barberry Flower Essence

While I’ve never used barberry flower essence, it is available for use. One company says that it “Aids one in accepting and assimilating all aspects of life, the bitter and the sweet.” I believe that’s a signature for bitters in general. I’ve long felt that bitter medicines help us learn to deal with the bitter experiences of life, thus learning to “take the bitter with the sweet.”

But I think a more specific use of barberry is to help a person who lacks healthy boundaries. I’ve often observed that people who were abused as children have difficulty with this. Their ability to defend themselves appropriately has been compromised. I really like the way the Earth Lodge blog describes this use.

"Barberry… takes delicate conditions and fragile energies and gives them a major boost. It helps raises immunity and increases our resistance—to pain, stress, disease, seasonal allergies, anything at all that would generally weaken us loses its power in the face of barberry. Barberry works by creating an auric field of protection around the body. Tired of being afraid all the time? Tired of feeling like a victim? Feel like you need round-the-clock protection? Barberry is a great friend."

Barberry and Dissociative Identity Disorder

Using barberry to reinforce the protective energies of the body makes perfect sense to me, and meshes with something I learned many years ago in an herbal workshop. The presenter, Dr Anand, went through a case study where he used barberry to help a woman with dissociative identity disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder. He had never worked with someone with DID, so he decided to start with her physical health problems, giving her barberry for her chronic vaginitis and UTIs. 

As she took the barberry, her personality began to reintegrate, which he documented with several videos. This led him to reexamine cases where he had used barberry in the past. In many of these cases, he found that where there was chronic vaginitis and urinary tract infections their was also a case history of sexual abuse. He came to the conclusion that "these physical symptoms may be acting as a defense mechanism for the emotional wounds of the patient," and that "we all contain separate personalities within us. But in the case where there has been severe physical or sexual abuse the split becomes too great." This is where a remedy like barberry can help to reestablish personal boundaries and relieve the need for such debilitating defense mechanisms.

Personal Boundaries and the Immune System

Personal boundaries are important for helping us to define what is of the self and what is not of the self. They help us to distinguish what is our responsibility and what is not our responsibility. Another way of saying this is that they distinguish what each of us is in control of and what we are not in control of. A person with healthy personal boundaries recognizes the need to control themselves but knows they cannot control the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others. They may seek to influence or persuade others, but they recognize the rights of others to make their own choices and have their own thoughts and beliefs.

A person with healthy boundaries also refused to allow others to control them. Again, they may allow themselves to be persuaded and influenced by others, but they recognize their right to say no to things that violate their ethics or would cause them undue stress. They can also defend themselves against people who seek to harm them. 

Healthy boundaries function socially as the immune system functions physically, and both of these functions are connected. The immune system also has to recognize what is part of the self and what is not part of the self, and to distinguish between what constitutes a threat to the body and what does not. 

The immune system needs to act in balance. If it fails to recognize and respond rapidly to a threat, an infection can take root. But if it overreacts to harmless irritants, there are allergic reactions to otherwise benign substances. The immune system can even attack the self in autoimmune disorders.

I have repeatedly observed that chronic immune problems with the immune system are often linked to unhealthy personal boundaries and that this is often a sign of childhood abuse and trauma. The holistic medical doctor, Hugo Rodier, has also observed this link. He's observed that people with multiple health problems have typically been abused as children. So it makes sense that many immune-enhancing herbs also work on an energetic level to support healthy self-esteem and personal boundaries. Examples include Oregon grape, echinacea, yarrow, garlic, and barberry.

I believe that dissociative identity disorder (DID) is closely related to the breakdown of personal boundaries. Modern society describes it as a person’s sense of self becoming fragmented and compartmentalized. Traditionally, someone with DID would have been seen as possessed by spirits or demons. And in the context of a spiritual world, the breakdown of personal boundaries could open someone to being influenced or even taken over by other spiritual entities. But whichever explanation you believe in, it appears that barberry assists the person with their sense of self and personal boundaries, either by integrating the fragmented personality or by reestablishing the personal identity that “casts out” the other spiritual influences. 

Using Barberry

To treat GI tract infections, skin problems, inflammation of the throat and tonsils, or liver congestion, you can take barberry in capsule or tincture form. The dose would be 1-2 capsules several times a day or about ¼ teaspoon of a tincture 3-4 times a day. For gallstones, take it in combination with fringetree bark and turmeric. To reduce inflammation and detoxify the liver, it can be used as part of a traditional blood purifier or alterative formula combined with herbs like dandelion, burdock, and red clover.

If you’re using it for emotional reasons, to strengthen personal boundaries, and possibly help with DID, use drop doses (1 drop once or twice a day of a tincture) or take it as a homeopathic or flower essence. Avoid using barberry during pregnancy, and be aware that taking excessively large doses can cause nausea and vomiting.