The Traveller’s Sorrow
There are moments when distance sharpens emotion.
A letter arrives too late. A memory comes without warning.
The landscape feels unfamiliar, and the heart becomes heavy with places and people no longer close
enough to touch. This tincture was made for the quiet ache - the grief that travels,
the longing that visits at night, the homesickness that sits behind the ribs like a stone.
Not to numb feeling, but to help the heart soften instead of harden.
The Caravan Heart Tincture
Grief Ease • Homesickness • Emotional Softening
Old-World Origin
Among travellers who crossed long distances - sailors, merchants, camel riders,
and messengers - grief was common. Loss happened while away.
Farewells could not be undone. Healers offered floral heart medicines:
Rose to soften heartbreak. Hawthorn to strengthen the emotional chest
Dates or honey to comfort the spirit. Citrus flower to bring hopeful breath
These were often brewed in secret, gifted inside cloth bundles, and shared between travellers
who couldn’t return home in time to say goodbye.
This formula honours the intimate medicine of the heart.
Ingredients (120 ml)
Heart Herbs
✶ 1 tsp dried rose petals
✶ 1 tsp dried hawthorn berries (lightly crushed)
✶ ½ tsp dried lemon balm
✶ ½ tsp dried orange blossom
✶ ½ small slice of dried date or ¼ tsp honey
Alcohol Base
✶ 150 ml French rosé-based liqueur Rosolio (if unavailable: a light, floral Cognac or fruit eau-de-vie)
Non-Alcoholic Base
✶ Raw apple cider vinegar (with the mother)
✶ Tiny drop of honey or date syrup (optional)
The Preparation
Crush hawthorn berries gently. Add rose, lemon balm, orange blossom,
and the small piece of date into a clean glass jar.
Pour over the spirit or vinegar base until fully covered.
Seal, then wrap in soft cloth or scarf material - travellers believed heart medicines must be held close
by warmth, fabric, and comfort. Keep in a dark, quiet place for 28 days,
shaking gently once or twice a week.Strain through muslin,
bottle in amber glass, and mark with a heart-line symbol (two curves crossing like a journey).
How to Use
✶ 3 drops on tongue during sadness or longing
✶ 5 drops in warm water before bed for emotional release
✶ 1–2 drops under the tongue when homesick
✶ 3 drops over wrist pulse during grief (inhale deeply)
Symbolism
✶ Rose - softness of heartbreak, healing through gentleness
✶ Hawthorn - fortress of the emotional heart, strength without hardness
✶ Lemon Balm - comfort for anxious sadness, steady breath
✶ Orange Blossom - hopeful spirit, quiet joy after tears
✶ Date/Honey - sweetness after sorrow, compassion toward oneself
✶ Rosolio/Cognac - warmth that doesn’t burn, emotional safety
Intention
"May my heart feel what it must, without closing.
May distance deepen love instead of wounding it."
Author’s Note
This tincture came from my own homesickness - a lesson that grief does not need to be cured, only held with tenderness.
It remains one of the most human medicines in my traveller’s apothecary.
CaravanSerai Gypsy