Deep Spirits

by **Sabina** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:15 pm

"When I ask Cobain if 'Penny Royal Tea' is about indigestion, he half-laughs. 'Penny royal tea is a herbal abortive,' he says. 'I threw that in because I have so many friends who have tried to use that, and it never worked. The song is about a person who's beyond depressed; they're in their death bed, pretty much.' Cobain's own bout with serious stomach pain was well documented last year. 'Yeah, it did rub off on the song,' he admits. And I couldn't help noticing the 'Canadian' reference to a Leonard Cohen afterworld. 'That was my therapy, when I was depressed and sick. I'd read things like Malloy Dies by Beckett, or listen to Leonard Cohen, which would actually make it worse,' he laughs."
From an interview with Kurt Cobain, October 1993

Nirvana: Pennyroyal Tea

However....
In 1994 a 24 years old woman was trying to induce an abortion using tea with pennyroyal extract and died. She used it for several days, longer than it was recommended, and she died. Just like that.
You may also want to know that Pennyroyal essential oil is highly toxic and even a small dose can be deadly.
Not to be toyed with for sure.
Pennyroyal tea is safe in limited quantities.... but there are definitely safer alternatives for indigestion (which is also one of its purposes).

by **Rachel** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 9:55 pm

*rushes off to Google Pennyroyal tea* How fascinating - I've never heard of that. Of course I've heard of abortive properties of some herbs/potions but I've never heard the word Pennyroyal.

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Pennyroyal Tea

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