Nettle Leaf, Dried Cut & Sifted Herb (Urtica Dioica)

Description ShareTweetPinLinkedInPrintEmail Nettle Leaf, Dried Cut & Sifted Herb (Urtica Dioica) HERB COMMON NAME :  Nettle HERB SCIENTIFIC NAME :  Urtica Dioica OTHER NAMES :  Stinging Nettle, Devil’s Plaything FAMILY :  Urticaceae ASSOCIATIONS & CORRESPONDENCES : Element: Fire Planet: Mars Direction: South Zodiac Sign: Scorpio Chakra: 2nd Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana) Energy: Yang Gender: Masculine Rune: Dagaz, Feoh Deity or God / Goddess Association: Thor   Parts Used:  Leaves, Seeds Description:  Nettle has been used in Europe for centuries as food in early spring when other sources of food were scarce, as a nutritive spring tonic and to build the strength and milk production of pregnant and lactating women and livestock and as medicine for various conditions. Hippocrates recorded 61 medicinal uses of the plant in the fourth and fifth centuries BCE. Nettle is also called stinging nettle because the leaves are lined with stinging hairs that inject histamine into the skin when handled or brushed against, although they readily drop off when introduced to hot water or steam. Nettle is one of the first herbs to emerge in early spring and because the leaves are rich in calcium and other nutrients, it is considered a valuable tonic herb. While whole leaves are cooked like spinach or roasted to make crisp snack chips, dried nettle is used in teas or simply sprinkled into cooked foods and smoothies. Cut and sifted nettle leaf is commonly used in herbal tea blends, although it is also frequently encapsulated or tinctured. Around the third century B.C., Hippocrates’ Greek contemporaries prescribed nettle juice externally to treat snakebites and scorpion stings and internally as an antidote to such plant poisons as hemlock and henbane. Roman soldiers flailed themselves with nettles in cold climates because the herb’s sting warmed their skin. This practice, called urtication, evolved into how it is still used today for the joint stiffness of arthritis and the intense joint pains of gout. Some German researchers have shown nettle juice and infusion help relieve the pain of gout. Early European herbalists touted nettle tea for cough and tuberculosis, and strange as this sounds today, the herb was smoked to treat asthma. Herbalists also prescribed nettle to treat scurvy and stop bleeding, particularly nosebleeds. Somewhere along the way, nettle juice gained a reputation as a hair growth stimulant, and it remained an ingredient in hair-growth nostrums well into the 19th century. Seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper believed that the decoction of the leaves in wine was good to provoke women’s menstruation. American Indian women believed drinking nettle tea during pregnancy strengthened the fetus and eased delivery. They also used it to stop uterine bleeding after childbirth. Early settlers adopted this use, and nursing mothers also used nettle to increase their milk production. In Germany, where herbal medicine is more mainstream than it is in the United States, physicians prescribe nettle in the treatment of high blood pressure. Nettle increases urine output and increases the removal of uric acid. The diuretic action makes it useful for edema, arthritis with swollen joints, and congestive heart disease. The root is indicated in BPH and uterine hemorrhages. Is specific for nervous eczema. Historical Uses:  nutrition, breastfeeding, snake bites, scorpion stings, insect bites and stings, poison antidote, arthritis, joint pain, gout, cough, tuberculosis, asthma, allergies, hay fever, itching, hives, scurvy, stopping bleeding, nosebleed, hair loss, hair growth, baldness, alopecia, high blood pressure, anti-inflammatory, inflammation, antiseptic, mild hypoglycemic, diuretic, anti-hemorrhagic, hemostatic, detoxifier, vasodilator, circulatory stimulant, hypotensive, nutritive, galactagogue, astringent, expectorant, anti-allergic, reduces BPH, anti-rheumatic, edema, swollen joints, swelling, congestive heart disease, uterine hemorrhage, nervous eczema, antibiotic, stimulate menstruation, ease childbirth, stop uterine bleeding after childbirth Mystical Attributes:  Stinging nettle is mentioned in the Nine herbs charm. Nettle can be burned to drive out negativity or unwanted spirits. It can also be used in protection bags, our ground into a powder and used in spells to break curses. Nettle is an ancient herb of protection. Use it to send back the evil or curse by sprinkling it around the home or stuffing a poppet with it or carry in a sachet or amulet. Brooms made of nettle are used to sweep out evil and send it back. Burn it to avert danger; hold to keep ghosts at bay. Place freshly cut nettles in the sick room to speed recovery. It has been believed that nettles were of such healing power, that a fever could be dispelled by plucking a nettle up by the roots and reciting the name of the sick as well as the names of their parents. One of the traditional rites of consecration for an athame calls for Nettle to be added to the herbal wash into which the heated blade is plunged. Combine nettles with yarrow to help take heart against deep fears. People carry a bit of nettle to protect against lightning strikes. Children who wished to study witchcraft in the Kawaiisu tribe had to walk through nettles as practice. Nettle also plays a role in fishing magick. Nettle makes a great tool for knot magic. This magick herb also has been associated with death and burial customs. Bronze Age burial cloths have been found that were woven of its fibers. In the highlands and on the islands of Ireland, people believed that nettles grew from the bodies of the dead. In Denmark, people thought that nettles grew from the blood of innocent victims. Welsh folk believed that if fresh nettles put under the pillow of a sick person stayed green, the person would live, and if they turned yellow, that person would die. Mystical Intentions:  nutrition, negative energy, banishing evil, protection from curses, breaking curses, repelling curses, protection from evil spirits and ghosts, health and healing, consecration, fearfulness, protection from lightning, fishing magic, hunting, knot magic Other Uses: Nettle was once widely used for its stem fibres which were retted and spun like flax. In Denmark, burial shrouds made of the resulting cloth have been found dating back 5000 years or more. Native Americans used the fibre for making fishing nets and for cordage. Archeologists have discovered nettle-fabric burial shrouds at Bronze Age sites in Denmark. In Les Miserables, one of Victor Hugo’s characters calls nettle fabric as strong as canvas. And during World War I, when cotton was in short supply in Germany, nettle cloth was substituted. Nettle leaves produce a green dye that was used in wartime Europe the make camouflage and is used to this day in Germany to keep canned vegetables looking a healthy green.   Taste & Smell:  The Nettle flavor is similar to spinach. Botany, Cultivation & Harvesting:  Nettle is a perennial plant that thrives in woodlands and other shady areas throughout Europe and eastern North America. Nettle grows to 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) tall in the summer and dying down to the ground in winter. They are perennial down to -30°F/-30°C and can grow in warm climates as well. It has widely spreading rhizomes and stolons, which are bright yellow as are the roots. The soft green leaves are 3 to 15 cm (1 to 6 in) long and are borne oppositely on an erect wiry green stem. They have a strongly serrated margin, with a cordate base and an acuminate tip with a terminal leaf tooth longer than adjacent laterals. It bears small greenish or brownish numerous flowers in dense axillary inflorescences. The leaves and stems are very hairy with non-stinging hairs and in most subspecies also bear many stinging hairs (trichomes), whose tips come off when touched, transforming the hair into a needle that will inject several chemical irritants. Nettles grow in partly shaded temperate regions in meadows, forest edges, waste spaces and cultivated beds. It prefers a moist, rich soil. Sow seeds in spring in a cold frame, only just barely covering the seed. Allow to germinate 10-14 days at room temperature. Transplant the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle, and plant them out in the summer. Or transplant to full sun/partial shade, spacing the transplants 8-12” (20-30cm) apart. Division succeeds at almost any time in the growing season, plant divisions straight out into their permanent locations. Harvest the whole plant during the middle or at the end of the growing season. Pick just before the flowers open. Wear heavy gloves. Hang the plants upside-down to dry and cut the dried parts up for later use. Store dried nettle in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Do not allow animals to romp in nettles. Contraindications & Toxicity: Hypersensitivity or allergy may occur. The symptoms are pharyngeal constriction and aggravation of sinusitis and rhinitis. Some people are very sensitive to this plant and will have a rash for several days after encountering it. The fresh leaves cause wheals due to the formic acid is the nettle hairs. The stinging hairs of this plant are composed of silica (glass) and break off in the skin, injecting a venom. The spines can go through light clothing or cotton gloves. Handle nettles with heavy gloves. High amounts or long-term use may increase urine output and the effects of certain medications, including diuretics and blood thinners.   Constituents: Leaf: Acids (carbonic, caffeic, chlorogenic, formic, silicic, citric, fumaric, malic, oxalic, succinic), Amines (Ach, betain, choline, lecithin, histamine, serotonin), lignans, flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol, and rutin), Nutrients (Vitamins A, B2, B5, C, K , Ca , silicon), chlorophylls a and b, dietary fiber & protein, nitrates, sterols, tannins, glucoquinones Root: Polysaccharides, lectin, lignans, coumarins, triterpenes, sterols, tannins, phenolic acid. Glucoquinone Calcium Silicic acid Potassium Iron Flavonoids Amines Phenols Sterols     Sources: https://spiritartsandherbs.com/sources **IMPORTANT INFORMATON: Products are sold as curio items for entertainment purposes only and based upon historical and magical uses.  We do not imply or guarantee that any items provide specific abilities, powers, outcomes, remedies, or treatments. Any information provided on listings or through private conversation is intended for educational purposes only and are based on historical folklore and traditions, and should not replace the advice of a physician. Use our products at your own risk. By purchasing this item, you understand and release Spirit Arts & Herbs Inc from any liability. No items we sell are for internal use and should never be ingested for any reason. Some may also not be safe for topical application, or even be safe to touch while unprotected. Always use proper safety precautions when using our products. We will not be held responsible for illness, injury, or death from the use of any product. PRODUCT IS NOT A TREATMENT. This product has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. CAUTION : Do not use ANY product if pregnant or nursing. Do not use if allergic to any ingredients. Prior to use, consult with your professional health-care provider to ensure safe use and understand effects that ingredients may cause relative to safety, personal conditions, and medication interactions which may be harmful. FOR ADULT USE ONLY. By purchasing, you confirm that you are over 18 years of age. Keep out of reach of children and pets. Do not use more than recommended by your healthcare professional.  Purchase of this product indicates that you have read, understand, and agree to Spirit Arts & Herbs Terms and Conditions. Many of our products are hand made to order. Once orders are in processing, products are non-cancellable, non-refundable, and not returnable. Shipping times may be up to 3-4 weeks. ShareTweetPinLinkedInPrintEmail Related