April 2024

Four Herbs 4 Detox

• Red Clover
• Stinging Nettle
• Yarrow
• Cayenne

The Water Element

Spring was traditionally a beginning. It marks the start of the growing season when farmers clean up the garden, prepare beds, and sow seeds.

In the same way that you will never dream of sowing seeds in soil still uncleaned from the waste of last year’s growing season, you want to prepare your inner garden for the new seedlings that grow in spring and summer.

The spring cleansing of the body, the soul’s home, originated from the spring cleanse of gardens and fields.

At the same time, the kidneys regulate the amount of minerals in the body. When you eat a salty snack, you feel thirsty and drink, which allows the kidneys to wash the excess salts from the body with your next run to the bathroom.

Herbs that support the kidneys in these capacities are diuretic and nutritive.

Diuretic herbs

Diuretic herbs help the body manage excess fluids, such as in cases of high blood pressure or edema. You might think of them as the people who manage water flow from a dam. When the water behind the dam rises, he will open the lever and release some water.

 Nutritive herbs

Nutritive herbs provide the body with abundant nutrients, usually minerals and proteins. They are considered power foods and can supplement your diet, support overall health, or address a specific nutrient deficiency.

Stinging nettle

In my garden, a stinging Nettle is beginning to peek its head from the dark soil.

Nettle is a diuretic.

Nettle is a diuretic alterative for damp conditions. Nettle is used for “bed blood syndrome,” when the extracellular fluid slows. The liver, blood, and lymph become stagnant. The cells are malnourished and bathed with toxins. People with different constitutions will express this condition differently. Some people express it through the skin, such as in eczema or boils. Other people might get these waste products deposited in their joints and get arthritis, stiff, swollen joints, etc.

Nettle will help dissolve waste products, precisely the type associated with protein digestion that tends to contain nitrogen and be acidic. Nettle can help the liver process the nitrogen and move it to the kidneys to eliminate it.

Two more conditions that might benefit from nettle diuretic and alterative action are gout and arthritis. In gout, uric acid crystals are deposited in the tissues, primarily in the toes (furthest away from the heart). Gout is painful and can be debilitating. In arthritis, minerals are deposited in the joint, causing stiffness and pain. Nettle helps break down mineral deposits in the body, flush the area, and move them to the kidneys to be eliminated.

Because it is a diuretic, it has an affinity to the kidneys. Nettle helps in urinary tract infections by flushing the kidneys and urinary tract.

Stinging Nettle nutritive power

Hans Christen Andersen wrote a fairy tale about 11 brothers, a prince, and their youngest sister, the princess I loved as a child. As the story continues, their wicked stepmother transforms the eleven brothers into swans, symbolizing Nettle’s relationship with iron. A crone instructed their younger sister to weave a Nettle gown for each one of the swans. Once they wore the Nettle gowns, they returned to their human form. Although Nettle was used throughout history for clothing, this beautiful legend symbolizes iron in the body. If you have ever had anemia, you will recognize the feeling of brain fog, being somewhat detached from your body, having difficulty focusing, and remembering what you meant to do. The human self is pulled out and is airy. The iron carried by the blood centers us and allows us to be fully embodied.

The vital interconnection between blood and iron is expressed in Hebrew; the word “Adam” means human, while “dam” means blood. Nettle, the “iron plant,” changes the entire energetic system. It contains more protein than any other wild plant, large amounts of iron, trace minerals, fat, and chlorophyll. It is the herb for debility when the body needs nutrition.

In the spring, you can find Nettle in waste fields near the compost pile in a partly shaded area. It grows in fertilized, humid soil, especially near animal waste.

Remember to wear long sleeves, pants, shirts, and gloves when you go forage for nettles. The sting of nettles, though healthy, is very harsh.

Nettle, a nutritive and diuretic herb, is a superpower for supporting the kidneys in their capacity to remove water-soluble toxins.

Nettle is associated with Mars, the planet associated with war, because of its sharp, serrated leaves and sting. The element of water rules it as it grows in damp habitats and has an affinity for the kidneys.

Nettle relates to the salt principle in alchemy, a hardening principle that creates forms and structures. Nettle is a nutrient herb rich in minerals that build the body’s blood, connective tissue, muscles, and bones. 

Nettle’s psychological profile presents a polarity between low-energy depression and high-energy irritated depression. Sluggish, groggy people have difficulty starting their day, indicating a sluggish liver. Once they get going, they can not stop.