Nettle have a long history of use as food, medicine and even as a fiber for cloth. Let’s highlight the health benefits of stinging nettle.
“Let him
Who was love’s teacher, teach you too love’s cure;
Let the same hand that wounded bring the balm.
Healing and poisonous herbs the same soil bears,
And rose and Nettle oft grow side by side. “– Ovid
When I was a child, a Nettle patch was something you stayed away from. Nobody taught me about the gifts Nettle can offer us. Now that I got to know this marvelous plant, I love it.
History & lore
Nettle, as I found out, loves to grow in places where iron was left to rust.
Nettle maintains a profound connection to iron, evident in Hans Christian Andersen’s symbolic fairy tale where 11 princes, turned into swans by a wicked stepmother, regain their human form by wearing Nettle gowns woven by their young sister. While Nettle has historical uses in clothing, the legend suggests a profound link to iron in the body.
This tale carries symbolic weight, especially for those familiar with anemia. Anemic individuals often experience a sense of “floating,” detachment from the body, difficulty focusing, and forgetfulness. Iron, a vital component of blood, acts as a grounding force, allowing us to fully incarnate and find our center.
This vital interconnection of blood and iron is expressed in the Hebrew language; 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 native plant, large amounts of iron, trace minerals, fat, and chlorophyll. It is the herb for debility when the body needs to get moving again.
Clinical uses of nettle
Clinical uses of nettleNettle for the urinary tract
Nettle’s botanical name “Urtica” means urine in Greek. it strengthens the kidney and the adrenal gland and nourishes the liver, and is a blood purifier that is used to remove uric acid from the body. Urtica can stimulate the body to expel metabolic waste, therefore healing rashes and eczema.
Nettle foe women reproductive system
Nettle supports women in all life phases. Blend nettle with raspberry leaves, for nourishing the adrenal glands and tones uterine tissue, alleviating cramps, mood swings, and fatigue during menstrual cycles. Combine of nettle, raspberry, and borage leaves to creates a potent tea for new mothers, offering nutrients for both mother and baby through nursing. During menopause, a combination of nettle, sage, oat straw, raspberry leaves, and borage leaves helps reduce hot flashes, sweating, and fatigue, providing support through this transitional period.
Nature invented death in order to have abundant life.
-Goethe
Nettle for the joints
Urtication – flogging with Nettle – is a folk medicine used to create inflammation and warmth to treat stiff joints, paralysis, rheumatism, sciatica, varicose vein, and arthritis. The stinging results from histamine, a substance that Nettles, fire ants, and bees have in common. Histamine triggers an inflammatory response that attracts fluids, immune cells, nutrient, and heat (energy) to the afflicted area, assisting in healing and improving flexibility in stiff stagnant tissue.
Nettle role in biodynamic agriculture
“The role it (stinging nettle) plays in nature by virtue of its marvelous inner structure and way of working is very similar to that of the heart in the human organism”
-Rudolf Steiner
Adding Nettles to manure in biodynamic preparation 504 helps transform the manure into a living substance sensitive to the environment and infuses it with the cosmic power of warmth. The Nettle, a Mars plant, like the human heart, is sensitive to the iron levels in its environment. It radiates iron that enables its neighboring plants to keep their integrity. The nutritional and medicinal qualities of these herbs are enhanced.
The psychological profile of the nettle person
Stinging Nettle flower essence helps ground those who lack nurturing and support and have a weak self-identity because of childhood trauma. It strengthens the core of such a person, and through this strength, he or she can support others. Nettle can also benefit those whose body-soul fusion has been incomplete or is damaged due to trauma. As the Nettle plant is nurturing nearby plants, strengthening their unique healing oils and essences, the person with a firm body/soul fusion supports the essential beingness of those with whom they have contact.
