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Magickal Weeds

Posted in Articles, Day to Day on May 22nd, 2009

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When I first came to Germany I realised that most people here did not have a clue about old herbal remedies.  I remember years ago being with a crowd of other children and mothers when a small girl fell into nettles and was covered in stings, obviously screaming and not one mother knew what to do. 

I scooped up a handful of dock leaves, scrunched them up and started gently rubbing the leaves on the girl’s skin over the rashes.  Within a few minutes the little girl stopped crying and went merrily on her way to continue playing. 

Unfortunately, instead of being thanked for helping, I was shunned and all the mothers looked at me as though I just escaped from the local loony bin, they walked gingerly away and left me standing there, alone, with my two sons.

Since then I have managed to explain to the locals that nature provides many instant remedies for burns and stings.  People are more accepting of my witchy herblore ways now as I have helped many, many people since then and have now built up trust throughout the community.

However, for those who still don’t know what I am talking about. I decided to take these photos this morning and share the knowledge of natural healing with nature.

Stinging Nettles

Stinging Nettles.
Can cause nasty burning sensation and intense itchy rash when contact with the skin.  Notice the Dock Plant to the right on the photo.
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Dock Leaf

Dock Leaves.
These are found in and around patches of stinging nettles.  These plants can be quite small but also quite large. They are broad leafed, smooth, and often have mottled red patches on the leaf.
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Treating nettle rash with a Dock Leaf

Pick a Dock Leaf.
Scrunch it up in your hand to release the natural oil.  Gently rub on the skin that has been affected by stinging nettles.  Then wrap the leaf around the area for a few minutes.  The sting should disappear in under a minute and the rash should go down within 5 minutes.
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I hope this has helped those of you who don’t know this instant remedy.  Try it, it really works.

6 Responses to “Magickal Weeds”

  1. on 23 May 2009 at 1:14 pm1PRH

    I think you might have overlooked something about applying those leaves on the girl’s skin in order to make them feel better – “A Woman’s Touch!” :-)
    —————————————————————-
    I to believe that there are many plants that can do much,much better then those you can buy from a store.( I mean,where do you think some of them came from anyways – hello folks! ) Sure,they might have some extra added smell and placed in a fancy bottle … but… one is paying for that stuff too – sometimes really well!
    Your something very special Sandy and that adds to that beauty you already happen to carry around from place to place and it’s a pleasure to know you the ways I do Hun! – Very interesting post from one of the world’s most dear souls!! -

    Thanks for helping to open people’s eyes with those sample pics too!!
    xx

  2. on 07 Jul 2010 at 7:48 pm21 male

    i was wondering if this would work after two days of coming in contact with the nettles??

  3. on 15 Jul 2010 at 11:47 am3Sandy

    After two days the poisen has already broken down. I don’t think it would help as much as using a leaf right away but all I can say is “try it!”. :)

  4. on 17 Feb 2011 at 10:25 am4adrian

    Hi Sandy,

    Your comments on the disdain of the locals after the nettle incident (people fear what they don’t understand) made me think you might like to read a book which made a big impression on me recently, “The Island” by Victoria Hislop. It centers on the Leper Island of Spinalonga, just off Crete. The main character gives a lot of relief to the other symptoms of leprosy with her herbal remedies.

    Kind regards,

    Adrian.

  5. on 19 Mar 2011 at 8:12 am5shamrock

    Hi!!! all yes the dock leaf has alot of ways of useing it for certain infections rashes e.t.c if there is cuts or raw tissue that is infected try scrunching it up if it dont work put a few leafs in a pot with a little bit of water and boil for a minute then add it to the infected area and use bandage or plasters to hold in to place this really works good my self i use it for rashes and deep infections.

  6. on 30 May 2011 at 4:53 pm6Tanner Krogman

    Hi Sandy,
    I’m so glad I found you blog because I’ve been using Dock leaves for just about everything for a long time. I got online to figure out what it was that I was using and I ran across your blog when the picture of (I’m assuming you) you putting a leaf on a child’s hand showed up in my google results…it looked like the same leaf I use so I followed it back here. About 5-6 years ago, a friend showed me the plant when we were out in his field and told me how to use it. A couple years later I started working at a Christian, kids Day-camp (in Nebraska) and had more than enough opportunities to use my knowledge of this remedy. (It never really occurred to me that Dock leaves grew around nettles but now that I think back, it makes perfect sense.) I can identify with your experience with the mothers who treated you oddly after you helped their children. Fellow counselors, administrators and the occasional parent have all given me weird looks when I start to smear green plant pulp on their children…people do indeed fear what they don’t understand dont’ they? In gearing up for the summer, I recently went out and gathered a bunch of Dock leaves, ground them up (wet), and put them in a bottle so I could have a supply of it ready and wouldn’t have to go out and get more all the time. I’m refrigerating it at the moment because I’m not sure if it will or how fast it will go bad. (any idea?) I’m also thinking of dehydrating the leaves and making a powder that can be mixed with water. I thought it would be more portable. One final note: you and anyone else who reads this may find this interesting, I just gave some to one of my family members to use on a cold sore and it removed the sting in about 5 min. Anyone know what this doesn’t work on? lol

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