Oak Don’t Curse the Dandelion by Oak

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

 

(with numerous excerpts from James Green’s book)

We’ll begin this medical journey outside our dwelling place, where the wild things are. Herbal medicine lives outdoors, where nature spirits arouse our enchantment, and our vitality is naturally quickened. So, if you are not already outdoors reading these words, please, weather permitting, step outside with me and we’ll find Taraxacum officinale, a most notorious wild plant.
This is the plant that herbalists, children and poets call the Dandelion. Many other people call it a weed and treat it rather rudely.
Let us refer to it as a wild medicinal plant and perceive the extract we are about to make with it as an herbal tonic. Our intention is to connect with a plant spirit and with its alliance create a nutritional preparation that is easy to assimilate and can be relied upon to help our digestion, our liver, and our kidneys to feel good.
Common Dandelion grows about everywhere. It should be fairly simple for you to discover this flowering ally as they are one of the most common medicinal herbs that live with us in our neighborhoods. While many homeowners attempt to remove these wily weeds from their lawns every year, there are others that look at it quite differently. In China young Dandelion greens are eagerly harvested to enrich their diets, along with Purslane and Kudzu, which are two more weeds we tend to curse in this culture.

Keep in mind that there are other plants that, at a casual glance, look similar to a dandelion. Fear not, though, as there are no toxic or poisonous lookalikes in North America. The Dandelion has a single golden-yellow flower head sitting atop of each individual flower stalk. These flowers open and close with the sun. The flower head can be up to 2 inches wide. They grow from 2 to 18 inches tall and have no other stalks branching off of them. Each Dandelion stalk is straight and unjointed, growing separately out of a base having a rosette crown of numerous bright green leaves. The mature flower can transform into this globular seed head (faerie’s afro) overnight. The Dandelion’s leaves are 3 to 12 inches long with deeply serrated edges.

Once you have found some Dandelions, harvest the entire plant including the root, leaves, buds, blossoms and seed heads (if present). If some of the root breaks off and remains in the ground, then great! This will generate a new plant from the partial root. Now that you have identified and harvested this plant; offer gratitude for its life. Consider leaving an offering, like a strand of hair, prayer, song, story or whatever; plant spirits are known to be deeply touched by such gestures. Ensure that the plants you harvest are of a green color and not dried or brown as these are no good and possibly sprayed with herbicide. Clean the dirt from the roots and remove any foreign materials, then spread them to dry slowly. I have found an old window screen works perfectly as it allows air to circulate on all sides which prevents molding.

Since I have covered the process of tincturing in a previous post, I will refer you to that post for the process of forming a simple and preserved tincture of Dandelion that you may keep on hand for daily dosages. As far as an adult dosage, 1 teaspoon 3 to 4 times a day should produce the desired results. Remember; don’t take any food or herbal remedy every day. Take the remedy for 6 days a week with a random day off. Also, if the flavor is a bit tough to swallow feel free to put the dosage into a small glass of water or juice to make it more palatable.

When used to affect your body directly, common Dandelion is one of the finest foods and medicines found in the herbalist’s material medica. Young springtime Dandelion leaves have a pleasantly bitter aromatic flavor that blend well with other fresh salad plants. They also contain a rich load of bitters and micro-nutrients, especially the minerals potassium and calcium, as well as vitamins A and C. Regular use of Dandelion extract often relieves the uncomfortable maladies commonly experienced in the upper and lower digestive tract such as poor digestion, gas, nausea, and constipation.
In general, Dandelion stimulates and supports many glands and organs, especially the kidneys and liver. It has a tonic effect on the kidneys and encourages kidney function with its diuretic action, while at the same time it increases the body’s potassium content, rather than depleting it as other diuretics commonly do. It is also a liver and gallbladder tonic that stimulates the healthy discharge and flow of bile. When taken over a period of 4 to 6 weeks, it works as an efficient preventive agent for gallstones.
Aside from fresh salads and tincturing I will also introduce other folk methods of making use of the wonderfully active Dandelion.

• Boiled in vinegar, it is said to ease trouble with urination. A decoction (boiling in water) made from the whole plant is said to cure the yellow jaundice. Just remember decoctions are made for immediate use and do not store well.
• Dandelion juices also have external uses in the treatment of acne, boils, eczema and similar skin disorders. A decoction can also be used here as well.

There is also some Lore associated with the Dandelion as mentioned in The Master Book of Herbalism by Paul Beyerl.

It is said that a dandelion in one’s dreams is a sign of difficult times ahead. What is often failed to mention is that these times are of advantage to the wise, signifying times of change, and can be understood and worked into a better situation.

In weather magic, seeing the fluff blown free from the head of a dandelion without the presence of wind is a sign of coming rain. Though the Dandelion’s planetary association is Jupiter, the Dandelion observes the Sun, closing the flower when dark clouds are overhead.

Other magical uses mentioned in Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs are divination, wishes and calling spirits.

• To find out how long you will live, blow the seeds off the head of a Dandelion. You will live as many years as there are seeds left on the head.
• To tell the time: blow three times at the seed head. The number left is the hour of the day.
• The root, when dried, roasted, and ground like coffee, is used to make a tea. This infusion will promote psychic powers. This same tea, steaming and placed beside the bed, will call spirits.
• To send a message to a loved one, blow at the seed head in his or her direction and visualize your message.
• Dandelion, buried in the northwest corner of the house, brings favorable winds.

Green, James. (2000). The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook. Crossing Press, New York.