Have you ever slept in a bed of Nettles? How have they helped you?

Vicky M.
Vicky M. Posts: 74 ✭✭✭
edited November 2020 in Wild Edibles & Medicinals

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  • Vicky M.
    Vicky M. Posts: 74 ✭✭✭

    I hope you don’t mind me sharing my Nettle poem with you?

    Here is a little about why I wrote the poem the way I did. To receive the true benefits of nettle one must be consistent with her use, we benefit over time and some may not see results right away, or one may even experience a detox or healing crisis depending on health issues. So, I felt the need to use repetition and alliteration in her song/poem just as she weaves thread after thread of healing nourishment into our being.

    Yes, Nettle softly spins and weaves whispers of herself into us... maybe that is why every time I tried to write a song for her it always came out in a whisper. Our relationship to nettle becomes so personal; she reaches down nourishing each cell in our body over time. As she tends to us, we can lovingly tend to her.


    Nettle Nettle Weave your Gifts of Green

     (Sung or Spoken Softly)

     

    Nettle Nettle weave your gifts of green

    For by and by precious blessings we’ve seen.

    With each bowl & cup, to you she tends.

    With loving tenderness, she does mend.

    Oh Nettle Nettle dear sweet friend.

     

    Nettle Nettle weave your gifts of green

    For by and by strong blood n bones you bring.

    With each bowl & cup, to you she tends.

    With loving tenderness, she does mend.

    Oh Nettle Nettle dear sweet friend.

     

    Nettle Nettle weave your gifts of green

    For by & by the old n frail strength will glean.

    With each bowl & cup, to you she tends.

    With loving tenderness, she does mend.

    Oh Nettle Nettle dear sweet friend.

     

    Nettle Nettle weave your gifts of green

    For by & by the pale are blushing lusty & keen.

    With each bowl & cup, to you she tends.

    With loving tenderness, she does mend.

    Oh Nettle Nettle dear sweet friend.

     

    Nettle Nettle weave your gifts of green

    For by and by mother’s milk a bonny babe brings.

    With each bowl & cup, to you she tends.

    With loving tenderness, she does mend.

    Oh Nettle Nettle dear sweet friend.

     

    Victoria 2018

     

  • Linda Bittle
    Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I haven't found a nettle patch here. I love them in soups, and find them really strengthening when I think to make an infusion.

    I used to pick them bare-handed and enjoyed the tingle that would last for hours. But, I think a bed full would be too much!

  • 7207chablis
    7207chablis Posts: 46 ✭✭✭

    I am confused about how you proceed. Do you lay naked on them? It must be very itchy! Or do you manage to master that it doesn’t itch?

  • Vicky M.
    Vicky M. Posts: 74 ✭✭✭

    Good morning,

    You make a very good point, laying on this bed of Nettles would be very itchy.  I do not lay on this bed of Nettles although I have used nettles on my hands as Mary Linda Bittle described above and Nettles - Urtica dioica have been traditionally used in urtification. As used by ancient Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans urtification involved thrashing oneself or another with bundles of Nettles to relieve the pain of arthritis or to warm the body. This therapy is still used today by some.

    When I pick Nettles bare-handed my hand become full of warmth and energy for days but contact with Nettles can cause a severe rash in some.

    The bed of Nettles pictured above will be used in healing teas and (NHI) nourishing herb infusions once dried. I harvest my little patch of Nettles about 3 times in early spring then allow the plants to grow out. When seeds form and become ripe I collect these powerhouses of nutrition.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @Vicky Morris I am also curious about this. I am familiar with urtification but how do you recommend sleeping with nettles? Is there a sheet between you and the nettles? I used to pick nettles bare handed and also enjoyed the sensation. I noticed that when I did this, mosquitoes did not bother me for several days afterward. However, my body seems to have reached its limits as about 4 years ago, I developed a severe rash after picking that took several days to disipate. Almost like a chemical burn, so now I wear gloves for picking.

  • Vicky M.
    Vicky M. Posts: 74 ✭✭✭

    Hi Torey,

    This is how I dry my Nettles and I do use nettles on my hands as Mary Linda Bittle described above and as you know Nettles - Urtica dioica have been traditionally used in urtification. As used by ancient Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans urtification involved thrashing oneself or another with bundles of Nettles to relieve the pain of arthritis or to warm the body. This therapy is still used today by some. The Nettles pictures above have dried, are a beautiful dark green, and contrary to some reports even dry these Nettles have a pretty good sting.

    When I pick Nettles bare-handed my hands become full of warmth and energy for days, however, contact with Nettles can cause a severe rash in some.

    The bed of Nettles pictured above will be used in healing teas and (NHI) nourishing herb infusions now that they have been dried. I harvest my little patch of Nettles about 3 times in early spring then allow the plants to grow out. When seeds form and become ripe I collect these powerhouses of nutrition too.