Nettle may be one of the most infamous plant medicines that I’ve come across. Not only does almost everyone you meet have a story to tell about their experiences with Nettle, Nettle tends to grow in a place almost everyone can find. For many, Nettle has been the first invitation into relationship with plant medicine - whether they know it or not. They are a call to action embodied, via their sting, their long history and their broad spectrum medicine.
There are a few nettle patches at my mom’s acreage. My step-dad has been lovingly convinced not to whack them down until I’ve had my fill harvesting each early summer. Often, my harvesting time is mixed in with family gatherings - and as such, every time I harvest nettles I am followed by a keen family member asking questions and wondering how they might use nettles too. It’s been such a wonderful experience of family, to experience their curiosity and bring them into my herbal explorations - as far as my aunts and uncles letting me dose them with Nettles external medicine as an experimental treatment for arthritic pain, here and there! I have such gratitude for this common plant now, as a magician of opening doors and guarding thresholds, for these experiences and many others.
Sometimes I refer to Nettle as the seaweed of the prairies, because it holds some similarities to nutrition benefits found in ocean plants like kelp and other seaweeds. It also tends to have a salty flavour profile, which to me always reminds me of dishes with seaweed.
This week, as I was gathering nettle I noticed they seemed the happiest at the edges of spaces, or in the in between spaces. They nestled in under the lines of fences, took up residence in the corners of pastures, and tucked in behind gates. I’m always open to the metaphor, and as I fell asleep after an afternoon harvesting - arms humming with the stings - I was granted a night full of dreams that seemed to come from the spirit of Nettle directly: mind your step, know your path and with reciprocity we can nourish each other along the way.
Nettles are boundary keepers, though not so much so in a gate-keeping way. Anyone can pass through them - and yet not just anyone can move through them without consequence.
When harvested with mindfulness and intention, it’s not difficult to avoid the sting, whereas rushing through or careless passing by comes with a bite. One patch of nettle is usually all one plant, spreading by common runners under the soil. Nettle’s growth along pathways and fences speaks to its keen ability to hold us accountable to our paths. Interestingly, a few sources speak to Nettle’s affinity for growing in graveyards, yet another liminal space - connecting those of us earthside to those passed onto other planes. This is a plant that humans have in relationship across many cultures since ancient times, and such each time we engage in relationship with Nettle, we are remembering our ancestors.
Nutritionally, nettle is known for it’s vitamin and mineral content, carrying with it doses of vitamins A, C, E and K, iron, selenium, magnesium, zinc, calcium, potassium, boron, chlorophyll, silica, calcium and amino acids.
Medicinally, it’s uses have included inflammation management, histamine modulation, congestion relief, nutritional support for arthritis discomfort, supporting milk production in breast feeding mothers, genitourinary benefits through it’s diuretic, anti-inflammatory and nutritional properties, and as an all around nutritional support. Nettle can function well as a remedy for heat related conditions, internally via inflammation or irritations, as well as what presents at skin-level. Because of its nutritional load, I find it especially beneficial in menstruating systems, hyper mobility related concerns and systems that are navigating depletion for various reasons. Traditionally, their sting has been used to bring blood to the surface, alleviating joint pains and symptoms of rheumatism as it does.
Nettle says: expression allows the regulation.
Chronic concerns throughout the body can often be a product of a stagnant healing process. Many therapies work by re-engaging the body’s natural healing/immune response, which in turn can reinvigorate “stuck” processes. Rheumatic pain is a classic example of “stagnancy” in the system. Built up, inflammatory processes that have lingered - a vicious cycle attacking joints and immune reactions. The sting of the nettle has been intentionally used to bring heat and histamine to the surface - thereby bringing circulation and attention too. Circulation and attention are the main ingredients for change - where attention goes, energy flows as they say - and with flow and energy through moving blood and immune reaction, we can gain clarity and completion.
Nettle is a main character in most of the infusions I blend. It has something to offer almost anyone. This time of year, it can also be harvested for use in cooking - just like you’d use any other dark, leafy green. Don’t worry, the stinging needles aren’t active once the plant has ben harvested and cooked. Nettle Pesto is famous across various herbal blogs, and sautéed up along with chard, dandelion leaves, and other greens - it fits right into omelettes or other dishes. I add dried nettle leaf to broths through the winter too.
Nettles are a medicine of contrasts. Because of their sharp reputation, they teach us about care and attention. As a mover of blood, they help us shift what needs shifting while nourishing what needs nourishing. Not only do they call us to take action, they offer us the medicine of restoration.
Nettle medicine is a medicine of presence. They say “no really, pay attention to NOW.”, matter of factly and quite effectively. In my opinion, this is a medicine we could all use frequent doses of in today’s non-stop world. And yet in writing that, I think about how Nettle has been with our species for so long - perhaps they are also a reminder of things aren’t so different for us now as they have been in the past. The stressors we face in modern day may be louder and more technological - but the landscape of human concern has always needed remedies that anchor us back to the moment.
Nettle asks us to hold ourselves accountable to ourselves - to understand the difference between self-sacrifice and being of service. To recognize where loving one-another means building our capacity for witnessing the hard stuff, too. We can’t fix it all, all the time, but we can remain vigilant to meaningful care, attention, intention and mindful awareness as we walk through this life.
What has your experience been with nettle? What lessons have they offered you?
Sources:
https://theherbalacademy.com/blog/stinging-nettle-plant-a-spring-favorite/?srsltid=AfmBOoogSD0lI0vt0obuVoCpdD8RRUQA6d5MMRNS3v3mlEHBUMt1VUQt
https://www.wortsandcunning.com/blog/nettles-plant-profile
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9253158/
Medical Herbalism by David Hoffman
A Working Herbal Dispensary by Lucy Jones
Energetic Herbalism by Kat Meier