Herb Magic: Bountiful Burdock

When I moved into my little cottage in the woods two years ago, one of the things I fell in love with was the abundance of plant life on the property that was ready for me to forage. While derping around on my hillside, I noticed a lot of prickly little balls (get your minds outta the gutter, you filthy heathens) attaching themselves to my socks, shorts, and the dog. Naturally, I thought to myself, “Self, we gotta figure this one out.” They looked like thistles… sort of… but weren’t. Turns out I’ve got a bumper crop of burdock growing right in my back yard. It’s one of those cool herbs that I’ve used magically for years, but had never seen it growing… and now it’s all up in my business.

Burdock has a long history as a medicinal herb, so when it comes to magic, it’s super useful for healing work. Michelle Gruben over at Grove & Grotto points out, “Burdock is employed mainly for cleansing and protective magick. Like many witchy herbs, its magickal functions appear to be connected to its history as a medicinal plant. Burdock is a natural diuretic reputed to cleanse the urine and purify the blood—hence, its use in formulas to “flush out” negativity.”

With cool folkloric names like Beggar’s Button and Happy Major, the use of burdock goes back hundreds of years. During the Middle Ages, healers in Europe, as well as China and recommended brewing it into a tonic to purify the blood. It was so popular that eventually people were slurping down burdock tonic and chewing on the roots to also used to treat everything from constipation and other intestinal issues to hair loss and arthritis. What’s cool is that burdock was also strung around doors and windows to ward off lightning strikes — I have no idea how effective this was, but it was a thing, because in the Germanic countries burdock was called Toennersbladen and associated with Thor, the god of thunder.

The burdock plant is also pretty darn nutritious, so if I’m ever lost in my own back yard, I don’t have to starve. The roots are said to boost the immune system, and the leaves can be eaten as well — although as I learned last summer, if you don’t harvest them young, they get kind of bitter-tasting.

So, magical uses? Given that it’s associated with both healing and protection, try one of these ideas:

• Plant burdock around your home (or just let it grow on its own, like mine does) to protect your property from negativity and evil.
• Use the root, dried, in protection sachets
• Place the fresh leaves in the room of someone who’s feeling sickly
• Mix dried bits into an incense blend and burn for purification rituals
• Sprinkle it in your bathwater for a healing bath when you’re unwell
• Brew a tea by infusing about an ounce of dried burdock in two pints of water — reduce it down to a single pint by boiling it — and then drink it for overall wellness. You can also use this as a skin cleanser, particularly if you suffer from dry skin.*

*As always, here’s my standard disclaimer: I am not an herbalist nor am I a medical professional; my interest in herbs is strictly magical and folkloric. Before ingesting any herbal remedy, be sure to do your homework to be sure it is safe for you personally to do so.

For more cool info on burdock, check out these links:

• Gardening Know How: History Of Edible Burdock Plants
• Edible Wild Food: Burdock, a Valuable, Vigorous Vegetable
• Mathias, M. E. (1994). Magic, Myth and Medicine. Economic Botany, 48(1), 3–7
• Maud Grieve’s Modern Herbal: Burdock