I met teasel today. I had been looking at it in the fields for several weeks. To be honest, I hadn’t known what it was until last month when I first read Matthew Wood’s The Book of Herbal Medicine, though I’ve been seeing it for about six years.

Since I couldn’t find any teasel plants that had not yet bloomed- the root is the part used in herbal medicine- I cut several flower heads with the intent to make a flower essence. Hitherto I have not posted about flower essences but with teasel it was either make an essence or hope to find some plants in a good place at some point. Being an impatient person but rather well-versed in making my own essences, I chose that route.

There was enough sun left in the day for me to set out the flower in spring water to imprint. I checked on the essence a little before dark and had the impression that it wanted to be left in the dark for a while, I honored the feeling and left it for about an hour. When it felt “done”, I brought the glass into my cottage and, per my usual practice in proving the essence, took a hit off of the mother essence.

I felt very warm and then felt the sensation of a large teasel flower head beginning at my heart and growing to the top of my head. The flower enlarged until it was the size of my entire body. My knee hurt- my bad knee but it felt like things were moving inside. My injured back also felt like the muscles were being manipulated- rather like when I had physical therapy and the therapist was stretching the fascia. I felt more connected to myself than I have for a long time.

Matthew Wood says that teasel “restores what is broken”. Whether you believe it is a placebo- I feel like some of my ability with my back and knee have been restored. I feel like parts of myself have been restored. I am looking forward to finding a first year plant to tincture the root so I can see if its properties hold up to the essence.

One last note- Teasel is sometimes successful in helping to cure Lyme disease. I’ll probably write another entry on teasel in herbalism after I meet the tincture.