Magick Comfrey

Comfrey has been my new favorite herb for the last couple years. Initially I found the leaves would make a rich, low-cost fertilizer simply being left in a pail of water for several days. It got even better when I found out the huge leaves can be picked off and just laid around the base of plants (especially onions), and while decomposing, give off all sorts of rich nutrients.

Then I made comfrey salve, since the roots and leaves contain allantoin, a natural chemical that encourages cell reproduction and makes for some fast healing wounds.

I even discovered that at one time it was believed that a comfrey bath would repair the hymen, thereby creating born-again virgins. This has to be a useless endeavor if there ever was one.

NOW....I find comfrey has it's own magickal attributes as well.

Historically comfrey leaves were burned to help with concentration and divination, as well as to help the practitioner let go of unhealthy relationships or as an additional boost to love spells (very versatile characteristics there: letting go and bringing forth all at the same time).

Comfrey was (and is still) used in protective spells for travelers, and for guarding against theft.

And finally (of interest to a particular friend of mine who frequents casinos), there is an obscure mention of wrapping money in comfrey leaves for several days before gambling, as it will keep the money flowing in, versus out.

I'll settle for decent fertilizer and compost, but it's nice to know I have options.

Comfrey, Rosemary and Spearmint Oil Update

No time like the present...

So I went out first thing and cut some comfrey leaves, a few sprigs of rosemary, and went on and picked the tomatos (few romas, lots of cherries, and one almost-ripe big tomato).

The thing about making herbal salves is you really have to know what you're putting in them.

For instance, comfrey is a great salve to put on shallow wounds, bruises, skin scrapes, burns, etc. But you don't want too much of it getting into your bloodstream, therefore it isn't appropriate for deep wounds.

Comfrey (as we discussed yesterday) contains allantoin, which speeds up cell replacement. It speeds it up A LOT. For this reason never use straight comfrey salve on a dirty wound. It will heal right over the germs, and seal them in, causing an infection.

Therefore, when making an all-pupose salve, it helps to add an antiseptic herb. There's a long list of what plants are natural antiseptics, but for my purposes I usually pick rosemary.

Rosemary is my wonder drug of choice -easy to grow, drought tolerant, has been shown to fight cancer, regenerate skin cells, goes nice with a roasted turkey, and makes your hair shiny when added to your favorite shampoo. Note: in all of these examples, a little goes a long way.

This is all you need to make your own comfrey/rosemary oil. The olive oil can be virgin, extra-virgin, light virgin, or born-again virgin.

Chop the comfrey up. The leaves have hairs on them that can be uncomfortable to touch. I rinse the leaf off, shake it dry, then roll it up like a taco - the itchy hairs are on the inside then.

Shredded rosemary -I just use the little sprigs, no stems. As usual, each to their own, and I do know people that chop the entire sprig up.

Small pot warming the oil. Don't let it boil. On my stove it takes roughly 3-4 minutes on a 4 setting (out of 5).

Using any jar with a tight-fitting lid, fill it full to the brim with the chopped comfrey and rosemary mixture. Pack it tightly. The more leaves, the more potent the oil will be.

After the oil is warm, pour over the leaves. Cap tightly. Set aside for at least 24 hours.

Tomorrow we make salve. (If I can find beeswax today without running into town). If the mixture needs to sit longer, that's fine.

Meanwhile, remember back in June when we followed damselndistress and made spearmint oil (okay her's was peppermint oil, but it turns out you can do either or both)?

Mine's ready. Actually it has been ready since July 24, but there was no time.

Here's the steeping spearmint leaves in the oil (it's turned a very dark brown in the last month).

Actually it's not very pretty at all is it? But then I'm not Mary Poppins am I ? And this is suppose to be medicine, not candy.

Before storing this, all of the plant matter should be strained out.

This is what's left.

Peppermint oil can be used for headaches, asthma, fatigue (try a hot bath with a few drops of this oil added, or rubbing some on your temples for headache). I've also added it to generic hand lotion and it does wonders for skin that's dry, irritated, or for treating psorisis.

There are various sites that say you can add a single drop to tea (it's very high in Vitamin A and C), but I'm not excited about drinking it or ingesting it at all. That might be the dark peppermint oil, or the thought of tea itself, since I'm not a tea person.

And Miss Damsel says spraying cotton balls with it will keep mice away from their entry points, or even just spraying their favorite areas.

The mice in our house will probably gather up the cotton balls and make little scented pillows from them.

Wish me luck finding beeswax locally. Otherwise I will have to drive 25 miles, and making salve will be much less appealing.

Now What Do I Do With It?

This is my beautiful comfrey plant.


Actually this photo is a couple weeks old, and it's rained (a lot) since then, so now it's much bigger.

And it's an herb, and now I have to figure out what to do with it. Especially since it's a perennial, and will be back next year, probably laughing at me, if I can't figure out what it's good for.

So - besides having huge broad leaves, with fuzzy fibers all over them, loving full sun and lots of water - what else do I know about it?

It has beautiful, fairy-like tiny purple flowers.

It grows as a wild-flower in Britain, with a long history of medicinal use.

It is the herb formerly known as knitbone, and modern research has confirmed that it contains allantoin, which speeds up cell replacement and helps with bone injuries and ailments.

Comfrey has been used to treat everything from lung disorders (asthma, bronchitus), to broken bones and sprains, to arthritis and ulcers, as well as burns and acne.

It was also believed at one time that a comfrey bath would repair the hymen, thereby creating born-again virgins. (I wouldn't count on that one too much.)

Internal use (teas and such) is no longer recommended -although I know many who use it for that, but I don't, being the one who prefers to err on the side of caution.

But comfrey salve is wonderful and making your own is easy. (Look for a post shortly on making salve). It can be used on sore muscles, bruises, burns, rashes, etc.

This is what a proper comfrey bed looks, much bigger than my medium-size potted comfrey.The plants can be propagated simply by dividing the clumps (much like daylilies or irises).
It spreads easily and is hard to get rid of (like horseradish).


But if you have one of those proper beds of comfrey, the cut leaves make a great mulch for plants that like a lot of potassium (flowers, fruit or nut-bearing plants, also onions, gooseberries, currants, roses, potatos, tomatos).

The leaves break down into a thick black sludge, and a few added to your compost heap will produce heat, and help the rest of the compost plants decompose.

Or, if you have rain barrels, several comfrey leaves can be added, producing a manure tea after 4-5 weeks.

Such a sweet little plant in a pot, but capable of so many uses.

Look for the comfrey salve post in the next couple days.