Blessed Thistle#

Blessed Thistle is an annual flowering plant with a fibrous and somewhat wooly touch. It grows to between 1-2 feet tall and takes about two years to complete its growing cycle.

About#

In herbal literature, a reoccurring theme surfaces, the use of Blessed Thistle to restore and promote milk flow for a mother. What has been often criticized are the accounts of women adopting babies and being able to nurse them by taking Blessed Thistle. One account of a blonde Caucasian woman who adopted a Navajo baby was able to nurse him naturally as if she had birthed him herself.

Another story recounts a young mother dying in a car wreck tragically leaving her baby in the hands of her young 17-year-old sister. The young girl came to Dr. Christopher, a renowned herbalist, and asked if there was any way she could nurse the baby naturally. Dr. Christopher put her on Blessed Thistle tea three times a day and in a few days she was nursing it and continued until weaned.

Botanical Names#

Cnicus Benedictus

Common names: Blessed Thistle, St. Benedict’s Thistle, Holy Thistle, Spotted Thistle, Carbenia Benedicta

Family: Asteraceae or Compositae (flowering plants)

Historical Use#

The Thistle of any variety is frowned on by farmers. It is seen as a nuisance and of little value. There was even an old English law that imposed heavy fines if farmers didn’t pull out Thistles within two weeks. However, in spite of the negative appearance and stigma, they have long been used medicinally in many cultures.

In 1568 the herbalist Turner wrote about the use of Blessed Thistle for headaches, especially migraines as well as other body aches. He personally prescribed it to improve memory.

Culpeper, another famous ancient herbalist wrote that Blessed Thistle was good for swimmers ear, yellow jaundice, ringworm, venomous bites, bite of a mad dog, boils, itch, and stated that it “clarifies the blood.”

Blessed Thistle is native to Southern Europe and Switzerland. It is one of the herbs classified as a “heal-all” because of its many benefits. Shakespeare wrote of it as the only cure for “the plague” and Brasbridge stated that no garden should be without it, for the health of the family and the neighbors.

According to legend, the great Charlemagne’s army had fallen ill to the bubonic plague.  As legend has it an angel appeared and told him to draw his bow and shoot an arrow and on whatever plant it fell that would cure the disease. The arrow, it is told, fell on the Blessed Thistle, which then became the emblem of the Order of the Thistle which was founded in France in the 14th Century.

Medicinal Use#

Coming soon…

Contraindications & Side Effects#

Coming soon…

Plant Properties and Nutrition#

Coming soon…

Preparations and Formulas#

Coming soon…