Dandelion Wanted!

[EmeraldMist]

Merry meet
I'm just wondering if anyone has any dandelion root/leaf info for anything from charms, potions, cooking, lotions, etc.
I always thought dandelion to be a pesky little weed...until recently haha!

Blessings

[-Dark-Moon-]

I use it for house blessing

[Xiao Rong]

Both the dandelion root and leaf are edible, and the dandelion has been used medicinally for centuries.

From http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-foo ... cipes.aspx:

All parts of the dandelion are edible and have medicinal and culinary uses. It has long been used as a liver tonic and diuretic. In addition, the roots contain inulin and levulin, starchlike substances that may help balance blood sugar, as well as bitter taraxacin, which stimulates digestion. Dandelion roots can be harvested during any frost-free period of the year and eaten raw, steamed, or even dried, roasted and ground into a coffee substitute. The flowers are best known for their use in dandelion wine, but they also can be added to a salad, made into jellies or dipped in batter to make dandelion fritters. The leaves are rich in potassium, antioxidants, and vitamins A and C. Dandelion greens can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled, sautéed or braised. For use in salads, greens should be harvested from new plants while still small and tender, before the first flower emerges. Larger greens tend to be tougher and more bitter, and better suited for cooking.

I personally love the idea of using what's in nature, growing wild, especially when plants like dandelions are so resilient and abundant, and you could take as much as you wanted and there'd probably still be plenty left! However, as with all plants, exercise caution and don't take dandelions from areas that have likely been treated with pesticides and herbicides, or by roadsides where they're covered in car exhaust.

[-Dark-Moon-]

Wow I had no idea you could eat them

[EmeraldMist]

Well, sounds and looks like I'll be harvesting some dandelions after my busy summer months of work! My yard is full of dandelions. I'm away from toxins and pesticides so this will be perfect! Thank you

Blessings

[Firebird]

Dandelion root is an excellent liver tonic, and I put the leaves in salad all the time, use the flowers in scrambled eggs. It is a very beneficial weed. You should be able to get the fresh leaves at farmers markets (or your yard, do be sure of what you are digging up) The root is readily available at health food stores in the form of capsules, tincture and sometimes fresh extracts. This root is magical to me in all the qualities it has. The dug up root can resemble a human in it's shape and is also substituted for mandrake in charms that are not meant to be consumed.
Blessings, Firebird

[Kassandra]

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They're quite dandy, a one-stop-shopping kind of herb.

Dandelions: Edible and Medicinal Uses



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[EbonySunset]

I must have the healthiest little guinea pigs around, they eat dandelions like there's no tomorrow! My garden is full of them, I never knew they were so versatile, perhaps the piggies will spare me a few now and again!

[Firebird]

here's pic for I.D.

[Xiao Rong]

How about magical associations?

From http://marispai.huginnpress.com/2012/02 ... dandelion/

Dandelion is a rare creature in that it is seen as both a solar and a lunar plant, with the yellow-petals being its solar stage and the white, puffy seedhead being lunar. As such, I would use it as a balancing plant. Furthermore, it is linked to the planet Jupiter and associated with Sagittarius ...

In both Ireland and Scotland, the dandelion has links to Brigid. The plant is Bearnán Bríde in both Irish and Scots Gaelic, meaning ‘the indented one of Brigid’. This association is believed to be because it is the first flower to bloom after her festival (Imbolc). Its milky sap was believed to nourish the newborn lambs and there were charms involving dandelion and other wild flowers to protect milk vessels.

The game of blowing away seedheads has many variants — telling the time, how many years until you get married, loves-me-loves-me-not — and this is reflected in some of the folknames ...

These folk-beliefs are reflected in the magical uses of the dandelion plant in divination or granting wishes and in calling spirits. It is said that the seedheads can carry messages to absent loved ones, and that the roots run so deeply as to touch the underworld. There are magical flourishes, too, in the use of dandelion as a healing herb — the curing of warts with dandelion milk had ritualised elements to it: you had to gather the flowers before dawn, apply the milk nine mornings in a row and say your prayers while applying it.

I love the idea of using the dandelion for wishes! Plus, I have always held the dandelion as a personal symbol of spring, resilience, life emerging in unexpected places ...

[Kassandra]

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Dang. We were just all over this one, weren't we? lol


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[Lillady]

I came across this also highly useful information about dandelion. Love herbal medicine and magick!!!!

http://kitchenwitchuk.blogspot.com/2010 ... -uses.html

[Khaleesi]

I actually throw in dandelion in my juicer every morning (along with some other fruits and veggies). Bitter, but works wonders for the body!