Herb of the Week: Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Stinging nettle is one of those plants that many people try to avoid, yet it’s one of the most powerful and versatile herbs in both folklore and herbal medicine. With its sharp sting and soft, nourishing qualities, nettle is a perfect example of nature’s duality: both fierce and healing.

🌿 Folklore & Magic of Nettle

Throughout history, nettle has been woven into myth, magic, and daily life.

• Protection & Strength: Nettle was often carried or hung in homes to ward off negative energies and evil spirits. It’s also a symbol of resilience and inner fortitude.

• Threshold Herb: In some traditions, nettle is believed to bridge the realms of life and death, making it a plant of transformation.

• Thor’s Plant: In Nordic folklore, nettles were connected to Thor, the thunder god, offering protection against lightning.

• A Plant of Dualities: With its stinging hairs and healing properties, nettle embodies the idea of opposites: painful yet restorative, fierce yet nourishing.

• The Shapeshifter: Stories sometimes present nettle as a shapeshifter archetype, reminding us that appearances can be deceiving.

🌱 Nettle in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

In TCM, herbs are described through their energetics, qualities like taste and temperature that guide their effects on the body.

• Temperature: Usually considered cool to neutral (though some sources describe it as warm).

• Taste: Salty, sweet, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Each taste has meaning:

  • Bitter helps cleanse and reduce excess heat

  • Sweet nourishes and harmonizes

  • Pungent promotes circulation of Qi and fluids

This multi-faceted profile reflects nettle’s wide-ranging influence on the body.

🌟 Medicinal & Nutritional Benefits

Modern herbalism values stinging nettle for its rich nutrient content and supportive properties:

• Nutritive & Strengthening: Packed with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that help strengthen and nourish the body

• Anti-inflammatory: Traditionally used to ease inflammation from arthritis and joint pain

• Anti-allergic: May help relieve seasonal allergies and skin conditions like eczema

• Diuretic: Supports healthy fluid balance and urinary function

• Hemostatic: Historically used to stop bleeding and support recovery in hemorrhagic conditions

Many herbalists also recommend nettle tea or infusions as a simple, everyday way to benefit from its strengthening qualities.

🌿 The Lesson of Nettle

Nettle teaches us about boundaries, resilience, and balance. It’s a reminder that true strength often has both edges: protection and nourishment, challenge and healing.

✨ Want to dive deeper into the healing power of herbs? Explore more in our Herb of the Week series, featuring wisdom from the Healing Plants Oracle Deck, illustrated by pioneering herbalist Elizabeth Blackwell.

⚠️ DisclaimeThis post is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before using nettle or any herbal remedy, especially if you have medical conditions or are taking medications.