White dead nettle, dead-nettle or deadnettle (Lamium album) is one of the plants of ancient natural health. Native to Europe and Asia it a plant of healing, longevity, balance, unity, prosperity, attraction of fortune, spiritual awareness and the divine connection.
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White dead nettle looks similar to the stinging nettle but has no sting. It's native to Europe and Asia, favoring grassland or woods. It's called bee nettle as the plump white flowers are beloved by bees, especially bumblebees, and other long-tongued insects.
According to writer Mrs. M. Grieve (1931) a distillation of the flowers is reputed "to make the heart merry, to make a good color in the face, and to make the vital spirits more fresh and lively." Flowers can be taken as tea or distilled for essential oil.
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Distillation and extraction produce the essences of the plant. In practices such as alchemy and herbal medicine these can be recombined on the philosophy that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Distilled, extracted, crystalized or heated to transmutation, the plant can be combined with other plants or their reductions. The leaves and flowers are edible, used in soup, salad and stews.
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The flowers have a delicate taste with a sweet spot of nectar. In folk medicine white dead nettle tea is taken for urinary, kidney or menstrual problems. Reduced, macerated, crushed or boiled the plant makes a poultice for eczema, wounds and bruises.
Dead nettle combines well with other healing plants and can benefit from infusion of plant parts or oils from the rose family and those of the Asterids including rosemary, daisy, ash tree and nightshades. Some nightshades are toxic; others, like potato and eggplant, are not.
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White dead nettle connects to the Soul Star chakra. This chakra is often symbolized by a glowing white star and is considered the gateway of divine love and spiritual wisdom.
Naturalized in North America, Lamium album is found around the world on roadsides, in fields and hedges, and in sites of waste disposal where soil is nitrogen-rich. Usually the white dead nettle plant likes moist, fertile soils.
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Herbs and plants to boost the innate properties of white dead nettle include those of the mint family such as hyssop and lavender. Research and experimentation continues to discover the healing magic of white dead nettle.
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