Yule: Entry #2 Winter Solstice December 21, 2025

Winter Solstice...

Bright solstice dear readers,

I hope this finds you all doing well during this busy season.

Today started with waking earlier than usual to welcome the day in with candles and a bit of myrrh resin smoking in the incense burner. A little tribute to the return of the sun.

Today, the Winter solstice. Known too many cultures as the "sacred day between years."

Traditionally medicinal roots were dug today to be made into tinctures, as well as chopped and dried for use in salves and balms, which is why I find myself drawn to the garden today in search of Burdock, Elecampane, and Dandelion roots.

Its said that roots were always dug once the leaves died back, and the plant passed all its medicinal constituents back into the root, giving it more strength. The root, of course being the storage of its vitality. It's "Qi" beneath the earth.

The best advice I can give for someone who is digging roots for medicinal use, is to do it sustainably, and with respect to the Earth, and her gifts.

The plant will have the opportunity to grow back year after year if the soil around it is carefully loosened, and once you're able to remove it, to make sure a piece of the root is still left intact for the new growth in the Spring.

I've heard from other practitioners that if the root gives up to much of a fight, than its not meant for your medicine, and should be respectfully left alone for the season.

*Burdock/Articum Lappa ( Cooling,moistening, balancing ), a biennial, I find it best to harvest the tap root in the late Autumn after a couple of good frosts. If I'm not able to do it by Winter solstice, I wait until early Spring before the flowers begin to shoot up for its final push, and the seed pods start to form for its reseeding for next years new plants.

Burdock has been used internally as well as topically throughout history to remove toxins in the body and to balance internal fire, or "heat".

The root is very oil rich, which I can see when I use it in a broth. This is where a food is also used as a medicine.

Burdock is one of those wonderful gifts where the whole plant can be used for healing in different ways.

The root, which is very nourishing as a food, also has amazing detoxification abilities, like cleaning the liver, blood and urinary system. (Culpepper referenced it for use with a prolapsed uterus, and leakage).

The leaves can be used in salves, or as a topical application to help cool down rashes like eczema, psoriasis, poison ivy, or dermatitis, and have been used for centuries to clear the heat and help in the healing of a an old wound that just won't heal on its own.

If you missed the opportunity to harvest the roots...

The seed heads in the late Summer/early Autumn have been said to have a stronger action than even the root, and can be harvested, the seeds collected from them, and then tinctured or made into a tea, and used for hot, swollen, red throat, fever, and cough.

I have personally used them in my practice by making them into a strong decoction and applying them as a poultice to help cool a hot, blistery poison ivy rash, and they've worked like magic!

There isn't enough time in the day to say all I have to say about Burdock. It's one of my favorite herbs to work with.

Not to mention, the day is flying by and I have to finish this entry and get to harvesting before our daylight begins to fade, and Winter makes its true arrival.

*Elecampane/ Inula helenium ( warming and drying ), also known as "Elfwort"can be harvested in very much the same way. Although some folks have called this a biennial, I find it to be more of a herbaceous perennial. I've had a patch from the same root stock growing for several years now, in a sunny part of my garden.

I'm fascinated by this plant and all its medicinal properties. Besides being a wonderful respiratory herb, great for helping the body to move stuck, deep, mucus out of the lungs, it's also considered to be antiseptic, and antibacterial, and is known to be highly effective in deep bacterial lung infections.

On top of that I have recently read studies that show its exhibiting anticancer properties by inducing whats known as "apoptosis" which is the death of a cancerous cell thats forming.

It's also been known to inhibit tumor growth, by inhibiting signaling pathways that are involved in the progression of cancer formation.

So along with being a show stopper in the garden the potentials of this plants healing, and bodily support abilities are amazing.

Last but not least. There are so many other roots that can be dug now, these three happen to be my favorite to dig on this day. I use them the alot during colder seasons.

*Dandelion/Taraxacum officinal ( Bitter, drying, cooling ), also known as "lions tooth".

You can take a look at the "signature" of this plant and know it's wonderful for liver detoxification and health.

I'll get into "doctrine of signatures" in another entry, but for now, the yellow of this beautiful weed, that everyone seems to want to rid their lawn of for some reason, is a wonderful body digestive and liver support herb.

Another example of food and medicine all in one as well as a plant that can be used as a whole. Each part with a purpose.

The yellow flower head when macerated in a carrier oil can be used in salves and balms as an amazing pain and inflammation reducer.

The leaves... well let's start with how cooling and detoxifying they are to the body. I've used them in salads, soups and broths, as well as tinctured them and used them in formulas for liver and lymphatic detoxification, as well as helping to flush out toxins in the kidney's and help support the urinary tract.

Did I mention it's natural diuretic properties that can remove excess fluid and salts from the body, and help to lower blood pressure?

Remarkably, offering you a good source of potassium to replace what you may lose in its diuretic action, unlike an over the counter diuretic.

Are you a coffee person? Let's talk about how delicious the roots are when roasted and combine with roasted chicory root, and a bit of cacao powder.

Medicinally, the roots have the ability to breakdown fats by stimulating bile production. (signature: bile= yellow, flowerhead is yellow...can you see where it's going?)

It also contains "inulin" a prebiotic fiber that promotes good gut bacterias. Primarily Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillius, as well as Akkermansia, which is known to help repair the gut microbiome and heal the gut lining. Very helpful when dealing with "leaky gut".

Not to take anything away from my beloved Dandelion, but Burdock has a much higher concentration of inulin, and can provide a very rich source for anyone looking for it.

Both plants are nutrient rich and can offer the benefits for the gut microbiome in their own special way.

They say Dandelion's show up in lawns that are depleted in nutrients. The long tap root helps to replenish the missing vitamins, and minerals in the soil.

So before you spray that beautiful weed, or pull it...consider what its trying to show you about the health of your lawn, and soil.

Maybe give it a chance that year to help replenish what missing, and enjoy the benefits that it will give your body if you chose to try and work with it.

I'm off to the garden to harvest...

Wishing you all a very blessed Yule. Thank you for being here with me today, and taking the time to read this.

May your day be filled with warmth and love and your evening filled with cozy moments and candlelight.

More soon...

Much love,

Kat xoxo