FOLKLORE/COMMON NAMES: Holy Thistle, Bitter Thistle, Bitterweed, Blessed Carduus, Our Lady’s Thistle, Lady’s Thistle, Thrissles, Saint Benedict’s Thistle, Spotted Carduus, Spotted Thistle

PARTS USED: Entire herb in older use, primarily leaves and stem today

HISTORICAL REFERENCE: Blessed Thistle has been highly regarded for medicinal use for centuries and was cultivated throughout Europe and some say gained its moniker through its reputation as a ‘heal-all’, even credited with curing the Plague. It was in known cultivation as early as the mid-1500’s and its benefits and ‘virtues’ were delved into in the Herbal of Turner in 1568.

In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare praises its medicinal prowess: "Get you some of this distilled Carduus Benedictus and lay it to your heart; it is the only thing for a qualm.... I mean plain Holy Thistle... Therefore I counsell (sic) all that have Gardens to nourish it, that they may have it always to their own use, and the use of their neighbours that lacke it."

Mattheolus and Fuschius wrote of Carduus benedictus, saying "It is a plant of great virtue; it helpeth inwardly and outwardly; it strengthens all the principal members of the body, as the brain, the heart, the stomach, the liver, the lungs and the kidney; it is also a preservative against all disease, for it causes perspiration, by which the body is purged...therefore, give God thanks for his goodness, Who hath given this herb and all others for the benefit of our health."

MEDICINAL USES:

There are no cautions regarding Blessed Thistle. Those with allergies to the Daisy family should take care if considering Blessed Thistle; but outright allergic reaction is extremely rare.

Chemical Constituents Blessed Thistle contains Cnicin, a crystalline neutral body that is extremely bitter, but soluble in alcohol and slightly in water. The bitterness of the compound stimulates the digestive system, including the production of saliva and gastric juices, which is what leads to improved appetite and digestion. Blessed Thistle also shows evidence of some anti-inflammatory properties.

Ancient use of Blessed Thistle seemed to focus on the benefits to the liver; however, from ancient to modern times, the most beneficial use of Blessed Thistle is the use of the leaves in a warm infusion to promote breast milk in nursing mothers.

Blessed Thistle is also highly recommended for digestive troubles, based on the analysis of its chemical constituents as stated above.

Modern uses also include:

• Strengthen liver function, combat hepatitis
• Aids memory
• Purifies the blood stream
• Counters depression
• Useful against headache, especially migraine
• Against Nausea
• To fight gallstones
• Counters homesickness
• Beneficial for use to level out intermittent fever and to fight the common cold
• Used effectively in conjunction with cancer treatments

The common dosage is 2 ml three times per day of blessed thistle tincture. Approximately 2 grams of the dried herb can also be added to 250 ml (1 cup) of boiling water and steeped ten to fifteen minutes to make a tea. Three cups can be drunk each day, about ½ hour before meals to improve digestion. Note: Herbs are not a ‘one dose fits all’ medication. Always check with your Doctor or Homeopathic practitioner before use.

M. Grieve also suggests four different ways of using Blessed Thistle in A Modern Herbal: "It may be eaten in the green leaf, with bread and butter for breakfast, like Watercress; the dried leaves may be made into a powder and a drachm taken in wine or otherwise every day; a wineglassful of the juice may be taken every day, or, which is the usual and the best method, an infusion may be made of the dried herb, taken any time as a preventive, or when intended to remove disease, at bed time, as it causes copious perspiration." Many homeopathic practitioners still recommend the same methods today!

The seeds of the Milk Thistle (Carduus Marianus), known also as Silybum Marianum, have similar properties and uses; and the Cotton Thistle, Melancholy Thistle may also be used for like purposes.

GARDENING WITH BLESSED THISTLE The Blessed Thistle can grow up to 2 feet tall on reddish stems and may require staking when in bloom. The flowers are pale yellow, set amidst a prickly green head atop equally prickly long leaves - it is a thistle! It grows in ordinary soil and will survive almost any soil condition with the only effect being slightly more compacted plants in tougher soils.

Harvesting Harvest the leaves and flowering tops just at flowering. Do not harvest on wet days or when dew is still noticeable on the plant.

MAGICAL USE

GENDER: Masculine
PLANET: Mars
ELEMENT: Fire
ASTROLOGICAL: Aries
DEITIES: Thor, Minerva, Pan, fertility deities
TAROT: The Emperor, Page of any suit

Cunningham says in The Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs that "Wizards in England used to select the tallest thistle in the patch to use as a magical wand or walking stick". While they don’t generally get high enough to use as a staff, the stalks of Blessed Thistle are indeed excellent for making wands.

In A compendium of Herbal Magick, Beyerl relates that Blessed Thistle is "An herbe which holds the ability to help a priest move into the more positive aspects of men’s mysteries".

Other magical uses include:
- Communication with the spirit realm
- Used as an herb of protection in the ritual bath as well as in the chalice
- Brings spiritual, physical and financial blessing
- Carried for energy, vitality - place a bowl of thistle in a room to renew the spirit of all within
- As an aphrodisiac
- Strew to cleanse buildings or rooms
- Beneficial in healing spells
- Placed in the home or garden it is said to ward off thieves
- Throw onto a fire to protect the house from lightning
- Drives out melancholy when worn or carried
- Associated by some with Yule, in invoking the newly born Sun

Ellen Everett Hopman says in A Druid’s Herbal that "a shirt with thistle fibers woven into it will protect the wearer from any evil spell".