Burdock

What this is

Burdock (Arctium lappa). The great cleaving bur, root deep and dark, a Venus herb with a hand of Saturn that purifies the blood and clears the skin. Its clinging seed-heads were the bane of every shepherd and the model, much later, for Velcro.

What it governs

Burdock answers to Venus and the element of Earth, with a second hand from Saturn. Its seat in the zodiac is Taurus, and its day is Friday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the waning moon. In the old practice its office is plain: A piece of dried root at the crossroads removes what has been wronging you, slowly.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning burdock is cool and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the root. Its working colour follows Venus, green and rose; its metal is copper, its stones are jet, smoky quartz, its number 7, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Netzach. It carries well on the body, kept in a pocket or a small sachet and it is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

Cleansing and warding everywhere: the root cut into rounds and strung as protective beads in old charm; brewed to clear the blood by the country herbalist; laid at the crossroads to draw off slowly what has been wronging you. Deep clearing, the same patient purge below and above the skin.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Burdock on Today's Herb, Angelic Herb, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its one office: a piece of dried root at the crossroads removes what has been wronging you, slowly. As the Angelic Herb it stands under Anael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with Venusian sweetness and attraction. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while the waning moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Burdock clears from the root, and slowly. It is for what has gone stagnant deep down and will only come up if drawn whole. It asks the patience to lift a thing by its root rather than cut the top.

Correspondences

planet

Venus

element

Earth

zodiac

Taurus

number

7

sephirah

Netzach

day

Friday

colour

green, rose

metal

copper

stone

jet, smoky quartz

tarot

The Hermit