Sunday, June 12, 2022

Lady´s Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris)

I figured I haven’t shared much about herbs and their medicine lately so let me correct that with a little bit of introduction to this beauty and why I like to work with her.

Lady’s Mantle is a classical “old world” medicinal herb, mostly known and cherished in central Europe.
To me, Lady’s Mantle is the wise women’s ally, the grandmothers’ medicine, the midwife’s old friend.She is the typical Maria Treben and Julliette de Bairacly Levy herbal repertoire herb.

I am actually surprised this powerful yet gentle plant has not been called upon more in the Americas, especially given the fact she is so abundant and easy to grow.

Here Up North Lady’s Mantle is one of the first wild herbs that emerge, often as early as beginning to mid May, and can stand milder ground frost.

She goes (or grows 😁) about, minding her own business, growing often in groups - little families, never taking over the space for the others though, a very cool neighbor to have, if you ask me!

One of the most signature ways to recognize her, besides her round, folded leaves, that resemble a lady’s mantle, is the drop of dew that rests in her “lap” like a pearl, often even long after the morning dew has dried out.


I have discovered that walking barefoot in the grass among the Lady’s Mantle patches, bathing in her dew, is not only naturally refreshing, but very calming, soothing and grounding = healing.

Interestingly enough, it was Lady’s Mantle’s dew and barefoot walking among her that gave Dr. Bach the initial thought of how to make flower essences in order to heal the human spirit!

Now, let’s see where to continue with Lady’s Mantle’s medicine...

If I shell speak just from my own experience with this amazing and today rather overlooked herb, I would need to pick the story of my beloved lead dog and soul mate Taz.

Taz was diagnosed with a high stage of spleen cancer and according to the vet who did the ultrasound also had her kidneys “caught” by tumor.
Some of you may recall the vets tried to convince me I needed to put her to sleep right away but I intuitively strongly felt NO. They did not know Taz, nor me, nor the power of herbal medicine and the willpower of this incredible soul named Tazlina.

I will not go into details as they would be super lengthy, so I will just say that it is in a huge part thank to Lady’s Mantle and Yarrow in tincture form and strong tea, that Taz led a happy, painless and full life for another year and half or so.
The combination of these two herbs helped stop internal bleeding she had several times from the raptured tumor on her spleen.
There is much more to Taz’s story and the herbal medicine that supported her till the very end, of course.

Lady´s Mantle was a large part of the herbal protocols
that Taz fit and in great spirits, and the cancer at bay for over 18 months.


Lady’s Mantle is an herb I used to know as the strongly astringent one, well known for her strong ability to stop heavy bleeding, including internal.
But also to stop diarrhea and thus help prevent dehydration.

But what has striken me much later, after years of my herbal practice, was the big picture of Lady’s Mantle’s connection, or affinity to the heart, the blood and the circulatory system.
She is one of the few herbs that contain significant levels of vitamin K, the important “blood strengthening vitamin” as it is known.
Interestingly enough I also found out that herbs with the ability to stop bleeding, and to support the circulatory system, contain vitamin K in significant levels.

As per Juliette de Bairacly Levy many of the Arabic tribes valued Lady’s Mantle for her affinity to the heart and considered her a great healer - her botanical name “Alchemilla” comes from the old Arabic word that gave the modern day word “alchemy” its meaning.
The magical healer, the alchemist!

I have great experience with Lady’s Mantle for all kinds of digestive upsets leading to diarrhea in my dogs.
Alone or in combination with other suitable herbs to mutually synergistically support and strengthen each other’s actions.

Another times Lady’s Mantle provides help is when I need an effective and safe eye flush (or wash).

Just as much as this magical alchemist helped Tazy on a big scale, it has and still does provide relief when my blood flow is too heavy during my period.

But not only that, she helps to regulate the hormones (I know, hormones cannot be really balanced, but imagine someone helping to ride a herd of wild horses from panic into safety or a musher managing a huge dog team driving down a wild trail).

Upon the advice of my wise woman herbal tradition teachers, what a difference it makes when I drink Lady’s Mantle tea regularly throughout the year and several times per day during the 14-10 days leading to my moon time.
I cannot count how many women has she become a great ally for, after I have advised and passed on the same suggestion I learned from my teachers and from my own experience.
There truly is no need to suffer or to ingest dangerous painkillers, if you become friends with the great Alchemilla! 💚

Gather only the fresh, healthy leaves and the blooming
part too - the best time is between end of May and end of June.

When our husky females are in heat, we supplement their food with a tea made of Lady´s Mantle and two other herbs (Yarrow and Raspberry leaf) to keep their heat as harmonic, painless and "smooth". This blend has been helping our lady dogs tremendously with maintaining their reproductive health, and I have suggested it to many of my clients for their dogs as well. Read by blog post Herbal Mix for Your Dog´s Healthy Heat Cycle.

There are many more ways she can support your or your animals’ health, including the use of her strong tea for gargling while having a sore throat, making a poultice to dress bleeding wounds (especially when combined with Yarrow and/or Greater Plantain) and more.

As you can see, this wild and rather common hardy herb is one that definitely belongs to the first aid category, medicine box and home apothecary.
And since she can be found and applied fresh, and has a rather long vegetation period, she is a great herb for the outdoor/wilderness survival and first aid.💚

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