Traits
- Emotional, intuitive, creative, sentimental
- Strong faith in what they believe
- Excellent actors, writers, dancers, artists
- Fun, friendly, witty, social when well
- Relationships are the center of the story
Water· salt
Salty blood
Water · salt · Drying at first, then fluid follows
It’s all about the relationship — personal, work, social, cultural. Water always wins. Needs strong boundaries and a living faith. Often reflective of whoever is nearby.
Salt, minerals, water, lymph, and mucous.
Mucous membranes of gut, bladder, gallbladder, lungs, sinuses, and the female reproductive system. Breasts, feet, toes, lymph, kidneys, the shape of the body.
The taste
Salt is cooling and barely a taste. These plants dry first, then move fluid — and water follows. They are mineral salts, not table salt: building, coating to sensitive membranes, thinning stuck mucous, supporting kidneys and the kreb-cycle minerals of muscle and nerve.
Opposite: Bitter blood (Fire · bitter). Under illness a person may wear the opposite for a while — it is not the true taste of the house.
Excess
- Depression, self-pity, emotional angst, can’t get out of bed
- Apathetic or strangely cold and unemotional
- Tendency to self-medicate
- Bladder and kidney irritation, fluid retention, lymphatic stagnation
- Bronchitis, lung congestion, high pressure, congestive states
Diuretics. Warming or drying herbs and foods. Not enough fire.
Deficient
- May show fire traits — hot blood, temper, control
- Heart palpitations, clots, stroke stories in the family line
- Liver and gallbladder trouble
- Thin, dry, weak hair, skin, and nails
- Goes for the emotional jugular
Moistening foods and herbs. Rebuild the bank of the river.
Water plants · 16
Water· saltGenerally safe
Nettle
Urtica dioica
A green salt — the mineral broth of the hedgerow.
Stiff joints · Hollow energy · Irritable skin
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Marshmallow
Althaea officinalis
The original marsh mallow — a slick coat for dry tissue.
Sore throat · Cough · Dryness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Slippery elm
Ulmus rubra
A bark gruel for a throat or belly that feels scraped.
Sore throat · Dryness · Indigestion
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltCaution
Parsley
Petroselinum crispum
The garnish that was once a draining green.
Puffiness · Indigestion
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltCaution
Celery seed
Apium graveolens
A salty seed for a waterlogged, creaky body.
Puffiness · Stiff joints
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Oatstraw
Avena sativa
The mineral tea of a nervous system that has been spent.
Frayed nerves · Hollow energy · Irritable skin
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Plantain
Plantago major
The path-side leaf chewed for bee stings and brewed for raw tissue.
Irritable skin · Sore throat · Dryness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltCaution
Kelp
Laminaria spp.
The sea’s salt — a pinch in broth, not a bowl of tea.
Hollow energy · Puffiness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Mullein
Verbascum thapsus
The roadside torch — a lung leaf that coats and then lets the chest move.
Cough · Chill & congestion · Dryness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltCaution
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
A deep-rooted green salt — minerals from the clay, up into the leaf.
Hollow energy · Stiff joints · Puffiness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Chickweed
Stellaria media
The cool spring mat — a water green for hot, dry, itchy skin.
Irritable skin · Dryness · Hollow energy
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Cleavers
Galium aparine
The sticky bedstraw — water’s lymph mover of the spring hedge.
Puffiness · Irritable skin · Hollow energy
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Corn silk
Zea mays
The pale threads from the ear — a gentle water for a complaining bladder.
Puffiness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltLimit the cup
Horsetail
Equisetum arvense
A silica salt — the joint-and-tooth mineral of the ditch bank.
Stiff joints · Puffiness · Irritable skin
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Violet
Viola odorata
The heart-leaf of spring — a cool green for lymph and dry heat.
Cough · Irritable skin · Dryness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Water· saltGenerally safe
Lovage
Levisticum officinale
The celery of the herb bed — one leaf seasons a whole pot.
Indigestion · Bloating
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Traditional kitchen and folk use only. This is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are pregnant, nursing, on medicine, or unwell, ask a clinician before drinking anything as a remedy.