Milk Thistle - Magical & Medicinal Correspondence
MATERIA MAGICA: MILK THISTLE
According to MySoulFlower.love:
Life has taught you to protect yourself, but sometimes you end up hurting yourself. Milk Thistle helps you to let go, through the power of forgiveness of all the self-imposed restrictions and defensive armor that are making it hard for you to open and receive all the love and abundance the Universe has flowing toward you.
So often when we think of forgiveness, we think of forgiving others—those difficult people in our lives, those relationships and experiences that have hurt us and have found a way to lodge in our deepest, most vulnerable places. It is a heavy, painful, dark and lonely burden.
Milk Thistle is asking us to examine how we channel and process our strong feelings, not just towards others, but towards ourselves too, so that we don’t create, store and perpetuate lasting pain.
Forgiveness of our humanity, our fragile, beautiful, brutal humanity, is perhaps the only way to embrace true compassion and love for others and ourselves. Forgiveness is not really something that is done once and then it’s over. It is truly a practice and something that needs to be repeated over and over and over again.
Consider: What is causing you great pain?
According to Judy Ann Nock in The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs: Your Complete Guide to the Hidden Powers of Herbs:
History Native to the Mediterranean region, milk thistle was originally found during ancient times in areas from North Africa through the Middle East, making it a Hellenic herb. Pliny the Elder refers to milk thistle as an ingredient in a tonic that soothes and heals the liver, recommending the juice of the milk thistle mixed with honey as a treatment for “carrying off bile.” It is also considered to increase lactation. It is identified by its green leaves that are mottled with white. Characteristics Milk thistle is characterized by its slender stalks, prickly leaves, and distinctive purple flowers that emanate from a round, green base with spiny protrusions. The feathery purple petals have white veins. Extracts from milk thistle seeds are used for medicinal purposes.
In magick, it is used for :
protection
purification
bestowing blessings
and breaking hexes.
Placing a bowl full of milk thistle in a room will improve the energy of the environment.
Stuffing a charm or poppet with milk thistle is a way to counteract a hex.
MATERIA MEDICA: MILK THISTLE
From Milo Murrow in The Enchanted Herbal Materia Medica: & Common Ailments:
Latin Name: Silybum marianum Family Asteraceae (Daisy Family) Parts Used - Seeds Habitat and Cultivation Milk thistle is native to the Mediterranean region but has been naturalized in many parts of the world, including North America and Australia. It thrives in dry, rocky soils and is often found in waste areas and along roadsides. The plant is distinguished by its glossy, marbled leaves and spiky purple flowers.
Therapeutic Properties:
Hepatoprotective (protects the liver) - Antioxidant - Anti-inflammatory - Galactagogue (promotes milk production)
Common Uses:
- Widely used for liver health, including in the treatment of liver diseases like hepatitis, cirrhosis, and jaundice.
- Employed for its antioxidant properties to protect against liver damage from toxins and medications.
- Sometimes used to increase breast milk production in nursing mothers.
- Used in traditional medicine for digestive health and to support gallbladder function.
Safety: - Generally considered safe when used in recommended amounts. - Rare side effects include gastrointestinal upset and allergic reactions, particularly in individuals allergic to other members of the Asteraceae family. - May interact with medications metabolized by the liver. - Pregnant or nursing women should consult a healthcare provider before use. Milk thistle is highly regarded for its liver-protective properties, making it a popular supplement for liver health and detoxification. Its active component, silymarin, is known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. While generally safe, it's important to be mindful of potential interactions and sensitivities, particularly for those taking medications processed by the liver.
According to HerbalGram.org:
Mechanism of Action
Milk thistle’s hepatoprotective mechanism of action is not clearly understood, though it can be attributed mainly to its flavono-lignan content (Der Manderosian and Liberti, 1997). Isolated silymarin acts as an antagonist in preventing liver-damage: phalloidin and amanitin (death-cap toxins), lanthanides, carbon tetrachloride, galactosantine, thioacetamide, and the hepatotoxic virus FV3 of cold-blooded vertebrates (Blumenthal et al., 1998).
Anti-inflammatory: Anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic actions may be due to silymarin’s inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase (Gupta et al., 1999).
Antioxidant: Silymarin scavenges pro-oxidant free radicals, increases glutathione production by the liver, intestines and stomach; increases intracellular concentration of glutathione in rats (Valenzuela et al., 1989; Valenzuela and Garrido, 1994). Semi-purified extract of milk thistle increases activity of SOD and glutathione peroxidase in human erythrocytes in vitro, which may explain its protective effect against free radicals and its stabilizing effect on red blood cell membrane (Altorjay et al., 1992).
Cholagogic and choleretic: Silymarin may increase biliary excretion and endogenous pool of bile salts by stimulating synthesis of hepatoprotective bile salts such as beta-muricholate and ursodeoxycholate (Crocenzi et al., 2000).
Regenerative: Silymarin stimulates the action of nucleolar polymerase A, resulting in an increase in ribosomal protein synthesis, thereby stimulating regenerative ability of the liver and formation of new hepatocytes (Blumenthal et al., 1998). Based on molecular modeling, silibinin appears to initiate a steroid hormone by binding competitively to RNA-polymerase I, resulting in enzyme activity stimulation (Sonnenbichler et al., 1998).
Protective and regulatory: Silymarin alters the structure of the outer cell membrane of the hepatocytes in such a way as to prevent penetration of the liver toxin into the interior of the cell (Blumenthal et al., 1998; Leng-Peschlow, 1996b). Stabilizes cell membranes by decreasing phospholipid turnover rate and blocking penetration of liver toxins (such as phalloidin, alpha-amanitin) into the cell (Montanini et al., 1977). Isolated silibinin selectively inhibits leukotriene formation by Kupffer cells of the liver (Dehmlow et al., 1996). Isolated silychristin (silymarin II) inhibits peroxidase and lipoxygenase (Fugmarm et al., 1997). Hepatoprotective effect may be due to silymarin’s inhibition of lipid peroxidation and modulation of hepatocyte Ca(2+)(i) (Farghali et al., 2000).
Anti-fibrotic actions: Animal research (Boigk et al., 1997) and a human clinical trial (Shuppan et al., 1999) have suggested that the hepatoprotective properties of silymarin may include anti-fibrotic activity, thereby interfering with the process that occurs in the hepatocytes secondary to inflammation when collagen invades the normal structure of the hepatocyte, which frequently is a result of alcohol abuse or chronic active viral hepatitis. The ability of silymarin to block fibrosis in the liver was first shown in studies with rats subjected to complete bile duct occlusion (Boigk et al., 1997). This action was later demonstrated in an open-label, uncontrolled study with 998 patients with liver disease resulting from a variety of factors including alcohol abuse, chronic active hepatitis B or C, drugs, and chemical exposure in the workplace (Schuppan et al., 1998). Treatment with 140 mg of silymarin (equivalent to approximately 60 mg of silibinin) three times daily for three months led to a significant reduction in amino terminal procollagen III peptide (PIIINP), a marker of fibrosis, in 19% of the patients. This measure had dropped to the normal range expected for a healthy person at three months.
Contraindications
None known (Blumenthal et al., 1998; Braun et al., 1996; Brinker, 2001).
Pregnancy and Lactation: No known restrictions (Blumenthal et al., 1998).
SOURCES
The Enchanted Herbal Materia Medica: & Common Ailments by Milo Murrow
HerbalGram.org, American Botanical Council
Mysoulflower.love
The Modern Witchcraft Guide to Magickal Herbs: Your Complete Guide to the Hidden Powers of Herbs by Judy Ann Nock
