Uses of Birch

The leaf tea is reported to eliminate gravel and dissolve kidney stones when taken daily for a time, 1 to 1 1/2 cups a day. A decoction of the leaves is sometimes recommended for baldness; or try the fresh expressed juice. Mild sedative. Use a wash or bath additive for chronic or severe skin problems. The inner bark contains an oil which is sometimes substituted for wintergreen in liniment. Relieves headaches, menstrual cramps, abdominal cramps, gout, dropsy, acne, eczema, pruritis, rheumatism pains, diarrhea, colic, colitis, and dysentery. The liquid from boiling bark can be used to wash sores and wounds, boils, expels worms. Sap can be taken as a spring tonic or used as a hair tonic.

Beer is often made from the sap of sweet birch. The inner bark contains an oil which is identical in flavor with that of the wintergreen plant (Gaultheria procumbens). A wholesome wintergreen-flavored tea may be made by pouring boiling water or boiling birch sap over diced pieces of the inner birch bark or birch twigs and letting it steep for a few minutes.

Birch wood has been used for furniture, wooden spoons, tool handles, and broomsticks. Witches on Walpurgis Night were said to have ridden on broomsticks made of birch. Native Americans used the water-resistant birch bark for their canoes and wigwams.

 

Magickal Associations | Uses of Birch | Types of Birch Trees | Lore and Legends