Today I decided to go out into the edge of the wood line and around the edges of the fields and collect raspberry leaves. It is best to collect your raspberry leaves at this time of the year with the new growth when the leaves are light green and the needles are soft. I don’t like to collect raspberry leaves late in the season because they take on more of a bitter taste and in the spring they are fresher and I personally feel the nutrient quality is better.
Raspberry leaf tea has many nutritional and medicinal qualities to it such as –
It provides a source of vitamin B and C and a number of minerals, including potassium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and iron.
It is high in antioxidants which can help protect the cells of your body from damage and it has properties that help contribute to the self-destruction of cancer cells.
The medicinal properties of the leaf have been known to assist women with their menstrual cycles and PMS by relieving cramps, PMS symptoms, vomiting, nausea and diarrhea.
Red raspberry leaf has been used for thousands of years by pregnant women to strengthen their uterus, prevent excessive bleeding during and after childbirth, shorten labor and reduce complications with childbirth.
These are just some of the medicinal and nutritional properties of raspberry leaf and now I want to talk about some of the spiritual or energy working properties. My source for this information is from the author Scott Cunningham from a book called Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. If you are a practitioner of various energetic healing art forms or you perform various energy work the raspberry plant might be useful to you in a spiritual or energy healing way. Here is the listing of its properties as according to Scott Cunningham.
“The bramble (branches) of the raspberry are hung up at doors and windows for protection. This is also done when a death has occurred, so that the spirit won’t re-enter the house once it has left. Raspberry is served as a love inducing food, and the leaves are carried by pregnant women to relieve the pains of pregnancy and childbirth.”
He also states that the primary energy focus of the plant and fruit is towards love and protection. The element that it represents is water and the planet that it represents is Venus. The gender that it represents is the feminine energies.
Well I hope that this information is useful for everyone either medicinally, nutritionally or spiritually. Also remember to pick responsibly and from only healthy plants with plenty of leaves. The leaves can be prepared for tea by placing them in a dehydrator or sun drying them or by freezing them short term. Enjoy your foraging and thanks for reading!
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