(Irish) Gaelic Name: Beithe (first letter of the Ogham alphabet, pronounced Bay)
“Nature’s Toothbrush”
Photo: The Spruce
There are many species of Birch (16 in N. America), however, only a handful have been traditionally documented for their therapeutic value. Cultures from all over the world have valued the healing properties of these short-lived trees (30-200yrs), such as Ayurveda, TCM, the Eclectics, and Western European Pharmacopeias for uses such as medicine, building materials, and starting fires.
Habitat: Birch requires well-drained soil, enough moisture, and direct sunlight for proper growth. It grows near lakes, rivers, and in mixed conifer hardwood forests of cold climates. The bark of the birch can be brown (young tree) white, grey, yellow, silver, or black in color. Young trees have smooth bark. Deep ridges on the bark are characteristic of the older plants. The bark of all birch species (except Grey Birch) peels off in long horizontal strips. Individual flowers are arranged in long clusters known as catkins, which bloom along with the leaves around April-May. These catkins hang from the branches during the spring + summer. The birch tree produces a fruit called "samara" which can release around 1 million seeds each year. The seeds and bark of the birch are sources of food for forest animals such as rabbits, deer, and birds. The Himalayan birch, a pyramidal-shaped tree is especially prized for its white bark. (7)
Himalayan or “Kashmir” Birch
History + Lore:
Birch is an ancient beloved in the Celtic tradition, its root word bhereg meaning “to shine, bright, white, and illuminate. A common native toancient Scotland and Northern England, it was known to the folk people as the “Lady of the Woods” where it was honored by the Highlanders in every way possible. From Birch baskets to fans, doors, canoes, agricultural tools, handles, toys, rope, thatching houses, and bobbins, spools and spindles (for the cotton industry), to paper, to every part of the tree acting some sort of medicinal, no wonder it was so valued. (4)
Herbal Actions: immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diuretic, antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, antidiabetic, dermatological, gastroprotective, and hepatoprotective. “Antiarthritic and anticancer are the two major areas of research being conducted on birch. The anti-carcinogenic effects of Betula bark, betulin as well as betulinic acid have been extensively studied.” (1)
General Healing: As an anti-inflammatory and antiseptic, birch finds value in helping with headaches, stomachaches, fevers, arthritic conditions, urinary tract infections, gout, and skin inflammations such as dermatitis, eczema, and psoriasis. White + Silver birches are powerful anti-inflammatoies + diuretics, helping to soothe irritation in skin, joints + gut. As an ayurvedic treatment for rheumatoid pain, one can blend with meadowsweet to aid digestion.
Birch contains an oil used for communicating with other plants, as well as for its defense against pathogens such as insects and predators. We know this oil as Wintergreen, or chemically, Methyl Salicylate, which tastes “minty.” This chemical is a “salicylic acid” (what cotton pads are soaked in for acne treatment) and “an active metabolite of “acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin)” (8)
Preparation, Parts Used + Dosage:
For internal use such as headaches, fever, stomach aches (along with Meadowsweet), minor inflammation of the urinary tract, urinary or kidney stones, edema: Prepare an infusion of dried leaves cut up into small pieces in a cup of boiling water (1tsp/1cup water). Leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes. Take 3 cups a day, 30 minutes before meals. As a tincture (1:4 in 25% alcohol) place 15 drops into a glass of water. Take three times a day after meals.
For external use: such as for skin inflammations. Prepare an infusion (as above) and bathe the skin with the infusion two or three times a day.
Contraindications: Do not take if allergic or hypersensitive to aspirin (salycilate products) or if on blood thinners. Possible side effects can be allergic reactions such as hives or asthma, increased urination (diuretic), mouth or throat itch (due to the birch pollen, can affect people with allergies to apples, peanuts, celery, mugwort). Check with your doctor if you are taking medication prior to using birch. Birch has no severe reactions to any drugs, however a list of mild drug interactions can be found here. With any herbal remedy, food or lifestyle situation it is the dosage that makes a substance a medicine or poison. Less is more is a good rule of thumb. (8)
Fun Facts:
“Sanskrit birch bark manuscripts written with Brahmi script have been dated to the first few centuries CE. Several early Sanskrit writers, such as Kālidāsa (c. 4th century CE), Sushruta (c. 3rd century CE), and Varāhamihira (6th century CE) mention the use of birch bark for manuscripts. The bark of Betula utilis (Himalayan Birch) is still used today in India and Nepal for writing sacred mantras.” (2)
“The Irish language's native writing system Ogham, sometimes called the "tree alphabet", was allegorically invented by Ogma who wrote a prescription on birch to Lugh, warning him; the text of this proscription can be found in the Book of Ballymote. The first letter of Ogham is beith; beithe means "birch" (pronounced bay). (2) Side note: the Ogham Alphabet is Ireland’s native language, the “Tree Language” or “Celtic Tree Language” thought to have originated in the 1st century (3). Much of this language was written in stone and can be found throughout Ireland and the Celtic Isles such as Wales.
“Distribution of different Betula species around the world is depicted [below]. Birches are among the most attractive trees known for their autumn color and contribute to the fall color in eastern North America. Various birches have yielded sugar, vinegar, a tea from the leaves, and a birch beer from the sap. The sweet, birch (Betula lenta L.) is now the chief source of oil of wintergreen (Ashburner and McAllister, 2013,
,). Betula utilis D. Don, found in the Himalayan region of India, is used in religious ceremonies in north region (Rawat and Pangtey, 1987).”
Spiritual Uses:Celebrated as a tree of new beginnings, Birch, the first letter of the Celtic Tree Alphabet represents purification. New Beginnings in this tradition was celebrated on Samhain (the New Year) and on Beltane (the emergence of spring), where Oak and Birch often comprised the wood for the ceremonial and life giving/protecting/connecting Bealtane fires. Both the Norse Goddesses Frigga and Freya and Oestre (the Anglo Saxon Goddess of Easter) is associated with the new beginnings, creation, and fertility of this beloved tree. It is considered a “Pioneer” tree, due to it being the first to grow after long incubations such as after the ice age and because it easily populates habitats destroyed by fire. It represents Rebirth, Emergence, New Beginnings, and Growth. (4)
Tantric Herbalism: The bark of the birch tree has been used for thousands of years for sacred mantra, yantra and the bark alone, or the bark with sacred writings have been and still are worn as amulets for blessing and protection. This practice was not only remembered and continued through time, but written in the Lakshmi Tantras, a text birthed around the late 3rd century CE. Kalidasa, a classical Sanskrit author and one of India’s most famous poets, wrote about the use of birch as sacred paper. Shiva’s attendants supposedly wore clothes made from birch bark.
Due to deforestation, a nursery of the trees was created in Gangotri, near the pilgrimage site to Maa Ganga. (5) see below:
“Deforestation due to overuse of the tree has caused loss of habitat for many native groves of B. utilis (locally called bhojpatra in the Indian Himalaya). The first high-altitude bhojpatra nursery was established in 1993 at Chirbasa, just above Gangotri, where many Hindus go on pilgrimage to the source of the sacred Ganges river. Dr. Harshvanti Bisht, a Himalayan mountaineer, established the first nursery and continues to expand the reforestation of bhojpatra in the Gangotri area and inside Gangotri National Park. About 12,500 bhojpatra saplings had been planted in the area by the year 2000.[11] In recent years, attempts have been made to ban the collection of bhojpatra trees in the Gangotri area.” (5)
Birch seems to be a threshold medicine. A unique sort of threshold, however, where one moves from duality into nonduality, or from one way of seeing/understanding into the inverse of that seeing/knowing. It may also be a plant to help us “pioneer” a new reality, or break new ground in ways of seeing and doing things.
1. In making and taking this essence during a full Flower Moon lunar eclipse, the deep insight I had concerned the nature of the dominant perspective of eclipses: This shared world view around (especially lunar) eclipses is that the mind tends to become weaker, more susceptible to negative influences, caught in the realms of subconscious or unconscious, and is more unstable. What was revealed (in dreamtime after taking the essence before bed) was that instead of the earth, positioned in between the sun and moon “casting its shadow on the moon” I realized the earth now was placed under the light of the sun “for us to look deeper/see more” of the Earth’s true self. We can understand more through the subtle senses, when working “in the dark” and what a beautiful time to truly get to know the deeper mysteries of our living planet.
2. In meditation having the realization (coming specifically from my great great. grandmother/ancestral realm) that the brokenness we feel as colonizers (and colonized) has another story to it. The power of the pioneering woman. The experiences she had to endure (often sold, taken or pushed from her family land and home) gave her a strength and resilience not only to “break new ground” of territory, but also a way of life and old values/perspectives. Isn’t this what we too are doing? Pioneering new paradigms as a response to the toxic ones we find ourselves in? *this focus on women i feel a direct gift from Birch in this time of Roe V Wade/women’s body autonomy being challenged. Also helpful for our personal relationships where the man in the house may still feel his wife to be subject to him, or his property in certain ways.
Culpeper claims birch is in the domain of Venus
The leaves are diuretic, antiseptic, and bitter. The leaves and sap were also used to treat kidney stones, rheumatism and gout. The sap was recommended for skin complaints and the bark is said to ease muscle pain if applied externally.
