Comfrey Healing: Reweave | Repair | Restore

Mind

Symphytum officinale, or comfrey, is a cooling plant that grows in a variety of locales. Hardy and hard-working, this perennial plant is medicine for your mind, body, soul, AND soil! Used commonly in permaculture, there is not limits to the nourishing transformation that this green ally creates. It is essential to know what variety of comfrey you are growing or harvesting for medicine making, as they contain different quantities of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are toxic in large or continuous quantities. Most herbalists use the plants for only short periods (6 weeks or less) internally. But it all depends on the plants. We also largely identify this plant by the broad leaves with textured “knit” like patterning and purple flower. You will also see pale, almost white, and even yellow flowers depending on the variety. This knit texture and coloration exemplifies the essence of comfrey: this is a plant that weaves, knits, repairs, restores, reinvents if needed, in ways that are not only physical, but beautifully beyond such limitations. If the form doesn’t fit, if the cells aren’t aligned, comfrey will create a new matrix for healing to occur upon, not unlike a spider with its web.

Comfrey is a wonderful herb. It's the most potent skin healing herb I know of. This is why it’s important not to use it on wounds. It can actually heal the skin so fast that the flesh underneath doesn’t heal at the same time and bacteria can get trapped under the new skin, [leading to infection]. This is one reason why it’s important to know the effects of herbs before using them! Internally comfrey has been used to heal broken bones, leaky gut and even growing a baby! Recently we discovered that comfrey leaf and root has a plant chemical called pyrrolizidine alkaloids in it, also called PA’s. This phytochemical can cause damage to the liver so it is no longer recommended for use in pregnancy or for long term use. It is not recommended for people with a history of liver disease. All that said, topically comfrey is one of the most important healing herbs in our materia medica. If you have a broken bone or damaged skin comfrey leaf can be used as a poultice or compress and within a week of daily use you can see dramatic results. Spiritually comfrey can support you with your energetic and emotional boundaries, just like it creates strong physical boundaries with your skin! - Bethany

Comfrey is a magical and traditional remedy for wound care. A hearty plant with thick, slightly hairy, dark green leaves and beautiful light purple flowers. Comfrey grows very well locally and you may have even encountered it unknowingly in the gardens or yards of your neighborhood! Comfrey has been traditionally used to promote wound healing as well as helping to heal injuries such as sprains and breaks. Comfrey is widely used topically in forms such as poultice, salve, oil, liniment and baths. Comfrey has also been used historically as a nutritive herb, when taken internally it is best taken in the short term as comfrey contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which can be harmful to the liver if taken in large quantities for long periods of time. With proper dosage and duration comfrey can be very nourishing and is not harmful at all. Comfrey is a beautiful grandparent-like spirit, here to nourish us and help us to heal. - Amy

Body

Plants contain all kinds of interesting chemistry. It just so happens that the allantoin in comfrey leave is what helps it do the hard work of healing cells. While this substance is extracted and added to many commercially produced products, there is something unique about seeing the affects of a fresh comfrey poultice or cream. For scars, bug bites, and irritated skin the restoration is sometimes simply miraculous. This is wonderful for superficial concerns, but use caution with deep wounds. We want these to heal from the inside- out, not the other way around. In fact, this is the best way for all wounds to heal. When things are covered over before they are ready (physical or otherwise) there is a concern that the wound will fester. As an oil or liniment, comfrey eases aches, bumps, and bruises.

I first met Comfrey years ago while working as an educational plant care intern at The Growhaus, in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood of Denver. As I was given the first tour of the gardens I would be tending, amidst vegetables and flowering shrubs planted by the community, crawling into the sidewalk in abundance were Comfrey’s giant leaves and delicate purple blossoms. On my first few pruning rounds, I was so hesitant to chop the luscious leaves, but as Comfrey continued to take over the sidewalk I finally took modest cuts, still cautious around disturbing the magical calm & presence of this plant. Over the course of months I observed how quickly Comfrey grew back, quickly and even more copious. When learned about its healing properties, Comfrey soon became an ally in topical use and small dose teas made with its dried leaf. Comfrey is cooling, demulcent, anti-inflammatory and tissue healing. When I formulate with the plant, I think back to that comforting, calm moment on the sidewalk, where we first met, how the plant coaxed me into knowing about her powerful, soothing medicine. -Tasha

Spirit

Whereas we avoid it physically in the presence of deep wounds, comfrey is one of the best allies I know for healing deep emotional wounds. The shock and disruption that can occur to our emotional and energetic body needs the same type of reweaving, repair, and restoration as our skin cells do. The flower essence, plant baths, and my personal favorite limpias (plant brushings) clear away the debris and help the hurt, or even traumatized, parts of us back to our body. Enhancing joy promoting a sense of safety in our root and higher perspective through our crown, this whole body nourishing ally fosters partners of resonance through our core, reworking even the most disparate and dysfunctional patterns we hold.

My first experience with Comfrey was laying under it's blossoms in my back yard as a child. A memory I had forgotten until it resurfaced in meditation during my first herbal certificate program, when Comfrey was my herbal ally. Comfrey came to me at the end of a toxic 5 year long relationship, when I was utterly heartbroken and in need of deep nurturing/ nourishment. I was also needing to re-member all the magic my being is capable of. In the months that I explored Comfrey, I felt deeply held by this herb and one of my favorite experiences was a super sensual bath. This is why it was the first thing I thought of for this month's PSM box. I hope you all enjoy the bath I formulated with my first Comfrey bath experience in mind. - Lilli

Comfrey has a saturnian rulership, which is exemplified with its focus on connective tissue. Comfrey which is rich in allantoin helps connective tissue re-knit back together, this can be helpful for conditions of the body that need to be reconnected such as cuts, scars, or even leaky gut. I see this virtue exemplified further in Comfrey's ability to bind things, helping us connect to deeper parts of ourselves or even with our reality around us. Comfey is a bondsmith, a being that can teach us how to rejoin dismembered parts of things, helping us re-member. Comfrey is a great weaver taking the loose ends of the grand fabric and bringing them back together, helping things to become whole once more. -Cody

Symphytum is one of our most powerful and ancient healers. From the Greek words “sympis” (meaning “bone becoming one”) and “phyton” (plant), Comfrey’s power was utilized and revered everywhere from the ancient doctor’s office to the battlefields of Homeric poetry, where it just so happened to grow plentifully. It continues to be an epic hero of the modern herbal world, bringing one-ness of both body and spirit. Comfrey is capable of knitting even the deepest tissue of our bodies into a stronger barrier. It softens our outer pain and scars so we may in turn soften our inner-hardness as well. Always abundant and easily cultivated, comfrey is a highly-accessible ally that invites us to reflect on and experience the incredible union that exists within us. Invite Comfrey into your spirit and accept this guardian plant’s invitation to strength and resiliency. - Isabella