Plant Witchery: Discover the Sacred Language, Wisdom, and Magic of 200 Plants - Juliet Diaz 2020

Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara
A Compendium of Plants

ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES

peace, psychic ability

Coltsfoot is a small cousin of dandelions and sunflowers. She got her name because her leaves look a bit like a horse’s hoof—though she goes by many other names, too, including butterburr, coughwort, and clayweed. Indigenous people often used the fuzz that coats her young leaves for lighting fires.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

Coltsfood is an excellent curative for a cough, and drinking coltsfoot tea can help release mucus, though you don’t want to have more than three cups a day. Her leaf is used to make medicine for bronchitis, asthma, and severe cough, as well as for a sore throat and hoarse voice.

MAGICAL PROPERTIES

In many Indigenous cultures, coltsfoot would be added to other herbs for smoking to induce visions. Burning coltsfoot will bring a sense of bliss and calm the mind, and if you burn her with lavender and orange peel, you’ll feel like it’s a sunny day even in the dead of winter. Her bright, cheery nature invites tranquility, and just having her around can give you a calm, happy feeling. Sprinkling dried coltsfoot around your altar or working with her in a divination spell will help you see more clearly, as coltsfoot is beaming with energies that will clear the fog blocking your mind’s eye.

PLANT WISDOM

Coltsfoot brings you a message of freedom, of allowing yourself to be who you are, unapologetically. She is the plant to be around when you are going through a transition and need some loving support. Dreaming of coltsfoot is rare, but it does happen and usually means a spirit is coming through to speak to you—most likely a family member or close friend who has passed. Walk to her and slowly pluck her petals one by one, and the dream will end once you are done.