My adventures wild harvesting American white water lilies (nymphaea odorata) this summer for medicine and magic. Nymphaea odorata is native to North America and our local counterpart to blue lotus (aka blue water lily). It is used in Native American medicine to treat coughs, colds, and swelling. Prehistoric Native Americans associated them with purification, the underworld, and the moon.
You can dry and smoke the flowers or make medicinal syrups, tinctures, oils, and ointments with the roots and flowers. Water lilies are not a strong psychoactive. They need to be prepared similarly to lactucarium to make a concentrated extract like the blue lotus resins sold in head shops. That’s not what Bane Folk is about though (plus payment processors ban head shops). I focus on the medicinal uses of poisonous plants with special attention to ones that help with pain, sleep, anxiety, and depression. Water lilies fit that description perfectly.
Water lilies are sedative, hypnotic, anti-inflammatory (especially of mucous membranes and internal tissue), mildly pain relieving, anti anxiety, antibacterial, astringent, and demulcent.
Visit the apothecary to see my offerings of water lily medicines: banefolk.com
