Celandine (Chelidonium majus)
Folk Names: Celydoyne, Chelidonium, Devil's Milk, Felon-wort, Garden Celandine, Greater Celandine, Kenning Wort, Swallow Herb, Swallow-wort, Tetterwort, Wart Weed, Wort-weed
Description: Celandine is a member of the poppy family. It can be biennial or perennial, depending upon where it is grown. It prefers damp, rich soil on the edges of forests, paths, and walls. Celandine is a native of Europe naturalized to Northeastern Canada and the US, south to Georgia, Tennessee, and Missourri. The finger-thick, cylindrical root is red-brown on the outside and orange-yellow one inside, containing a milky juice. The hollow stem is round and smooth, growing up to two and one-half feet with swollen joints. It is slightly hairy. The yellowish-green leaves are alternate and pinnate or pinnatifid with ovate, mildly irregularly lobed leaflets. Bright yellow, four-petal flowers less than an inch across grow in sparse umbels from April to October. A dense mass of stamens appears at the center of each blossom. The long thin seedpods contain blackish seeds. The entire plant contains a bitter, smelly orange-yellow juice that turns red when exposed to the air.
Effects: strong
Planet: Sun, Mars Zodiac: Leo
Element: fire
Associated Deities:
Traditions:
Celandine is named from the Greek chelidon for Swallow because it was said to flourish with the bird's arrival and wither with its departure. Swallows were also said to use the juice to strengthen the eyesight of their fledglings.
Magic:
Celandine is protective and endows its user with victory over their enemies. To escape from unwanted imprisonment or entrapment of any kind, wear it next to the skin and replace every three days. Wear to court to win the favor of a judge or jury or wear for depression.
Known Combinations:
Albertus Magnus said that celandine must be used in conjunction with the heart of a mole, but it might be helpful to invoke the poor creature rather than kill it.
Medical Indications:
Nutrition:
Mercantile Uses:
Parts Used: roots, herb
Celandine is an anodyne, caustic, diaphoretic, diuretic, hydragogue, and narcotic. Used internally, it is a violent purgative. Externally, it has found a use as an ointment or poultice for skin diseases like herpes, eczema, warts, corns, and ringworm. The Romans used it for the removal of corneal opacities. Though celandine has had many uses in the past, it might be best to leave it in the hands of a trained professional.
Not considered a food source
The flowers produce a yellow dye for wool when used with alum.