Making Wild Medicine & Healing with Bidens Pilosa
While I had been familiar with the power of Bidens pilosa through the work of Stephen Buhner on Lyme, I had yet to meet her in the wild (or garden), nor had I worked with her (as Bidens pilosa is sadly not a herb generally commercially available).
That was until 3 summer’s ago. We had just moved to the Farm. We were making friends with our Amish and Plain Folk (German Baptist) neighbors, and I was on a sort of “herb walk” with one, let’s call her Maria.
Maria was the first to introduce me to Bidens as a living plant. She tends a beautiful patch in her garden. Maria converted from a mainstream upbringing to the horse and buggy German Baptist after college, where she had earned a degree in horticulture. You should see her garden!
She and I can sit and talk about all the things, mostly plants and remedies and treatments for this or that. What a blessed friendship we have.
Anyhow, back to Bidens pilosa:)
Most folk pass it by without even realizing it’s there (true for most of the plant healers). In fact, they usually curse it for the sticky seeds that cling to their clothes and dogs. But Bidens pilosa (also known as Spanish Needle, Beggar’s Tick, or Blackjack) is one of the plant medicines with the highest healing willingness, most of us here in the US have access to, and yet most have never even heard of it.
A couple Summers ago, in our medicine garden here on Farm, I started my own patch of Bidens from seed. It eagerly reseeds itself year after year. Plants that do that always seem to have a powerful purpose, don't they? Our goats and the rabbits love Bidens, so were it not that the medicine garden was fenced…perhaps that’s why I don’t find her much outside the garden.
I’ve been tincturing loads of fresh Bidens lately. Because while I have been working with the tincture in a few of my synergistic herbal formulas offered in the FarmStore, this season, I am determined to set plenty to begin offering Bidens pilosa as a singleton tincture.
In my work with Bidens pilosa, I have come to realize, this humble weed is a true miracle in terms of restoring the terrain! And in a world long obsessed with pathogens (aka germs) and poison pharmaceuticals, Bidens offers us something far more of value,
Real Healing!
Harvesting, Tincturing, and Dosing Bidens Pilosa
When I harvest:
Just before or at the beginning of flowering
In the morning, after the dew has dried but before the heat sets in
Focus on the top 1/3 of the plant: leaves, tender stems, and young flower buds
How I tincture:
Fresh plant ratio: 1:2 (weight to volume)
Alcohol strength: 75% ABV (150–160 proof)
Set for 4–6 weeks, shake daily, then strain and store in amber colored glass bottles
How much Bidens pilosa tincture I take:
General wellness: Take 30–60 drops (1.5–3 mL), 2–3x/day
Buhner, in his book “Herbal Antibiotics, Healing Lyme, Natural Treatments for Lyme Coinfections” recommends 5 mL (1 tsp), 3x/day as part of his co-infection protocols (we will dive into this later)
Use Clark’s Rule for children’s dosage calculations (Child’s Dose = (Weight in lbs ÷ 150) × Adult Dose)
Gifts of Bidens Pilosa
In my opinion, Bidens is the picture of a terrain theory herb (if that was a thing), in that, it quietly and most effectively restores health by directly restoring tissue function and immune intelligence.
—Active Constituents: Polyacetylenes (potent antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory); Flavonoids (namely quercetin, luteolin, centaurein offer immune and antioxidant support); Phenylpropanoids & Tannins (tone mucosa and reduce inflammation); Chlorogenic acids (liver supportive); Alkaloids & Phytosterols (tissue restorative)
—Herbal Actions: broad spectrum antimicrobial; immunomodulating; anti-inflammatory; liver and mucosal support; wound healing (internal and external); diuretic and urinary tract tonic; blood sugar stabilizing
—Energetics & Tissue Affinities:
Energetics: Cooling and drying
Tissue States: Damp-stagnation, mucosal inflammation, membrane hypersensitivity
Systems Affected: Lymph, immune, urinary, gut, liver, skin, vascular lining
—Therapeutic & Medicinal Benefits:
Calms bladder irritation, especially when cultures come back clean
Supports prostate health and reduces symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy
Soothes sinus irritation and chronic mucosal inflammation
Promotes clear skin and skin healing, when used both internally and externally
I love what the great herbalist Michael Moore wrote in his book “Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West”:
“Bidens may be our best herb for benign prostrate hypertrophy, usually decreasing the membrane irritability both in the urinary tract and the rectum, and often, over a few weeks of use, noticeably shrinking the prostate and giving its connective tissue better tone.”
The next several paragraphs of thought and sharing of research will likely be considered controversial to some, this not surprising to those of you who have followed our work for any length of time. However, I do encourage you to consider it all with an open mind.
The HIV Paradox & Terrain Restoration
There is a surprising amount of scientific literature and study on the antiviral potential of Bidens pilosa, particularly in the context of HIV. *Point of reference: For those interested in deeper personal study of the scientific literature on Bidens pilosa and HIV, several studies have explored its use in managing inflammation, restoring immune function, and even inhibiting key enzymes involved in viral replication. While these studies approach HIV through the lens of conventional medicine, they nonetheless serve to support its profound terrain restoring actions.
All of that said…
…what if the usefulness of Bidens (in the case of HIV) has less to do with “fighting a virus” and more to do with restoring a collapsed terrain?
I very much appreciate the high and holy work of folks like Dr. Sam Bailey, who have challenged the foundational narrative of HIV, showing that what we call “AIDS” may actually be the result of toxic exposures, pharmaceutical damage, and immune suppression, not a viral invasion.
And if this perspective is actually true, then Bidens is not an “anti-HIV herb” in the traditional/pharmaceutical sense. Rather, it is a highly restorative plant! One that nourishes mucosa, calms systemic inflammation, supports proper lymphatic function, and helps reset (if you will) & reorient the immune system.
It’s easy for us to read these words and disassociate from the idea of “HIV;” however, I am going to bring this forward, because there is no doubt in my mind, we are seeing the same pattern emerge again in these times we find ourselves living.
And now, it’s all under a new name.
Many researchers (and including ex-mainstream medical professionals), are now identifying a growing pattern of immune dysregulation, lymphocyte depletion, and chronic inflammatory collapse following administration of the Covid “vaccines” and mRNA injectables. Essentially, these technologies appear to mimic the very conditions historically associated with AIDS. Let the reader understand, this is not happening by the introduction of a virus, but by disruption of the terrain through genetic manipulation, cellular toxicity, and induced immune dysregulation.
If AIDS was the first terrain collapse to be falsely framed as a virus, I can not discredit the possibility that Covid “vaccine” injury may be the second.
And once again, Bidens pilosa stands as a potent ally.
So while the studies may say “anti-HIV,” and today they shout about “long Covid,” “autoimmune flares,” and “post-vaccine syndromes,” what I believe Bidens to truly offer is life restoring terrain medicine.
And that’s the kind of medicine we need now more than ever!
Lyme and Buhner
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, it was the work of Stephen Buhner that first called Bidens pilosa to my attention years ago, while studying Lyme Disease and its co-infections. He created his protocols to address Babesia, Bartonella, and Borrelia, which are notorious for creating debilitating immune system chaos, vascular inflammation, and nervous system disruption.
But in the spirit of [let’s turn everything we’ve ever been taught on it’s head] let’s take a look at this based in terrain theory.
Is Lyme truly a tick-borne bacteria in every case?
Or is it another weaponized label, like HIV, used to distract us from the breakdown of the inner terrain?
I mean, these are legitimate questions to ask! Are they not?
Especially once you learn of all the affiliations from the shadows in the development of our modern “health”care system, and the inversions of truth within the whole principle of germ theory.
*Something to consider: “Germ” as we know it in terms of “germs,” eww, gross…germs/they make you sick/they are scary/be very afraid of them. However, this is a total and blatant inversion of the true root meaning of the word “Germ” which comes from the Latin germen, meaning “sprout” or “bud”, referring to something that initiates growth or development. Said another way, the meaning of “Germ” has been inverted from it’s original meaning of LIFE to one that represents death. When I see inversions like this, that is my queue to question, everything. For we know the “the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have LIFE, and that they might have it more abundantly.” —John 10:10.
In a recent YouTube video, published on her channel about a month ago from the writing of this post, “How Lyme Disease Was Weaponized,” Dr. Sam Bailey highlights the institutional shaping of Lyme disease as an “emerging epidemic.” One used to keep the focus of the public on a singular pathogen, rather than the toxic, inflamed, and overburdened state of the body. Highly recommend watching, if this resonates.
And here’s another key, Buhner's work on Lyme doesn’t actually contradict this. He never saw Lyme as a germ to kill. He too saw it as a syndrome of dysfunction, requiring restoration of tissue communication, endothelial integrity, immune harmony, and mucosal coherence.
All of this is why Bidens plays such a vital role in:
Inhibiting biofilms (that block communication)
Repairing vascular linings
Crossing the blood-brain barrier
Restoring immune intelligence & health
This is terrain medicine in its truest form!
Plant as Teacher
In my garden, I find Bidens pilosa wanting to grow in places where the soil has been disturbed. Where there are cracks in the soil, erosion, compaction, imbalance.
And what does it do for the soil in those areas?
It heals. It stabilizes. It nourishes.
Exactly what it does inside of the human body.
To me, there are no coincidences.
Bidens is the healer that helps me remember, we are not at war with microbes. We are stewards of a terrain (a sacred vessel, a temple) that we have been given the responsibility to nourish, support, and guide back to balance.
As I see it, herbs like Bidens aren’t just alternatives to modern medicine. They are primary agents of healing. And every bit as essential as food, water, and breath.
And perhaps you agree, we’ve spent way too long caught in a fear-based narrative of disease. Kill the invaders, get them out of here! Sterilize every surface there is to sterilize! Suppress the symptoms with pharmaceuticals that keep us dependent!
But real health doesn’t work that way.
The truth is, when the body is deeply & appropriately nourished, emotionally & mentally balanced, and energetically/frequency in tune, disease has no foothold.
And the path to that place isn’t through more fear, more diagnostic labeling, or more dang pills. It’s through connection. With the All of Creation.
And herbs like Bidens pilosa, which have been given to serve us and help us remember what’s been forgotten.
I’d love to keep the conversation going and connect with you on these topics! Let’s gather together in the comments.
—Andrea
Our Off Grid Life