Herbal Healers - Elder

Herbal Healers – Elder

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Being a hedgerow herbalist,  this time of year is one of my favourites! The hedgerows are becoming abundant with berries, nuts, and fruits. Time to get the basket out and start foraging and creating healthy medicines! And one of my favourites and store cupboard staples is elderberry syrup!

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The Elder is steeped in magic and folklore and is one of our most ancient medicinal plants. It’s hollow stem was supposed to have been used by Prometheus to bring fire to man from the gods!

It is another hedgerow plant and will grow almost anywhere – Mother Elder can sprout from even the tiniest of cracks, and flourish in the harshest of conditions. If she has chosen to plant herself in your garden it means she had chosen to protect your house. It is considered extremely bad luck to cut the elder, a nod to the witch in her! If you need to remove an elder from your garden, as can happen because she is quite invasive once she gets going, always ask politely and explain why you need to do it, this gives the plant spirit time to leave, they don’t say “respect your Elders” for nothing!! I leave an area in my garden that has space for her and actively encourage her, as I use so much of her medicine.

The Elder has always had the connection with the Goddess, feminine energy. She is associated with regeneration, as she can regrow rapidly from any part, and reminds us of the never ending cycle of life death and rebirth. Some of her names are;  Hylde-moðer, the Elder Tree Mother, The Witch Tree. The Elder is the Old Crone aspect of the triple Goddess, a wise old energy at the end of the year’s cycle.

A Complete Medicine Chest

Elder is a complete medicine chest, we can use all parts of her in healing, although less now these days, as there was much vilification of the Elder as the Church tried to stamp out paganism! She would have been revered as Goddess, but was turned into a witch by the church, associated with the devil, and ultimately they said that it was Elder wood that was used to make the cross that Jesus was crucified on, and Judas hung himself from! – although branches of even the oldest and largest of Elder trees are very weak, so in case those stretched the credibility of that a bit, they added that as “proof”, god cursed the Elder by making its once straight branches twisted!

Elder has always had duality, and been at the forefront of the Pagan/Christian battle. It was a tree of life, but the devils tree, it was needed hence it was a good herb in the monastery garden, but it was feared so it was a witches plant!

The leaves do smell rather unpleasant, but they have great value as a fly and insect repellent. Because of this, you can tuck a few around yourself to keep mosquitoes and midges at bay, as well as making them into an ointment, which will also ease “old” injuries, bruises and sprains, although this is not popular anymore. Of course, the most well-known and still surviving as commercially sold products are elderflower cordial, and elderberry syrup!

Harvesting the Elderberries in Late Summer

Mother Elder is not known as Mother Natures Medicine chest for nothing! Come late Summer, the Elder bushes turn a deep dark purple with the fruit that the flowers turned into.

Benefits of Elderberry

Elderberries naturally contain vitamins A, B, and C and stimulate the immune system. Research has found that the complex sugars in elderberries support the immune system in fighting cold and flu. The researchers developed several formulas based on these complex sugars that have been clinically shown to help ameliorate all kinds of cold/flu. But harvesting and making your own syrup is so easy, and only filled with what you put into it, as well as all the love and healing intention that you can infuse into a potion that you make for your own and familys' wellbeing!

As always, forage mindfully, never harvest from busy road sides or take too much from one plant…and always leave some for the birds and animals, as elderberries are a vital food source for them through the Autumn and Winter months.

Be sure you can identify your berries, as there are many dark berries around this time of year that look similar but can be poisonous! Also, do not eat the stems and leaves of the elder, or eat the berries raw, they can give you a nasty stomach ache.

Easy Elderberry Syrup Recipe

This recipe uses ginger and cinnamon as they are both known for their antiviral and healing properties, but you can omit them, or add any other herbs and spices you want, for example, star anise, cardamom, mixed spice. It’s easy to make and is very versitile, made into a healing soothing hot drink, drizzled onto porridge or yogurt, or you can even add a dash to fizzy wine.

Picking tips

Pick the clusters by breaking off the large stem – they should snap off of the branches easily. Shake off any insects.

The easiest way to remove the berries from the stalks is to strip them using the prongs of a fork. If you can’t use the berries straight away, they can be frozen and used later. (my preferred way)

Method

·  Carefully separate your elderberries from their stalks with a fork or your hands

·  Gather your other ingredients - ginger, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, thyme, chilli, dried orange, all spice berries, nutmeg, pepper .... literally any spices you have around!

·  Put the elderberries and other spices into a pan and cover them with water

·  Bring to the boil and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool and infuse (you can leave it overnight to really extract the herbal qualities).

·  Pour the mixture through a jelly bag or muslin (fine cloth) and allow the juice to drip through. Extract as much liquid as possible

·  Pour the elderberry liquid into a measuring jug, and measure how much you have. Now add equal parts sugar to the liquid mixture – so if you measured 500ml of juice, add 500g of sugar, or if you have 1 litre of liquid, add 1 kilo of sugar or you could substitute honey. I tend to use less sugar, as it’s not so good for you, but play with it and sweeten to taste. The berries are tart, and the sugar acts as a preservative, so if you go too low, it will not keep and will go mouldy!

·  Add the sugar. Simmer for five minutes and then cool and pour into sterilised bottles - I wash mine in very hot water and a sterilising tablet, then heat them in a 90 degree oven while the syrup is cooking.

And that’s it!! Easy.

And if you don't have time to make your own, you could always buy one of mine.....

Spiced Elderberry Syrup

£22.00

Buy Now

I hope you enjoy working with the energy of the Elder and all the health benefits she brings.

If you’d like to see me making this and talking about Elder as well as other herbal healers, check out my YouTube channel.

Which is still a work in progress, like me!

Much love and Green Blessings,

Sam XXX

Disclaimer

The content in this article is not intended as a medical reference but as a source of information.

Before trying any herbal remedy the reader is recommended to try a small quantity first to establish whether there are any adverse or allergic reactions to the herb.

Please remember that although all the herbs I use are known for being extremely gentle, when you are using herbs and plants for their medicinal properties, they are just that – ‘medicinal’. If you wish to take a herbal remedy with prescribed medicines, you should talk to a pharmacist or your GP first – treat all herbal remedies with respect.

Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any adverse reactions to the recommendations in this article. The use of any herb or derivative is entirely at the reader’s own risk.

© 2026 Sam AuroraStar, The Green Witchery. All rights reserved. Thank you for walking the Wheel of the Year with me. This blog is written by a human witch. Al occasionally used for research and SEO purposes only.