Wild Opium Lettuce( Lactuca Virosa) 1/2 L Container

### 🌿 Wild Opium Lettuce (Lactuca virosa)

Wild Opium Lettuce has a long history in European folk medicine as a natural sedative and pain reliever, sometimes called “poor man’s opium” for its calming, dreamlike effects. Traditionally, it was used to ease restlessness, soothe pain, and support deep, restorative sleep.

**Herbal Actions & Constituents:** A **nervine hypnotic, analgesic, and mild antispasmodic**, Wild Lettuce helps quiet the nervous system, relax tension, and soften pain. Its bitter latex, rich in **lactucopicrin and lactucin**, provides the herb’s distinct relaxing and slightly numbing qualities.

**Energetics:** **Cooling and drying.** It clears excess heat and agitation from the nervous system while gently reducing overactivity and moisture in the body. This makes it particularly useful where restlessness, nervous tension, or pain are accompanied by heat and over-excitation.

**Astrological Correspondences:** Wild Lettuce is a **Moon herb** of the **Water element**, strongly tied to the dream world, rest, and the subconscious. Its resonance with **Pisces** deepens this connection, reflecting the herb’s ability to soften boundaries, quiet the busy mind, and open one into liminal states between waking and dreaming. Just as Pisces dissolves and unifies, Wild Lettuce helps dissolve tension and bring the spirit into a state of surrender and flow.

**Growth & Harvest:** A biennial plant, Wild Lettuce sends up a tall flowering stalk in its second year. The milky latex is traditionally collected in midsummer when the plant is in flower, though leaves and aerial parts may also be used.

**Cautions:** In large amounts, Wild Lettuce can cause dizziness or nausea. It should not be combined with other strong sedatives.