Mugwort has always been one of those mysterious herbs for me, associated with lucid dreaming, witchcraft, and magic. It wasn't until I was gifted a mugwort and watched it grow for two seasons that I fell utterly smitten with this powerful, communicative plant. There isn't a medicinal plant that's drawn me in the garden quite so much, though I'm deeply smitten with elder, lemon balm and many others that are becoming features of my physik garden. Like lemon balm, it calms the nervous system, so of course that's one asset it has - so it was a lovely herb to put in a dreamy oxymel I made a few months back.
An oxymel is a herbal extraction made with vinegar and raw honey, and whilst vinegar might sound harsh, the honey and herbs balance it out into a syrupy, tangy goodness that's lovely to take by the spoonful or in a glass of water.
Mugwort, Tulsi & Lavender Oxymel
**This recipe came from 'Plants for the People' by Erin Lovell Verinder. I also wrote a more detailed piece on it here.
1 cup of (preferably raw) honey
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
equal parts of dried mugwort, tulsi and lavender
I actually found fresh was just as lovely and made mine the same day I picked it from the garden. Pick enough herbs so that the honey and ACV will cover it, and then leave to infuse in a dark place for about six weeks or more.
I'm quite taken to have it in a cup of black tea, as you would brandy, at the end of a stressful day, or just before bed in a herbal tea.
Verinder calls this an 'intuition' oxymel, but I tend to tell people I gift it to that it's for calm and sleep. Some are more resistant to this part of themselves, the deep knowing that we should trust and be soft towards. Artemisia vulgaris is well known for it's association with psychic healing, dreamwork, trancework and so on. Perhaps this is because it powerfully smoothes away the stresses that would interfere with this deeper, moon guided listening. Perhaps it's because of sedative qualities - asleep, we are kept in a realm where we can freely dream. It's said to be good for those who experience disrupted sleep - and if you're not sleeping through the night, you're more likely to have nightmares. I'm keen to try a tea with mugwort, passionflower and skullcap, all which might work to do this as well. Dream herb, mugwort is, but as in many stories, there is science, just as there is science in stories.
Besides, like with any herb, you have to work with it for a while. You can't just smoke it and expect to be transported to magical, colourful dreams. People seem to expect quick magic with herbs, and that's not how mugwort seems to work. She just sits in my garden talking to me, most times. And I try to listen.
Mugwort and Lavender Smudge Stick
Tightly wrap lavender and mugwort in a nestled smudge stick, dry and burn as you recite a mantra and allow the smoke to drift through the house.
You can smoke them together, so you can smudge stick em, right, or vice verse? White sage and lavender, lavender and mugwort, mugwort and white sage - these three end up in my smudge sticks all the time.
The plant is also burned in Chinese moxibustion practices, said to enhance healing with acupuncture. Mugwort is burnt close to the skin, an applied heat. I've had moxibustion to treat intense lower back pain and it didn't work. As I said, you have to work with herbs for a long time. They aren't a codeine pill or a shot of morphine. Moxibustion, however, has been known to reduce the need for oxytocin which helps the uterus to contract during labour - and may result in less caesarean births when there's a breech baby.
Ah, so she is of the moon, indeed. I love listening to plants so deeply that you start realising all sorts of connections. Like lemon balm, also a moon for it's nervine, calming actions, mugwort too is a moon herb, planet of the night and of sleep, but also keeping us awake - and there's mugwort, encouraging us to sleep again by overactive moons. Of course, Artemis is a moon goddess - little wonder this plant is named for her. Artemis is helper of midwives, a goddess of birth. She's a hormonal regulator, is mugwort. A plant goddess of flow and circulation, of blood moving through, a regulator, a pain reliever. I've been thinking of a tea to help a friend who suffers endometriosis, and mugwort keeps nodding: 'I'm here, I'm here'.
Mugwort & Turmeric Smoothie
And so, she finds herself in my lunchtime smoothies, too, soft and sweet and easeful when my nerves are frayed and the sun is burning down in the summer. Sometimes lemon balm finds her way in there too.
1 banana
3 tsps mugwort leaves, dried or fresh
1 tsp of lemon balm, preferably fresh
A squeeze of lime
A knob of fresh ginger and turmeric
1 tbsp honey
A splash of coconut milk
optional maca (for hormones, being a moon smoothie)
optional a handful of frozen mango or berries
Blend, with ice or without, and enjoy.
On a Final ... or Not so Final..note
I have loved the discussion about mugwort on The Herbal Hive this week - I've learnt a lot. Varieties have been touted for digestive aids and spring clean tonics, for fleas and malarial aids - I had forgotten it had been touted as a cancer cure. There is so much to learn, as always.
It strikes me how much there is to know about any plant, let alone mugwort. Hive has got such a potential for herb lovers the world over to connect and share stories, and to help us contemplate, explore and discover through writing and commenting with others. I don't know whether it's the mugwort or not (I had to drink a smoothie and burn some in the making of this post) but I'm feeling all warm and gooey inside.
As I was putting the smudge stick away on the sideboard I found the book I was searching for and opened it to the mugwort page to see what other information might be gleaned there, and smiled to see a bookmark of mugwort from last year's harvest, just as this year's leaves are beginning to push upward toward the moon.
Lovely, lovely mugwort, don't you think?
With Love,
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