mugwort

mugwort

mugwort

multiple varieties Sharp spikey leaves, hairless on top but have soft white wooly hair underneath. 3 ft stem (1m) sometimes purplish. Small greenish yellow cottony looking flowers on spikes. Leaves are edible, somewhat bitter (good for digestion, stomach acid, bile production, gas, bloating, nutrient absorption, liver). Used for centuries as an antibacterial, antifungal, worm-expeller, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, digestive, diuretic, expectorant, stimulant, stomach aid, and blood cleanser. Tea used to hide pain, headaches, promote sweating, regulates menses, lowers blood sugar, rheumatism, colds, bronchitis, epilepsy, colic, kidneys, nerves, shaking, stomach aches, asthma, insomnia, menstrual issues, tumors, stop bleeding, diarrhea, . Leaves contain compounds shown to be effective against staph and strep infections, dysentery, E.Coli, etc. Tea also used as insecticide, and externally for skin conditions like poison ivy. Used in past as flavoring for beer-like drinks before hops were used. Do not take while pregnant. Not advisable for children.

Edible Plant Guide © 2012 Markus Rothkranz

Mugwort

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Artemissia vulgaris is a common plant throughout northern and southern temperate zones. It is named for Artemis, the Greek goddess whose shrines were often centers for

healing. Mugwort is used for easing the pain of childbirth, for many women's disorders, and for epilepsy and hysteria. Witches and folk doctors have, for centuries, regarded it as a magical healing herb. As a tea, it is used to aid divination and general psychic work; stuffed into pillows, it dispels nightmares and promotes divinitary dreams.

In France and Germany it is gathered on St. John's Eve, consequently being referred to there as St. John's Plant, and is thought to protect corn from mice. Some modern Wiccans use the tea as a bath for consecrating crystals, amulets, and talismans. Some even use it as a ritual drink at full moon esbats. But in Normandy, it is traditionally used to prevent witches from spoiling butter.

The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism © 2002 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Mugwort

 

(Artemisia vulgaris), a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Compositae. The usually dark red-brown stems are 30–200 cm tall. The twice- or thrice-pinnatisect leaves are 3–15 cm long and 2.5–20 cm wide; they are broadly ovate or elliptical, white-tomentose beneath, with small auricles at the base. The lower leaves are on petioles; the upper ones are sessile and smaller than the upper ones. The obovate or elliptical heads measure 2–3 mm across and are gathered into a dense panicle. All the flowers are tubular and reddish. The marginal flowers are pistillate, and the middle ones are bisexual. The mugwort is found in forests and steppes in Europe and Western Asia. It grows as a weed along roads and river banks, in wastelands and dumps, amid shrubbery, and—less commonly—in forest glades and margins. In the USSR the plant occurs in the European portion, the Caucasus, Western Siberia, and Middle Asia. Mugwort contains an essential oil, carotene, and ascorbic acid; the apices of the flowering plants and roots are used in folk medicine.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.