Mugwort – The Mother Herb of Moxibustion
Ready for our adventure! Mugwort Tea ready when I got into the car, we even stopped by the side of the road and found Elderflower. Two very happy little witches!
Mugwort is a herb that has been used for thousands of years in Chinese Medicine. It is burnt in a myriad of ways either directly on the skin, on top of acupuncture needles or held above the skin.
In Japan especially it has become a revered modality in its own right.
The heat produced by the herb is not the same as simply applying a heat pack. It heats both the surface and subcutaneous levels and operates at the near infrared levels.
See here for more research. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3789413/
Mugwort’s use extends across centuries throughout Asia and Europe. Like many herbs the folk lore, spiritual associations and use in “old wives tales” lead to it’s dismissal by modern medicine.
Like many herbs in the ancient world, just because they didn’t know how things worked doesn’t mean it was all mythology. For example Mugwort hung in windows in Spring time to keep out evil were probably successful in keeping out mosquitoes carrying blood bornel diseases due to its insect repelling qualities.
It’s smoke contains no carcinogenic properties and is used as an anti-bacterial fumigant.
The herb itself is part of the worm wood family and one of its names Artemesia Vulgaris refers to the Goddess Artemis who was the goddess of women, children and childbirth. This herb is used with profession application in teas and womb steams.
Ash from Fallen Leaf Herbalist and I had a wonderful day together on Friday 13th, it was also a new moon! This outing to harvest Mugwort happened so spontaneously we didn’t event realise the significance of the day until it was upon us.
We started with freshly made Mugwort tea, the smell in the car on the way home was incredible.
In keeping my love of balancing science with spirituality a small punch of mugwort kept near your pillow can help you dream deeply and real them upon waking.
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