Herb of the Day
Mugwort
Medicinal Uses: The leaves are collected in August and dried and the root, is dug up in autumn and dried.
An excellent herb for premenstrual symptoms, used in tea and the bath. Use a standard infusion of two teaspoons per cup of water steeped for twenty minutes, take one-fourth cup four times a day. It makes a good foot bath for tired feet and legs. Cleansing to the liver, it promotes digestion. Mugwort in an emmenagogue, especially when combined with pennyroyal, blue cohosh, or angelica root. It is helpful in epilepsy, palsy, and hysteria and is useful for fevers. is given in an infusion, which should be prepared in a covered vessel, 1 oz. of the herb to 1 pint of boiling water, and given in 1/2 teaspoonful doses, while warm. The infusion may be taken cold as a tonic, in similar doses, three times daily: it has a bitterish and aromatic taste.
As a nervine, Mugwort is valued in palsy, fits, epileptic and similar affections, being an old-fashioned popular remedy for epilepsy. The leaves, placed inside the shoes, are said to be soothing for sore feet.
When laid among clothing, mugwort repels moths.
Skin contact can cause dermatitis in some people. Mugwort should never be used by pregnant women, especially in their first trimester, since it can cause a miscarriage. Large, prolonged dosage can damage the nervous system.
Magickal Uses: Mugwort is burned with sandalwood or wormwood during scrying rituals, and a mugwort infusion is drunk (sweetened with honey) before divination. The infusion is also used to wash crystal balls and magic mirrors, and mugwort leaves are placed around the base of the ball (or beneath it) to aid in psychic workings. The fresh leaves rubbed on a magick mirror or crystal ball will strengthen divinatory abilities.
In China it is hung over doors to keep evil spirits for buildings. Mugwort is also carried to increase lust and fertility, to prevent backache, and to cure disease and madness. Placed next to the bed it aids in achieving astral projection. It is said to protect travelers from fatigue, sunstroke, wild animals, and evil spirits. Mugwort is feminine, and is ruled by the olanetVenus. It is associated with the Element of Air.
Properties: Antiseptic; Antispasmodic; Appetizer; Carminative; Cholagogue; Diaphoretic; Digestive; Diuretic; Emmenagogue; Expectorant; Foot care; Haemostatic; Nervine; Purgative; Stimulant; Tonic. Mugwort contains volatile oil, an acrid resin and tannin.
Growth: Mugwort is a tall-growing plant, the stems, which are angular and often of a purplish hue, frequently rising 3 feet or more in height. The leaves are smooth and of a dark green tint on the upper surface, but covered with a dense cottony down beneath; they are once or twice pinnately lobed, the segments being lanceshaped and pointed. The flowers are in small oval heads with cottony involucres and are arranged in long, terminal panicles; they are either reddish or pale yellow.
Source:
Author: Crick
Website: The Whispering Woods
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