Mugwort has a long history as a magical and medicinal plant ally. An ancient Anglo-Saxon herb charm dating to the 10th or 11th century refers to it as ‘the oldest of herbs’ and praises its power to resist poison and contagion. The Ancients regarded its nature as 'hot and dry' and used it to counteract ‘cold’ conditions. Mugwort was cherished as a ‘woman’s herb’; it aids childbirth and regulates the menstrual cycle . Its bitter constituents act on the digestive system and the liver.
The dried herb was sometimes used as a kitchen herb to make fatty meats easier to digest. In Chinese medicine, the dried herb is used in a kind of ‘heat acupuncture’ known as 'moxibustion' to help clear congested meridians.
Traditional
Mugwort has been used as a smudging herb since Neolithic times. The powerfully aromatic, bitter-sweet scent was thought to clear the atmosphere and alleviate tension. However, it is used in perfumery or as a fragrance component in soaps and such.
Magical
Mugwort is an herb of Mid-summer. It is said to protect against all kinds of evils, bad spirits and sinister curses. Mugwort is considered a gatekeeper at the threshold to the ‘Otherworld’. It is used for visualisation and lucid dreaming.
Scent
The essential oil is produced by steam distillation of the dried flowering tops. The whole plant is highly aromatic, and its pungent, herbaceous, camphoraceous, and bitter-sweet scent is amplified in the essential oil. It blends well with rosemary, clary sage, cedarwood, pine, Frankincense.
