Mugwort — Artemisia vulgaris, the oldest of herbs, patron of the dream

Le dernier territoire souverain. On y entre par les plantes, par le silence, par le retour aux songes des anciens.

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Le dernier territoire souverain. On y entre par les plantes, par le silence, par le retour aux songes des anciens.

— Le dernier territoire souverain. On y entre par les plantes, par le silence, par le retour aux songes des anciens.

Artemisia vulgaris grows in the rubble, by the roadsides, in the places disturbed by human hands. This is no accident — it is a predilection. She accompanies the passages, the borders, the thresholds. She marks the roads of the Roman travellers who used her to tend their tired feet. She grows at the gates of the towns in the Middle Ages. She is named "mother of all herbs" in the Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm of the tenth century.

Lineage — five continents, one thread

Medieval Europe: the plant of Diana/Artemis (hence the genus Artemisia). Protectress of travellers, steadier of the feminine cycles. Placed beneath the pillow to awaken the dreams. Burned as an offering to the Moon.

China and Tibet: Ai Ye in Chinese. Moxibustion — the heating of acupuncture points with dried mugwort — has been one of the pillars of Chinese medicine for at least 2,000 years. The Huang Di Nei Jing (the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) mentions her.

Japan: Yomogi. Used in cooking (yomogi mochi) and in kampo medicine. Applied externally for joint pains.

Africa: several species of Artemisia — among them A. afra in South Africa — used in a similar way for the feminine cycles and for inhalations.

The Americas: A. vulgaris was brought over by the European settlers, but several native Artemisia (A. tridentata, A. californica) share similar uses among the Native American nations.

The dream dimension — a European and worldwide trait

The use of mugwort to awaken the memory of dreams is documented across many independent traditions. In medieval Europe: the plant placed beneath the pillow, the pillow stuffed with dried mugwort, the sachet worn at the wrist to "open the gates of dreams".

The mechanism proposed by some researchers: thujone (a monoterpene ketone) inhibits acetylcholinesterase (the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine), which could lengthen and deepen the REM phases. This hypothesis is not clinically confirmed — but it is consistent with the reported ethnobotanical uses.

Mugwort is not a powerful oneirogen like Calea zacatechichi. She is more subtle — a facilitation, not an induction. She is particularly active for the memory of dreams on waking (dream recall).

Preparation and use

Infusion: 1 teaspoon of dried leaves in 250 ml of boiling water, steeped 10 minutes, drunk before bed. A bitter, herbaceous taste. Honey may be added.

Dream sachet: a small quantity of dried mugwort in a cloth sachet, placed beneath the pillow. A soft, camphorous scent that some find quickening for the dreams.

Fumigation: burned on charcoal or in a bundle (smudge), but take care — mugwort IS NOT white sage. They are two different plants with very different uses and traditions. The confusion is frequent and troubling.

Moxibustion: a use reserved for trained practitioners — the technique calls for specific training to be effective and free of any risk of burns.

Red lines

Thujone is potentially neurotoxic at high dose — it is the same issue that led to the restriction of absinthe. Use in a light infusion is generally without risk for healthy adults. Pregnancy STRICTLY CONTRAINDICATED — mugwort is a powerful uterotonic, used historically as an emmenagogue (it can bring on contractions). Breastfeeding: avoid. Epilepsy: avoid (thujone is convulsant at high dose). Do not confuse with Artemisia absinthium (Grand Wormwood) — more powerful and more toxic.