Mugwort:
Uses:
Dreamwork, Cleansing, Protection, Psychic work, Spirit Manifestation, Necromancy, Moon Magick, Ancestors, Dark Goddess, Visions, Divination.
All varieties of Artemesia are sacred to the Goddess Artemis who gives comfort (or death) to women in labour. Also, Diana through association and Hecate, Patron of herbalists and midwives. Mugwort is also associated with the moon which in turn is associated with the cycles of womanhood.
Mugwort is feminine in nature, associated with the element of earth, and either Venus or the Moon (depends on who you ask) and ruled by either Taurus or Libra.
Mugwort can be used as a sacred smoking herb or burned as a fumigant for protection or divination. It is safe to smoke (as safe as smoking anything is) by itself, mixed with tobacco, or other smokeable in a ritual context and is said to enhance astral projection, lucid dreaming and other altered states of consciousness. Some say that simply keeping mugwort under your pillow or in your bedroom will encourage prophetic dreams. Try making a dream pillow stuffed with mugwort. If you do keep it in your bedroom, remember that it is closely related to ragweed and the flowers may trigger some allergies.
Others say you must burn it or smoke it in order to utilize its conscious-altering effects. Burn mugwort in an incense burner as you use divination tools to help open your mind to any messages coming in.
If you are not pregnant, a cup of mugwort tea before bedtime will also encourage lucid dreaming. This shouldn’t be a regular occurrence but is useful for ceremonial purposes and as an aid while learning.
Mugwort is also used in protective sachets, especially those created in relation to travel. It is said to prevent delays and other annoyances associated with travelling, as well as to protect the traveller from accidents, thieves and other dangers associated with travelling.
Mugwort stems also make very nice wands, though they aren’t very sturdy.
Use herbal water made of mugwort to cleanse ritual tools, especially those used for divination.
Hanging mugwort over or on a door will keep unwelcome energies from passing through.
A garland or girdle of mugwort can be worn while dancing around the midsummer balefire and thrown into the fire at the end of the night to ensure protection throughout the year.
The name Mugwort is said to have come from the plant’s traditional use of flavouring beverages- you drink them out of mugs, see?
Another theory suggests that the name came from a word meaning “moth” alluding to the plant’s usefulness at keeping away pests.
Wort is an old term for “plant”, especially one of a useful nature.
Roman soldiers put mugwort in their sandals to keep their feet from getting tired.
In Holland and Germany, the plant was considered sacred to John the Baptist who presumably wore a girdle of Mugwort. The plants are gathered on St John’s Eve, made into a crown and worn to protect from possession, disease and general misfortune.
Poultry and grazing animals enjoy this plant, and it may be the same Artemisia of Pontos lauded by the ancients as excellent for fattening livestock.
In Wales, mugwort was tied to the left thigh of a woman having difficult labour. But it was believed that if the mugwort was not immediately removed after the birth, she might hemorrhage.