Artemisia : The Balm for Sovereign Resonance into Our Body and Soul
Artemisia (Artemisia Vulgaris AND Artemisia Absinthium)
As I stood in the plant marketplace, I am captivated by the tall silvery looking plant,.
Gently watching the feathery like stalks moving in balanced resonance with the wind, I enter into a dreamlike quality of calm and feel relief wash over me as if nature herself is baptizing me. Wanting to go down to my knees and sob, I know it would be okay at the herb gathering I am attending, but I’m not ready to do that, just yet….
This was my first true introduction to Artemisia; to the balms to my healing the wounds of my body and my soul.
I had Artemisia Absinthium my garden for a few years, but had always been afraid to work with her. I had planted her the year my mother died, being told it was a different artemisia (mugwort/cronewort) but somehow I knew it wasn’t and I felt awkward around her.
Perhaps I wasn’t ready yet to begin to heal my body and soul with her witchy and sensitive energy.
I now also have Artemisia Vulgaris in my garden and she has a similar, yet different, more ancient and softer vibe. Lady Vulgaris is the wise old lady sitting in the back of the room with a twinkle in her eye and a story to share to awaken your inner wisdom, as all old women have. (wink)
Artemisia Absinthium is definitely more of the witch, bringing out the shadowy aspect of our inner psyche to balance our inner and outer worlds.
Artemisias energetic illumination is in the Fullness of Summer… when our bodies are arching in joy and fullness towards the sun and our minds are open and full of wonder for nature and life.
This is when she blooms, from July - October, and begins to have her effect on us.
Both Artemisia have been balms for healing my body and my soul, literally and energetically.
Artemisia Vulgaris is known as Mugwort/Cronewort and Artemisia Absinthium is known as Wormwood; in the 1800’s Artemisia Absinthium was brewed into a very strong drink called Absinthe throughout Europe. Due to the ways in which it was made and the amount of the constituent thujone, it was highly toxic, creating hallucinogenic experiences and affecting the liver negatively.
Although these are two different varieties, they are both from the Asteraceae family and carry many of the same healing qualities, with a few differences.
In all varieties, she is a tall growing, feathery-like plant. Her silvery green leaves are instantly recognizable - green on top with downy like hairs on the underside of the leaf, showing off her striking wisdom with elegance and grace. ( the connection to the wise woman, the Crone - Cronewort!)
In Vulgaris form, her stem is “hairy” and leaves are more triangular shaped (photo on the left), while Absinthium branches out a bit more from a slightly woody stalk and her leaves have a bit of a squarer shape.
(photo on the right)
Both Artemisia Vulgaris and Absinthium sweet and slightly warming bitter taste indicating she has a toning and slightly stimulating action in the body with affinities for digestion, the nervous system, and the female reproductive system.
She can irritate Pitta creating too much warmth, but lowers and eases both Vata and Kapha constitutions.
Traditionally, having the constituents of azulene, pinene and santonin, Artemisia has been used internally, as a low dose herb, to increase digestion and as a nerve tonic for “female problems” - meaning nervous anxiety related to hormonal changes and reproductive issues. (Not so surprising seeing as how women have been denigrated and treated as meaningless after child bearing years for millennia… but I digress)
All Artemisia is contraindicated for internal consumption during pregnancy and breast feeding (it is a uterine stimulant), but has no known effects in very low doses otherwise.
Generally, Artemisia Vulgaris can be interchanged with Artemisia annua, Artemisia douglasania, or other species throughout the world for similar purposes.
Artemisia Absinthium cannot be interchanged
The whole plant is used in tinctures/extracts, leaves and flowers for tea, and stems, leaves and flowers smudge form. Flowers from Artemisia Vulgaris are white with a light or deep purple/violet color inside indications for Nervous System Support, and her stems are “hairy”.
The flowers of Artemisia Absinthium are a light yellow color and her stem is more woody and more solid...
Esoteric Significance/ Fun Tidbits about Artemisia (vulgaris, annua, douglasania, and absinthium )
Ruling Planet: Venus (Friday)
Venus is Yin/Feminine. She is warming and relaxing.
Artemisias connection to Venus is due mostly to her ability to relax tension in the body, be it muscular, emotional, in them mind, or her effects on the female reproductive system and Nervous system.
Venus has a lovely way of bringing things up and out in a gentle manner.
Ruling elements:
Air
Air rules Tension in the body - see it in how it releases wind, tension, and spasms in the body, dispersion of the stuck energy pretty quickly.
Ruling Principle: (What it is here to teach us.)
Esoterically, Venus governs our relationships; with ourselves, love, and sexual. Her plants have a strong impact on the emotional body, helping us to come into vibrational alignment with someone or something from a place of empathy, but also keeping us firm in our truth.
She initiates us into the heart, both spiritually and emotionally.
My work with this herb has sunk me deeper into the magical world of plants, the deep magical realm of the esoteric aspects of life, the mystical.
She has brought me a reverence for ways in which plants mirror my emotional world and guide me through life connected to my heart.
I no longer feel awkward around her and enjoy the stately body, emotional, and spiritual energy she carries.
She is one of my most profound plant allies and I’m excited to see the wisdom she brings to my formulas with clients.