Effects and Applications of Mugwort

Mugwort(Wormwood) The First Grown Up Plant after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

Mugwort?

Mugwort (Artemesia Vulgaris) has quit a history in many countries. Used as a magical herb during Middle Ages, Mugwort is also used nowadays as an ingredient for many japanese, korean or chinese dishes.

Mugwort is a plant that grows in Europe, Asia and British isles. Other commonly used names for this herb include felon herb, naughty man, chrysanthemum weed, old uncle henry and wild wormwood.

The edible parts of this herb are its leaves and roots.

Effects

Mugwort also has hallucinogenic properties. 

This psychoactive herb is used by some people as a dream enhancer by putting it under their pillow. This mild hallucinogen can be brewed or smoked. Many users have reported astral travel and prophetic dreams with the use of this herb. This herb was used in the manufacturing of beers. Since mugwort is a mild hallucinogen, it does not cause any harmful side effects.

Applications
1. Pack

innisfree mugwort mask

illi mugwort mask

2. Moxa Cautery (Mugwort Moxtibustion)

There are two different applications of moxa - direct and indirect. Each is useful for different conditions.

Direct moxa means the moxa is applied directly onto the body. This is further broken down into what is called the scarring and the non-scarring methods. Scared yet? Not to worry! Most practitioners these days don't perform scarring moxa anymore, and for obvious reasons! Therefore I won't cover that category in much detail here. But suffice it to say that it has its uses, and is very strong and quite effective! The non-scarring is the more common direct moxa method, and involves a small bunch of moxa being put onto the body, usually in the shape of cone, and burned down until the warmth is felt by the patient, and then removed. Many rounds of this would be done until a very strong sense of heat was felt at the point.

Indirect moxa is probably the most commonly used as it can warm a greater area of the body with greater comfort. This too can be further broken down into the two most commonly used forms: warming needle and moxa pole. The moxa pole looks a lot like a cigar. It is lit at one end until it is smoldering hot, and then it is held over an acupuncture point or region of the body to warm it. In warming needle, an acupuncture needle is placed into a point on the body, and then a small ball of moxa is placed on the head of the needle. The moxa is then lit, so that the entire ball of moxa burns and smolders completely, thereby warming not only the surface of the skin below the moxa, but also the needle itself, and in turn the qi deep within the acupuncture point. The picture shown is of warming needle moxa.