Wormwood, Artemisia absinthium (Compositae)
“Nature’s promise that out of devastation life will spring up anew.” M. Woods
Names: Apsinthion, bathypikron (Gr) , Herbs fortis (Lat), Madderwort, Mingwort, Old woman, Wermut, Elss, Magenkraut, Wurmkraut, Bitterer Beifuss (Ge)
Taste: bitter, warm, frarant
Tissue States: cold depression, internal damp heat
Effective Qualities: warming and binding; stimulant, detoxicant and restorative; cooling and draining
Constituents: ess. Oil (incl, thujone), terpenoids (incl. azulene, tanacetone, bitter sewquiterpines and their lactones, triterpenoid, flavonoids ruitin, quercetin and hydroxycoumarins, polyacetylenes, ketepelenlide, tannins, organic acids, arabin, ascorbic acid, amino acids
Characteristic Symptoms: Coldness and Deadness. People who have been through rough, brutal, dehumanizing events or harsh environmental stress resulting in emotional and physical coldness, lack of somatic activity, suppressed psychological affect, with stiff, cold extremities. Brutal, insane, idiotic.
Pulse: hard in the middle on right hand, dead, masked feeling.
Characteristic Uses:
Stomach, intestines, liver, uterus
Bitter Tonic. Stimulant to stomach, gallbladder and digestion. Promotes bile flow, reduces liver congestion, removes accumulation and relieves fullness, relieves bilious headache, (right flank and epigastric pain)Travelers indigestion and nausea. , Colic, pained stomach.
Bad breath, really putrid.
Promotes urination and menstruation
Stimulates nerves and generates strength, fatigue, absent-mindedness, chronic depression. Night terrors
Sores, boils, eczema. Worms. Food poisoning, Externally on sore, stiff, cold muscles. Earache, toothache, clenched jaw
Contraindications:
Homeopathic proving shows it acts on the nervous system causing spasms, twitching, epiliepsy and night terrors.
Forbidden during pregnancy and breastfeeding (uterine stimulant and teratoggenic ketone thujone)
Thujone crosses blood/brain barrier. Insanity(?) due to overconsumption of vermouth (Van Gough)
Distribution/ Habitat: grows in wastelands, deserts, desolate areas
Cultivation: easily grown in garden
Collecting: fresh flowering tops and/or lower leaves
Preparation & Dosage: Very low dose (1 drop /week) or for less than 4 weeks
Infusion of fresh tops 1tsp to quart of water or tincture before or after meal (with mint but no sweetener)
Washes for sking, oil for pains and worms
My Experiences:
She told me to clear my altar and suddenly everything else that needed to get cleaned or cleared became much more interesting and important. Now I can sit and feel her presence once ‘everything’ has been refreshed.
Using the oil on my stiff neck and shoulder makes it feel better.
Sources:
Wood, Matthew. The Book of Herbal Wisdom,
and The Earthwise Herbal, Old World
Holmes, Peter. The Energetics of Western Herbs.
