From Chapter 8. Developing Inner Vision with the Spirit of Mugwort If there is one plant to start your journey with the plant spirits it should be Mugwort, the stunningly beautiful and beneficent Artemisia vulgaris . I could write an entire book dedicated to this most bounteous and gifted healer but here I want to present some of her most powerful metaphysical qualities to galvanise this part of the journey with a plant spirit that could easily become a lifetime friend. We covered the importance of psychic hygiene in chapter 4 and Mugwort is one of our key allies in working with us to achieve this energetic integrity. A master cleanser and tantric genius, Mugwort can transmute many types of toxic energies and release all manner of entities and intrusions from the energy field and body. Over time, as she does this on a deeper and deeper level she helps to unfurl our shamanic and psychic senses from their hibernation place. Through cycles of time within spirals of healing she realigns us back to our original human blueprint. Instantaneous healing is not uncommon with the witch queen but don''t underestimate your complexity, other realignments are not overnight processes.
Known as the Queen of Herbs or the Witches First Herb, the physical healing capabilities of Mugwort are also expansive. From a simple indigestion to the realignment of a breech during childbirth, Mugwort offers powerful remedy. Yet when we move out of the limitations of the phenomenal world her metaphysical prowess comes alive. When she is not bound by the mundane her mastery of the spirit world becomes powerfully evident. The spirit force which moves through Mugwort is a powerful witch within her own right who works with her inner air, fire and water elements with virtuoso skill. Her objective like all good shamans and witches is to bring balance and harmony, to address the misaligned energies and blockages which prevent flow and creativity. Many of these blockages occur in the cavities of the body and in the emotional layer of the energetic field, these locations being the most effected by toxic psychic energies. You will notice a thread running through all of Mugworts healing gifts and that is the power of realignment, she pushes energy / chi, she is a disruptor, an agitator and is known to bring chaos in order for a new state of balance to emerge.
Ideally work with Mugwort in her natural habitat, she is wild at heart being associated with Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt so can only be her true self when she is unbounded. She will grow in a pot and easily transplants from the wild into the garden but the most magnificent specimens of this plant can be found on the edges of woodland and the banks of rivers. She is powerfully connected to the moon and it is advisable to collect her leaves for tea or tincture at dawn on the full moon. If you can wait until summer solstice, this is her power day, any medicine harvested on this day will be especially potent and full of her dynamic spirit. If you do not have a wild plant then a plant spirit essence is also tremendously effective. I personally like to bathe with her and adding her to magic baths will facilitate deep cleansing and a clearing of unhelpful energies from your auric field. (See the chapter on "Psychic Hygiene" for more on this.) The spirit of Mugwort first appeared to me as a female wizard in a long multicoloured robe, stood on top of a hill surveying the surrounding forests.
It was summer solstice and I had been up since before dawn to get down to the river to make offerings to the mother plant before the sun arrived. The mother plant is the one plant amongst the many which feels like it has the most power, we do not harvest from this plant but from others surrounding it. You can sense the mother plant by simply opening your awareness to it. The moments before dawn hold a special liminal power which facilitates prayer and intention. Mugwort heard my prayer of becoming her student and that following night during a ceremony dedicated to her she gave me her first teachings. For two hours this elemental master and wisdom-bearing spirit showed me areas of blockage within various chakras, guiding me to aspects within myself which needed clearing and healing, ones which prevented me from living my full potential and from expressing myself from my heart. The fire within Mugwort facilitates creativity as she aligns us back to our own soul force and its expression. Her earthy grounding quality assists in the pulling of the etheric into the visible, allowing unstructured feeling to be organized into expression.
Very similar to cannabis, Mugwort opens our channels and brings an expansive quality to the mind, free of the usual boundaries and barriers. Artemisia vulgaris is also known as Sailors Tobacco and I find smoking dried Mugwort encourages the relaxing into inner space. To allow creativity to flow we need to drop out of the linear monkey mind that jumps from past to future and step into the infinite present to give space for concentration and the expression of the soul, of natural unfoldment. Through open presence and focus of the mind we can become channels for divine inspiration and expression. Our general state of being is one of compulsive and discursive thoughts, an avoidance of presence when we don''t know and recognize our true self. Wisdom teachings outline methods of taming the mind such as single-focus meditation, which calms the conceptual mind, moves us from survival mode, opens the door to new levels of conscious awareness and eventually to a co-creative partnership with the living cosmos. Mugwort guides us into alignment with our inner axis connected to both the cosmic divine and the soul of mother earth so that inspiration can flow. SAMPLE PRACTICE Cleansing Meditation with the Spirit of Mugwort The more time you spend with Mugwort the quicker and more effective this cleansing technique becomes.
It is recommended to also spend time getting to know your personal inner resonance or your handle with Mugwort (see Chapter 3) as this will not only assist you with the below process but instantly deepens your connection to her spirit and opens a doorway of healing on the inner planes. Find a quiet spot next to some Mugwort in the wild or take some Mugwort tea / essence and sit in your safe space indoors. Relax into your space, exhaling any tension and thoughts of the day. Use the Calming the Mind and Dropping Into the Heart technique which you learned in Part 1 to bring yourself into calm in the inner space. Through intention, connect to the spirit of Mugwort asking her to be with you now. It is at this point that it is advisable to know what Mugwort feels like in order to be sure that the spirit you are connecting to is indeed Lady Artemisia. Ask her to send her beautiful spirit through your energy field to cleanse, purify, and transform anything dead, toxic, or dying. Grant that it is done now.
(Similar instructions can be used if you need grounding or cleansing of a particular unhelpful energy you feel you have picked up.) Then sit quietly and observe any movement, changes or insights that arrive. Do not doubt your own magic otherwise it will not take place. As soon as you feel you need to sigh or you simply feel the inner knowing of completion thank Mugwort and enjoy your clearer state of being.