3 Ways to Use Mugwort for Dreamtime 🌙

My fascination for wild herbs and forest edibles started in the spring of last year. It just came out of nowhere and hasn’t left since. I’ve already talked about the cacao plant. Now let’s go local and talk about mugwort:

MUGWORT

Artemisia vulgaris, also known as Common Mugwort, is used as a culinary herb and medicinal plant all over the globe.

In Europe mugwort has been used to flavor drinks since the early Iron Age, which might be the reason it is called „mug“-wort today.

In a spiritual sense, mugwort is a „master protector“. This is why in Native American practices, mugwort was given the name „dream plant“ because they discovered it improved people’s dreams and helped them to remember and interact with their dreams in a safe manner. In many tribes it was also used as a medicinal herb to cure headaches and other ailments.

For what is it used?

Mugwort is an excellent plant medicine to relax you and protect you. Depending on dosage, you will experience vivid dreams and images in your mind while feeling a sense of protection at the same time. Besides that, it can be used as a spice for various vegetable and meat dishes.

How does it work?

The stimulant function of mugwort has not been fully understood. This is because Artemisia vulgaris is a complex herb that contains over 75 unique chemicals. For example, it contains several essential oils, including thujone, wormwood and cineole. But it is likely thujone, a monoterpenoid, that is responsible for producing the stimulant effects, so this could be a contributing factor to the plant’s dream-inducing properties.

3 ways to dream away with Mugwort 🌙

General preparation: If you have fresh mugwort, dry the spread out leaves, potentially in the sun. Then chop them into really small pieces. If you don’t have fresh mugwort, just use dried herbs from an organic shop.

1 Tea

This is the most simple way to ingest mugwort: Fill a tea infuser with the chopped mugwort and overpour with boiling water. Drink a huge cup up to an hour before going to bed.

2 Dream Pillow

Many Californian Native American Tribes dried mugwort and sewed it into a pillow to ensure protected and vivid dreamtime.

Fill the chopped mugwort into a square piece of fabric and tie it up. Then place it next to your face so you can inhale the aromatic oils while you sleep. The amount of mugwort increases the intensity. A dream pillow lasts about 3-6 months.

3 Burning for Incense or Smoking

Now, the last one is probably the least healthy of all but I still want to include it. First of all a disclaimer: Mugwort does NOT make you high. Some people swear by smoking it for its calming and dream enhancing properties (see here).

Simply roll the chopped mugwort herb into a pape, and optionally add a filter. Additionally, you can burn it as incense. Similar to the dream pillow, the vapor fills the space you are in and your lungs in a more passive way. I leave it up to you to try it out (at your own risk 😉 )

If you want to know more about how to use different plants, you’re welcome to browse my blog section about herbalism. 😊