Herbs • Wormwood

Magic use:

In the Middle Ages, wormwood was associated with John the Baptist, who, according to legend, wore a belt made of its stems when he lived in the desert.

Therefore, it was called “the herb of St. John” and was considered a sure means for driving out demons, and on the eve of St. John’s Day wreaths of this plant were worn as protection from the possession of the forces of evil.

In China, bunches of Wormwood were hung in houses during the Festival of the Dragon to scare away evil spirits.

The Japanese Ainu burned Wormwood to drive out the spirits of the disease: it was believed that the smell of this plant was hateful to them.

The Romans planted Wormwood along the roads and put its stems in their shoes so that their feet would not get tired from a long walk, and also carried it with them to protect them from wild animals, poisoning and apoplexy.

In addition, Wormwood protects the home from invasion by elves and other dangerous creatures and is believed to heal insanity and aid in astral projection. If you fall asleep on a pillow filled with Wormwood, you will see prophetic dreams.

Wormwood is burned during ritual clairvoyance operations. Wormwood tincture on honey is drunk before fortune-telling. Crystal balls and magic mirrors are washed with the same tincture, and wormwood leaves are placed at the base of the ball or under it.

Wormwood should be collected just before sunrise on the growing moon. It is advisable to choose plants inclined to the north.

An ancient Roman spell that can be used when collecting wormwood: “Tollam te artemisia, ne lassus sim in via” (“I will rip you, wormwood, so as not to get tired on the way”).

Shamanic use:

This is a Midgard plant and should be burnt at the beginning of the ritual. The wormwood must begin and end, just like we begin and end in Midgard.

The shamanic purpose of this herb is to purify.

Nowadays, with the development of medical antiseptics, it seems to many that cleansing is sterilization. For us, “clean” is, in fact, “lifeless”.

And when we use some magical remedy designed primarily for cleansing, at some level we expect it to cleanse everything to zero, to complete emptiness.

But in reality, magical cleansing is something completely different. Perhaps it would be better to call it sanctification.

The magic of purification creates an aura of sacred space, which is not difficult to recognize when you are in it, but it is very difficult to describe in words.

To form such an aura, you need to expel other types of energy, including the fussy, mundane, “dirty” energy of everyday life.

After the cleansing energy fades away, sometimes all this gradually returns, but sometimes not, so in some cases the ritual of purification turns out to be persistent.

Wormwood is the most commonly used plant for incense recels, as incense is called in Old English.

The very act of smoking is called recening. Followers of the Celtic tradition use the term saining. This is an alternative to the Native American term smudging.

Wormwood can be bundled and burned in the same way as Louisiana Wormwood (Artemisia ludoviciana), traditionally used for such fumigations.

In addition, wormwood clarifies the mind and sharpens supersensory perception, so it makes sense to start with it any work in which at a certain stage you will need to enter a trance or an altered state of consciousness.

Some ghosts react more strongly to Wormwood than others. For some, it is enough just to put or hang it by the bed to see vivid dreams, similar to astral travel.

Others immediately go into a trance at her scent alone. Here, probably, it all depends on whether the spirit of the plant likes you and whether he considers you “his”.

The best magical use for Common Wormwood is to use it as part of incense to fumigate the place in which some spiritual work is to be done, or to cleanse unnecessary vibrations at the end of the work.

Keep in mind that some visionaries, for one reason or another, fail to establish good relations with Wormwood. In this case, it can be replaced with burdock or juniper.