Mugwort is one of my favourite plant spirits to work with. When I first sat with her properly — a dieta, working with her over a full month — she taught me so much about how to show up as a fearless human: how to release the voices of others, and how to tap into my own joy, my own power, that sense of freedom she carries. What she has to share will be unique to you and your own path, but I want to guide you into that same relationship with her today.
Artemisia vulgaris — Mugwort, sailor's tobacco, felon herb, chrysanthemum weed, depending where in the world you find her — grows almost everywhere. Near me in Margate she grows wild along the clifftops and through the woods, happy in full sun or shade, spreading like the weed she's sometimes dismissed as. In this guided journey, I'll share her science and her folklore, and then guide you into a shamanic journey to meet her spirit directly.
Preparing to Meet Her
I like to light a candle beside a picture of Mugwort to create a small altar in her honour. If you can get hold of a mugwort smudge stick, it's a beautiful way to clear parasitic energy — emotions or stories other people have projected onto you, anything sitting in your field that isn't yours to carry. If you don't have one to hand, the same energy-clearing can be done through breath and intention alone, which I'll guide you through.
If you'd like to drink her physically as well, a cup of mugwort tea works beautifully during the preparation section, before the gongs begin — or her flower essence, which is the gentler, safer option if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. It's entirely optional. You'll connect with her whether or not you take her in.
Mugwort's Medicine — Science and Folklore Together
Mugwort carries volatile oils — cineole, which activates the brain and is very likely part of why she helps us dream so vividly, camphor, which helps release toxins held in the chest and lungs, and thujone, a nervous-system stimulant that can be mildly toxic in excess. Dosage matters here: a cup in the evening, or just before ceremony, is enough — three cups a day is an absolute ceiling, and if you're on medication or managing a health condition, check with a medical herbalist first, since she's a powerful liver tonic and can affect how the body processes other things.
Traditionally she's used in moxibustion — the small cigar-like sticks acupuncturists burn over acupressure points to warm the body and get the chi flowing. That's much of what Mugwort does: she moves stagnation, which is why she's often reached for with arthritis, with the kind of depression that comes from feeling stuck rather than sharp, and as a gentle tonic for the digestive system. She's also a mild antiparasitic and antifungal — one of the herbs I pack whenever I travel somewhere my stomach isn't used to the local bacteria.
The Dreaming Medicine
This is where Mugwort becomes something else entirely. She's the most powerful lucid dream herb I've ever worked with — a cup of tea or a few drops of her essence before bed, and she goes to work. I often recommend a month-long dieta to my students: one cup before sleep, an intention set to remember your dreams, a journal kept close by, because the messages that come through in dream time with her are significant. She sharpens psychic potential, brings more visionary dreams, and helps weave together the world of spirit and the world of ordinary life into something you can navigate with both eyes open at once.
How the Journey Works
We begin by clearing our energy field by hand — gathering love and light at the heart, pouring it out and down through the body into the earth — and then call in the seven directions as protective witnesses, so that only the energies we want to work with can join us. From there, I'll guide you into the lower realm, the place in shamanic cosmology where we connect most easily with plant spirits, animal spirits and the land itself. There's no cacao in this particular journey — just Mugwort, the gongs, and whatever she chooses to show you.
Once there, we call for a guide to walk with us, and journey on to meet the spirit of Mama Mugwort herself. What unfolds is different for everyone — that's the nature of this work.
Coming Back: Integration and Reflection
When the ceremony closes and the directions are thanked and released, take a moment before you move on. Sit with whatever came through rather than rushing to explain it. I'd love to hear what you experienced — share it in the comments if you'd like, and keep a journal nearby, since so much of the medicine is in what you do with it afterwards.
How to Prepare
Optional: a cup of mugwort tea or a few drops of the flower essence beforehand — no cacao is used in this journey
Find somewhere to lie down or sit fully supported
Good headphones or speakers make a real difference — the gongs deserve proper sound
Keep a journal nearby, especially given how vivid Mugwort's dream medicine can be
Set aside uninterrupted time — the ceremony unfolds slowly
Continue Your Journey with Plant Spirit Medicine
If this ceremony resonated with you, here are some ways to go deeper:
