Mugwort: For Dreaming

Posted on by Louise Bunting

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unnoticed, she fades into

the background, disregarded,

until the day comes when lost

nights of dreaming are recalled

in mugwort whispers

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While I was out and about on the lanes around the village for day 64 of 365 Days Wild I gathered a few stalks of the Mugwort plant that is currently growing quite profusely on the grass verges.

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These stalks are now bundled and hung to dry from a shelf in my room.

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I first spotted a sprig of this plant growing at the back of the meadow a few days ago, and had an, ‘I haven’t seen you around before’, moment. Once I’d seen it once, however, I started seeing it everywhere. I could hardly believe just how much of it there was about – that I’d completely missed!

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Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) has been used throughout history as an aid to dreaming. It is said to enhance dream recall and intensity, as well as to promote better sleep for those who suffer from insomnia. Depending on the quality of dreaming that you already have, use of Mugwort can help you to recall your dreams if they are usually forgotten; it can help you to dream in colour of you usually dream in black and white; it can help to engage senses such as sound, touch, smell, and taste, if they are not already experienced. If your dreams are already easily recalled and rich in texture, Mugwort can help you to lucid dreams actively control your dreamscape.

There are various ways in which Mugwort can be taken:

  • as a tincture: 3 – 9 drops, taken just before bed
  • as a tea: 1/2 to 1 cup of a short, hot infusion, usually with Mugwort as part of a blend with herbs – such as Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), Betony (Stachys betonica), and/or Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), for example
  • smoked: a pinch of Mugwort in a pipe, alone or as part of a blend
  • in a dream pillow: dried Mugwort in a small pillow, usually in a blend with other sleep enhancing herbs or aromatic herbs, such as Lavender or Mint

I plan to try out a number of these different methods with my harvest.

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8 thoughts on “Mugwort: For Dreaming”

    1. I’d heard of it in passing, but had never come across it or fully read into its uses. I recognised the name as ‘the dreaming herb’ as soon as my plant app identied it! Thanks for reading. 💚😊💚

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    1. I’ve just looked it up, because I found no mention of Common Sage as a dream aid on the herbalism pages I was looking at. I’ve just discovered that Mugwort is known to the native Americans as Dream Sage. 😊 Thanks for reading, Peter.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. A plant with multiple qualities! I love the idea of a dream aid. Despite always dreaming anyway, I generally forget very quickly what the reams were about, so mugwort would be useful for that.

    Liked by 1 person

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