Artemisia Vulgaris

Much more than a weed

Each chapter in AWAKENING ARTEMIS begins with a plant profile and illustration. I chose each plant (though in some cases, plants chose me) for the ways in which their medicine, lore, and role in the ecosystem illuminate the memoir elements and issues I explore. Every plant is one I’ve worked with as an herbalist in some capacity. Here is a peek at the plant profile that opens the first chapter, ‘The Inner Wild’ and a snippet of the chapter:

My journey of healing has been an ongoing, spiraling journey of rewilding— peeling back layers of social conditioning, limiting personal narratives, and deep trauma. Just as plants grow in spirals— following Earth’s rotation, reaching toward the light of the sun, resting in the dark of the night, ebbing and flowing with the pull of the moon— e heal that way too. When we go inward to uncover the root cause of a mental, physical, or emotional challenge and release it, we create space within us and expand outward. Eventually, we grow stronger and are ready to dive inward again . . . deeper this time, to expand further. This journey of depth and expansion goes on and on. Along the way, we might have to revisit pain we thought we’d overcome, only to find there’s another layer of that same trauma yet to be lifted. Raw all over again, we must tend to our wounds and listen to what they have to teach us. 

Bitter describes difficult experiences and also a taste that most despise. But like difficult experiences, bitter herbs like mugwort can increase our resilience and make us stronger. They can protect us from harmful microbes while creating a sympathetic nervous system response that increases blood flow to our abdominal organs; awakening our instinct. Ninety percent of our serotonin— a chemical that impacts our mood, memory, sleep, and stress— s created in our digestive system, so it is clear that psychosocial factors are impacted by the physiology of the gut.3 Mugwort’s unique bitterness also relaxes the nerves, calms fires of inflammation, and eases anxiety to bring us into states of presence and receptivity and as tension is reduced and blood flows, we enter into a relaxed state, and our innate wisdom, or what Jungians might call the unconscious, is more accessible. 

You can take a peek inside the book and read more here or download the audiobook or Ebook. If it piques your interest, it would be so great if you ordered from your local independent bookstore. They need all the support they can get.