Mugwort Root for Menstrual Relief, Rejuvenation & Grounding
Artemesia Vulgaris (Mugwort) and the Female body carry a bond through time that is as powerful as any lasting sisterhood…
In Dreamtime, Mugwort opens the doors and lifts the veils to heeding the voice of your inner guidance system. In Realtime, the plant’s leaves have been used via tea, tincture, or topically as an oil infusion for reproductive related ailments, stomach ailments, facilitates menstrual flow, & womb connection. I’m here to share the medicinal effects of my personal experience working with Mugwort’s ROOT.
The Elixir.
Artemisia’s Root steeps a beautiful emerald elixir as a potent relief for intense cramping during menstruation brought on by diarrhea and pelvic floor muscle tension. When my partner found this remedy years ago and concocted it for me while I was in a pit of painful “period” despair, I was both enticed and a little unnerved by it’s color. It looked like a stereotypical witchy tonic straight out of Wizard of Oz. I looked into my teacup and saw Wicked’s Elphaba’s green gaze staring back at me. I went with my gut, and slowly sipped the steamy magical potion before me. Magical potion indeed.
A full-bodied, slightly nutty, nutritive flavor rounds out this cuppa as an unexpectedly soothing medicine. Within ten minutes of drinking the root tea, my cramps completely dissolved, the fuzzy-foggy sensations in my mind lifted AND I felt a flood of renewed energy in my body that I hadn’t experienced at this time during my cycle (usually very low energy, exhausted, and foggy-brained).
The next day, my partner made the Elixir for a friend/colleague who was having similar symptoms as I was the day before. She experienced the same effects and went from lying down in her office to feeling refreshed and able to return to her work day. I became an immediate believer in the power of Artemisia and her delightful root concoction. I began using the root regularly each month, steeping it up the night before my Menstrual Flow fully came in and drinking a cup or two upon waking.
Why Root?
“Why the root?” I’m asked. It was actually my partner, G, who happened to find a mere 
mention of using it’s root on A Modern Herbal that one afternoon. Nothing else, nothing more.
When I was first introduced to Mugwort, I wasn’t aware of the revered relationship that women have had for it’s medicinal qualities and nourishing nature to her being. Through research and speaking with renowned herbalists, I also found that most of the information out there surrounded the use of the leaves and stem. I’ve had countless looks of surprise when I speak of my experience with the root.
My Experience with Benefits & Usage
In my few years of working with Artemisia’s Elixir monthly, it doesn’t always relieve the cramping within ten minutes or even 30, but it would calm them down to a place where I could ride them with my breath and feel their sensations as soft rolling waves of ebb & flow, rather than the intensity of a choppy storm. It does stop the intensity of diarrhea as well, allowing me to fall into a nice restful sleep. From which, when I wake, I feel rejuvenated rather than still tired.
In my experience and research, Medicinal Roots in general, are incredibly grounding and are important for working with in relationship to our reproductive creative cycle, especially during our menstruation when our bodies call us inward to return to the roots of who we are, i.e. Get Rooted—grounding ourselves back into our nature, restoring ourselves there and connecting back in with our internal homing devices inside ourselves.
Making Artemisia’s Elixir
Boil 1 Quart (32 oz) of water in pot.
Simmer (covered) One 2-4 inch piece or chunk of root for 20 minutes (or longer). DOES NOT BECOME BITTER like the tea made from it’s leaves does. The magical color becomes more emerald the longer you steep.
Enjoy hot or let cool down and put in fridge and drink as needed for 3 days.
Menstrala School 