If you happen to stumble across wormwood while out hiking or if you find it growing in your yard, consider yourself lucky! Artemisia Absinthium is a prized herb that is cherished around the world for its potent medicinal properties. 

Wormwood is a perennial plant that is sometimes grown ornamentally. Native to North Africa, it has been naturalized in Canada and throughout North America. You can find wormwood growing on roadsides, in pastures and croplands, and occasionally on the edges of forests and woodlands. It thrives in dry soils and full sun.

History of Wormwood

The earliest mentioned use of wormwood dates back to 1550 BC, when its medical uses were documented in the Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian medical text. Ancient Egyptians used wormwood to treat digestive issues and parasites, and there are several modern studies that support this use.

Wormwood was also used by Greek and Roman cultures to treat digestive issues as well as gynecological problems. The Latin name (Artemesia Absinthium) comes from the Greek Goddess Artemis, goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and the moon. 

Did you know?

Wormwood has been used to add aromatics and flavour to absinthe since 1792, when it was created by Dr. Pierre Ordinaire for medicinal purposes. It has been said that the thujone present in wormwood can cause hallucinations, which lead to absinthe’s nickname, “the green fairy.” Absinthe was banned for many years in the 20th century due to the purported hallucinations, but modern studies have suggested these symptoms were merely an effect of alcohol intoxication, and the ban has since been lifted.

How To Identify Wormwood

Wormwood is a perennial shrub with distinctive characteristics that help to make it easier to identify in the wild.

• Leaves: wormwood has feathery, silvery green leaves that are deeply divided and alternating along the stem
• Aroma: leaves give off a sage-like odour when they are crushed
• Stems: grey-green colour, covered in fine hairs, smooth to the touch, mature stems are woody at the base 
• Flowers: drooping panicles composed of many tiny pale-yellow florets that are clustered at stem tips
• Lookalikes: artemisia vulgaris (mugwort) has a similar appearance to wormwood, however its leaves are noticeably greener than wormwood

What are the benefits of wormwood?

Kills Parasites and Worms (including malaria parasite)

The name wormwood stems from the plant’s powerful ability to expel intestinal worms and parasites from the body. Modern studies have supported this claim, showing that the anti-parasitic compounds in wormwood reduce parasite population in the blood. Wormwood is also used to treat the malaria parasite. In fact, the artimisinin found in wormwood is the most powerful malaria treatment on the market. Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7345338/

Digestive Issues

The bitter compounds present in wormwood have been found to help treat various digestive disorders like chron’s disease and IBS, by stimulating the digestive system and releasing bile from the liver to help breakdown and properly digest food. It has also been used to treat bloating and gastric pain. 

Chron’s Disease Treatment

A recent study in Germany indicated that patients with Chron’s disease who took wormwood noticed improvements in their symptoms, and and by week two, they were able to taper off steroids. 

Balances Intestinal Flora

Wormwood stimulates the production of hydrochloric acid which can optimize the bowel flora while treating bacterial overgrowth.

Treats Inflammation

The phytochemicals found in wormwood are powerful anti-inflammatories that can help treat inflammatory conditions like Chron’s disease, and can provide relief from pain caused by arthritis, menstrual cramps, and joint and muscle pain. Applied topically, it has been found to be an effective pain reliever, and a study from 2017 showed that participants with osteoarthritis experienced no pain after 2 weeks of applying wormwood ointment. Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5684373/

Fights Cancer

The artemisinin that is present in wormwood may be able to help fight cancer. According to the above study from the National Library of Medicine, the broad spectrum antioxidant and anticancer activities demonstrated inhibitory effects on carcinogenesis in the body. Other studies have shown that wormwood extracts could help treat a wide range of cancers including breast cancer, cervical cancer and chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Neuroprotective

Recent studies suggest that wormwood may be useful in treating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s. Wormwood also promotes cognitive ability and may be able to help relieve symptoms of depression and increase serotonin production. Source: https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/9/9/1063

Magical Uses of Wormwood

Wormwood is a masculine plant, strongly related to the planet of Mars and the fire element. It can be burned as an incense to aid in your divination practices, or worn in a satchel or carried in a pocket to help develop your psychic abilities. It has also been used to protect one from negative energies.

How to Use Wormwood

• Tincture - my favourite way to make use of all the amazing healing properties of wormwood is to take it as a tincture. This is the most potent form of the medicine as an alcohol-based extract will have the highest concentration of the therapeutic agents like absinthin, artemisinin, and thujone. 
• Tea - wormwood makes a particularly bitter tea, and because thujone and artemisinin are not water-soluble, it is a less concentrated form of medicine.
• Ointment - wormwood ointment can be applied topically to treat muscle and joint pain as well as osteoarthritis

Warnings: wormwood contains thujone, which when taken in large doses has been deemed neurotoxin that can lead to restlessness, vertigo, vomiting and tremors. As wormwood is a particularly powerful plant, make sure to take small doses. It is not meant to be taken long term. And as always, make sure to consult with a healthcare practitioner before starting any wormwood treatments. The information in this article is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any illness or disease.