It is such a large area to cover, such a fabulous story to tell, it is hard to tell where to begin... and, yet, it eventually seems both traditional, and often neglected, it cries for attention... The genus of plants, Artemisia and the species of plants within it, bear within their scientific names to this very day, the name of the Greek Goddess, Artemis (Roman: Diana). Artemisias belong to the Aster family, Asteraceae, formerly known as the Compositae, and later altered to bear the -ceae ending to better reflect that the name refers to a family of plants.
Maude Grieve, in her “Modern Herbal”, quotes the “Herbarium” of Apuleius as to the origin of the name:
“Of these worts that we name Artemisias, it is said that Diana did find them and delivered their powers and leechdom to Chiron the Centaur, who first from these worts set forth a leechdom, and he named these worts from the name of Diana, Artemis, that is, Artemisias”.
But this hardly renders justice to the matter.
One accomplished mythographer, Donald MacKenzie, whose works are now being reprinted with gratifying regularity, as Senate editions, makes mentions in several of these works, “China and Japan”, and “Pre-Columbian America” of the depths of these matters, quoting a remarkable but incredibly rare work by Rendel Harris, entitled “The Ascent of Olympus”, and begin touching as well on other matters of greatest importance concerning the Artemisias, referring to one of the better known magickal and medicinal species, Mugwort, or Artemisia vulgaris. Of the wonderous wealth of magickal and medicinal herb trivia that occurs withing but a few pages, it is this that speaks the loudest:
(“China and Japan”, pg 172-): “Mugwort, as was already stated, was a medicine, and chiefly a women’s medicine. ‘The plant’, says Dr. Rendel Harris, (italics mine) is Artemis, and Artemis is the plant. Artemis is a woman’s goddess and a maid’s goddess because she was a women’s medicine and a maid’s medicine. The mugwort promoted childbirth, and controlled women like the moon, and was used for women’s ailments in general...”
And again this hardly renders justice... Many plants are associated with Artemis, and deserve similar consideration, for it is in that way that we can begin recreate the reasons for the great ancient reverance for these herbs and for the associated Goddesses, and rebuild the ruins of the ancient wealth of herb cunning and herbcraft.
In this passage from MacKenzie, “controlled women like the moon” refers to the ability of Mugwort and other Artemisias to induce menstruation, a property well known in modern herbals, and there seems to be great concurrance in this matter.
But the greatest reason that the Artemisias, as well as other herbs, are relevant to women, is that they pose a very great threat of causing a miscarriage if they are taken during pregnancy! This, too, is widely covered by many- but terrifyingly, not all- sources of herbal information that deal with the Artemisias.
One of the better sources to deal with this honestly and more thouroughly is “Healing With Plants” by Mary Artschwager Kay, which makes a fine introduction to the matter.
So, too, it is not clearly known whether or not this property is possessed by all the many specie of Artemisias. It is though to be found in many, and the general rule of thumb is that the Artemisias may all have similar properties. As such, all of them should be regarded with caution and suspicion, and avoided when pregnant or when there is a good possibility of being so.
Additionally, it does not seem to be clearly known the quantities involved. As bitter tonics, herbs merely tasted or put into the shoe for strength and stamina (see Simon Mills’ “Modern Dictionary of Herbs” for some explanation of this), or having powerful effects as incenses, all the Artemisias are regarded as appreciably powerful; for safety’s sake, it would be by far the best to avoid All of these uses, and Any contact with these herbs of the Goddess, if one is pregnant or believes one may be.
Furthermore, this property may reach so far as to be found in virtually every plant which is silver or small flowered, partly by the virtues of the Doctorine of Signatures or Correspondences; what exceptions there are to such a rule, we shall soon within this essay find that they shake the very foundations of the idleness that descends on history, for they may be epoch-making.
In this, we can understand some of the dual nature of the Goddess- endlessly benevolent, and yet possessing a pale, dark, destructive face. Modern interpreters who apply psychology rather than herbalism to this matter may conjure all sorts of theories, that this dual nature is typical to women, or that this nature is the result of male mythographers with mixed feeling about women... but all of these fall short of this all-important reason for this regard, and in this, fail the purpose of the myths-- to educate every man and woman of these potential hazards.
There are other reasons for the intimidating face of the Goddess, they too have natural reasons which are far more rewarding to believe in that intimations of supernatural fury, or a Goddess who will resort to barbarisms. They fall within the scope of this work and must ultimately be dealt with here as well.
Thus, this dual nature is less of a paradox than it appears to be, and so too as it applies to the Artemisias: They can cause the most hideous tragedies if misused, and yet, they are of so much utility, they cannot be discarded, for this is quite likely to be far more of a deadly thing to do.
So to must we strive to preserve the original context of this property: in a time when abortion is concievable, even desirable to some, we must strive to emphasize that it has been since time immemorial the way of the Goddess and her enthusiasts and devotees, not to fall into the trap that this property of harming the unborn is endowed with a purpose. In the end it may be proven to be a consequence of the relatively poor care humans beings take of themselves, and often even in modern times.
But as to its place in the traditional society devoted to the Goddess, it was considered largely a misplacement of timing; the effect that the Artemisias are thought to have on triggering labor, meant they were a medicine for inducing labor when it refused to occur on schedule, even delayed to the point of threatening the life of the mother and the child alike.
Beyond this, it cannot be emphasized enough that the role of the Goddess was also as a central figure in the identification of material resources and resources for assuring a safe and harmonious life, a practice to which endless effort and devotion was applied.
Thus before we presume that this dark property was employed, we must honestly look and see that the regard that modern Pagans profess for the sanctity and sacredness of a life, had indeed found its way into Pagan lives since the beginning; it truly is a part of us. If we hold this truth in our hearts, the missing peices will soon follow, even if the writings can no longer be found.
There is one other dark aspect of the White Goddess’ herbs which merits mentioning, of great caution is advised by Wisefolk, and this is the subject of Absinthe.
It is part of the history and the Story of Wormwood that Wormwood has been combined with alcohol to increase the intoxicating properties of the alcohol. This drink is called Absinthe, after this name of Wormwood which was made into its scientific name, Artemisia absinthium. Like other substances of abuse, it has enjoyed that undue attention which is devoted to destructive fads of many types. So, too, it has enjoyed the attention of outright propoganda.
To make matters worse, Absinthe has been the subject of the attentions of Aleister Crowley. A person much like Wormwood itself, Crowely’s reputation is also a double edged-sword.
In his quest to publicize and disseminate his knowledge, Crowley often resorted- and in all fairness, may have had to resort, to the most basic way of gaining attention known to man, namely by misbehaving (thereby, “ANY publicity is GOOD publicity”, something many of today’s rock stars are quie keenly aware of-) or at least, claiming to , something that some of his closest followers and his most bitter opponents alike often show difficulty coming to terms with.
It has proven quite typical of Christians in particular to regard Crowley’s sordid confession as “Gospel Truth”, although they violate the Gospel itself to insist this is truth without truly bearing witness to it... for it seems beyond their comprehension why an innocent person would confess... they show no glimmer of understanding of lying to protect a loved one, rendering up a confession under coercion, duress or even torture- in spite of witch trials and war crimes alike- nor what is quite likely to prove Crowley’s case, what one may need to resort to to get a word in edgewise, to grasp a mere sliver of the attention of the public, already being saturated with the perspective of the Christian churches from every possible source at every possible moment, delivered by great numbers and consuming phenomenal amounts of resources...and so too, against the often slanderous and propoganda-filled style of it.
To know our magickal heritage well is to know that no self respecting magician who has regard for their own mental gifts and intelligence would favor such a risk, is sufficient that we can look safely on Crowley’s work on Absinthe, and know we are not intended to imitate his acts to which he “confesses”, but true to Crowley’s observance of the expressive style of Alchemists, look between the lines for keys to magickal knowledge and clues to fabulous elixirs.
For this purpose, Crowley’s “Absinthe: The Green Goddess” is a superb work.
Fortunately, because the Occult provides many safe and available ways to alter conciousness, there is no need for the risk of Absinthe. Most of all, this is fortunate because Absinthe IS of Wormwood, and Wormwood IS a double edged sword. So even though the cloud of propoganda is confusingly thick, we have no need for such a gamble. That is the risk of deception we face, that the warning signs are so exaggerated, that sensible people tend to dismiss them...
But it is of course the way of Tradition for us to be cautious, if even to the point of fault. So, too, have Wisefolk gone out their way to find substitutes when they wish to avoid some of the risks, with phenomenal success.
If we have armed ourselves with caution, and patience- it may be years before all of us, or any of us, know all of the truths of the Goddess’ herbs; even centuries are likely to have been devoted to unveiling some of their secrets- then are ready to advance our journey into this strange and wonderous garden, and find it a place of infinite pleasure and intrigue- a place without pain...
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