Herbs, Blue and Green as the Sea

Artemis manages to be associated with coastal or seashore locations in one fashion or another quite often, being notably a patron of the Ephesians (Ephesos was once a harbor community before the harbor filled with silt) and of the island Cretans.

To add to this, however, a deliberate confusion between what we may find next in proceeding, a deliberate confusion between "alphea", "white", and "aphaea", "breathless" may be one of the more helpful practical errors. As is often through the constant punning on roots and suffixes when creating extentions of deific figures that occurs in numerous mythology, it may be intented to occur by those who first fashioned the stories, or by those who attatched utilitarian significance to the characters of appropriate names.

Alphea is an epithet, a last name, of Artemis, in a form that is specifically noted in conventional studies to be significant to seashores, and some of her temples are found in these locations. This alone does not necessarily tell us much, although through the system of Signature-supported myths and legends alone, we may be able to deduce such things as seemed to have been fashioned later in a way that may have been intended to appear outside of the context of the original traditions, although as often, in such cases, do not.

Wormwood, and of course, by association, tentatively any and all of the Artemisias, has the peculiar lore attatched to it in the middle ages, of repelling sea serpents, and hence is subsequently of great importance to sea travellers. Somehow, a great number of ancient maps feature these mythical beasts as decoration. While it is not my place here to weigh arguments for or against the existance of various legendary beasts, it is more likely that this motif was put into use by persons regardless of their belief or lack thereof in such creatures, for the motif , in context, seems most effective as a figurative one.

(Certainly, the Doctorine of Signatures will insist a habitat signature first and foremost in the form of availability, thus, in terms of the classical reasoning, any plant found on the seashore is of course suited to the needs of those who are present, and to extend it, to those who are headed out to sea. This indeed may include the traditional water-treatment and food-treatment aspects of Artemisias, for those on long voyages who are less acquianted with other means of securing trustworthy drinking water and food; other uses we will have to extrapolate somewhat. Our minimum of one maritime specie of Artemisia, the Beach Wormwood being known to us, this easily proceeds as reasonable.)

It is my belief that the reputation of repelling sea-serpents is a largely whimsical extension of the commonly regarded land use of repelling serpents, and that this was further compounded as a desirable gesture by the generic properties that Artemisias and therefore A. stelleriana may possess, which may include the extension of the appetite-suppressant properties to properties of suppressing nausea, or sea-sickness, caused by the serpent-like, undulating motion of a boat on the waves. Hence, the most uncommon of needs for sea-travelers is whimsically used to help remember that the provision of Artemisias may help with the most common need, the need for an agent to help fight seasickness. Like many other curious lore of its time, there is a powerful, sensible underlying truth not far beneath the most preposterous surface possible.

Likewise, the tonic properties for which Artemisias are perpetually found in probably all folklore and mythologies in some form or another, those properties such as giving strength to travelers undertaking long journeys on foot, may be converted into properties of giving strength in many dangerous situations at sea where the presence of the tonic herb may make the difference between life and death.

Such roles as ensuring the strength necessary to swim safely back to the ship, to shore or to an island if one has fallen overboard or capsized, the strength and alertness to remain awake and clinging to some floating fragment without losing hold, and being ready to alert rescuers, of offsetting cramps and muscle aches, the possibly of offsetting toxicity from overdoses of salt water accidentally swallowed, and of increasing visual acuity to spot rescuers and opportunities for rescue and survival, are all to be found within an even broader range of possibilities. Likewise, the ability to live more indefinitely without fresh food and water, without losing the ability to function, may be lifesaving in such situations; the body's ability to withstand thermal extremes may be at issue as well.

Perhaps most importantly, the Artemisias may have the ability to help the respiration in general, to offset labored breathing and aching lungs during ordeals such as excruciatingly long and laborious swims, and may also promote such ability in those whose physical condition is otherwise not adequate to the tasks and trials, such as those who already possess serious and possibly life-threatening lung or respiratory ailments.

The ability to offset the need for the body to push adrenalin levels may also result in an increase in clear thinking necessary for survival.