Mugwort.. Experience?

[Schahin92]

Hey community.

So I am searching herbs for more vivid dreams. Mugwort seems to be a good option to try.

What's your experience with it and at what time is it best to take? I
s it one of those herbs that should be taken only once in a while, once in a week, or can it be used daily?

 

[Yuxibu]

From my experience it is a herb to be taken every night, the more you keep drinking it the more you will feel her presence in your dreams.
While I would consider calea zacatechichi as a solar plant, giving you very vivid and hyper realistic dreams, I would say mugwort has a more lunar energy, dreams become very symbolic with strong archetypical messages.
I usually have a tea 30m before going to bed.

 

[Schahin92]

Nice, Why not having it much earlier, like a few hours before?

From my experience it is a herb to be taken every night, the more you keep drinking it the more you will feel her presence in your dreams.
While I would consider calea zacatechichi as a solar plant, giving you very vivid and hyper realistic dreams, I would say mugwort has a more lunar energy, dreams become very symbolic with strong archetypical messages.
I usually have a tea 30m before going to bed.

 

[Transform]

Just hang a large bundle of the herb in your bedroom. You should notice that.

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

In Chinese medicine, you burn a foot long cigar of it, and hold it over certain points of the body. Good mugwort – or moxa – will elicit a sensation of heat that radiates down the limbs or through the torso. It's good for cold-weather climates. The smoke is rich and skunky, and puts you to sleep. Pot heads love the stuff.

I've also heard of people making a pillow filled with moxa – processed mugward (artemesia vulgaris) – to elicit dreams. I've never tried it myself. This thread makes me think I should.

 

[Quetzal7]

Mugwort became one of the best teacher for me ; as a tea (5-7 leaves) , it should be bitter but pleasant ;
The dream became filled with extraordinary things that i could not even imagine ; lot's of other "teacher" came through her ( san pedro, shrooms, ... )
It can be done daily, but it does build up .... and then it takes time to wear off (i drank for nearly 1 year everyday, i would say this is a bit too much lol )
It works best with intention ( like you would approach lucid dreaming) and a notebook.

 

[Schahin92]

Mugwort became one of the best teacher for me ; as a tea (5-7 leaves) , it should be bitter but pleasant ;
The dream became filled with extraordinary things that i could not even imagine ; lot's of other "teacher" came through her ( san pedro, shrooms, ... )
It can be done daily, but it does build up .... and then it takes time to wear off (i drank for nearly 1 year everyday, i would say this is a bit too much lol )
It works best with intention ( like you would approach lucid dreaming) and a notebook.

Well I didnt think its too bitter, it tasted okay actually.

At what time before bed is the best time to take it? I hear that it can make the sleep lighter and not so refreshing, so I want to go against the advice of taking it right before bed.

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

DAY 1
I found a mugwort patch the other day while walking my dog, and peeled off a couple of stems – enough to fill my pockets. When I got home, I put it in my room on a piece of newspaper to dry out. That night, I half woke up; being an incredibly aromatic plant, the odors had filled the room. I felt my head and body get heavy, and I drifted back to sleep.

I had some loooong dreams... they were clear, and novel, and came one after the other. I can only remember one:

I was in comedy club at the bar, joking around with the other comedians who, I guess were going to perform that night. John Candy was there. He wasn't obese – he looked like he did in Summer Rental (1985) and before. We said a few words to each other, then got into other conversations with the people who were there. Next thing I know, he's being ripped a new one by the comedy club owner – an older Asian lady in big black sunglasses wearing shorts and a button-down shirt. She was really tearing into him, and calling him a sad, unfunny, untalented fatty who needed to get the fuck out of her establishment. Everyone turned to stare. He picked up his things with a solemn look on his face, and turned to go. As he did, I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "It's alright man. Don't let it bother you." He didn't respond.

DAY 2
This time I put two sprigs of mugwort on my pillow just before going to sleep. With every inhalation, I could smell its sweet, bitter, musky odor. I woke up around 5am, needing to pee. I had no dreams. I lay in bed for the next two hours, half awake. Finally, as I started to fall back asleep, that same heavy, groggy sensation wrapped itself around my body like a heavy quilt, and I started having vivid, albeit short, dreams that kept being interrupted by the sounds of people outside.

There's definitely something to this plant.

 

[harmala_afficianado]

I have tried both mugwort and wormwood, i have found blue lotus to give the most vivid realistic dreams out of the 3, also seems more consistent.

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

I have tried both mugwort and wormwood, i have found blue lotus to give the most vivid realistic dreams out of the 3, also seems more consistent.

Interesting you mention consistency. I put a sprig on my pillow last night, but have nothing to report back. I presume that it may be a matter of potency: the picked material has lost most of its smell (unless you're up close), and I may need a sachet or pillow of the stuff for it to have the same effect be just breathing it in.

I plan to make a tea from 2g of mugwort, boiled in 400ml of water and reduced to ~50ml, as I hear it can be diuretic.

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

Day 3
(actually a few days later...)

2.4g of dried mugwort was boiled in ~400ml of water (I think I could have used less water). This was reduced to four gulps of brownish, bitter, slightly sweet and musky tea. I went to bed about 20 minutes after consumption.

I fell into a very deep, sound sleep. I felt like I had to pee during the night, but my body felt so heavy and my mind was so groggy that I couldn't move, and I simply drifted back to sleep. It took me a long time to wake up in the morning.

Dreams were faded, sparse and unmemorable. I definitely had them, but they were only slightly more enhanced than usual.

I wonder if it's the aromatic component of the herb that's responsible for the dream state?

 

[Pumpy]

My experience is that sublingual (90 seconds then swallow) mugwort tincture is the thing to do after trying both teas and vaping it. It doesn't take much! Tea lasts a little bit longer but they both last hours and i believe that the tincture has actives in it that the tea doesn't

in case no one's written a mugwort extract tek : pour yummy dessert brandy over mugwort to cover, seal, shake container once a day for about 42 days, filter

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

My experience is that sublingual (90 seconds then swallow) mugwort tincture is the thing to do after trying both teas and vaping it. It doesn't take much! Tea lasts a little bit longer but they both last hours and i believe that the tincture has actives in it that the tea doesn't

in case no one's written a mugwort extract tek : pour yummy dessert brandy over mugwort to cover, seal, shake container once a day for about 42 days, filter

Thanks for the tip and the recipe!

How much mugwort are you using and are you using it fresh or dried?

 

[Transform]

plan to make a tea from 2g of mugwort, boiled in 400ml of water and reduced to ~50ml, as I hear it can be diuretic.

That would be a decoction. Tea involves pouring boiling water on the herb and leaving to infuse for a period of time usually in order of a few minutes, followed by straining out the plant material.

If water volume would be an issue for you at night, there are alternatives such as a tincture (use vodka) or a glycerite (= same but using glycerin instead). That said, if dream recollection is the goal, waking up to pee could be used advantageously. [edit: it seems you experienced some diuresis even with the reduced brew!]

I wonder if it's the aromatic component of the herb that's responsible for the dream state?

Boiling to reduce volume will have driven off much of the volatiles, and yes - the aromatics must play a part since the herb works even merely by being in the sleeping chamber.