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Mugwort
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THE DIVINE FEMININE
Divine feminine herbs: goddesses, festivals and plants.
Artemis’s mugwort, the rose of Aphrodite and of Mary, Lakshmi’s lotus, the tulsi that is married to Vishnu, the bee the Maya call the lady: the plants that traditions have entrusted to their goddesses and to women.
Ritual
Artemis watched over childbirth, and Pliny reports that mugwort owes her its name.
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9 companions for this intention
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The treasure of this path.
The rose, the flower of divine love. Symbol of the royalty of the heart, a magnificent flower to meet on its own or in synergy, and one that pairs ideally with ceremonial cacao. Placed in hot water, not boiling, it infuses gently.
The path · 4 thresholds
A method.
Artemis’s mugwort, the rose of Aphrodite and of Mary, Lakshmi’s lotus, the tulsi that is married to Vishnu, the bee the Maya call the lady: the plants that traditions have entrusted to their goddesses and to women.
01
Ritual
A flower in hot water
Rose, pink lotus, aparajita: placed in hot water, not boiling, and left to infuse. The rose, the flower of divine love; aparajita, which turns the water indigo blue.
02
Ritual
A flower on the altar
A rose for Mary, a lotus for Lakshmi, a sprig of tulsi: in India, in the month of Kartik, a lamp is lit each evening at the foot of the courtyard tulsi.
03
Ritual
Mugwort steam
In Japan and Korea, you receive the steam of a bowl of hot mugwort, seated at a good distance. The steam stays lukewarm: steam that stings the skin is too hot.
04
Ritual
Women’s days
On 3 March, the Girls’ Festival in Japan, people eat a rice cake whose green layer is made with mugwort. Tulsi is married to Vishnu in the month of Kartik, in October or November.
What the divine feminine covers
The phrase is recent; what it names is old. Goddesses hold flowers, festivals have their herbs, women pass on gestures of the kitchen, of steam and of the altar. This page stays on that ground: plants, the traditions that carry them, and the texts that keep their trace.
Goddesses and their plants
| Goddess or figure | Tradition | The plant | At INFUSE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artemis | ancient Greece | mugwort: Pliny reports that it may take its name from Artemis Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth (Natural History, XXV) | Mugwort |
| Aphrodite | ancient Greece | the rose, her flower | Rose |
| Mary | Christianity | the rose: Rosa mystica, the mystical rose of the Litany of Loreto; the rosary takes its name from the Latin rosarium, a garland of roses | Rose |
| Lakshmi | Hinduism | the lotus, padma: the goddess stands on a lotus flower and holds lotuses in her hands | Pink lotus |
| Tulsi, Vrinda | Hinduism | holy basil itself: the plant is a goddess, married to Vishnu at the Tulsi Vivah | Tulsi |
| Durga | Hinduism | aparajita, the flower of the goddess Durga, the Invincible | Aparajita |
| Xunan kab | Maya of Yucatán | the bee Melipona beecheii, whose Maya name translates as “royal lady bee” | Melipona honey |
| the nymph Ida | Greek legend | the raspberry: picking raspberries for the infant Zeus, she pricked her breast, and the white fruit took the colour of her blood; hence Rubus idaeus, the bramble of Ida | Raspberry leaf |
Festivals and rites
- In Japan, the night of 4 to 5 May. Before it became the boys’ festival, Tango no sekku belonged to women. In some regions, on the eve, the men left the house and the women stayed alone inside, under a roof covered with iris and mugwort: it was called fukigomori.
- In Japan, 3 March. For Hinamatsuri, the Girls’ Festival, the hishimochi, a diamond-shaped rice cake, has a green layer made with yomogi, Japanese mugwort, a cousin of ours.
- Mugwort steam. Korea and Japan know the practice of sitting over a bowl of hot mugwort, the Japanese yomogi-mushi; Rosita Arvigo described steam baths among the Maya healers of Belize. How to go about it, and the precautions: the yoni steam.
- The courtyard tulsi. In India it grows at the centre of the house courtyard; in the month of Kartik, a lamp is lit at its foot each evening, and the season ends with its marriage to Vishnu.
- The rose of May. May is Mary’s month: altars are covered with flowers, and the rosary tells its garland of roses.
- The midwives’ raspberry. In England, midwives have long offered raspberry leaf tea at the end of pregnancy; studies have looked at it without reaching a conclusion, and it is drunk on the advice of your midwife.
The herbs on this page
- Rose: the flower of divine love.
- Mugwort: herb of the Sacred Feminine, herb of joy, courage and truth. Wild-harvested in France.
- Pink lotus: the flower of the Buddha, and the one Lakshmi stands on.
- Blue lotus: the flower of sensual awakening of the Egyptian priestesses.
- Aparajita: the flower of the goddess Durga, the Invincible; infused, it gives an indigo-blue water.
- Tulsi: in Sanskrit, tulasi, the incomparable one; a plant India prays to before drinking it.
- Raspberry leaf: the bramble of Ida, the midwives’ leaf.
- Shatavari: “she of a hundred roots”, also heard as “she of a hundred husbands”; a queen of the plant kingdom in Ayurveda.
- Melipona honey: the honey of xunan kab, the lady bee of the Maya.
- Marihuanilla: its Chinese name, yìmǔcǎo, means the herb that does good to the mother.
Precautions
Pregnancy and breastfeeding: set aside mugwort, marihuanilla and shatavari; drink raspberry leaf only on the advice of your midwife or doctor. Allergy to the daisy family (Asteraceae): take care with mugwort. On hormonal, anticoagulant or antidepressant treatment: ask your doctor before taking any plant. The steam stays lukewarm and at a distance. Our plants are freely sold in France and the European Union; the law varies from country to country, so check yours before ordering.
Sources
- Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book XXV (mugwort). Rose and Aphrodite: Wikipedia. Rosa mystica: Litany of Loreto.
- Tulsi: Tulasi in Hinduism, Tulsi Vivah. Lakshmi: Wikipedia.
- Xunan kab: Melipona beecheii.
- Japan: 端午 (ja), 菱餅 (ja). Maya steam baths: R. Arvigo, Sastun, 1994.
⊹ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ⊹
Divine feminine herbs, in questions
What are the herbs of the divine feminine?
The ones traditions link to their goddesses and to women: Artemis’s mugwort, the rose of Aphrodite and of Mary, Lakshmi’s lotus, tulsi, the plant-goddess of India, Durga’s aparajita, the raspberry of the nymph Ida, the honey of the Maya lady bee. The table above gives the source of each.
What is the symbol of the divine feminine?
Each tradition has its own, and many pass through a flower: Lakshmi’s lotus, the rose of Mary and of Aphrodite. In Europe, mugwort carries the name of Artemis.
Which plant is associated with women?
In Europe, mugwort, since Pliny tied it to Artemis, goddess of childbirth. In India, tulsi, which grows at the centre of the courtyard; in Japan, the yomogi of the Girls’ Festival rice cake. These are traditions, told as such.
Can I drink these plants during pregnancy?
Mugwort, marihuanilla and shatavari are set aside during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Raspberry leaf is drunk only on the advice of your midwife. For the others, ask your doctor first.
What is mugwort steam?
Sitting over a bowl of hot water in which mugwort is steeping, known in Korea and Japan, where it is called yomogi-mushi. The method, the plants and the precautions are on our page the yoni steam.
Where can I read further?
In the Forest, the plants of the sacred feminine tell the story of twelve plants and their lineages. All our plants of this family are gathered in the Sacred Feminine family.
⊹ OTHER INTENTIONS · RITUAL ⊹ ✷
Explore other paths of this pillar.
Further reading · in the Forest
· THE FOREST ·
A precise question about this intention?
Ask the Forest: ethics of a plant, dose, lineage, synergy. It shares what peoples have transmitted and what books have written.