Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. A silvery-grey, downy perennial subshrub with much-divided aromatic leaves and small drooping yellow flower-heads; native range: temperate Europe, Asia and North Africa, on waste ground and dry banks. Globally recognized as afsantin in Arabic, and absinthe wormwood, common wormwood, green ginger in English. The part used is aerial parts (leaf and flowering top). Intensely, persistently bitter, with a sharp aromatic, faintly sage-like scent from its volatile oil.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
WORMWOOD
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Wormwood
- Scientific name
- Artemisia absinthium L.
- Family
- Asteraceae (Compositae)
Form
- Part used
- aerial parts (leaf and flowering top)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · aromatic
- Unani
- bitter · aromatic
Temperature
- Western
- hot & dry (Galenic: 1st degree hot, 3rd degree dry)
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- stomach · liver · digestion · nerves
- Unani
- stomach · liver · intestines
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- bitter tonic, stomachic, cholagogue, anthelmintic, febrifuge, emmenagogue, stimulant
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic), dafi-e-kirm (anthelmintic), muqawwi-e-jigar (liver tonic), mudirr-e-haiz (emmenagogue), hazm-kunanda (digestive)
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy, epilepsy or any history of seizures, kidney or liver disease, and any but brief, measured use
Toxicity: the volatile oil is rich in thujone, a GABA-antagonist convulsant; excess or prolonged use causes vertigo, tremor, restlessness and convulsions ('absinthism'), the ruin of habitual absinthe drinkers
Interactions
- Western
- antiepileptics: thujone lowers the seizure threshold, opposing anticonvulsant therapy
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