Artemisia Growing Wild In The Sierra Nevada Mountains Spain
Growing up in Ireland, I became used to plants being big, green and lush. Then I moved to a drier climate and those same plants are much smaller in size. Of course it all has to do with the water that is available to them. But they still pack a punch when it comes to their medicinal values.
When I first moved to Spain, it took me a while to identify what this small leafed sweet smelling plant was. It grows in abundance in the mountains, nestled in next to the thyme, the rosemary and the sage. For such a long time I was convinced that it was a different variety if thyme.
I never harvested it, because the first rule of harvesting medicinal plants, is if you cannot identify it, then don't pick it! So I just reveled in it's beautiful aroma every time I brushed past it, on my walks up the mountain. I was so used to the broader leaf Wormwood, that I never occured to me that this could be the same plant.
Not until my friend, who is an excellent local herbalist, told me and yes I was very happy to discover this, as I have used it successful in the past for stomach problems. Picking the leaves to dry and then making an infusion to drink. I also know that it is very effective in ridding the body of parasites, hence the name wormwood. I plant to use it in the future for this purpose.
Right now, it has all died off on the mountainside, as the hot summer has dried all the water reserves up. For now I wait for the first rains to come, when it will burst forth with life once again and I can harvest some more.
This amazing plant, is very connected with the moon, and has been used for centuries in aiding women with their moon cycle, as well as during menopause. It helps to balance out our hormones and as it is used to help stimulate our cycle, for this reason, it is best not to use it when you are pregnant, as it may cause a miscarriage.
When I studied to be a Doula, I remember being told how it has been used successfully, to help turn babies at the end of term, so that women do not have to experience a breech birth. I was amazed at how powerful this plant was and felt so blessed that nature provides us with such wonderful medicine for free.
My Emotional Relationship With Artemisia
I also have a very emotional relationship with Artemisia. When my sister became unwell with Cancer, I took it upon myself to research alternative treatments as She did not want to go down the route of conventional treatments. The first thing I researched was mushrooms and I got an overwhelming amount of information about their many medicinal benefits for those battling with cancer.
Then I began to read about the effectiveness of Artemisia in treating people with cancer. Artemisia Annua to be precise, which is also known as sweet wormwood and grows mainly in Asia. It contains a compound called artemisinin, which has also been used for hundreds of years in the treatment of Malaria. Cancer cells rely on Iron to spread and usually cancer patients have huge amounts of Iron in their cells.
When iron and artemisinin enter a cancer cell together, they form atoms called free radicals that kill cancer cells without harming normal ones.
When I read this, I dove into the research that was available and soon discovered that it is 10 times more effective than chemotherapy drugs. I tried to gather all the most informative articles and pieces of research and send them on, to my sister. I really did not wish to overwhelm her, but I was so impressed and hopeful about this amazing plant being able to treat her.
After speaking with her, (once she received all of the information) I went ahead and ordered her some capsules, being very careful about the country of origin. I cannot remember right now, who I ordered them from, but I know that it is very important that when you order, that it is artemisinin that you are getting and and not Artemisia Annua, that way the treatment is more potent. Because of this, they were very expensive, but you can not really put a price on ones health.
In the end my sister went on her own journey with Cancer and she never used this herb! This in itself was a huge lesson to me, on how we must allow each person to decide how they wish to live and ultimately die. I have been using plants for a long time now, as medicine. So I trust their healing powers. I never doubted their power.
When I first read, that the latest challenge from The Herbal Hive was about Artemisia, I was hesitant to get involved, because I have often wondered, would the outcome have been different, if she did try this treatment. But this was not my decision to make and in the end what mattered the most, was that I was there for her, right up until the end.
