Wormwood

What this is

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). The silver-grey bitter sister of mugwort, the byword for bitterness itself, distilled into the green absinthe that opened the poets' eyes and unhinged them. Sacred to Artemis, it is the herb of calling spirits and sharpening the scry. Genuinely toxic, it is never to be eaten.

What it governs

Wormwood answers to Mars and the element of Fire, with a second hand from Saturn. Its seat in the zodiac is Scorpio and Capricorn, and its day is Tuesday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the waning moon. In the old practice its office is plain: Burned as a banishing incense for the most stubborn of unwanted presences.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning wormwood is hot and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the aerial. Its working colour follows Mars, scarlet red; its metal is iron, its stones are emerald, ruby, its number 5, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Geburah. It is a herb of scent, working through the nose as much as the hand and it is not gentle, a herb of real potency to be handled with care and never taken lightly.

Where else it appears

One bitter sight in many hands: the Greeks gave it Artemis's name as they gave it to mugwort; the Hebrew prophets made wormwood, la'anah, the very figure of bitterness, and the Apocalypse named the falling star Wormwood that poisoned the waters; the poets' absinthe carried the same green opening of the eye. The sight worth having is rarely sweet.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Wormwood on Today's Herb, Scent of the Hour, Angelic Herb, Moon's Companion, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its office: Burned as a banishing incense for the most stubborn of unwanted presences. As the Scent of the Hour its message arrives through the nose, so let its smoke or its smell set the temper of the hour. As the Angelic Herb it stands under Samael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with martial heat and decisive force. As the Moon's Companion it walks with the night, marking a dream, a tide of feeling, or a thing best done by moonlight. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while waning moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Wormwood calls spirits and sharpens the scry, at a price. It teaches that the deepest sight is rarely comfortable, and that the bitterness which opens the eye can unhinge the one who drinks too deep. It asks whether you are ready to pay for the sight you seek, and to take it in measure with protection about you.

Correspondences

planet

Mars

element

Fire

zodiac

Scorpio, Capricorn

number

5

sephirah

Geburah

day

Tuesday

colour

scarlet red

metal

iron

stone

emerald, ruby

tarot

The Tower