Description
Wild harvested from the Whirling Rainbow lands, Homer, Alaska.
Preparing: Brew a pinch of leaves in boiling water, strain and drink ½ cup per day as needed for relief of stomach flus, digestive issues, infections, parasites menstrual issues etc.
Medicinal Uses Of Wormwood: A valuable tonic that stimulates appetite and promotes digestion. There seems to be widespread agreement that the leaves possess antiseptic properties and are very resistant to putrefaction. The name may be a reflection of the idea that wormwood leaves and flowers expel worms.
Alaskans use native wormwoods both externally and internally. Both Oswalt and Lantis report the use of A. alaskana on the rocks in steam baths for sinuses and skin. Priscilla Kari says the Tanainas still use A. tilesii in the steam bath
The Tanainas soak A. tilesii leaves in water and rub them on the bodies of pregnant women or put them on the stomach as a poultice. They also make medicine switches to help arthritis and other aches. Boiled or soaked in hot water, A. tilesii is made into a tea used as a wash for skin rash, cuts, blood poisoning, sore eyes, or any kind of infection. Use boiled or soaked leaves wrapped in cloth as a hot pack for toothache, earache, and snow-blindness. For athlete’s foot, the Outer Cook Inlet people wear fresh leaves inside their socks. (Kari) Artemisia tilesii is one of the medicinal herbs used by Della Keats (a respected healer) in Kotzebue, and by the people of the northwestern region of Alaska. It is highly regarded as a tonic tea if you don’t drink too much at a time.
Dried leaves are powdered to use externally in a salve for burns or infections. A rtemisia tilesii was used by western Eskimos as an antitumor agent in Unalakleet and as a fever and infection inhibitor in Aniak, according to Smith.
Hall’s Traditional Medical Practices of the Interior people includes the following uses for wormwood: “Use moistened, dried leaves as poultice on infected sores or cuts. Use just enough to cover sore. Put it on sore and wrap with bandage. Use as directed for arthritis also. Brew just a pinch of leaves and drink 1/2 cup once a day. Use for diaper rash also.” Brøndegaard surveys the use of Artemisia throughout the world in gynecological folk medicine. It is one of the medical plants used in Scandinavia, Germany, France, Switzerland, England, Bosnia, Russia, China, Tibet, India, Bali, Bolivia, Argentina, and the United States. It has been widely used to help women regulate menstruation and recover from childbirth.
The numerous uses of Artemisia for women may be related to the fact the plant is named for Artemis, the goddess who represents the variable energies of women. (Monaghan).
