My cedar chest is full of old dream journals. I’ve kept them since I was 9 years old. They’re packed with every spectrum of emotion, all of the highs and lows. Failure. Anger. Lust. Love. Fear. Elation. Longing. Hope. Hopelessness. Despair. Excitement. Dread. They are all just as real as waking life. I’ve just paid attention to thousands more hours of them. They’re my stories. My whole life. I still want those lucid dreams I had so often in childhood…and I eventually (and accidentally) found a new trick with a lucid dreaming herb – Mugwort. It’s now something that I enjoy every autumn with my autumnal lucid dreaming tea.
For the past few years as I’ve gotten to intimately know herbs, I’ve been crafting a dreaming tea blend that I drink before bed to encourage lucid dreams (although it doesn’t always do the trick). It’s a combination of mugwort, chamomile, passionflower, spearmint, oatstraw and orange peel. The chamomile and passionflower help to relax my mind, calm my body and slow me down from the fast pace of a busy day. The oatstraw replenishes my body with it’s building nervine quality and gentle nutrients. The orange peel is a hint of zingy aromatic flavor and the spearmint just smells like a dream. And the star of this celestial blend is the mugwort itself. Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) has a mystical history as one of the most magical herbs – used for protection mostly, and named for the Greek goddess Artemisia, the goddess of the hunt and the forest and the hills. I’ve found that mugwort sometimes helps me to slip into lucid dreaming more easily…perhaps because as an adult, I’m further removed from my ethereal imagination than I was was a child. This autumnal dreaming blend is one of my favorites to create. I blend up a large batch and use it up for several weeks. The addition of the celestial tea strainer is particularly fitting.
When I imbibe in this dreaming tea, it usually always takes me to the forest with a swift stream and large, towering trees. It’s become one of my favorite dreamscapes to visit. It’s calm and beautiful and always autumn. I like it most because when I’m here, the only emotions I feel are happy and safe and calm. There are no tasks or expectations or fear or uncertainty. It’s just my magical place. With mugwort, each person has their own experience, and I’m always curious where this dream blend will take you, too.
