By Carina Magyar in Herbs — Jul 25, 2023

VII: Mugwort

How mugwort smoke led to electroshock therapy.

The salad-like greens of mugwort. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Good morning. Today is septidi, the 7th of Thermidor, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate l'armoise, a funny little herb from the daisy family.

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Time for a nickname roundup! The well-loved mugwort is also known as felon herb, wild or riverside wormwood, chrysanthemum weed, old man, naughty man, old Uncle Henry, sailor's tobacco, dream sage, maiden wort, and midgewort. It has pointed leaves with fuzz on the underside that, when scraped off, makes an excellent tinder. It's a traditional bitter flavoring agent used in beer in lieu of hops.

Mugwort contains thujone, that chemical we already met in wormwood that gives absinthe its extra something. While the herb has been considered medicinal in a number of ways – fighting off bacteria and other infections, decreasing inflammation, soothing sore feet – its most common uses all involve burning the dried leaves, likely because inhaling the smoke has a soothing and mildly hallucinogenic effect. However, people didn't realize or make use of this directly so much as attribute these good vibes to other reasons for burning the plant. This chain of events and mishaps ultimately led to electroshock therapy.

VII: Mugwort

VI: Horsetail

VIII: Safflower

VI: Horsetail

VIII: Safflower

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