Chewing Wormwood

-- By Arthur Bots in Kentucky on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 at 22:18.

To Kamaile in Georgia:

When I read your question about the wormwood bible reference and whether it involved drinking or chewing the wormwood, I was also interested in the answer, so I did a little researching and found the following information:

"The plant contains ethereal oils (such as cineole, or wormwood oil, and thujone), flavonoids, triterpenes, and coumarin derivatives. Chewing some leaves will kill the fatigue and stimulate the nervous system. It was also used as an anthelminthic, so it is sometimes confused with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)"

Keep in mind, the article that contained this information was about common wormwood (Artemisia vulgaris), but I still think that it's applicable to your question. If common wormwood is able to create these sensations, then I would guess that actual wormwood would create even more intense effects.

I'll keep searching for more information on wormwood chewing and let you know if I come across anything else of interest ;-)

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the "What is wormwood?" page

Wormwood is a plant that has fascinated humanity since the days of the Romans.

About the wormwood plant

The Vaults of Erowid site has a section about wormwood with information, photos of the plant and even experiences by people who have "experimented" with wormwood.

Wormwood tea anyone? The Golden Harvest Organics site has the recipe (the tea is to be used as a natural insect repellent, not drunk!), plus some tips on growing and harvesting the plant.

Purdue University's Center for New Crops & Plant Products has a short entry on wormwood that gives its common names, habitat and desription.