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Absinthe (Wormwood) Essential Oil 1/3 fl oz: C
Absinthe is traditionally used as a tea, a strong decoction, a smoke or as an alcoholic extract, a liquer. Absinthe is above all a stomach medicine, being useful for indigestion, gastric pain, and lack of appetite, as well as the related problems of heartburn and flatulence, fevers, dysentery, asthma, burns, anemia. It is also said to be helpful for liver insufficiency by stimulating liver and gallbladder secretions, jaundice. Anthelmintic, choleretic, deodorant, emmenagogue, febrifuge, insect repellent, narcotic, stimulant (digestive), tonic, vermifuge. Absinthe blends well with oak moss, jasmine, orange and lavender Pure Absinthe oil is poisonous. Relatively small doses may cause nervous disorders, convulsions, insomnia, nightmares, and other symptoms. Do not take large doses. Contraindicated in pregnancy. If you are pregnant, do not use Absinthe. The 1997 Commission E on Phytotherapy and Herbal Substances of the German Federal Institute for Drugs recommends absinthe for 'Loss of appetite, dyspepsia, biliary dyskinesia. Daily dosage: 2 - 3 g of herb as water infusion. Mode of Administration: Cut herb for infusions and decoctions, herb powder, also extracts and tinctures as liquid or solid forms of medication for oral administration.' Yes, absinthe is an inebriating pipeful - its psychoactive thujones seem to bind to the same receptor as THC. Several species of Artemisia are also smoked for visionary effect by some Indian tribes. Edgar Allen Poe loved the famous alcoholic tincture, and lookit what he did. Although the oil destroys various types of worms, long-term use, due to the mildly toxic thujones, is not recommended. Ordinary Absinthe teas or tinctures, however, contain very little thujone, and are considered safe for short-term use. Absinthe herb is safe enough to be recommended by the German Commission E. This esential oil, however, is thujone-rich, and is not safe for ingestion. Also present in the plant are strong bitter agents known as absinthin and anabsinthin. These stimulate digestive function, including gall bladder function. Grieve's classic 'A Modern Herbal': 'The chief constituent is a volatile oil, of which the herb yields in distillation from 0.5 to 1.0 per cent. It is usually dark green, or sometimes blue in colour, and has a strong odour and bitter, acrid taste. The oil contains thujone (absinthol or tenacetone), thujyl alcohol (both free and combined with acetic, isovalerianic, succine and malic acids), cadinene, phellandrene and pinene. The herb also contains the bitter glucoside absinthin, absinthic acid, together with tannin, resin, starch, nitrate of potash and other salts.' 'Medicinal Action and Uses: Tonic, stomachic, febrifuge, anthelmintic.' 'A nervine tonic, particularly helpful against the falling sickness and for flatulence. It is a good remedy for enfeebled digestion and debility.' 'A light infusion of the tops of the plant, used fresh, is excellent for all dis
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