Chinese Wormwood: Ancient Herb for Modern Times

Dr Rudolf Steiner, PhD, the brilliant Austrian scholar, mystic, architect, and founder of biodynamic
farming, Waldorf education and anthroposophical medicine, once wrote, “For every human illness,
there exists a plant which is the cure.” It is the challenge of every age to discover the foods and plants
best suited to meet the demands of that time. And so it is in our era that you and I are tasked with
finding and using natural solutions to the issues we face in today’s world. Artemisia annua, often called
Chinese wormwood, is one of the most relevant ancient medicines for the modern day.

Professor Kerry Bone, one of my herbal teachers and colleagues, and one of the world’s leading herbal
clinicians, educators, formulators and authors, expanded on the spirit of Steiner’s words when he wrote,
“I believe that there is a healing potential locked inside plants which is integral with their evolution, just
as it is part of human evolution to learn to tap this wonderful gift of Nature.” Prof Bone is pointing to the
principle of “reciprocal evolution,” where human beings provide a blessing to the plant kingdom by
using botanicals as healing agents for humanity, while advancing our collective evolution as a people by
discovering which food and plants we need to thrive.

And so Chinese wormwood, though it arrived in human awareness some 5,000 years ago as a medicinal plant, has burst onto the world scene in recent decades, with uses and effectiveness far beyond its traditional Chinese medicine application in treating people with fevers.

The world we live in today places greater demands on the human bodymind than has ever existed in
human history. The immense, almost immeasurable challenges of manmade radiation, environmental
toxicity, and the psychological pressures of a world moving through an unprecedented cycle of both
purification and awakening, has led to an equally unprecedented rise in chronic illness.

Using the principle of supply and demand, we can accurately assert that we live in a time of unparalleled demands, and the gap between that and our insufficient supply, or support, to meet those demands, has created today’s chronic disease epidemic. To meet these massive demands and thrive without becoming chronically sick, we need an equally large amount of sustenance – through supportive relationships, nutrition, botanical medicine and more. As we will see, Chinese wormwood is an herb perfectly suited to support us, in ways well-matched to the demands of our time.

Ancient Origins

Chinese medicine is the oldest, continually-practiced healthcare system in the world, with a rich history
spanning several millennia. It currently serves up to 20% of the world’s population, and has its roots in
ancient antiquity, with the use of bodywork therapy, herbal medicine, vital energy-enhancing exercises,
meditation, self-cultivation, acupuncture, therapeutic diet, cosmology, and harmonious living
environment (feng shui).

Though modern Chinese medicine, anachronistically referred to as “Traditional Chinese Medicine”
(TCM), is a reductionist / materialist system created by the Chinese Communist Party starting in the
1950s, the diverse, spiritually-infused pre-Communist principles and traditions have survived, through
many Eastern and Western practitioners, authors and teachers.

One of the most famous characters in the annals of Chinese medicine history is the legendary Shen
Nong, the “Divine Farmer” or “Divine Husbandman.” He one of the mythological Three Emperors of
ancient Chinese antiquity, divine beings who lived in the eight centuries between 2,852 and 2,070 BC.
Shen Nong, born Jiang Shinian, lived from 2,737 to 2,697 BC, and is revered as China’s Father of
Agriculture, Tea and Herbalism, who also developed the arts of moxibustion (a treatment of burning
herbs near the body) and pulse diagnosis.

Out of his compassion for the illness and suffering of the people, he experimented by ingesting, over
time, hundreds of different plant medicines, partially observing their effects on the internal organs
through his purportedly transparent stomach. Through carefully recording and teaching his
observations, he helped restore health and vitality to the people.

His many experiments in ingesting plant medicines sometimes resulted in his poisoning. He saved
himself from death by consuming an herbal antidote, most commonly what we refer to as “tea,” or
camellia sinensis, which he called “cha,” which means “examine.” His selfless experimentation, though
an inestimable blessing to humanity that continues to this day, was also his demise. Before he could
ingest the antidote, a yellow flower he ate caused his intestines to burst.

His herbal legacy is contained in the three-volume Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, or “Divine Farmer’s Classic of Herbal Medicine,” China’s oldest herbal text. Shen Nong may have written the work himself or, more likely, it was written in the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) as a compilation of oral traditions and attributed to the great Emperor. It details 365 herbal medicines in three groups, each contained in its own volume. The text reads:

“The upper class of medicines…govern the nourishment of destiny [Ming] and correspond to heaven
[Tian]…If one wishes to prolong the years of life without aging, one should (use these).
The middle class of medicines…govern the nourishment of one’s nature and correspond to man [Ren]…If one wishes to prevent illness and to supplement depletions and emaciations; one should (use these). The lower class of medicines…govern the illness and correspond to the earth. If one wishes to… cure illness, one should base (one’s efforts) on (medicines listed in) the (lower class of this) manual.” Many of those 365 herbal medicines are, to this day, the foundational Chinese medicinals used in modern clinical practice. One of the plants recorded as one of the lower class of herbs in the Ben Cao Jing is Qing Hao, or Chinese wormwood. Of this herb, Shen Nong states:

“Cao Hao (Herba Artemisiae Apiaca) is bitter and cold. It mainly treats scabies [skin parasite], itchy
scabs, and malign sores, kills lice [tiny scalp insects], [relieves] lodged heat in the joints, and brightens
the eyes. Its other name is Qing Hao (Green Tall Stalk). Another name is Fang Kui (Opening). It grows in rivers and swamps.”

Qing Hao survived in the evolving tradition of Chinese herbal medicine in the centuries that followed.

This herb is available for purchase as Artemisinin Forte at michaelgaeta.com/store

---

References
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner
rsarchive.org/Books/GA028/English/APC1928/GA028_index.html
westwellnessnc.com/the-8-branches-of-chinese-medicine/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shennong
publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-legend-of-the-divine-farmer/
britannica.com/topic/Shennong
teasenz.com/chinese-tea/shennong-the-legend-of-the-divine-farmer.html
en.chinaculture.org/library/2008-02/01/content_26339.htm
ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/shennong-god-king-chinese-medicine-and-agriculture-007760
academia.edu/44121026/The_Divine_Farmers_Materia_Medica_A_Translation_of_the_Shen_Nong_Be
n_Cao_Ling?auto=download
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shennong_Bencaojing
museocineseparma.org/en/scuole/le-dinastie-della-cina/106-206-bc-220-ad-han-dynasty