The characters that we translate as “acupuncture,” zhen jui in Chinese and shinkyu in Japanese, translate more literally as “needles and moxa.” From the earliest Han dynasty texts, to complete Song dynasty treatises solely dealing with moxibustion, moxa has been an integral part of medical practice.

Moxa is processed from the fibers inside the leaves of mugwort (various Artemisia species). The fibers are separated from the rest of the plant matter, allowed to bleach in the sun, and aged for several years. They smolder when ignited rather than burning with a flame, and the ashes tend to tighten up, holding their shape, rather than falling apart.

The word moxa is an English approximation of the Japanese mogusha, the mugwort plant. The term moxibustion describes the techniques of burning moxa for therapeutic purposes.

There are a number of grades of moxa; more refined and aged moxa burns at a lower temperature. The highest grade is suitable for use directly on the skin of children, while the lower grades are applied to needles or burned with a something between them and the skin, often ginger, garlic, salt or miso paste.

Various techniques are used to apply the heat to the points. The ones I use most often are thread moxa (sesame seed or rice grain size), cone moxa (smaller soybean size or larger pyramids) or needle moxa (spheres of moxa on the top of an inserted needle).

Moxa adds warmth when Cold is a problem, creates movement when Stagnation is a problem, and adds Qi when Vacuity is a problem.