| In order to manufacture moxa from mugwort, the mugwort must be harvested between May and July, before it has grown too big, and then sun dried on a sunny day. After that, it should be stored in a dark room until winter. For the best quality, further manufacturing should take place in mid-winter, when it is extremely cold. The mugwort should once again be dehydrated, this time using a charcoal fire or briquette. About 187 kg of raw mugwort per day should be placed in the furnace room for a 24 hour period. |
Once thoroughly dried, in order to make the mugwort leaves easy to put in the stone mortar, the mugwort leaves are cut to a uniform length using a cutting machine. |
The revolution of the pestle of the stone mortar (a rough grinding stone) pushes the cut mugwort leaves into the mortar and crushes the leaves. After that, a sieve is used to sift through it and moxa cautery (low-grade moxa) is created. |
| When making high-grade moxa, the moxa is finely ground for a second or third time (using different mortar and pestle sizes and revolution numbers). The revolution numbers and mortar and pestle sizes used are based on long years of experience. |
The moxa is separated from foreign substances using a rotating sieve. The finer the sifting, the higher the quality of the moxa. |
A number 1 and number 2 winnower (with differences in revolution number and size) are used to thoroughly remove any further impurities and create high-grade moxa. Quality is altered by revolution speed and time. It is said that raw mugwort produces only 2-3% the quantity of high-grade moxa. |
