• Reviews

    Book Review – Journeys with Plant Spirits by Emma Farrell

    Book Review Journeys with Plant Spirits by Emma Farrell Published by Bear & Company 288 pages Publication date: October 26, 2021     In part one of Journeys with Plant Spirits, Emma Farrell delves into several broad spiritual and supernatural topics that are shared by many shamanic traditions, such as healing wounds from past lives and navigating shamanic journeys through the upper, middle, lower, and other worlds. This introduction takes a primarily animistic view of the plant spirits, with a heavy emphasis on using intuitive practices like meditation to connect to the spirits of the plants. While many of these notions are now well-trod traditional pathways of plant spirit medicine…

  • Reviews

    Book Review – Healing Plants of Greek Myth by Angela Paine

    Book Review Healing Plants of Greek Myth by Angela Paine Published by Moon Books 348 pages Publication date: April 29, 2022     Angela Paine’s Healing Plants of Greek Myth has a wonderfully focused subject area which it sticks to very well: exploring the plants which play roles in ancient Greek mythology, especially those which had medicinal use. It’s useful to note that unknown and potentially fictional plants do not make an appearance here; moly, for example, is not explored at all. The book starts with a detailed introduction to the central deities, heroes, and stories of Greek mythology, as well as a lovely description of the author’s visit to…

  • Reviews

    Book Review – Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies by Rebecca Beyer

    Book Review Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies  by Rebecca Beyer Publisher: Simon & Schuster 240 Pages Publication Date: May 10, 2022     “The spirit of a place.” In “Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies,” Rebecca Beyer gives readers ways to come to know the spirit of a place, forming deep, intimate relationships with its plants, animals, minerals and history. There will be a unique magic of that place, too. A witch and a forager, Beyer specializes in folkloric plant history, as well as magical, edible, and medicinal uses. The detailed information about botanicals, and…

  • Reviews

    Book Review – The Poison Path Herbal: Baneful Herbs, Medicinal Nightshades, and Ritual Entheogens by Coby Michael

    Book Review The Poison Path Herbal: Baneful Herbs, Medicinal Nightshades, and Ritual Entheogens by Coby Michael Published by Park Street Press 256 pages Publication date: October 26, 2021       Despite the abundance of herbal literature available today, it’s still hard to find accurate information on those plants whose physiological effects are dangerous and potent. It’s easy to see why: many authors don’t want to assume any responsibility for what readers might do with this information, nor do publishers. And so, instead of tackling the challenge these plants present, they write them off entirely, give them the label “poison,” and only explore their attributes in order to identify and…