{"id":21720,"date":"2020-02-01T01:10:52","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T05:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/?p=21720"},"modified":"2020-02-11T15:47:25","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T19:47:25","slug":"book-review-herbs-of-the-southern-shaman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2020\/02\/01\/book-review-herbs-of-the-southern-shaman\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review \u2013 Herbs of the Southern Shaman by Steve Andrews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Book Review<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

Herbs of the Southern Shaman <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

by Steve Andrews<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

152 Pages<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Herbs of the Southern Shaman<\/b> is Steve Andrew\u2019s follow-up to Herbs of the Northern Shaman<\/b> and makes an excellent companion to it. This is a well-researched overview guide to entheogenic plants which grow in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a small book, 152 pages, that contains a wealth of information about more than 50 \u201cteacher\u201d plants we commonly associate with altered consciousness, like peyote and ayahuasca, and those we are more likely to find in the kitchen, like nutmeg. There is a bit of overlap with the Herbs of the Northern Shaman that Andrews references, as plants like Morning Glory, Damiana and Peyote grow in both hemispheres. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Andrews provides an overview of each plant and goes into detail about the plant\u2019s location and growing preferences, active chemical constituents, description and herbal properties. He also explores lore and preparation for ritual use. Most fascinating to me are the descriptions of the rituals themselves, like the section on the iboga initiation ceremony. The plant\u2019s effects on consciousness are clearly described, as are its medicinal effects and the serious risks involved in taking it at higher doses in shamanic ritual.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a> There are black and white photographs or line drawings depicting many, but not all, of the plants included along with their botanical descriptions. There are glossaries of medical and botanical terminology. The bibliography and recommendations for further reading section has enticed me to dig deeper into Andrew\u2019s work here. He acknowledges the contributions of Richard Evan Schultes and Albert Hoffman in Plants of the Gods <\/b>to the general body of ethnobotanical research.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Andrews is quite clear that purpose of his book is educational and to provide horticultural and botanical information and does not advocate ingestion or internal use of these plants which can be highly toxic or downright lethal. He places their use for shamanic purposes within a cultural context – that of sacred, sacramental use, administered by experienced practitioners and accompanied by ritual and other rules and prescriptions, such as dietary restriction. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The book jacket states that the book is for herbalists, witches, pagans, occultists, healers, therapists, botanists and gardeners. It does indeed provide information that would interest each and every one of those categories of practitioners. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is clearly written and informative, and I am happy to add it to my herbal reference library. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n