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charlie9_9's review
4.0
book is a good beginners book on how to collect and use herbs for magic. At times i found the author jumping off topic on the different plants. The book will be used as guide when looking to do magic.
larissalee's review
2.0
I wanted to enjoy this guide, particularly as someone who has a strong interest in wildcrafting and foraging knowledge. As someone who moved around the country (and across the ocean) often as a child, I've been very happy to become a homeowner and set down roots... as well as studying my permanent home to discover the local flora and fauna. When I saw that there was a witch-focused book on that kind of exploration, I got excited.
This guide wasn't what I had hoped for. The first quarter of the book is focused on the practicalities of foraging, and while those are valid tips, I wouldn't expect or want all of that information from a book that's advertised as serving magical purposes. Between hiking guides and Google, I have access to information on all of those topics that would better apply to my location (the Pacific Northwest) than hers (the South); having lived in both extensively, I can say that the tips and tricks for safety are VERY different for a reason.
Once we finally got to the meat of the book's intended topic, I found myself again put off by the author's attitude toward modern witchcraft. There are repeated dismissals of anything newer than 1900, particularly if the information is found online or lacks roots in a historic text. All references to magical uses for the plants provided are pulled from ancient texts on alchemy or the grimoires of mages from centuries ago. While not a bad starting point, I find it unhelpful to be unbending in your interpretation of magic beyond their time period - as societies have changed, cultures have mingled, and even science has discovered things about plants that change our understanding of their uses (both medicinal and magical). I think the wiser approach is to assume we don't know everything about a plant, regardless of how much it's been studied; as the facts and experiences around it change, so too should we reassess our medicinal and magical associations for it. This is largely a difference in opinion or divergent approaches to spirituality as a whole.
All in all, the actual plant list included in the book left me wanting more. Perhaps starting with commonly found landscaping and "weed" plants makes sense, but I felt a lot of missed opportunities existed as the book would explain one plant by mentioning another common plant in passing... and then never dig into the one mentioned, though the two were unrelated species or are specified as being for completely different uses. If I don't get information on how they differ, why mention them at all? On the flip side, we skip over lookalikes and varieties in places where it might be important - for example, wild onion and wild garlic have lookalikes that are toxic and most similarly look like the edible plants when at a younger stage of growth. I learned that as a child, but someone else picking up this book might not have that pre-existing knowledge to fall back on.
This book describes itself as containing "dozens of heart-and-home herb projects, including cleansers, powders, incense, talismans, sprays, jam and much more". Technically, there are around 32 plants included in Chapter 6: Learning about Common Plants, so there are over two dozen plants involved. Each plant includes one full example of its potential magical use, but that's it. Many of the uses are washes, which feels like a missed opportunity considering the extensive list of use ideas mentioned in the description in the first place! To be fair, more uses can be gleaned from the history of the plant, as folklore and mythology is woven into that section, but that doesn't truly provide step-by-step instructions on those additional uses.
Actual rating: 5/10 (2.5 stars) - I finished it , but I wouldn't want to own a copy or recommend it as a resource to someone else.
This guide wasn't what I had hoped for. The first quarter of the book is focused on the practicalities of foraging, and while those are valid tips, I wouldn't expect or want all of that information from a book that's advertised as serving magical purposes. Between hiking guides and Google, I have access to information on all of those topics that would better apply to my location (the Pacific Northwest) than hers (the South); having lived in both extensively, I can say that the tips and tricks for safety are VERY different for a reason.
Once we finally got to the meat of the book's intended topic, I found myself again put off by the author's attitude toward modern witchcraft. There are repeated dismissals of anything newer than 1900, particularly if the information is found online or lacks roots in a historic text. All references to magical uses for the plants provided are pulled from ancient texts on alchemy or the grimoires of mages from centuries ago. While not a bad starting point, I find it unhelpful to be unbending in your interpretation of magic beyond their time period - as societies have changed, cultures have mingled, and even science has discovered things about plants that change our understanding of their uses (both medicinal and magical). I think the wiser approach is to assume we don't know everything about a plant, regardless of how much it's been studied; as the facts and experiences around it change, so too should we reassess our medicinal and magical associations for it. This is largely a difference in opinion or divergent approaches to spirituality as a whole.
All in all, the actual plant list included in the book left me wanting more. Perhaps starting with commonly found landscaping and "weed" plants makes sense, but I felt a lot of missed opportunities existed as the book would explain one plant by mentioning another common plant in passing... and then never dig into the one mentioned, though the two were unrelated species or are specified as being for completely different uses. If I don't get information on how they differ, why mention them at all? On the flip side, we skip over lookalikes and varieties in places where it might be important - for example, wild onion and wild garlic have lookalikes that are toxic and most similarly look like the edible plants when at a younger stage of growth. I learned that as a child, but someone else picking up this book might not have that pre-existing knowledge to fall back on.
This book describes itself as containing "dozens of heart-and-home herb projects, including cleansers, powders, incense, talismans, sprays, jam and much more". Technically, there are around 32 plants included in Chapter 6: Learning about Common Plants, so there are over two dozen plants involved. Each plant includes one full example of its potential magical use, but that's it. Many of the uses are washes, which feels like a missed opportunity considering the extensive list of use ideas mentioned in the description in the first place! To be fair, more uses can be gleaned from the history of the plant, as folklore and mythology is woven into that section, but that doesn't truly provide step-by-step instructions on those additional uses.
Actual rating: 5/10 (2.5 stars) - I finished it , but I wouldn't want to own a copy or recommend it as a resource to someone else.
xnikkiheart's review
3.0
My witchcraft/magick knowledge is very limited compared to others and my foraging knowledge is practically nonexistent. I was expecting more from this book to teach me and educate me on the combined skills, but that just didn't happen. The book is rather dry and dull, there's nothing really exciting. It's like having to read a reference book, which I guess it is technically. I would have liked to have gotten more out of this but I also don't feel like I lost anything by reading it either. I think I'd just pick it up if I had a very specific question in mind and probably not for any other reason.
Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for the ARC of #AWitchsGuidetoWildcraft
Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for the ARC of #AWitchsGuidetoWildcraft
final4kc's review
4.0
It doesn't matter whether you already have the knowledge or are learning. This was an excellent book to reference wild herbs to use for everything. This book sets a new standard for wild herb use for everyday, and special occasions. It makes it even better that you can find these herbs organically as well as grow them yourself. Our bond with the earth is strong and being able to create, use and give back is also so important. The book was well done. #AWitchsGuidetoWildcraft
skelleycat's review
3.0
This book was a nice introduction to herbs and plants from the perspective of someone well versed in gardening. The first half goes over a lot of the history, proper usage, and understanding of various plants/herbs (when to harvest, how to harvest, etc.). I appreciated that the author has such a lifetime's wealth of knowledge and experience in gardening, because it was evident in the depth each section went. The second half is basically a reference guide to what I imagine are some of the author's favorite plants. I like that it goes over a few correspondences, quick notes & warnings, an appearance description, history, uses, and a ritual or recipe for each plant. I would have loved it if the Uses section went deeper for each plant, since that is my main area of interest. I think it would be a lot more impactful had the advanced copy included the images as well, so I recommend getting the physical book if you want to use it as a reference guide (and I hope the images are in color and well detailed). I was hoping this would be a bit more of a guide to recognizing what plants are in the wilds around my home and community, but perhaps that was too much wishful thinking and I should get a local guidebook for that purpose. I do think this would still be handy to have on my witchy shelves, but I really wish the reference section was much more robust (that is, I wish it contained about 3x the amount of plants that it does).
goldenfenris's review
3.0
I think my expectations for this book and the reality of the information that it provides were not quite the same. I was hoping for more uses for the plants highlighted in this book. Each plant has one example of its potential magic use, but I was hoping for a few more for each one. As I wouldn't use this type of book for identification purposes, I would have rather had more examples of uses as opposed to the descriptions of the plant or common lookalikes or even the rather extensive history sections for each plant. Also, I felt like quite a few of the plants were poisonous, which I appreciate that they let us know so we don't just go around making salads of all the green things, but I could see someone with small children or animals just avoiding a bulk of these material out of caution.
I did appreciate some ideas about how to make your gathering a bit more magical, but I didn't appreciate the tone or the disdain towards more modern sources for witchcraft. I'm not a fan of policing how other people want to practice their craft or the sources that they want to use. And while I suppose there is an argument for going back to the original sources, but some of those aren't exactly accessible for a modern practitioner. Instead of Nostradamus' cherry jam recipe, which is relatively accessible, but I'll stick to my great-grandmothers. Not quite as time tested, but I'm sure it tastes just as good.
Overall, I would recommend this for someone looking for a lot of information of the plants listed, but not necessarily a lot of ideas for uses.
Thank you to Llewellyn Publications, JD Walker and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I did appreciate some ideas about how to make your gathering a bit more magical, but I didn't appreciate the tone or the disdain towards more modern sources for witchcraft. I'm not a fan of policing how other people want to practice their craft or the sources that they want to use. And while I suppose there is an argument for going back to the original sources, but some of those aren't exactly accessible for a modern practitioner. Instead of Nostradamus' cherry jam recipe, which is relatively accessible, but I'll stick to my great-grandmothers. Not quite as time tested, but I'm sure it tastes just as good.
Overall, I would recommend this for someone looking for a lot of information of the plants listed, but not necessarily a lot of ideas for uses.
Thank you to Llewellyn Publications, JD Walker and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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