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A review by larissalee
A Witch's Guide to Wildcraft: Using Common Plants to Create Uncommon Magick by JD Walker
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.