Cover Image: Enchanted Herbal

Enchanted Herbal

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Member Reviews

I really enjoyed Ms. Bussi's Enchanted Kitchen, so I was excited for this one--and it didn't disappoint. Lovely collection of recipes and tips for the herbs. Definitely need this in a physical copy.

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A practical guide to nature and the seasons. It has recipes and rituals you can do to reconnect with your spiritual journey. I really enjoyed it, but it wasn't exactly what I expected to see. It didn't really follow one pantheon, but more of a general connection by season.

3 stars

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Really lovely collection of recipes and ideas for ways you can use different herbs and natural produce in your home and kitchen at different times of the year.

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I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I was not sure what I would be getting out of this book when I started it. There are some really nice recipes in it. There are activities to do and how they are broken up by the seasons. I enjoyed reading it and trying out some of the recipes. It was well put together and easy to follow. That is important to me. I wrote done the ones that I will use more often.

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For all the Hedgewitches, a guide to connect with nature through the seasons, Lots of remedies and recipes, fun for gardeners and herbalists alike.
A good reference.

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Those following a Hedgewitchery path may find use in this book. Less a study on herbalism and more a guide on how to connect with nature through the seasons, Enchanted Herbalism delivers creative inspirations too. I found no magick in this book but plenty of wellness woo woo so it will appeal to those wishing to live a more mindful lifestyle. Gardeners too may find this book useful for experimenting further with what they grow in their garden.

TRIGGER WARNING most recipes in this book contain animal products. Even the herbal remedies and concoctions may include honey and beeswax.

*eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley

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Herbs have a special place in my heart and now this book has a special place on my shelf. This os a wonderful resource...that book you go to when your not sure which herb works for the upcoming sabbat, etc.

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I liked that the books teaches you how to incorporate nature into daily living. I love how she aims it towards self care and mindfulness that a lot of books gloss over. There is a ton of great information, recipes, and diy’s to this book. I’ll be getting a copy for my reference shelf for sure!

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced e-reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

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This is a great book for someone looking for a variety of crafting ideas and cooking recipes to enhance their craft. It's arranged by seasons and includes things such as body scrubs, candle rituals, cleaning solutions, and seasonal food. However, it doesn't focus solely on herbalism as the title may suggest. Those looking primarily for a book on herbalism are going to be disappointed. However, there could be something else of interest in here for them.

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Enchanted Herbal was a lovely read about incorporating nature into you daily life through ritual, cooking, and crafting. Gail Bussi breaks down the book by seasons and gives lots of practical recipes and diys to incorporate the herbs and plants of that time of year. It's a simple book that feels like being in a family member's kitchen and was really easy to read. It can definitely appeal to a wide variety of people, those with knowledge of magical practice and those without.

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I love, love, love anything to do with herbs. I have a ton of potted herbs so ready book about herbs and info about this is right up my alley. The book is broken down by season and includes a lot of info at the end of the book about ingredients, tools and supplies, and how to prepare herbs. I learned a lot reading Enchanted Herbal.

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I couldn't sleep and so I found myself opening this book interested in what information it might contain, and In the end I found it hard to put it down.
This is the kind of book I craved after leaving my mother's home, with the types of recipe's I found in her Kitchen Witch book. But with a mindset aimed towards self care and mindfulness that I wish I saw more of in the books I poured over from my mothers small library as an adolescent.

But no matter whether your looking for a recipe or something to bolster your practice this book has a lot to offer you.

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A good addition to books a reader may have already read or have. Good for those wanting to live more by the seasons or bring herbs/plants more into their life.

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This is a nice addition to any library collection or personal library on herbal remedies and the properties of flowers, herbs, etc. There are a variety of recipes and DIY for food, tea, bath & body products, cleaning solutions, etc so it gives a wide range of how to use plant elements in everyday life.

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As another reviewer noted, this isn't the type of book I expected from the publisher or from the synopsis. It's a lovely seasonal book of recipes and DIY projects, but does not really focus on herbalism in an herbalist sort of way. It's divided by seasons and each season has some rituals, thoughts about how you should live during that season, quotes, activities like feeding the birds, and recipes for cooking, skin care, cleaning and such. These are the sorts of recipes you find online and are very nice, but they're not traditional herbal remedies in the sense I was hoping for. There are things like candle rituals and body scrubs. There is also quite a focus on using essential oils, which are not a part of herbalism and are not really very respectful of nature. There is quite a lot of pagan and Wiccan content related to the seasons, for those who are looking for that.

The book doesn't seem to know exactly what kind of a book it wants to be. Looking at the author's bio and other books, I see that she used to run a catering company in South Africa and published a number of books about cross stitching angels and "cute and cuddly" things, so I can understand a bit of that. On the bright side, that means that there may be something for everyone though.

There are no photos, just grayscale abstract illustrations at times. The book is largely without illustration, other than pretty fonts for section headers and occasional black and white leaf designs on chapter header pages.

A great deal of this book is composed of cooking recipes. For those with special diets, note that they are largely composed of meat, wheat and sugar. I personally didn't need so many recipes for birds and baby animals (or any really). Why does an "enchanted herbal" book need recipes for roasted duck and lamb? Are we sacrificing them? Shrug. There were also vegetarian recipes for things like chutneys. None of the recipes particularly appealed to me. In any case, it's still quite a nice little read and I definitely agree with the sentiment of living through the seasons.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

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I love books like this. There is just something soothing and comforting about them that harkens back to a simpler time. They divide this book into four sections (Spring: creation and renewal, Summer: abundance and passion, Autumn: celebration and harvest, and Winter: peace and reflection). It is further broken down into five additional sections (Things To Eat, Things To Drink, Things To Do, Body Care, and Happy Home).

My only complaint is that the book is a little drab and boring visually. Especially for the subject. I think some color and photos would have gone a long way to making this one a more interesting and visually enjoyable.

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This is a great book to keep in your reference section. There were some things I already knew, but there was new information too. It was well written and was really quite useful.

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What more could you want from this book; it was perfect! I love how this book starts by going in depth into the topic and then works to help the reader delve deeper. In this book, the descriptions and uses of herbs in the kitchen and out of the kitchen was easy to read and understand and it made me want to start using herbs more.

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This one wasn't quite what I expected from an herbal magick book, however, I did find it delightful. I liked how the sections were centered around the seasons of the year with recipes and rituals that reflect each season. Some of the recipes in this book sound so delicious, I can't wait to try out a few of them. I would have liked to see more about the herbs and plants though. I felt that it was rather light on the herbal properties of each plant. Overall it is a good book filled with some great information and some yummy sounding recipes.

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Thank you, NetGalley, Llewellyn Publication, and Gail Bussi, for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love this book! I love how the content is organized around the seasons and how nature can teach us to recognize the seasons and cycles in our own lives. These seasonal chapters organize the book:
Spring: creation and renewal
Summer: abundance and passion
Autumn: celebration and harvest
Winter: peace and reflection

Each chapter/season includes these sections:
Heart Notes: thoughts and simple rituals/magic for each season's rhythm
Create: simple body/beauty products to make, as well as ideas for a natural home
Nurture: ideas for natural health and wellbeing on every level, both physical and spiritual Grow: practical inspiration for planting, growing and harvesting one's herbs and other aromatic plants, and other ideas for garden magic and enchantment
Taste: seasonal recipes using herbs, spices, and flowers in delicious ways

Each season aims to identify ways to grow through self-discovery and using herbs to aid in this process. The tone of the book is very nurturing while also sharing reliable information about herbs and their benefits. I also love the focus on nature. We've become such a frenetic culture of being overly digital with our faces in screens far more than is healthy. Shifting our focus to nature is a much-needed reprieve from our overly social media.

This book includes seasonal recipes and guidance on using herbs to eat, things to drink, things to do, happy home, and body care. As an herbalist, I love that she encourages the reader to keep a Green Alchemy Journal, a journal for recording recipes, ideas, experiments, illustrations etc. as you experience herbs throughout the year. There is an abundance of information on herbs available on the internet and countless books dedicated to herbs' specific properties, etc. My experiences have taught me that to know and understand an herb, you need to spend time with it. Instead of learning superficial information about many herbs, select a few for each season, and really get to know them well. This book by Bussi coupled with keeping your own seasonal herb journal is an excellent way to focus your energy on learning herbs and the different ways we can benefit from their many uses. Each season is filled with recipes, meditations, rituals, and journaling prompts to guide you in learning about and experiencing herbs.

I also love her recommendation of keeping a moon journal. Like the seasons of the year, the moon moves through predictable cycles each month. I love recognizing nature's cycles and how closely we are connected through them. Finally, the appendix of this book is filled with useful information. Enchanted Herbal is a book I highly recommend to anyone interested in herbs and living an inspired life. I have already pre-ordered my hard copy!

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