Secret Medicines from Your Garden
Plants for Healing, Spirituality, and Magic
by Ellen Evert Hopman
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Pub Date Feb 12 2016 | Archive Date Feb 08 2016
Inner Traditions | Healing Arts Press
Description
• Draws on traditional knowledge and remedies from around the world, including Native American, Celtic, and Egyptian traditions
• Provides simple recipes to safely make herbal remedies from local plants and honey for first aid, immune support, and treatment of common ailments
• Details the “triangle” formula-making system of William LeSassier
• Explains how to work with plant spirits, herbal astrology, and Animal Spirit Medicine
Weaving together ancient wisdom, mystical folklore, and modern plant research, master herbalist Ellen Evert Hopman explores the many uses of flowers, trees, common weeds, and ornamental plants for food, medicine, spiritual growth, and magical rituals. She reveals the herbal lore surrounding each plant, drawing on traditional knowledge and remedies from around the world, including Native American, Celtic, and Egyptian traditions. She includes recipes throughout so you can make medicines from wild and domesticated plants easily found in yards, forests, meadows, and hedgerows, and she discusses what to plant to ensure you have leaves, berries, and flowers all year.
The author reveals how to quickly intuit an unknown plant’s properties using the signatures of plants--universal indications and contraindications based on the form, color, and location of a plant. She includes an in-depth section on honey and Bee Medicine, allowing you to appreciate the labors of these plant-dependent insects. Exploring the magical role of herbs in ancient ritual, Hopman provides recipes for Egyptian temple incense and their sacred medicine known as “Kyphi” or “Kaphet,” used to purify the body, banish insomnia, and promote vivid dreaming. She explores shamanic Plant Spirit and Animal Spirit Medicine as well as herbal astrology. She also explains the “triangle” formula-making system of her herbal mentor William LeSassier to help you develop custom herbal remedies tailored to a person’s unique strengths and weaknesses.
Showing how to easily incorporate wild plants into your life to receive their healing benefits throughout the seasons, Hopman reveals the power of the bounty that Mother Nature has provided right at our doorstep.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781620555576 |
| PRICE | $19.95 (USD) |
Average rating from 10 members
Featured Reviews
Justin R, Reviewer
Summary:
This book is a good herbal, but probably won't help you identify/grow your own medicine.
The negatives:
For me, it didn't seem like a resource for growing/gathering herbs.
There weren't many pictures and I could find no planting information. This is probably fine for most uses (most of the herbs should be easily found online), but for homesteading,gardening buffs it is a bit of a downer.
Lastly, The organization is also a little hard to follow. This is to be said for most of the herbals,I've seen. The book is mostly broken up by plant/seasonal properties I don't understand. It might be a natural system for a more experienced herbalist, but I would've preferred herbs listed under primary usage (e.g. respiratory).
Positives This book does discuss many herbs, their uses and their contraindications, etc. The contraindication information is better than I've seen in most similar books and there is a nice table describing herb pairing/usage.
All in all a great resource, but probably not something I'd use my one definitive resource.
Erin T, Librarian
I really enjoyed learning more about herbs and plants through this book. I liked that recipes were included and a comprehensive list on the plants and what they can do for the body. I also enjoyed reading the author's personal journey with plants and how she came to study them. There is a spiritual aspect to the book, which I liked. I would have liked a bit more about the herbs in terms of when they are in season, or whereabouts to find them. Overall though I really liked it and would love to own a copy to have handy as I begin using herbs and plants more regularly.
ANN A, Reviewer
Brilliantly planned out book. The author imparts her knowledge of using plants for remedies, tintures, teas and a heck of a lot more. Ellen Evert Hopman, has produced a book that is duelly a piece of treasured prose and instructional help. She interweaves a rich stream of herself throughout the pages, with her knowledge as a Master Herbalist. A supreme book that will be kept and read and read and read again.
Melissa L, Reviewer
Secret Medicines From Your Garden is packed with information from recognizing plants based upon shape of stems, leaves and growing conditions to using those plants. One section of this book is broken down to individual plants and the growing seasons of Spring, Summer and Fall. The plants and what portions are used are discussed along with a "recipe". Another section is recipes for various aliments and needs. Throughout the book, the connection to the physical plant and a spiritual healing is linked.
Beyond the amazing discourse on the plants and their healing or home uses, Ellen Evert Hopman concentrates on sharing the spiritual or "magic" associated with these plants. Having studied Druid and American Indian herbalism, Ms. Hopman strongly influences her book with the idea of healing body and mind with plants. This is defiantly a way of life that is being introduced and explained to the reader.
Secret Medicines From Your Garden is worth reading if you are interested in herbalism. As the subtitle, "Plants for Healing, Spirituality, & Magic", states that is what this book is about.
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