Energetic Herbalism: A Guide to Sacred Plant Traditions Integrating Elements of Vitalism, Ayurveda, and Chinese Medicine

by Kat Maier, Rosemary Gladstar (Foreword)

In this indispensable new resource both for the home apothecary and clinical practitioners, a celebrated herbalist brings alive the elemental relationships among traditional healing practices, ecological stewardship, and essential plant medicines.

By honoring ancient wisdom and presenting it in an innovative way, Energetic Herbalism is a profound and practical guide to family and community care for those seeking to move beyond symptom relief and into a truly holistic framework of health. Throughout, author Kat Maier invites readers to explore their personal relationships with plants and their environs as they discover diverse models of healing.

Inside Energetic Herbalism, you’ll find:

The elements and patterns of Ayurvedic doshas for greater self-awareness as well as positive lifestyle choices
A deep appreciation of the wisdom of indigenous peoples, which is the foundation of sacred plant traditions
The relationship of well-being to the seasons through the brilliant lens of Chinese Five Element Theory, and how our emotional health is beautifully expressed through the Elements
The roots and evolution of Vitalism, the traditional Western system of energetic medicine
How to assess imbalances in the body using the elegant and intuitive vocabulary of the six tissue states, an emerging tool in Western herbalism
The senses as the main tools for navigating through energetic herbalism
Through the rich herbal tradition of storytelling, Maier seamlessly blends theory and practice with her experience-tested herbal remedies and healing protocols. Maier stresses the critical message of how to address the challenge of threatened medicinal plant populations, offering practical and inspiriting methods for ensuring their survival. Many herbals boast a materia medica of more than 100 herbs, but in keeping with an emphasis on sustainable practice, Maier instead focuses in depth on 25 essential medicinal herbs that can be grown in most temperate climates and soils, including:

Dandelion
Ashwagandha (Indian Ginseng)
Goldenseal
Burdock
Calendula
Echinacea
Goldenrod


Whether you are a seasoned clinical herbalist, an herbalist-in-training, or simply someone seeking to provide the best natural health care for your family, this book is a source of inspiration, insight, and answers you will return to again and again.

Genres: Plants, Nonfiction, Health, Reference, Herbs, Unfinished, Gardening

392 pages, Paperback

Published November 11, 2021

Reviews

[Ilze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apstiprināja manu hipotēzi, ka ļoti daudz ko var izārstēt ar kumelīšu tēju. Bet kopumā lieliska grāmata. Mana iekšējā dziedniece lasīja, izbaudīja, ieguva ko jaunu un priecājās.

[Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has just begun their herbalism journey I adored this book. My Aunt sent me so many of her books to study up on while I was working on my senior project and I just fell in love with herbalism. This is the first book I purchased myself on the topic and I’m so glad I did. This is such a great start for beginners to get an overarching view on the topic and the author does an amazing job at explaining the ways in which herbalism has been colonized and the threats over over consumption of the plants in the time of capitalism. She encourages the reader to skip around. Go back to different chapters, start wherever you want, and to remain curious. I felt her love through her writing and I know I will always return to this book in the future of my practice.

[Emily Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most thorough herbal books I’ve ever read. I wish it would have been published when I was in herbalism school, it would have been a very handy required text. I think this is appropriate for beginners and long time herbal medicine enthusiasts alike.

I especially loved the wonderful attention given to seasonal living when it comes to herbs and health. The chapters about Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda were fantastic. I took my time with this book and really soaked it it’s. It was a lovely and interesting evening read right before bed. I highly recommend this one.

[Tallulah Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

A love note to herbalism and our environment. This book has brought me tremendous amounts of joy, wisdom and inspiration. Honestly a must have for any budding herbalist. A small but carefully selected materia medica.

I leave this review with a full heart and in deep gratitude to the author, and to all the systems and teachers that came before us. ❤

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basic information on herb preparations and a relatively small materia medica, but this book does the best I've read of explaining energetic systems of a number of traditions.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Energetic Herbalism is a guide to sacred (Eastern) herbal traditions presented by Kat Maier. Due out 26th Nov 2021 from Chelsea Green Publishing, it's 392 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

The author is a clinical herbalist (with 3 decades of experience), physician's assistant, and holistic practitioner. She teaches herbalism, energetics, and elemental medicine (humors, seasonal medicines, the western pre-Christian/Druidic calender). If that sounds like this book contains a fair bit of new age 'woo', well, it does, honestly. That being said, I (firmly 'school of western medicine' and about as non-'woo' as it's possible to be) found quite a lot of interesting food for thought here. It's a well structured and well-written book. The author seems to have a balanced sense of both indigenous (Asian) traditional herbal medicine and an awareness of the western medical system and she manages to have an encouraging and supportive voice with a foot in each camp. She's not strident or preachy or condescending and she presents the information in a reasonable and measured way.

For readers who are interested in alternative/eastern philosophy & healing, this is well written and accessible, containing quite a lot of info. The chapters present the material in an understandable and logical manner: basic information, followed by recipes and tutorials. The text throughout is enhanced by line drawn illustrations by Lara Gastinger.

Graphically the book is light and clean looking with high contrast text and clear directions.

Four stars. Interesting alternative ideas and recipes. This would be a good choice for public library acquisition, smallholders, foragers, and students of natural healing.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish that I would have had a book like this when I started my herbalism journey years ago. The energetics of plants and the tissues states of the body are truly fundamental to a correct understanding and application of herbs. Kat shares beautiful stories and writes in a very earthy and intuitive way. I appreciate how much ground she covers in just little over 300 pages. I will be referring to this book many times as I go deeper into my herbal studies.

[Lovely Loveday]

Energetic Herbalism A Guide to Sacred Plant Traditions Integrating Elements of Vitalism, Ayurveda, and Chinese Medicine by Kat Maier is full of insightful information, tips, and tricks that will have you reading this often. A perfect read for readers who are interested in alternative philosophy & healing. A well-written guide that is accessible and contains quite a lot of info.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book. This book aims to do a lot, and it's not for a quick flip through. This book is especially helpful for those on a deep herbalism journey, and how it ties into ayurveda and Chinese medicine. A lot of the exmaples and the lessons were new to me, and I was excited to learn a lot.

[Della Nova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an EXCELLENT book, a must read for all aspiring herbalists. I particularly appreciate her reverence for Indigenous Traditions of healing and calling out the importance of preserving these traditions.

[Hannah Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my holy grail herbalism book thus far. It is what got me into plant medicine and the basis of my knowledge. I need to buy a physical copy so that I can use it as a guide its just so awesome. Foreword by Rosemary Gladstar too!

[Anna]

This is a reference book with many details. I didn’t read it cover to cover but took a quick skim. I think it would be a good one to have on hand if really studying these remedies. Interesting how it combines TCM and Ayurvedic practices.

[Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic books for meaningful information on the more wild plants like Goldenrod, Self-heal, and Yarrow. It's presented with high professionalism and offers information on the folk and medicinal qualities of each plant, even with some spiritual information. Fantastic read!

[Rebekah Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book and have so many pages bookmarked for reference, definitely a great book for herbalists.

[Diana Brosiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just loved it. It very informative and great for both beginners and well versed in the field.

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned things, but it's not totally my cup of tea - no pun intended. Passing my copy to others who are more into this area.

[Veronica Kokas · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

I checked this out on Libby but ordered my own copy because there’s so much useful info in here!

[Arlene Mullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been learning more about herbalism and using plants for healing. So reading this was very informative. I loved hearing about how the indigenous used the plants in their traditions. She talks about how to keep these threatened plants alive. The book focuses on 25 hardy plants and how to help them thrive.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as a beginner lesson in herbalism. I've never really looked into natural remedies until a friend recommended to start taking turmeric for joint pain. Oh my goodness do I believe in herbalism now! I never thought a spice that I sometimes use in cooking could help my body. This book taught me about other herbs I could use like Echinacea and Ashwagandha. I can definitely see me using these new remedies in my daily life as a lot of them are also readily available.

Ashwagandha

[Larisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!