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Occult Botany: Sédir's Concise Guide to Magical Plants
• Includes a dictionary of nearly 300 magical plants with descriptions of each plant’s scientific name, common names, elemental qualities, ruling planets, and zodiacal signatures, with commentary on medico-magical properties and uses • Explores methods of phytotherapy and plant magic, including the Paracelsian “transplantation of diseases,” ritual pacts with trees, the secret ingredients of witches’ ointments, and the composition of magical philters • Explains the occult secrets of phytogenesis, plant physiology, and plant physiognomy (classification of plants according to the doctrine of signatures) Merging the scientific discipline of botany with ancient, medieval, and Renaissance traditions of occult herbalism, this seminal guide was first published in French in 1902 as a textbook for students of Papus’s École hermétique and sparked a revival in the study of magical herbalism in early twentieth-century France. Author Paul Sédir, pseudonym of Yvon Le Loup (1871-1926), explains the occult secrets of phytogenesis (the esoteric origin and evolutionary development of the plant kingdom), plant physiology (the occult anatomy of plants), and plant physiognomy (classification of plants according to the doctrine of signatures). Unveiling the mysteries behind planetary and zodiacal attributions, he provides readers with the keys to make their own informed determinations of the astral properties of plants. Moving from theory into practice, Sédir explores various methods of phytotherapy and plant magic, including the Paracelsian “transplantation of diseases,” the secret ingredients of witches’ ointments, and the composition of magical philters. In the third section of the book, Sédir offers a dictionary of magical plants that covers nearly 300 plant species with descriptions of their astral signatures, occult properties, and medico-magical uses. Compiled from an array of rare sources and esoterica, this classic text includes a wealth of additional materials and supplemental charts and diagrams drawn from Sédir’s occult colleagues, all of whom adopted and expanded upon Sédir’s pioneering system of plant correspondences.
745 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2021
17 people are currently reading
620 people want to read
About the author
Paul Sédir
132 books8 followersPaul Sédir or Sédir was a French mystic and esotericist, notable as the author on several works on esotericism and Christian mysticism.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 25, 2022
This was incredible. It was well-written and full of information about plants and their occult history. This was originally published in 1902 and translated by R. Bailey. The translator's forward was 21-pages of useful overview information about the translation, background, and gave some informational tips on the text to come. I thought this was a great primer before jumping into the text. As you can see in the pictures below, this was printed with readable and clearly presented information.
Each plant and herb was listed with accordance information specific to its occult/magical nature: scientific name, Hermetic and magical names, and elemental/zodiacal/planetary signatures.
Overall this was a great book about the occult nature and history of plants. I would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to read about a unique side of the occult. Thanks!
Each plant and herb was listed with accordance information specific to its occult/magical nature: scientific name, Hermetic and magical names, and elemental/zodiacal/planetary signatures.
Overall this was a great book about the occult nature and history of plants. I would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to read about a unique side of the occult. Thanks!
July 8, 2021
This review originally appeared on The Magical Buffet's website on 07/08/2021.
I have got some SUPER, SUPER sexy book porn for you today! I have the translated, edited, and annotated “Occult Botany: Sedir’s Concise Guide to Magical Plants” by Paul Sedir. Sedir, pseudonym of Yvon Le Loup, passed away in 1926, but not before becoming a pivotal figure in the French occult revival. “Occult Botany” was first published in 1902 as a textbook for students of Papus’s Ecole hermetique where he was a professor. This is being presented in a 448-page hardcover tome loaded with original illustrations and built-in ribbon bookmark. I told you it was sexy!
As much as there is to applaud and celebrate with this text coming back in to print, we first need to appreciate R. Bailey, who went above and beyond in the translation of “Occult Botany”. If you treat yourself to this book, and you rightfully should, do not ignore the “Translator’s Forward”. Bailey provides us with a brief biography of Sedir and explains the sometimes-convoluted hoops he had to jump through to insure that “Occult Botany” was understood by modern readers. Bailey translated French and Latin, astrological and elemental symbols, AND used other texts that were available during Sedir’s time to help fill in any gaps that were discovered. All of this carefully noted so that the reader can clearly tell where everything is from. Seriously.
Now that I spent a whole paragraph praising the translator, let’s say we actually discuss what Sedir offers in “Occult Botany”? This book is a wonderful, if sometimes dated, resource for lovers of plants and their magical potential. Part One, “The Plant Kingdom”, discusses the vital forces at play in the plant kingdom. The assorted correspondences between individual plants and the planets, colors, aromas, and flavors. Part Two, “Plants and Humans”, explores the nature of our relationship with plants. Sedir talks about plants restoring organic deficiencies in the physical body, restoring electromagnetic deficiencies through herbal therapeutics, and help heal the astral body through their incorporation into rituals. He also suggests humans can return the favor by cultivating them using occult horticulture, restore them with vegetation magic, and resurrect them using plant palingenesis (reproduction of ancestral characteristics in the development of an individual organism). Part Three, “A Concise Dictionary of Magical Plants.” Here are individual plants with illustrations, their elemental qualities, ruling planets, zodiacal signatures, and occult properties.
“Occult Botany” has 3 appendixes. Appendix One is devoted to occult medicine. Sedir defines occult medicine as, “any therapeutic system that, when confronted with the pathological symptoms of the physical body, bases its diagnoses on an astral examination of the patient and treats the patient’s life force in its invisible form.” Appendix Two is dedicated to Paracelsian physiology, an early medical movement based on achieving balance of the body’s microcosm and macrocosm. The last appendix is “On Opium Use”. Yes, opium. I won’t tell you what Sedir says about it, you’ll have to read the book to find out!
I have got some SUPER, SUPER sexy book porn for you today! I have the translated, edited, and annotated “Occult Botany: Sedir’s Concise Guide to Magical Plants” by Paul Sedir. Sedir, pseudonym of Yvon Le Loup, passed away in 1926, but not before becoming a pivotal figure in the French occult revival. “Occult Botany” was first published in 1902 as a textbook for students of Papus’s Ecole hermetique where he was a professor. This is being presented in a 448-page hardcover tome loaded with original illustrations and built-in ribbon bookmark. I told you it was sexy!
As much as there is to applaud and celebrate with this text coming back in to print, we first need to appreciate R. Bailey, who went above and beyond in the translation of “Occult Botany”. If you treat yourself to this book, and you rightfully should, do not ignore the “Translator’s Forward”. Bailey provides us with a brief biography of Sedir and explains the sometimes-convoluted hoops he had to jump through to insure that “Occult Botany” was understood by modern readers. Bailey translated French and Latin, astrological and elemental symbols, AND used other texts that were available during Sedir’s time to help fill in any gaps that were discovered. All of this carefully noted so that the reader can clearly tell where everything is from. Seriously.
Now that I spent a whole paragraph praising the translator, let’s say we actually discuss what Sedir offers in “Occult Botany”? This book is a wonderful, if sometimes dated, resource for lovers of plants and their magical potential. Part One, “The Plant Kingdom”, discusses the vital forces at play in the plant kingdom. The assorted correspondences between individual plants and the planets, colors, aromas, and flavors. Part Two, “Plants and Humans”, explores the nature of our relationship with plants. Sedir talks about plants restoring organic deficiencies in the physical body, restoring electromagnetic deficiencies through herbal therapeutics, and help heal the astral body through their incorporation into rituals. He also suggests humans can return the favor by cultivating them using occult horticulture, restore them with vegetation magic, and resurrect them using plant palingenesis (reproduction of ancestral characteristics in the development of an individual organism). Part Three, “A Concise Dictionary of Magical Plants.” Here are individual plants with illustrations, their elemental qualities, ruling planets, zodiacal signatures, and occult properties.
“Occult Botany” has 3 appendixes. Appendix One is devoted to occult medicine. Sedir defines occult medicine as, “any therapeutic system that, when confronted with the pathological symptoms of the physical body, bases its diagnoses on an astral examination of the patient and treats the patient’s life force in its invisible form.” Appendix Two is dedicated to Paracelsian physiology, an early medical movement based on achieving balance of the body’s microcosm and macrocosm. The last appendix is “On Opium Use”. Yes, opium. I won’t tell you what Sedir says about it, you’ll have to read the book to find out!
January 1, 2022
Read in the historical context that it was written, this book is a treasure trove of information about common plants and the best times to plant/harvest for their specific properties. I quite enjoyed this translation, and I look forward to getting a copy for my own bookshelf.
January 16, 2022
Really good and thorough reference
December 1, 2022
Very informative and good reference
February 22, 2023
It's ok. There's a lot of appropriation, misuse, and weird opinions on eastern practices and Jewish Kabbalah (etc)- which is frankly to be well expected of Hermetic things. Lots of discussion of Christian concepts as well, which is also typical of Hermeticism. Nothing new or weird, there; it's a fairly typical Hermetic text for its time period (early 1900's) in many regards, honestly- just focused on Plants and plant magic.
While the author had an okay grasp of true scientific Botany for his time period, I just can't personally find myself jiving with the blend of Botany with Hermetic Occultism no matter how hard I tried to read it. It wound up making me roll my eyes a lot as someone who appreciates proper science; in general, Hermeticism itself just isn't something I resonate with at all. And if I'd actually known that's what the book was about, I probably wouldn't've actually pushed so hard for my library to purchase it so that I could read it, since it was constantly being recommended for Greencrafters. Unfortunately all of the resources pushing it as a recommendation conveniently left that part out- which is surprising given what most of the people I watch who were recommending it actually practice and tend to preach about within their own crafts.
Frankly, I don't actually even understand why it seems so widely recommended by people outside of Hermeticists; while I got some interesting quotes that did make me think about some things in relation to my own (very much not Ceremonial) practice, the vast majority of the book is virtually useless unless you're specifically a Hermeticist or Ceremonialist of some related kind ... The only truly useful bit is the plant index itself that runs from page 97 through page 292- yet even that is formulated specifically from the Hermetic stance taught in the chapters prior in the book. And if you're blatantly ignoring that, then you're doing exactly what people often complain others do with Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.
Anyways. Overall, the book is often strangely formatted and laid out; in several areas he jumps topics with seeming abandon- randomly slapping in a small, brief section on a topic like Plant Magic where it makes no sense to actually do so, only to return to the topic two chapters later in full but in a manner which not only doesn't often touch on many methods of significance, but also certainly doesn't relate to the section he's already put in. Other times he puts formulas and other bits in wherever he pleases (though this is less common). The result is disjointed and difficult to follow despite being intended as a text book. Although admittedly, as a textbook for a classroom setting, you would have originally had an instructor. So maybe it would've made more sense back then than it does now. Who knows.
I will say, however, that if anyone deserves significant credit with this book, it's the translator. The footnotes are absolutely wonderful, and they did an astounding job attempting to properly contextualize the original author's work for those who are not familiar with it and do not have access to the original sources the author references or assumes his readers would have read previously. They truly are the backbone of this work and deserve all the credit and more for the job they've done on it.
Still, it absolutely cannot be ignored that- despite the fact a lot of Folk and "secular" based practitioners are currently recommending it for Green practitioners- it is a Hermetic text; it will be largely useless to non-Hermeticists despite the recommendations.
While the author had an okay grasp of true scientific Botany for his time period, I just can't personally find myself jiving with the blend of Botany with Hermetic Occultism no matter how hard I tried to read it. It wound up making me roll my eyes a lot as someone who appreciates proper science; in general, Hermeticism itself just isn't something I resonate with at all. And if I'd actually known that's what the book was about, I probably wouldn't've actually pushed so hard for my library to purchase it so that I could read it, since it was constantly being recommended for Greencrafters. Unfortunately all of the resources pushing it as a recommendation conveniently left that part out- which is surprising given what most of the people I watch who were recommending it actually practice and tend to preach about within their own crafts.
Frankly, I don't actually even understand why it seems so widely recommended by people outside of Hermeticists; while I got some interesting quotes that did make me think about some things in relation to my own (very much not Ceremonial) practice, the vast majority of the book is virtually useless unless you're specifically a Hermeticist or Ceremonialist of some related kind ... The only truly useful bit is the plant index itself that runs from page 97 through page 292- yet even that is formulated specifically from the Hermetic stance taught in the chapters prior in the book. And if you're blatantly ignoring that, then you're doing exactly what people often complain others do with Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.
Anyways. Overall, the book is often strangely formatted and laid out; in several areas he jumps topics with seeming abandon- randomly slapping in a small, brief section on a topic like Plant Magic where it makes no sense to actually do so, only to return to the topic two chapters later in full but in a manner which not only doesn't often touch on many methods of significance, but also certainly doesn't relate to the section he's already put in. Other times he puts formulas and other bits in wherever he pleases (though this is less common). The result is disjointed and difficult to follow despite being intended as a text book. Although admittedly, as a textbook for a classroom setting, you would have originally had an instructor. So maybe it would've made more sense back then than it does now. Who knows.
I will say, however, that if anyone deserves significant credit with this book, it's the translator. The footnotes are absolutely wonderful, and they did an astounding job attempting to properly contextualize the original author's work for those who are not familiar with it and do not have access to the original sources the author references or assumes his readers would have read previously. They truly are the backbone of this work and deserve all the credit and more for the job they've done on it.
Still, it absolutely cannot be ignored that- despite the fact a lot of Folk and "secular" based practitioners are currently recommending it for Green practitioners- it is a Hermetic text; it will be largely useless to non-Hermeticists despite the recommendations.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews