Herbs: Medicinal, Magical, Marvelous!

by Deborah J. Martin

For millennia, man has been using herbs; in food, for healing, and for magical purposes. Only in the last hundred years have the magical and medicinal properties of herbs been separated by scientists and the magical community. This book reunites the two into a comprehensive reference. Drawing on her years of practice and research, Deborah Martin has compiled information on over three hundred herbs. Avoiding the confusion of common names which can vary by region, she uses the Latin binomial or scientific names for all the plants but gives the reader a cheat sheet for easy reference. Written with a touch of humor, she details the difference between synthetic drugs and herbal alternatives. Lists make looking up an herb for a simple ailment or magical spell effortless. Also given are instructions for different types of herbal preparations and their medicinal and magical uses.

Genres: Witchcraft, Herbs, Health

475 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2010

About the author

Deborah J. "DJ" Martin left the frozen tundra (Minnesota) many moons ago and now lives in the north Georgia mountains with her husband, their crazy cats and numerous woodland creatures. If she's not clickety-punching numbers for her accounting clients or writing, you can probably find her in the garden, visiting her grandchildren or in her recliner with her nose stuck in a book.

Reviews

[Emm · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because it does not include a number of common plants growing wild in my southern U.S. backyard, forcing me to go elsewhere to research them. That said, the herbs and information it does include is just exactly what I was looking for when I set out to find a reference book on the magickal properties of herbs. I very much like having the medicinal qualities side-by-side with the magickal as I feel it amplifies my relationship and understanding with the herbs I'm using, as well as giving me a quick guide on their potential poisonous attributes. There are no recipes to be found here, which I was glad for as that was not what I was after in this purchase. There are six different appendices to make finding plant information easier (this is huge for me personally). In addition to the reference content, there is a smattering of additional information I find to be useful to my purposes (e.g. suggested reading, medicinal preparations, magickal preparations, precautions). I've had this book over two weeks now and I find I am picking it up on a near daily basis to look for this or that.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on herbs! If you are interested in herbs that are used in both medicine and magic this is the book for you!