The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners: The Healing Power of Medicinal Plants

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This “deep excursion into the heart of herbalism” pulls back the curtain on centuries of herbal medicine and offers an inventory of useful plants for the modern herb gardener or homesteader (Rosemary Gladstar)
 
Traditional herbalists or wise women were not only good botanists or pharmacologists; they were also shamanic practitioners and keepers of occult knowledge about the powerful properties of plants. Traveling back to the healing arts of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners takes readers deep into this world, through the leechcraft of heathen society and witches’ herb bundles to the cloister gardens of the Middle Ages. It also examines herbal medicine today in the traditional Chinese apothecary, the Indian ayurvedic system, homeopathy, and Native American medicine.
 
Balancing the mystical with the practical, author Wolf Storl explains how to become an herbalist, from collecting material to distilling and administering medicines. He includes authoritative advice on herb gardening, as well as a holistic inventory of plants used for purposes both benign and malign, from herbs for cooking, healing, beauty, and body care to psychedelic plants, witches’ salves for opening alternative realities, and poisonous herbs that can induce madness or cause death. Storl also describes traditional “women’s plants” and their uses: dyeing cloth, spinning and weaving, or whipping up love potions. The Herbal Lore of Wise Women and Wortcunners is written for professional and amateur herbalists as well as gardeners, urban homesteaders, and plantspeople interested in these rich ancient traditions.
Publisher ‏ : ‎ North Atlantic Books
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 17, 2012
Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 392 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1583943587
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1583943588
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.27 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.99 x 1.12 x 8.94 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #524,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #490 in Shamanism (Books) #1,337 in Herbal Remedies (Books) #3,456 in Mental & Spiritual Healing
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