The Master Book of Herbalism

"The medical portion of this book may be good, but watch out for the rest of the book! The author either honestly doesn't know the magical properties of these herbs/oils or being just careless.

Please note the examples below:

The author list Jasmine associated with the Mother Mary: who by the way was supposed to be a virgin. This seems odd to me that Jasmine is linked to her since it's a herb of lust. Jasmine is added to potions 'For those all NIGHT long type of deals': you know what I mean.

The author also states patchouli as attracting sexual love. This is out right ridiculous because patchouli has no conscious of its own. It's more of a wishing herb but be careful what you wish for!

Patchouli mixed with roses brings love.
Patchouli mixed with Jasmine nothing but carnal lust.
Patchouli mixed with lavender brings protection...
Patchouli on a black candle while maintaining negative thoughts brings down dark forces!

Now you get the idea: Patchouli has the making to make your life hell if mixed with the wrong thing. I noticed lots of potentially dangerous herbs like Patchouli that the author failed to give warnings about. Herbs where given just down right ridiculous meanings, half truths, or down right lies.

The book is good for medical uses, but for God sake don't go bringing out your cauldron mixing up potions with this information.

I'll give the author 2 stars for the medical uses but that's about it!"
~ Written on 2008-07-14

"This book is conscise and thorough, well written and well worth the investment. The are only two areas that I find this book falls short in, one is illistrations or pictures of the herbs and the other is preperation instructions. Otherwise it is a definate purchase for those series in herbology."
~ Written on 2008-04-24

"One of my favorite subjects for research is the lore associated with any given herb. It is a great pleasure to read this book and discover the lore together with the remedial uses, all beautifully presented with a wealth of lovely illustrations. Each herb is carefully described and lovingly presented. The long section on the herbalist as magickal practitioner is useful as well as interesting. The appendices are very helpful and the thoroughness of this book is demonstrated throughout all of its well written pages. "
~ Written on 2007-04-02

"This is a great book with several different ways to classify the herbs. The detailed information on magickal and medicinal uses of herbs is very helpful. The book is well layed out, easy to reference & very interesting to read. A must have for all who are interested in herbs.

CONS: not extremely technical in terms of chemical components or nutrients in herbs"
~ Written on 2007-02-23

"I have repeatedly heard nothing but good things about this book from others involved in herbalism and the use of herbs in a neopagan manner. I finally broke down and purchased a copy for myself as a Yule gift, and I was not disappointed at all. The book contains handy references according to traditional magical uses for the herbs described, in addition to traditional medicinal uses for the herb. I find that this book expounds upon information one might have already gathered from other books on the subject of magickal herbalism, but is also handy for a beginner in that everything is clearly explained and at no time is the language as such to lose or confuse a beginner.

I seriously recommend this book and the author to anyone interested in the subject of herbalism and magickal uses of herbs. I look forward to adding another well-reviewed title by this author on the subject to my collection soon. If you loved Cunningham's Encylopedia of Magical Herbs, you simply MUST add this to your library as a companion edition. The two books work well together."
~ Written on 2007-01-19