I love reading. I would say it is the one thing I do everyday. I am happy to do it anywhere - at the breakfast table, during any respite from work, on a bus or when travelling, before I go to sleep. I love any kind of fiction from old fashioned Victorian greats such as Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins; to novels with magical surrealism, mysteries, psychological thrillers and historical fiction. Apart from those genres, I also enjoy reading books about herbal medicine, natural healing, growing and gardening.
Every time I get a new herbal medicine book or any book about herbs, I have to tuck myself away, straight away, and read it or at least have a look through it. Here are some of those books that I have just got hold of - apart from one - and I hope you can enjoy them too.
Christopher Hedley’s and Non Shaw’s book “Herbal Remedies - A Practical Beginner’s Guide” is a brilliant book for anyone starting their journey. It is full of simple recipes and remedies and makes herbalism seem to be so easy and straightforward. There are beautiful photographs and step by step information and some surprising recipes such as brown paper and vinegar!
The other book by Christopher Hedley is “Very Generous Things, Plants” and is a lovely book which reads like a lovely chat. Christopher is telling us all about the plants he works with as a herbalist, along with anecdotes that make us realise just how generous plants can be. He also gives some wonderful information about the Four Humours which are the basis of Western Herbal Medicine. These Four Humours are Sanguine - which is associated with the element of Air and suggest a happy carefree personality, like a young child who finds the world fascinating. The Choleric humour is associated with the element of Fire and the strong, young man, out in the world making his mark, full of passion. The Phlegmatic humour corresponds to the Water element and the personality of a phlegmatic person tends to be stoic, going with the flow. They can be watery but deep, with deep wisdom and they are man in his middle age. Finally the Melancholic humour is associated with the Earth Element and old age. Melancholic does not mean depression. It can mean getting stuck at times; but “…melancholy is about being, earth is about being and this society is all about doing…”
The humours are one way of getting to find out what makes people tick and can be helpful when someone needs herbs and you are taking a consultation. That is why herbalists ask so many questions - they want to get to the root of the problem for THAT person.
“The Green City Witch” by Lynn Shore is a practical guide for connecting with Nature and with plants even if you live in a town or city. She includes a lengthy materia medica of different plants as well as practical tips on how to reconnect with the natural world. There are also spells and rituals and moon magic. This book is a prompt to make a connection on multiple levels.
A similar book is “Black Paths and Green Cathedrals” by Sian Sibley which is a guide to ecological paganism. Like Shore’s book, this book includes magic and ritual as well as a beautiful materia medica but it also discusses the spiritual aspect of ecology and environmentalism.
“Herbal Exchanges” was published by the NIMH in 2014 to celebrate 150 years of the National Institute of Herbalists and the first chapter gives a history of the association of herbalists over that time. So much to overcome in terms of bureaucracy! Each chapter is so interesting, being either an anecdote or history or practical. This book offers another view of herbal medicine and is very enjoyable.
What do you like to read during the summer time - or any time? My friend Sonja shares her book titles with me regularly and I try to keep up but she is an even more avid reader than I am I think. (If that is possible!) Let me know what you recommend.
Here is a link for the Yoga Picnic - https://www.theyogapicnic.com/typ-tickets/?ref=danusirishherbgarden
Here is the link for Ivywood Herb Nursery - https://www.ivywood.ie/
