Witchcraft Medicine : Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants by Christian Rätsch, Claudia Müller-Ebeling and Wolf-Dieter Storl (2003, Trade Paperback)
ReviewsWitchcraft Medicine is a work of brilliant and passionate scholarship, fabulously illustrated, that recovers the lost knowledge of the European shamanic tradition. It is both a guide and an enthusiastic ode to the visionary edge of the botanical realm., Witchcraft Medicine blends history with practical applications of plant healing and shamanic practices., It is essential reading for anyone interested in the folklore and magical beliefs asociated with flowers, herbs and trees., Witchcraft Medicine is a solid book and an essential research tool for anyone interested in European folk traditions, magic, alchemy, or herbalism., Tracing human relations with plants back to the Stone Age, the book is deeply thorough and rests on interesting scholarship., This is a fascinating work of great importance that is incredibly well researched and documented. And brave. From the first impassioned paragraph to the last words, I was spellbound. Anyone interested in medicine, herbalism, the healing arts, and spiritual phenomena will find this book thought provoking and empowering.
Table Of ContentIntroduction: Is Witchcraft Medicine Good Medicine? WOLF-DIETER STORL 1. The Wild Earth and Its Children The Power of the Wilderness Divine Visitors to the Small Cultural Island Midsummer's Dream The August Festival The Equinox The Time of the Dead: Samhain, Halloween Rites of Initiation 2. The Old Woman in the Hedgerow The Chimney The Wrath of Venus The New Science 3. The Witch As Shaman Devil Worship The Buck: The Divine Dispenser The World Tree The Flight to the Holy Mountain Flying Ointment Sex and Fertility Magic Weather Magic 4. Midwives: Fertility and Birth The Way into Existence The Children's Springs at Lolarka Kund The Time of Begetting Pregnancy Birth The Hebe-Ahnin and the Men's Childbed After the Birth 5. The Mother of Death Flowers for the Dead The Festival of the Dead The Dead and the Vegetation The Dead As Dispensers of Fertility CHRISTIAN RÄTSCH 6. Witchcraft Medicine: the Legacy of Hecate Gardens of the Gods and Herbs of the Witches The Garden of the Great Goddess The Garden of Hecate The Garden of Medea The Garden of Circe The Garden of Artemis Flying Ointments and Lovers' Salves As Medicine Pharmakon Wine CLAUDIA MÜLLER-EBELING 7. Images of Witches: The Demonization of Nature's Healing Powers The Image of the Witch Mary: The Chaste Cultural Heroine The Witch: The Sensuous Natural Woman The Demonization of Nature and Sensuality Sinister Companions of the Witch Poison Mixers and Healers The Demonization of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants The Healing of the Microcosm and Macrocosm Rübezahl: Herbalist and Weather God Seeress and Goddess of Fate From the Goddess to the Witch The Witch As the Temptation of Saint Anthony Saturn: Master of the Witches The Painters of Witches CHRISTIAN RÄTSCH 8. Witchcraft Medicine: Forbidden Medicine-From the Inquisition to the Drug Laws Coca and Cocaine Poppy and Opium Mescaline and Psilocybin: The Forbidden Souls of the Gods Ayahuasca: The Conquest Is Not Over The "Drug" Business News Update: Hemp Seeds Outlawed! Appendix: Plants Associated with Witches and Devils Bibliography Index
SynopsisAn in-depth investigation of traditional European folk medicine and the healing arts of witches * Explores the outlawed "alternative" medicine of witches suppressed by the state and the Church and how these plants can be used today * Reveals that female shamanic medicine can be found in cultures all over the world * Illustrated with color and black-and-white art reproductions dating back to the 16th century Witch medicine is wild medicine. It does more than make one healthy, it creates lust and knowledge, ecstasy and mythological insight. In Witchcraft Medicine the authors take the reader on a journey that examines the women who mix the potions and become the healers; the legacy of Hecate; the demonization of nature's healing powers and sensuousness; the sorceress as shaman; and the plants associated with witches and devils. They explore important seasonal festivals and the plants associated with them, such as wolf's claw and calendula as herbs of the solstice and alder as an herb of the time of the dead--Samhain or Halloween. They also look at the history of forbidden medicine from the Inquisition to current drug laws, with an eye toward how the sacred plants of our forebears can be used once again., An in-depth investigation of traditional European folk medicine and the healing arts of witches - Explores the outlawed "alternative" medicine of witches suppressed by the state and the Church and how these plants can be used today - Reveals that female shamanic medicine can be found in cultures all over the world - Illustrated with color and black-and-white art reproductions dating back to the 16th century Witch medicine is wild medicine. It does more than make one healthy, it creates lust and knowledge, ecstasy and mythological insight. In Witchcraft Medicine the authors take the reader on a journey that examines the women who mix the potions and become the healers; the legacy of Hecate; the demonization of nature's healing powers and sensuousness; the sorceress as shaman; and the plants associated with witches and devils. They explore important seasonal festivals and the plants associated with them, such as wolf's claw and calendula as herbs of the solstice and alder as an herb of the time of the dead--Samhain or Halloween. They also look at the history of forbidden medicine from the Inquisition to current drug laws, with an eye toward how the sacred plants of our forebears can be used once again.