The Witching Herbs: 13 Essential Plants and Herbs for Your Magical Garden

by Harold Roth Narrated by Paul Boehmer

Overview

Harold Roth is a leading authority on plant/herbal magic. His new book, The Witching Herbs, is an in-depth exploration of thirteen essential plants and herbs most closely associated with witchcraft-thirteen because it's the witching number and reflects the thirteen months of the lunar calendar. The plants are poppy, clary sage, yarrow, rue, hyssop, vervain, mugwort, wormwood, datura, wild tobacco, henbane, belladonna, and mandrake.



Roth writes simply and clearly on a vast amount of esoteric information that is not easily found elsewhere and will be greeted enthusiastically by those who already have extensive experience and libraries. It is unique in that it combines mysticism with practical instructions for growing each plant, based on Roth's thirty years of gardening expertise. Each chapter focuses on one plant and includes information on its unique plant spirit familiar, clear how-to instructions for magical projects, and pragmatic information on growing and cultivating.



The Witching Herbs is the essential plant-worker's guide. Roth is not only a successful gardener, but also a magician and scholar of the occult. No other book blends clear, practical gardening techniques with equally lucid and sophisticated plant magic so successfully.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

01/09/2017
Connecting with plant spirits by growing magical plants yourself is the ultimate in herbal magic, according to this debut. Roth leans heavily on a modernized version of the ancient Doctrine of Signatures that teaches practitioners to look to a plant’s morphology to understand its use, adding clues from growth patterns, traditional medicine, and chemistry as well as from traditional lore and personal gnosis. Though there are extended planting and care notes for every plant, Roth makes his picks according to their reputation in traditional European witchcraft rather than ease of cultivation. He includes several of the baneful herbs he calls the “Weird Sisters”—datura, mandrake, belladonna, and henbane—but, although some traditional recipes are included in the practice section, Roth never recommends consumption, stating that practitioners should pursue them “through direct spiritual contact” rather than by stepping onto the rickety bridge of alkaloid consumption. Sections on “practice” included in each entry add up to a primer in herbal magic methods, so readers learn how to make tinctures with clary sage, dry and powder herbs with yarrow, and unguents with vervain. Roth views the herb magician as spiritual seeker rather than rules-bound potion maker, an attitude that can be unfortunately rare in more encyclopedic botanical magic guidebooks. (Mar.)

Reviews

"Connecting with plant spirits by growing magical plants yourself is the ultimate in herbal magic, according to this debut. Roth leans heavily on a modernized version of the ancient Doctrine of Signatures that teaches practitioners to look to a plant's morphology to understand its use, adding clues from growth patterns, traditional medicine, and chemistry as well as from traditional lore and personal gnosis. Though there are extended planting and care notes for every plant, Roth makes his picks according to their reputation in traditional European witchcraft rather than ease of cultivation. He includes several of the baneful herbs he calls the "Weird Sisters"—datura, mandrake, belladonna, and henbane—but, although some traditional recipes are included in the practice section, Roth never recommends consumption, stating that practitioners should pursue them "through direct spiritual contact" rather than by stepping onto the rickety bridge of alkaloid consumption. Sections on "practice" included in each entry add up to a primer in herbal magic methods, so readers learn how to make tinctures with clary sage, dry and powder herbs with yarrow, and unguents with vervain. Roth views the herb magician as spiritual seeker rather than rules-bound potion maker, an attitude that can be unfortunately rare in more encyclopedic botanical magic guidebooks." —Publishers Weekly, January 2017

From the Publisher

"Harold Roth’s website alchemy-works.com has been a constant companion and guide for me over the years. What made me come back were not only the well-researched tables of planetary correspondences, but also the many interesting and neatly structured info articles spiced up with Harold’s personal insights on the spiritual nature of magical herbs and incense ingredients and what could be done with them. When I research the magical properties of a plant or resin, Harold Roth is an author I rely on, as he provides substantiated and well informed advice, founded on decades of practical experience in Kabbalah, Hermeticism, alchemy, European witchcraft, Native American medicine, Afro-American folk-magical traditions, and, of course, gardening. What is truly unique about Harold is that his approach is literally rooted in the same ground that the plants grow on, as well as his ability to bring us closer to them, not only in word but also through beautifully done illustrations. And as if this would not be enough, we are given plenty of recipes to try by ourselves. To say that Harold’s first book, The Witching Herbs, is highly anticipated is an understatement. Whether you are interested in the magical uses of herbs such as mandrake, poppy or clary sage, their medicinal properties, or simply the joy of gardening and growing your own green familiars, this book is a must-have." —Wiebke Rost, herbalist and proprietor of Teufelskunst

"Harold Roth is an extraordinary man—wise, generous, and deeply entwined in the mysteries of the green world from first-hand experience growing, using, and loving plants. His work adds to our deeper understanding of our plant allies, fleshing out folklore and putting our traditions into deeper context. I’ve learned so much from him and know that with The Witching Herbs, you will too." —Christopher Penczak, award-winning author and co-founder of the Temple of Witchcraft

"Harold Roth is a master of the witchcraft plants. His knowledge encompasses their magical, spiritual, and therapeutic aspects, their blessings and their banes. In The Witching Herbs, his long-awaited first book, Roth has crafted a brilliant guide to the witches’ garden, teaching us how to grow and nurture its most prized plants, how best to access their gifts, navigate their dangers, and communicate with their plant spirit familiars. The Witching Herbs is a must for every witch’s library." —Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, The Big Book of Practical Spells, and other books devoted to the magical arts

"A book that will take you far beyond the basics of magickal herbalism. Much more than a “this for that” compendium, it will teach you to open your eyes, ears, feelings, touch and sense of taste to any herb you may encounter, so that you may divine its magical use." --Ellen Evert Hopman, author of Secret Medicines from Your Garden: Plants for Healing, Spirituality, and Magic, A Druid’s Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine, and other books devoted to herbalism and Celtic plant lore

"I grew up with books detailing hundreds of herbs and their magical uses. I would then go to the botanica or the occult store and buy bags of the herbs for my spells. Harold Roth’s book, The Witching Herbs, is for anyone ready to put down the plastic bags of dried herbs and go deep into the mystery and power of the whole plant. Rather than going wide with hundreds of herbs, he delves deep into 13 witching herbs and in so doing gives us not only a master’s comprehension of these, but the tools to understand any other plant magic. This book is the best thing to happen to wortcunning this century." —Jason Miller, author of Financial Sorcery and The Sorcerers Secrets, and creator of The Strategic Sorcery Course

"Connecting with plant spirits by growing magical plants yourself is the ultimate in herbal magic, according to this debut. Roth leans heavily on a modernized version of the ancient Doctrine of Signatures that teaches practitioners to look to a plant’s morphology to understand its use, adding clues from growth patterns, traditional medicine, and chemistry as well as from traditional lore and personal gnosis. Though there are extended planting and care notes for every plant, Roth makes his picks according to their reputation in traditional European witchcraft rather than ease of cultivation. He includes several of the baneful herbs he calls the “Weird Sisters”—datura, mandrake, belladonna, and henbane—but, although some traditional recipes are included in the practice section, Roth never recommends consumption, stating that practitioners should pursue them “through direct spiritual contact” rather than by stepping onto the rickety bridge of alkaloid consumption. Sections on “practice” included in each entry add up to a primer in herbal magic methods, so readers learn how to make tinctures with clary sage, dry and powder herbs with yarrow, and unguents with vervain. Roth views the herb magician as spiritual seeker rather than rules-bound potion maker, an attitude that can be unfortunately rare in more encyclopedic botanical magic guidebooks." --Publishers Weekly (Mar. 2017)

"Harold Roth’s The Witching Herbs offers an original perspective on the magical dimension of plants, rooted not in the repetition of occult texts but in the soil itself, as accessed by hands, head, and heart." —Daniel A. Schulke, author of The Green Mysteries and Veneficium: Magic, Witchcraft and the Poison Path

"At last! A guide to a subject very dear to my heart, and Harold Roth is just the man for the job. Added bonus: several of the most important plants from the correspondences of the Fifteen Behenian Stars. A must-have for goetic gardeners everywhere!" —Jake Stratton-Kent, editor of Conjure Codex, author of The True Grimoire (Encyclopaedia Goetica Book 1), and other books of power

"In The Witching Herbs, Harold Roth has approached the plant as book and narrative; seeing the plant itself as the author of its own mystery; a mystery only grasped in fullness by the direct interaction with the plant, where it is nurtured from seed to adulthood and in the process turns into a teaching spirit. Roth roots his work in the doctrine of signatures, mediated by the patient dedication to the plant itself, and, in this, he has manifested a work softly born by the whispers of the 13 plants themselves, flanked with folklore, myths, and the frustrating and rewarding poetry of practice. It is a book easy to recommend, a delight to read, a book that deserves a place not only on the bookshelf, but as a companion in the garden of witching herbs." —Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, author of Craft of the Untamed, Palo Mayombe: The Garden of Blood and Bones, and Exu and the Quimbanda of Night and Fire

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191927282
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	08/13/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged