Herbalism Basics

[alejandrocerv]

Does anybody here have a good source for learning basic herbalism? A website, book, brain?

I'm interested in how herbs relate to alchemy and other aspects of hermeticism, but I'm in no way closed off to Pagan herbalism. I'm particularly interested in herbs that grow in North America, and maybe a short list of herbs that are considered the "essentials," right up front. I imagine that list looks different in each tradition, but I'm interested in whatever y'all know!

[Sypheara]

I had a reading list somewhere for this.

I think that Paul Husons Mastering Herbalism was a pretty good book.

Comes at it from multiple angles, both mundane and magickal.

There are many others out there as well, basic gardening books will also be of use for plant care.

Here are some others based on a reading list by Sarah Anne Lawless.

The Herb Book and The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook. The magical herbalism books are a mixture of reference and learning how to work with the spirits of plants.
Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham
The Herb Book by John Lust
Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual by James Green
Magical and Ritual Use of Aphrodisiacs by Richard Alan Miller, 1985
Magical and Ritual Use of Herbs by Richard Alan Miller, 1983
Pharmako Trilogy by Dale Pendell
Plant Spirit Shamanism: Traditional Techniques for Healing the Soul by Ross Heaven & Howard G. Charing
Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants by Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Christian Rätsch, and Wolf-Dieter Storl, 2003

I plan to start acquiring some of these.. ive read extracts and on the whole they seem solid recommendations.

[RoseRed]

Check out Susun Weed, Kiva Rose, Jim McDonald, Sevensong and Matthew Wood.

Those are pretty much the rock stars in the Herbal Resurgence Movement right now.

North America is a BIG place. Narrowing it down to a regional area would be much more helpful in finding out what's around you.

I use herbalism medicinally and nutritionally. I'm not sure what you're looking for about it being related to alchemy.

[alejandrocerv]

Thanks, both of you! These seem great recommendations!

As far as my interest in herbs vis a vis alchemy, I know that the effects of certain elixirs seem to at least partially contradict the effects listed for the herb in other circles, and vice-versa. Is there any explanation/solution for this?

Also, I spend most of my time in the Midwestern United States, and that's where my interest lies. I've got some native plants and incense, and aside from what are I guess the most common herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, et. al), I hope to keep most of my herb usage local-ish for various reasons.

Thanks, all!

[RoseRed]

Plants are made up of many different constituents. A lot of the correspondence lists out there pick the 'main' one and stick with that. As with anything else - once you start combining things you end up with something different than what you began with.

Can you define how you're using the word 'elixir'? I'm hoping to find some common ground here but it's proving a bit difficult.

Being in the midwest you have a wonderful assortment of herbs and plants to choose from. Your local library should have field guides specifically for your area. It' def worth taking a look.

[alejandrocerv]

RoseRed, thanks for being so helpful!

I'll check out my local library, and do some deeper research into the multiple uses of plants.

As for elixir, I can tell you quickly what the basic components are of a spagyric elixir, minus all of the spiritual stuff that goes into it (which is, of course, important if you're studying it).

The first part of an elixir is a tincture, which is usually an alcohol-based herbal tincture with a ratio of 4-8 fl. oz. per oz. of herb, left to "mature" for a week or two, or an alchemical month (40 days).

The second part is called calcination: after straining the used herbs out of the alcohol base, obtain the ash from the herbs. Essentially you add new alcohol in and use that to ignite the herbs until the alcohol burns away and the herbs "cook." You repeat that process until you're left with ash, and add it to the original alcohol base. It will create a new solution with the salt (plant body), mercury (plant oils), and sulphur (spirits) all present.

The third part is the final consumption, which is typically 10-20 drops of the elixir mixed into a glass of distilled water.

Does that help?

Thanks again for your information, curiosity, and patience!

[RoseRed]

Thank you so much for explaining that for me. I really appreciate it. It can be confusing when different activities use the same words.

10-20 drops can still be a medicinal dose. There are quite a few tinctures that I'm familiar with that use drop dosages. Do you mind sharing what plant you'll be using for your elixir?

(Oh, and that's very cool about soaking it in alcohol and burning it repeatedly until it's ash. I love fire.)

[alejandrocerv]

Yes, absolutely. Terminology is a) what makes people question so much of the occult/alternative beliefs, and b) what makes so many occultists misunderstand each other. Would you mind sharing your basic process with me? I'm definitely still exploring different paths, and would love to hear your perspective!

I'm using lemon balm, in a base of high-percentage rum.

Yes. Fire good. Me like fire. [twisted]

[RoseRed]

With lemon balm I would use Everclear instead of 151 rum. I think the rum has too much flavor and will totally overpower it. Also, alcohol can only extract and absorb so much.

Drop dosages for lemon balm tincture range from 5-10 drops. It's usually added to hot water or tea. This will dissipate the alcohol but leave the oils behind. At a 10-20 drop dose I would expect you to be quite relaxed and chilled out within 10-20 minutes of ingestion.

My basic process for fresh plant material in general would be a 1:2 ratio. If you're using dried lemon balm then a 1:4 ratio. The 1st number is physical weight of the plant material and the 2nd number is fluid ounces. (one ounce of dried plant to 4 ounces of alcohol)

Personally, I wouldn't add the ash from the plant to anything I would ingest but I'm also not following a specific recipe like you are.

[alejandrocerv]

Everclear has, for whatever reason, proven very difficult to obtain in MN. Rum was all I could find, plus flavor isn't exactly what I'm concerned with haha. What do you mean about the alcohol only extracting so much? Should I try something else?

I will start out with 10 drops and see what happens then.

That's functionally about the ratio used in alchemy. Saturate the herbs, then put two-ish fingers on top to allow for the expansion of the herbs.

Yes, we'll see about the ashes. I may make a non-alchemical tincture to see if I notice a difference.

[RoseRed]

If rum is the highest proof that you can get then by all means, use it.

Think of the alcohol like a sponge absorbing the different constituents of a plant. If there is already something saturating the sponge then it absorbs less than one that is empty. The flavors and the sugars that are in the rum take up a small part of the amount that can be absorbed. I think that we're talking about differences that you would need a laboratory to measure. I really do.

I love experiments. I hope you post the results when you do.

[alejandrocerv]

Ah, makes sense. Well then I guess obtaining Everclear may make more experimenting necessary.

I'll post results, certainly!

[shaded_shadow]

Even if you cant get everclear surely you could distill the rum for the purpose of achieving a high percentage alcohol?

[alejandrocerv]

Well, the rum is 75.5%ABV, which is the highest legal in MN. So Everclear and Bacardi 151 are the same proof; I was just worried about the tannins, as well as for aesthetic purposes the flavor.