Are there any good reference sites for pagan use of plants, other than modern Wi!
Question: Before the Church shunned it all and condemned people to death, thousands of generations learned to use natural plants, roots, herbs, leaves, etc., to cure illnesses and perform rituals that were meant to do good things. You know, the pagan knowledge.
Besides modern Wicca books and (obviously) older generations, are there any good resources for this ancient knowledge? Like a book or web site of old wives' tales and how ancient plants were used?
I'm open minded to Wicca, but so much of it is unfortunately second and third-hand information that amounts to home-made spells.
I just did a housewide "cleansing" with smouldering dried sage, which is a traditional thing to do on New Year's Day that our family has done since my great-great-great-great grandmother's day (and probably far beyond that). It's kind of fun too. (Also did a Christian blessing.)
I'm looking more for old remedy knowledge like Linden Tea used for coughs, moldy bread for fevers (penicilin), etc.
Thanks!
Answers: Before the Church shunned it all and condemned people to death, thousands of generations learned to use natural plants, roots, herbs, leaves, etc., to cure illnesses and perform rituals that were meant to do good things. You know, the pagan knowledge.
Besides modern Wicca books and (obviously) older generations, are there any good resources for this ancient knowledge? Like a book or web site of old wives' tales and how ancient plants were used?
I'm open minded to Wicca, but so much of it is unfortunately second and third-hand information that amounts to home-made spells.
I just did a housewide "cleansing" with smouldering dried sage, which is a traditional thing to do on New Year's Day that our family has done since my great-great-great-great grandmother's day (and probably far beyond that). It's kind of fun too. (Also did a Christian blessing.)
I'm looking more for old remedy knowledge like Linden Tea used for coughs, moldy bread for fevers (penicilin), etc.
Thanks!
These are really good sites
just do a search on "herbal remedies", "herbalist", "herbs", "herbal uses", "herbal medicine", etc. Also look under gardening, natural gardening, companion planting.
I own more than a dozen books on contemporary and traditional herbal and plant uses - culinary, medicinal, domestic (mint repels ants - place by door ways), companion planting in the garden (marigolds repel pests - plant around veggie plots , Roses Love Garlic - the name of a book on companion planting).
Many of the traditional uses are being found to be substantiated by modern investigations - Chamomile does relax, aloe is healing, lavender is calming, rosemary can stimulate memory, etc.
Many of the 'pagan' directions are not really pagan - just practical and effective.
Have you looked here...?
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/...
Mrs. M. Grieve wrote these books (there are two) back in 1932. I have them both and they are brilliant. The website is a mine of information as well.
The site has lots of information about the folklore of herbs as well.
Hope this helps.