I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I’m always on the lookout for good herbalism and gardening books, and Patricia Talesco’s The Herbal Arts: A Handbook of Plant Magic, Folklore, Recipes, Spells, & Charms fits the bill. The Herbal Arts is a three chapter (chapter three is a comprehensive list of plants) primer for readers who are just getting into herbalism as well as an excellent reference book.
Chapter one focuses on the essentials of growing and harvesting herbs. The knowledge Talesco shares in this chapter includes how to start herbs from seeds, tool basics for any gardener, storage advice, and both practical and magical reasons why a reader would want to grow their own plants whenever possible. Chapter two provides a variety of recipes, charms, and spells as examples for the reader to use as written or adjust to fit their intent. Chapter three is an absolutely wonderful encyclopedia of herbs and plants. Each entry includes folklore associated with the plant, medicinal or practical uses, and magical associations. I love that Talesco went to the trouble of collating so much background mythology and folklore for each plant. Even when the information was scant, there was enough to get me interested in looking up additional resources, which is exactly how a reference book should work.
Talesco’s writing is totally accessible to both new and experienced practitioners. Her tone is gentle, informative, and kind, which makes this book a soothing and educational read, excellent for an afternoon planning a spring garden with a pot of tea. I suspect she’d be a wonderful teacher in person as well. I found everything in The Herbal Arts useful, well organized, and engaging, and I’m happy to include this book in my own library.
The Herbal Arts: A Handbook of Plant Magic, Folklore, Recipes, Spells, & Charms, by Patricia Talesco, is available now wherever books are sold.
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