Folklore, witchcraft and medicine meet in this collection of herbs and plants by Corinne Boyer. What captivated me first was the cover of this book, decorated with bramble (aka blackberry) vines. I first saw it on the shelves of the small library in my friend Daisy's apartment amongst her other witchy books and plant guides.
My friend is a very generous person and when she saw me curled up on the couch flipping through the pages she gifted me the book right away.
And now this book lives in my herbal apothecary because, though it is somewhat of a grimoire and contains lots of tales, it is also full of medicinal information about some of the most common herbs found in temperate climates.
Each chapter is dedicated to a different herb; blackberry, thistle, tansy, rose, and so many more. And of course I love the black ink illustrations with which each chapter starts out. I even have plans to get a tattoo inspired by one of the pages!
Who would like this book?
When preparing to write this article I debated sharing it here in the Magick community or to post it in the Hive Book Club. Yes this is a book review, making is appropriate for the latter but ... this type of book is very specific to a certain type of reader. Basically you need to be witchy in order to really appreciate what this book has to offer.
Under the Bramble Arch (and Boyer's other titles too) isn't quite a spell book exactly. It is most like a collection of folk tales about the herbs, old and new rituals, her own personal experiences working with the herbs in witchcraft and information about their medicinal properties sprinkled in there too.
Why this book is important;
Now that witchcraft has become so popular online it can be a bit sad to see "baby witches" repeat the same information on TikTok without really having any spirituality to back up what they are saying. "Do this under the full moon" "buy these crystals to improve this or that" ... to me that is NOT what witchcraft is all about.
I want to hear about a witch's garden or hear about the ancient folklore associated with a certain herb. And although this book could certainly do with a bit of editing, I love that first person perspective of someone who has been witchy for years.
<< If this review strikes your interest, you can find "Under the Bramble Arch" and all of Boyer's other books with the link >>
Tener libros físicos como ese es tener un tesoro. Oro y miel sis.
si! totalmente! hay muchos libros que leo como pdf y estoy agradecida pero es otra cosas tener el libro en mis manos y pode leer con la luz de la vela cuando no hay luz, o leer en la manana con una taza de te en el jardin. Gracias por tu comentario!
thanks!!!
Great, glad to see that you have chosen this cozy book for study. By the way, these kinds of books are rare and hard to find in my country.
I am so lucky that this book found it's way to me!!
@calendulacraft, one of your Hive friends wishes you a Happy Valentine's day and asked us to give you a new badge!
To find out who wanted you to receive this special gift, click here!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Check out our last posts:
aww! I love this new badge!
Thank you @calendulacraft. Enjoy your new badge.
BTW, may we ask you to support our proposal so our team can continue its work?
https://ecency.com/proposals/331
Thank you ❤️