Geheime Zauberkräuter. Legenden, Riten, Rezepturen.

by Margaret Picton

Pretty enough for the coffee table, Margaret Picton's little hardback explores herbal myths and folklore in poems, traditional sayings, quotes, recipes, and ancient herbal manuscripts. Chock-full of brightly colored photos, drawings, and fancy typography, The Book of Magical Herbs delights the senses. The author has written nine other books on cookery and homemaking and here expounds the virtues of 25 different herbs in as many chapters. Did you know that you could "keep a small sachet of dried lavender against your skin to attract a lover" or that fennel seeds in keyholes will keep malignant forces away? A charming gift for gardeners, cooks, or fans of ancient lore and magic. --P. Randall Cohan

Genres: Witchcraft, Plants, Herbs, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published February 15, 2000

Reviews

[Sarah Goodwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically a coffee table book that doesn't live up to its cover. Most of the contents is a nonsensical mishmash of Christian/Hindu/'Olden times'/Greek/Roman lore, with little to no explanation of why these things were believed or how to incorporate them into practice. A lot of the different lore for the same herbs is contradictory because its been sourced from so many places (I assume, there's no bibliography).

I was lured in by the cover and got this from a charity shop for £2, which I feel is too much, so the cover price of $16 seems FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR to high for a book you can read in about an hour (unless you were reading in bed like I was and fell asleep :P).

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear. There are definitely some pieces in here that are historical. Some, however, are not, and some are just... random. No information is credited (there's not even a bibliography) and there are some uses I would find questionable. There's no real time reference -- 'our ancestors in the middle ages' or somesuch is used for something that dates to the 19th century and Romans and Victorians are spread all over everything. The author appears to have taken a mismash of material from their reading, notebooks, and perhaps whatever they recalled from memory, seasoned it with references from Mrs. Grieve's A Modern Herbal and some quotations that may appear elsewhere, and stirred it all together. There are ideas that I've never seen before, and quotes, but not enough information is given to recognize the source. The book is attractive and has nice pictures, but I am highly doubtful of the provenance of any given fact in it. It's not a 'magickal' book either, in the sense of new age or occult-- go elsewhere if you want something like that. If you want a gallimaufry of this kind, the works of Mrs. Grieve, Eleanor Sinclair Rohde, or Rosetta Clarkson is a better choice.

[Christen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a very readable book for those interested in herbs. However, I cannot say it's quite factual. There is no way to check the sources, which are non-existent. As others have mentioned, some of the advice and recipes are questionable. Or there's simply no explanation as to why you would want to engage in some of the said activities. The book lost me entirely when it claimed to provide a medieval recipe that included sugar.

[Iren · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an extensive description of herbs we see in an every day life. But what saddened me the most was the presence of only 25 herbs. In some way I expected more.

[Eireanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really have no interest in this book - I'm gifting it to someone else.

[Constantinos Nterziotis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice book for reading the folk tradition and stories on herbs

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

An odd, but entertaining, book with lots of recipes, poetry, folklore etc.

[Mariana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a good first book on herbs.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Chahat Agrawal]

book was intresting

[Shabasty Lilpu]

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