vii. Reading List: nature

All links here redirect you to Amazon.com (purchasing from that redirection gives me a tiny commission – thank you – helps fund this website). If you’re in the UK, I’ve added an Amazon.co.uk banner on the sidebar menu. Although I’m in Europe, the majority of my visitors are Americans.

Caveat: books are merely resources, nothing more. They may trigger insights just as much as a commercial, a walk in the park, or a casual conversation with a stranger.To understand a people – visit their land and meet the Land spirits, or connect to others of that heritage. To understand nature, go outside and connect. To understand the ways of your soul (be it witch or any other) do shadow work, trance, meditate, day dream.I believe strongly that everything you need to know is within you or in nature. Books are wonderful, but they can become barriers as much as anything else – use them as masters, not as slaves.Books with an * are highly recommended for their importance or quality.

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Nature

My first suggestion is to ignore all nature-related books and go outside. Spend time – weeks and months – getting to know the plants as allies. Know them as nature spirits, as intelligence and consciousness, rather than categorising them as living resources for our use. Just as you would go out and meet people to make friends, rather than reading about human sociology, do the same with plants. Go out and meet them; they have much to share with you if you’re ready to listen.

After doing this, I recommend purchasing a field guide to the flora & fauna of your land. While the old ways include a spirit relationship with plants, the witch, shaman or wisewoman had proper understanding of the location, harvesting and so on, as well as the physiological effects of plants. This is probably the only time I believe a book could take the place of an Elder. I list some field guides from across the globe. However, those are the only books I have not read myself; I list them as an indication of what is useful, using Amazon ratings as well.

Plants

• The Art of Simpling: An Introduction to the Knowledge and Gathering of Plants
• A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs : Of Eastern and Central North America
• The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual
• Magic & medicine of plants
• A Modern Herbal (Volume 1, A-H) *
• A Modern Herbal (Volume 2, I-Zand Indexes) *
• Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide
• Psychedelic Shamanism: The Cultivation, Preparation & Shamanic Use of Psychoactive Plants *
• The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature new
• Tom Brown’s Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants
• Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants: Alaska, Canada & Pacific Northwest Rainforest

Animals

• Caw of the Wild : Observations from the Secret World of Crows
• Crow
• Mind of the Raven : Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds
• Rat
• Snake