• Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text. • Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world. • Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents. Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.

    The author provides an eloquent and engaging account of the use of herbal medicine from prehistoric times to the present, reaffirming the incalculable value of medicinal plants in the healing arts. She presents a strong case for the cyclical emergence of alternative medicine at times (such as our own) when allopathic methods of treatment have lost their safety and efficacy.

    He taught his son 80,000 secrets. On his deathbed, he told his son to visit his grave in five years, and there he would find the other 20,000 secrets. When the son went to his father's grave, he found, growing on the site, the tea shrub....Teas are the gentle, natural, most beneficial way to absorb the healing properties of herbs--easily and inexpensively. A simple cup of tea not only has the power to soothe and relax but to deliver healing herbal agents to the bloodstream more quickly than capsules, tinctures, or infusions. Feeling tired? Rose hip tea will rev you up and beautify your skin. Need some help with your diet? Ginger tea will provide the boost you need and help aching joints too. Hot or iced, these pure and simple drinks offer delicious ways to stay healthy and revitalize you from the inside out. This unique guide offers:An A-Z listing of common ailments followed by the teas best used to treat themInstructions on how to create your own medicinal kitchenAdvice on creating your own tea blendsDescriptions of the top 100 herbs and their secret healing propertiesAnd much, much more!

    In this greatly expanded revised and enlarged edition, the book covers the entire range of medicinal herbs found in New Mexico, Arizona, west Texas, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and California.

    This excellent guide is the work of a team of highly qualified botanical and medical experts, including two of my colleagues from the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. It offers reliable, up-to-date, practical information about 72 of the most important medicinal herbs." --Andrew Weil, M.D., from the ForewordThere is a world of health and healing all around you--in your spice rack, your backyard, and on the shelves of health food and grocery stores. This informative guide is a reference you will keep at the ready, connecting 72 of the world's most common and useful medicinal herbs with the body systems they help and heal.Eight chapters focus on body systems: 1. Mental Health & the Nervous System2. Respiratory System3. Heart & Circulation4. Digestive System5. Joints, Muscles & Skin6. Urinary & Male Health7. Female Health8. Wellness & PerceptionEach chapter begins with an overview of how plants can bring health to that part of the body, with stories about traditional herbal remedies from around the world and current scientific findings on herbal remedies for specific illnesses. Then each chapter highlights nine plants, combining botanical and medical information--therapeutic uses, effectiveness, preparations, cautions, and advice, including a round-up of current science about the active ingredients in the plant. Every chapter includes a photo gallery showing how one of its herbs is cultivated and processed commercially--the story behind the contents of that bottle you buy in the store. Special features include "Over the Kitchen Counter"--quick and easy ways to use herbs in your everyday life, and time lines for every herb, showing how today's use of herbal remedies collects wisdom from the centuries and around the world. A functional appendix includes an illustrated index to all the plants in the book, an ailment-by-ailment therapeutic index, a glossary, and an index.

    Aromatherapy is the fastest-growing segment of the body care industry, an effective and deeply pleasurable way to maintain well-being. Now, Kurt Schnaubelt, a chemist and longtime aromatherapy practitioner, provides scientific proof for the efficacy of essential oils, explained clearly and logically. Advanced Aromatherapy draws on the most recent research to demonstrate how essential oils work on the cells and microbes of the body. These chemical changes affect emotional states as well as physical ones. Advanced Aromatherapy explains how to treat symptoms ranging from hay fever to stress disorders with predictable results. An essential textbook for aromatherapy practitioners.

    That’s right: growing more mushrooms may be the best thing we can do to save the environment, and in this groundbreaking text from mushroom expert Paul Stamets, you’ll find out how. The basic science goes like this: Microscopic cells called “mycelium”--the fruit of which are mushrooms--recycle carbon, nitrogen, and other essential elements as they break down plant and animal debris in the creation of rich new soil. What Stamets has discovered is that we can capitalize on mycelium’s digestive power and target it to decompose toxic wastes and pollutants (mycoremediation), catch and reduce silt from streambeds and pathogens from agricultural watersheds (mycofiltration), control insect populations (mycopesticides), and generally enhance the health of our forests and gardens (mycoforestry and myco-gardening).  In this comprehensive guide, you’ll find chapters detailing each of these four exciting branches of what Stamets has coined “mycorestoration,” as well as chapters on the medicinal and nutritional properties of mushrooms, inoculation methods, log and stump culture, and species selection for various environmental purposes. Heavily referenced and beautifully illustrated, this book is destined to be a classic reference for bemushroomed generations to come.

    The more things in your ritual to help your mind associate with your goal, the more powerful your ritual may be. Colored candles, scented oils, natural incenses, and more all add to the impact of the magic you wish to do. But how do you know which incense to burn? Is it possible to add scented oils together to get a more powerful oil? And how do you make your own appropriately-scented tools?The answers to questions like these and hundreds more can be found in The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews by world-famous author Scott Cunningham. This is a greatly expanded and rewritten version of The Magic of Incenses, Oils and Brews. It includes over 100 new formulas, proportions for each element of the recipes (the most requested feature from his previous book), how to substitute ingredients, and much more. Besides the formulas, it also includes the exact methods of making all of these scented tools, including how to extract the essences from the herbs.Each one of the formulas in this magic book is precise and easy to make. Do you need luck? Take 2 parts vetivert, 2 parts allspice, 1 part nutmeg, and 1 part calamus, grind them together as finely as possible, then sprinkle the powder in a circle around you, beginning and ending in the East and moving clockwise. Sit within this circle and absorb the powder's energies. Also included are other ways to use magical powders that will have you coming up with your own ideas for them, too.There is a legion of recipes for incenses. There are three for the sun and two for consecrating talismans. There are incenses for each of the astrological signs and ones to help you study better and gain success. You'll also find incenses for each of the planetary influences. There are four for Saturn alone!This compendium of magical lore is a vital tool for every magical person on any magical path, whether you are a beginner or an expert.

    Line drawings highlight family characteristics, and plant entries discuss medicinal uses, edibility, toxicity, and look-alike plants. A standard reference at herbal and wilderness schools across the country, this resource is essential for herbalists, gardeners, and naturalists.

    Now, drawing on a lifetime of study with native healers, herbalist and ethnobotanist E. Barrie Kavasch offers a step-by-step guide to bringing this beautiful tradition into your own life--from vibrantly colorful outdoor circle designs to miniature dish, windowsill, or home altar adaptations. Inside you’ll find:• Planting guides for medicine wheel gardens in every zone, from desert Southwest to northern woodlands• A beautifully illustrated encyclopedia of 50 key healing herbs, including propagation needs, traditional and modern uses, and cautions• Easy-to-follow herbal recipes, from teas and tonics to skin creams and soaps--plus delicious healing foods• Ideas for herbal crafts and ceremonial objects, including smudge sticks, wind horses, prayer ties, and spirit shields• Seasonal rituals, offerings, and meditations to bless and empower your garden and your friends, and much more Practical, beautiful, and inspiring, The Medicine Wheel Garden leads us on a powerful journey to rediscovering the sacred in everyday life as we cultivate our gardens . . . and our souls.

    "The New Age Herbalist" is a compendium of healthy alternatives, an indispensable guide for contemporary natural living. Created by a team of experts, it offers: A full-color illustrated glossary of more than 200 herbs, describing their properties, active ingredients, and traditional uses around the worldA guide to using herbs for scent, for decoration, and even as chemical-free housekeeping aidsTips on using herbs for skin care and beauty, by making natural shampoos, lotions, soaps, and cosmeticsA review of culinary herbs, with some unusual recipes that use familiar herbs in delightful new waysAn examination of the growing science of herbal healing, discussing herbal remedies -- including stress relievers -- and the scientific research that validates themA complete herb gardening plan, with advice on choosing symbiotic herbs, designing and scheduling plantings, and preserving the harvest by freezing and dryingFascinating, authoritative, packed with information presented in a stunning visual style, "The New Age Herbalist" will be the home herb user's bible for years to come.

    A guide to 32 of the best and most common edible wild plants in North America, with detailed information on how to identify them, where they are found, how and when they are harvested, which parts are used, how they are prepared, as well as their culinary use, ecology, conservation, and cultural history.

    It is based upon the work conducted by the German Federal Health Authority's Commission E, the government organization widely recognized as completing the most authoritative evaluation of herbs in the world. Packed with information from experts in the field, the new PDR "RM" for Herbal Medicines details the prescribing information for over 600 botanicals. Plus, more than 500 herbs are accompanied by fullcolor photographs for instant identification.Conveniently organized in an A-Z format, each comprehensive entry is fully indexed by scientific and common English names, indications, therapeutic categories, and potential side effects. You'll also find...-- A thorough description of the plant and derived compounds-- Summarized pharmacological effects of each plant-- Documented indications and a concise summary of other uses-- Applicable precautions, warnings, and contraindications-- Adverse reactions and overdose data-- Modes of administration and typical dosage-- An exhaustive bibliography

    Author Susun Weed proposes an anticancer lifestyle, and, if cancer does enter the picture, a six-step plan for healing (sleep is at zero, or "Do Nothing"; surgery is number six, which she terms "Break and Enter"), with various complementary healing techniques included throughout. Weed is careful to point out that supplements and herbs can hurt as much as they can help, and she lists several alternative-medicine techniques that should be avoided no matter what. The steps she does recommend--from herbal oils for breast massage to help detect lumps early to the herbs milk thistle, dandelion, and burdock for women with liver damage from tamoxifen--are explained clearly, sometimes with fascinating quotes from centuries-old books on healing. Weed will draw ire from some readers for recommending that mammograms be avoided. She says they tend to squeeze cancer cells into the bloodstream and can't detect cancer until it's metastatic, which are reasons enough to not have them, and adds that women would be better off by making her suggested anticancer lifestyle changes, paying more attention to their breasts, and performing regular self-exams. The warnings about the dangers of electromagnetic fields, exposure to estrogen, and organochlorides from plastics may frighten some, but Weed means to enlighten and empower. She dedicates the book to environmentalist and Silent Spring author Rachel Carson and poet Audre Lorde, who both died of breast cancer. Extensive herbal resources, a solid glossary, and a thorough index are included.

    There are literally hundreds of plants readily available underfoot waiting to be harvested and used either as food or as a potential therapeutic. This book is both a field guide to nature's bounty and a source of intriguing information about the plants that surround us.