Creating your own Herbal (pt 1 / 3)

Dear Reader,

It may be that you have a love for green things. It may be that you have a pervasive curiosity about how to use those green things in your magical workings. If that is the case, you may want to keep a record of your experiments and use of green things. That sort of book is called an herbal. Now, herbals have been kept since antiquity. Some of the earliest known records of how plants are identified and used date back to the ancient Egyptians and the Romans. In many ways the format of the modern herbal was established by Linnaeus and his works discussing plant life. But, these books were influenced by their predecessors going back to the writings of Pliny and others.

Herbals hit peak popularity in Europe with the rise of printing (specifically moveable type). They are experiencing a resurgence in popularity with the increased use of alternative medicines based in the use of plants. If one is looking to purchase an herbal for the sake of knowledge and getting some manner of an idea how to use a wide range of plants, the author recommends M. Grieve's A Modern Herbal. While this text is dated, the author has yet to encounter another modern herbal that is as complete in its discussion of the plants contained therein.

Creating your own herbal is a challenge. One must first identify the plant they are working with. The Audubon Field Guides to North American plants are an excellent resource to identify the plants in North America (the author's home region). In the identification process, one must determine the toxicity of the species in question. Some plants and fungi are so toxic that handling them with out gloves is not recommended. Notation on the identification of the plant and its toxicity is vital for safe usage of the plant.

Following this, one must consult other established herbals and books that use wild foraged plants for recipes. It is possible to copy recipes from these sources, but the author just finds it easier to keep a copy of the source material on hand. This is part of the reason why the notebook that was supposed to be a self-made herbal has a total of a half dozen entries. The practice of copying notes can be meditative and relaxing, for some people, and there is merit to having the recipes that you use the most in one notebook instead of having to search through a small library to find out how to make something such as rosewater.