some herb books, and thanks to TragicShaman

If you're using herbs for pure magick and not medicine or food, do you need to be concerned that some of them might be poisonous? There are a couple of books among these (I'm not reviewing them all, yet) that point out the precautions that you might need to take:

"The Healing Herbs" by Michael Castleman
and
"50 Most Common Medicinal Herbs" by Heather Boon and Michael Smith

As I mentioned, here's a really experienced herbalist who is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/wisewomantradition

Other books that I showed briefly in this video:

"Magic and Medicine of Plants" Ed. Inge N. Dobelis

"Growing and Using the Healing Herbs" by Gaea and Shandor Weiss

"Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine" by Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno

"The Book of Magical Herbs" by Margaret Picton

"The People's Pharmacy Guide to Home and Herbal Remedies" by Joe Graedon and Theresa Graedon

"The Honest Herbal" by Varro E. Tyler

"Naturopathic Handbook of Herbal Formulas" by Herbal Research Publications

"The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control" by Barbara W. Ellis and Fern Marshall Bradley

and by Scott Cunningham:
Magical Herbalism
The Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
The Complete Book of Incences, Oils, and Brews

...and finally, of course:
"The Herb Book" by John Lust

Category:

People & Blogs

[ShannyCleaner]

So .. Since your good.. What about Valerian..< spelling..I've wanted to try some..But the herbal suggestions are not to take it for an extended periods of time.. and if I have had any other medical problems not to take it... But it is just calling me from the beyond and I have to have it.. What could that be?

[TheHillbard]

@ShannyCleaner this one's going to be pretty long, so I'll most likely pm it

[TheHillbard]

@ShannyCleaner had some trouble sending pm just now. It fit in the message box, so maybe it's YT acting wierd. If it's still not working tomorrow, I'll split it up and post here, as before.

[ShannyCleaner]

I'm super glad you said something because I take that at least twice a week. I have been having headaches.. What are the uses?

[TheHillbard]

@ShannyCleaner (d) But I know well enough that they might not all have the exact same effect on the body. If you were advised to take this by an hebalist, you might want to check and make sure you're not taking the wrong cultivar or something.

That being said, another really knowledgeable person on yt that I'm subscribed to is HedgeWitchMagic. She's shown Milkweed in one of her videos and gives good advice in general.

[TheHillbard]

@ShannyCleaner just clarifying... when I said "within that genus," Asclepias is the broader name for the genus; Asclepias Syriaca is one of the species within it and is what most people probably mean when they say Milkweed, but there can be several others.

[TheHillbard]

@ShannyCleaner (c) Then there is the magickal correspondence to Asclepius. Aesculapius or Ophiuchus is the patronymic Demi-God of our order; that is, the Ophiucian Wicca tradition which I joined several years ago. One of his sacred plants was Asclepias Syriaca. Although, milkweeds can be among over a hundred different species within that genus. A friend of mine was a grad student in biology at Berkeley back in the 80's and her specialty was Botany- she could probably name them all.

[TheHillbard]

@ShannyCleaner (b) But if you were put on it by an N.D. or something you probably shouldn't stop until you talk to them.

I've also run across some UT kids about ten years ago that were using it as part of an herbal blend to make their own detox mixture; like those that they sell in head shops for people who are trying to pass drug tests but also know they aren't going to. But in their case I'm not sure if they weren't confusing it with Milk Thistle.

[TheHillbard]

@ShannyCleaner (a) The oldest traditional use I'm familiar with is as a wart remover. But obviously not if you're taking it internally:) It was often given for kidney problems or gallstones. Recently (past couple of decades) it's been used as a "nervine." It may calm some people or excite others. Depends on your dosage. That would also have to be calculated by someone's body mass. I can't say if that would have anything to do with headaches.

[TheHillbard]

This is one reason why I dont use this channel to give medicinal advice. We should keep in mind that just about anything can be made poisonous in too large an amount for the wrong person; that includes pure water, peanut butter, and jelly ;-p Each body is different, and so I would have to get to know someone quite well before I could suggest such things responsibly. Thank you for your concern.

Blesséd Be!

Hillbard