For the ancient Druids, the healing and magical properties of herbs were inseparable from the larger cycles of the seasons, the movements of the planets, and the progression of a human life. A Druid’s Herbal shows the reader how to use herbs when creating rituals to celebrate festivals and significant life passages such as births, house blessings, weddings, funerals, and naming ceremonies. Drawing on extensive research and a deep personal experience with Pagan traditions, Ellen Evert Hopman explores the history and folklore surrounding the eight major Celtic festivals: Samhain, Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltaine, Summer Solstice, Lugnasad, and Fall Equinox. Included in each discussion are complete instructions on the medicinal and magical uses of the herbs associated with each celebration. Using these Celtic traditions as examples, the author suggests ways to incorporate the symbolic and magical power of herbs into personal rituals that honor all phases of life from childbirth to last rites. Also included are chapters on how to prepare herbal tinctures, salves, and poultices; herbs used by the Druids; herbal alchemy and the planets; and the relationships between herbs and sacred places. Filled with practical information and imaginative suggestions for using herbs for healing, ceremony, and magic, this book is an indispensable and comprehensive guide to age-old herbal practices.

An in-depth look at the history, herbal uses, and spiritual aspects of the sacred trees in the ancient Celtic Ogham Tree Alphabet • Details the 20 trees of the ogham alphabet and their therapeutic and magical virtues • Examines the Forest Druid practices associated with each tree as well as the traditional uses in Native American medicine • Describes the Celtic Fire Festivals and how each tree is featured in these holy days • By the author of A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year The Druids used the ancient Ogham Tree Alphabet to work magic and honor the dead, surrounding each letter with medicinal and spiritual lore. Poets and bards created a secret sign language to describe the letters, each of which is named for a tree or a plant. For centuries this language was transmitted only orally in order to protect its secrets. Combining her extensive herbal knowledge and keen poetic insight, Ellen Evert Hopman delves deeply into the historic allusions and associations of each of the 20 letters of the Ogham Tree Alphabet. She also examines Native American healing methods for possible clues to the way ancient Europeans may have used these trees as healing agents. Druidic spiritual practices, herbal healing remedies, and plant lore are included for each tree in the alphabet as well as how each is used in traditional rituals such as the Celtic Fire Festivals and other celebrations. Hopman also includes a pronunciation guide for the oghams and information on the divinatory meanings associated with each tree.

This is an in-depth study of the herbal and magical properties of our most common trees. It's a book of considerable caring and expertise - a book to affirm our deeper values more openly and in daily life, with practical herbal remedies and recipes for healthy body, mind and spirit. Tree Medicine, Tree Magic presents both an homage to the deepest mysteries, and a down-to-earth how-to-do-it herbal.

Describes the natural healing benefits of a variety of herbs divided into sections by the seasons in which they grow.

Many of the herbal and magical practices of the Scots are echoed in traditional Norwegian folk medicine and magic. This is a valuable resource book not only for the serious folklorist, but also for a wider audience interested in a deeper look at rural Scottish practices. Ms. Hopman has done an amazing amount of research, and her Scottish herbalism section is far more detailed than I've seen elsewhere. A "must have" for the northern European folklorist's library. Jane T. Sibley, Ph.D., author of "The Hammer of the Smith" and "The Divine Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods." Through her books, Ellen Evert Hopman lifts the veil between worlds of the present and the past. She guides the reader on a fascinating journey to our ancient Celtic history, simultaneously restoring lost knowledge and entertaining the reader. Be prepared to be educated and delighted. Wendy Farley, Clan McKleod The first things is WOW! Ellen Hopman has given us a volume that belongs in Harry Potter's library. This wonderful collection of enchantments, faery lore and herbal potions, is presented by a practicing herbalist and (I suspect) magician. It is a useful manual of magic, an unusual tourist guide to Scotland, certainly a delightful read, and at the very least, a comprehensive and thoroughly footnoted collection of folk lore for humorless librarians and scholars. Matthew Wood MS (Scottish School of Herbal Medicine) Registered Herbalist (American Herbalists Guild) Every now and again, a book emerges from the waves of occult and magical authorship that delves into the deep and ancestral waters of old magic! This book is one of those rare occasions. From the lore of herbs to the blessing of stones; from avioding the elf-blast to healing through Faerie blessing - Ellen guides the reader through ancient groves of oral lore to discover a power and spirit that connects the reader to the oldest of magics, the earth and her elements. I am confident that the Scottish Ancestral Wise Ones, are renewed through this book and the old ways live once again! Orion Foxwood, Traditional Witch Elder, Conjurer in Southern Root-Doctoring and Faery Seer (www.orionfoxwood.com), author of "The Faery Teachings" (R.J. Stewart Books) and "The Tree of Enchantment" (Weiser Books).

Following on from Healing Power of Celtic Plants, Angela Paine's latest book covers a new range of Celtic medicinal plants which are native to Britain, as well as a few plants, such as Sage and Rosemary, which were introduced by the Romans. Combining the latest scientific data on the healing properties of the herbs used by the ancient Celts with recent archaeological discoveries, written in a jargon-free, easy to understand narrative style and offering a botanical description of each plant, an outline of their chemical constituents, and advice on ways to grow, harvest, preserve and use each plant, Healing Plants of the Celtic Druids is an essential guide.

A practical guide to the celebration of Beltaine and the sacred herbs of spring • Explores the identification, harvest, and safe practical and ritual use of more than 90 plants and trees • Details rituals for honoring the traditional Gods and Goddesses of spring, such as the Goddess Chloris, the Goddess Flora, and the Daghda • Reveals which herbs to use for luck, magic, protection, purification, abundance, fertility, and love as well as the herbs of the Faeries and Elves and herbs for journeying to the Otherworld and for contacting the High Gods and Goddesses The festival of Beltaine, May Day, is a celebration of the return of spring and the promise of summer, a time for love magic and spells for increasing the fertility of the land and the plants that grow upon it. Like Samhain in autumn, Beltaine is also a time when the veil between the physical and spiritual world is at its most transparent and the ancestors and denizens of the Otherworld easily interact with the world of humans. Presenting a practical guide to the celebration of Beltaine, Ellen Evert Hopman examines the plants, customs, foods, drinks, and rituals of May Day across many cultures. Discussing the gods and goddesses of spring, Hopman details the rituals for honoring them as well as traditional poems, prayers, incantations, folk rhymes, and sayings related to this time of year. She explores well dressing, the custom of honoring the source of sacred water by decorating a well. She also looks at Beltaine’s association with Walpurgisnacht and Hexennacht, which fall the preceding evening. In the extensive section on the sacred plants of Beltaine, the author explores more than 90 herbs and trees, offering spells, rituals, and recipes alongside their medicinal healing uses. She reveals sacred woods suitable for the Beltaine fires and Beltaine flowers for rituals and spells. She explores herbs for luck, magic, purification, abundance, and love; herbs for protection, such as bindweed, elder, and St. John’s wort; herbs of the Faeries and Elves, such as burdock and dandelion; and herbs for journeying to the Otherworld and contacting the high gods and goddesses. She also details the identification, harvest, and preparation of seasonal edible herbs, greens, mushrooms, and flowers. Woven throughout with mystical tales of folk, Faery, and sacred herbs, this guide offers each of us practical and magical ways to connect with Nature, the plant kingdom, and the Spirits that surround us in the season of spring.