A collection of creative activities involving science, art, cooking, and concocting.

Health in early America was generally good. The food was plentiful, the air and water were clean, and people tended to enjoy strong constitutions as a result of this environment. Practitioners of traditional forms of health care enjoyed high social status, and the cures they offered—from purging to mere palliatives—carried a powerful authority. Consequently, most American doctors felt little need to keep up with Europe’s medical advances relying heavily on their traditional depletion methods. However, in the years following the American Revolution as poverty increased and America’s water and air became more polluted, people grew sicker. Traditional medicine became increasingly ineffective. Instead, Americans sought out both older and newer forms of alternative medicine and people who embraced these methods: midwives, folk healers, Native American shamans, African obeahs and the new botanical and water cure advocates. In this overview of health and healing in early America, Elaine G. Breslaw describes the evolution of public health crises and solutions. Breslaw examines “ethnic borrowings” (of both disease and treatment) of early American medicine and the tension between trained doctors and the lay public. While orthodox medicine never fully lost its authority, Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic argues that their ascendance over other healers didn’t begin until the early twentieth century, as germ theory finally migrated from Europe to the United States and American medical education achieved professional standing.

Gives an account of early-day medicines and medical practitioners during the past two to three centuries in America.

Care for your hands, feet, and nails with these simple, natural recipes and crafts. Using some of natureÕs best ingredients, such as cocoa powder, olive oil, beeswax, and oats, youÕll make essential homemade recipes like a Sea Salt Hand Scrub, a Cooling Sore Muscle Butter, and a Nail Strengthening Serum. Craft your very own handmade sachets to freshen up stinky shoes, and learn to master the manicure with personalized press-on nail stickers and wraps. Relax and rejuvenate with these fun, refreshing crafts and recipes for at-home mani-pedi magic!

A SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A triumph' Guardian 'Glorious ... makes the past at once familiar, exotic and thrilling.' Dominic Sandbrook 'A brilliant book' Mail on Sunday Just like us, medieval men and women worried about growing old, got blisters and indigestion, fell in love and had children. And yet their lives were full of miraculous and richly metaphorical experiences radically different to our own, unfolding in a world where deadly wounds might be healed overnight by divine intervention, or the heart of a king, plucked from his corpse, could be held aloft as a powerful symbol of political rule. In this richly-illustrated and unusual history, Jack Hartnell uncovers the fascinating ways in which people thought about, explored and experienced their physical selves in the Middle Ages, from Constantinople to Cairo and Canterbury. Unfolding like a medieval pageant, and filled with saints, soldiers, caliphs, queens, monks and monstrous beasts, it throws light on the medieval body from head to toe - revealing the surprisingly sophisticated medical knowledge of the time in the process. Bringing together medicine, art, music, politics, philosophy and social history, there is no better guide to what life was really like for the men and women who lived and died in the Middle Ages. Medieval Bodies is published in association with Wellcome Collection.

The modern witch's hearth is the kitchen, and for many witches it is their work-center. "The Real Witches' Kitchen" contains 100 spells and recipes for oils, soaps, brews, soups, incenses, and more.

An essential guide to following a Pagan/Wiccan lifestyle You don't need to be Wiccan to enjoy this friendly book of home cooking and natural remedies. To the kitchen witch, every recipe is like a little spell bringing the opportunity to create love and positive energy in the home and for loved ones. This year-round guide to seasonal recipes and rituals for all the pagan festivals will be invaluable to Wiccans wishing to celebrate the good things that are given to us by the land. Wicca is a peaceful, balanced, and harmonious way of life. The word “witch” comes from the words “wise” or “wisdom” and witches or Wiccans originally were called “The Wise Ones.” They also study natural remedies and the influences of the cycles of the moon and the planets. Witches seek to harm no one, knowing that the energy they send out comes back threefold. The Kitchen Witch follows the eight pagan festivals: Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh and Mabon. This book is about being at one with nature, and the four elements. During these festivals birth, life, death, rebirth, and union are celebrated. The celebrations involve sharing food with loved ones or friends. Each of the eight festivals has delicious recipes using a variety of seasonal foods and foods commonly found in most kitchens. There is also information on herbs, plants, spices, flowers and essential oils that you can use for spell or circle work, and homemade lotions and potions. This book is a guide for the everyday witch that can be enjoyed by everyone.