Description
The ancient Celts separated the year into two halves, the light half and the dark half, summer and winter. The festival of Samhain, from which the brand new holiday of Halloween originates, marks the transition from summer to winter, the end of the Celtic year, a time when the barriers between the physical and non secular world are at their most transparent. The herbs most characteristic of this time have specific magical and healing properties that echo the darker aspect of the year and offer potent opportunities for divination, contact with ancestors and Land Spirits, and journeys within the Otherworld.
Presenting a practical guide to the sacred herbs and trees of Samhain, Ellen Evert Hopman details the identification, harvest, and use of more than 70 plants and trees in healing, divination, purification, magic, and as tools for contacting the Spirits wandering the landscape at this liminal time of year. She explores among the finest plants for protection from the mischief of the “Good Neighbors,” the Sidhe or Fairies, in addition to herbs for releasing the Dead when they’re trapped in this plane. Detailing the history, rites, and traditions of Samhain, Hopman explains how one can make an offering to the Land Spirits and provides instructions for the normal Samhain ritual of the Dumb Supper, complete with recipes for the sacred foods of Samhain, such as Soul Cakes, Colcannon, Boxty bread, and dandelion wine.
