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Full Description
An in-depth investigation of traditional European folk medicine and the healing arts of witches
• Explores the outlawed "alternative" medicine of witches suppressed by the state and the Church and how these plants can be used today
• Reveals that female shamanic medicine can be found in cultures all over the world
• Illustrated with color and black-and-white art reproductions dating back to the 16th century
Witch medicine is wild medicine. It does more than make one healthy, it creates lust and knowledge, ecstasy and mythological insight. In Witchcraft Medicine the authors take the reader on a journey that examines the women who mix the potions and become the healers; the legacy of Hecate; the demonization of nature's healing powers and sensuousness; the sorceress as shaman; and the plants associated with witches and devils. They explore important seasonal festivals and the plants associated with them, such as wolf's claw and calendula as herbs of the solstice and alder as an herb of the time of the dead--Samhain or Halloween. They also look at the history of forbidden medicine from the Inquisition to current drug laws, with an eye toward how the sacred plants of our forebears can be used once again.
Contents
Introduction: Is Witchcraft Medicine Good Medicine?
WOLF-DIETER STORL
1. The Wild Earth and Its Children
The Power of the Wilderness
Divine Visitors to the Small Cultural Island
Midsummer's Dream
The August Festival
The Equinox
The Time of the Dead: Samhain, Halloween
Rites of Initiation
2. The Old Woman in the Hedgerow
The Chimney
The Wrath of Venus
The New Science
3. The Witch As Shaman
Devil Worship
The Buck: The Divine Dispenser
The World Tree
The Flight to the Holy Mountain
Flying Ointment
Sex and Fertility Magic
Weather Magic
4. Midwives: Fertility and Birth
The Way into Existence
The Children's Springs at Lolarka Kund
The Time of Begetting
Pregnancy
Birth
The Hebe-Ahnin and the Men's Childbed
After the Birth
5. The Mother of Death
Flowers for the Dead
The Festival of the Dead
The Dead and the Vegetation
The Dead As Dispensers of Fertility
CHRISTIAN RÄTSCH
6. Witchcraft Medicine: the Legacy of Hecate
Gardens of the Gods and Herbs of the Witches
The Garden of the Great Goddess
The Garden of Hecate
The Garden of Medea
The Garden of Circe
The Garden of Artemis
Flying Ointments and Lovers' Salves As Medicine
Pharmakon Wine
CLAUDIA MÜLLER-EBELING
7. Images of Witches: The Demonization of Nature's Healing Powers
The Image of the Witch
Mary: The Chaste Cultural Heroine
The Witch: The Sensuous Natural Woman
The Demonization of Nature and Sensuality
Sinister Companions of the Witch
Poison Mixers and Healers
The Demonization of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants
The Healing of the Microcosm and Macrocosm
Rübezahl: Herbalist and Weather God
Seeress and Goddess of Fate
From the Goddess to the Witch
The Witch As the Temptation of Saint Anthony
Saturn: Master of the Witches
The Painters of Witches
CHRISTIAN RÄTSCH
8. Witchcraft Medicine: Forbidden Medicine-From the Inquisition to the Drug Laws
Coca and Cocaine
Poppy and Opium
Mescaline and Psilocybin: The Forbidden Souls of the Gods
Ayahuasca: The Conquest Is Not Over
The "Drug" Business
News Update: Hemp Seeds Outlawed!
Appendix: Plants Associated with Witches and Devils
Bibliography
Index
