Friday 30 April 2010

Review: The Healing Plants Bible

The Godsfield Bibles are a really useful series of reference books with a huge range of titles covering spirituality and religion, personal growth, alternative health and divination.

One that came out a couple of weeks ago is The Healing Plants Bible: The Definitive Guide to Herbs, Trees and Flowers.

There has been a huge rise in interest in using plants for their health-giving properties over the past few years. That can mean simply eating the recommended five portions of fruit and veg each day, but many people want to know more about the specific benefits of individual plants, perhaps to help with conditions they might have - or might want to avoid.

Godsfield Press, which publishes the series, says:
"Plants can provide healing in many different ways: directly through their pharmacological actions as medicinal herbs, energetically through the vibrations of flower essences and tree energies, and spiritually through the inspiration they offer. Exploring over 100 of these incredible plants - from key medicinal herbs such as St John's wort, sage and chamomile to edible healing plants such as grapes and blueberries - The Healing Plants Bible provides a comprehensive guide to their history of usage, therapeutic properties and healing applications."
Although The Healing Plants Bible starts with a chapter on medicinal herbs, the largest section of the book is on culinary plants that you can eat as part of a normal diet. This makes it, in my opinion, particularly useful for people like me who might have a few herbs and essential oils for first aid or to help with minor ailments like colds and hayfever, but primarily want to prepare healthy food and know the benefits of what I am eating.

It covers everything from normal fruit and veg, such as cabbage, broccoli, apples and oranges, to grains, such as oats and rye, exotic items like goji berries and edible garden flowers including nasturtiums and dandelions.

If the book stopped there, it would be a very useful addition to any witch's kitchen bookshelf, but the last chapters make it even more fascinating. These cover the healing energies of trees, flower essences and plants used for spiritual healing - including such things as fly agaric, cannabis, peyote and ayahuasca.

The details given about each plant include a description, the parts used, the history, healing or spiritual properties and cautions on any associated dangers. It is written in a responsible manner, providing facts so that readers can make informed decisions about using plants for eating, healing and spiritual development.

The Healing Plants Bible: The Definitive Guide to Herbs, Trees and Flowers (Godsfield Bible Series) has an RRP of £12.99 but is available at a lower price through Amazon.

Links
http://www.octopusbooks.co.uk/godsfield-press/
The Healing Plants Bible: The Definitive Guide to Herbs, Trees and Flowers (Godsfield Bible Series)

1 comment:

Gordon said...

Another one for the wish list.