HERBS IN MAGIC AND ALCHEMY

HERBS IN MAGIC AND ALCHEMY

TECHNIQUES FROM ANCIENT HERBAL LORE

C. L. ZALEWSKI

m

PRISM . UNITY

Dedications for

"PERSIS"

Published i n Great Britain in 1990 by: PRISM PRESS Bridport. Dorset

and distributed by: CARDINAL BOOKS Metro House Northgate Chichester West Sussex PO19 1BE U.K.

ISBN 185327 046 6

Reprinted 1999

Copyright O 1990, C. L. Zalewski

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted. in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Printed and bound i n the Channel Islands by The Guernsey Press Company Limited.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface Introduction Chapter 1 : Magical Use Chapter 2: Classifying Herbs Chapter 3: Harvesting for Magic Chapter 4: Companion Herbs Chapter 5: Correspondences Chapter 6: 'The Product Chapter 7: Herbal Alchemy Chapter 8: Ritual Appendix 1 : Elements and Symbols Appendix 2: Planets and Signs with listed herbs Appendix 3: Methods of Extraction Appendix 4: Astral Contact with Plant Life Bibliography

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to my husband Pat Zalewski for his constant encouragement and help in all of my writings, and to the following individuals who each in some way influenced the outcome of this small book: Alison Lattey, Jack Taylor, Percy Wilkinson, and of course Mum.

PREFACE

When this work was first conceived in 1980 by my wife Chris it was at a time when there was sparse literature available on the subject, and even today, with the exception of Scott Cunningham's excellent work, books such as this are few and far between. As a professional herbalist with a growing practice, as well as an excellent astrologer and an even better occultist, Chris is very well suited to the task of writing a book such as this. Her knowledge on Herbal Alchemy is not theoretical like some authors, but is in fact based on practical laboratory work, the results of some of which have been utilised as medicines for her Herbal practice. The Astral contact with the plants through clairvoyance also goes into a relatively new area that is original in its concept, and is not based on previous experiences of others but on a personal observation. Not only is she a Golden Dawn Adept but she is equally well versed and interested in Wiccan Craft, and it is in part to the latter that this book was structured and not merely for those working in Hermetic Orders. There will be some differences in the herbal associations here when compared to other works, and on this the reader will have to make up his or her mind which system to use. Since herbal and astrological associations are numerous it must be remembered that a herb applied magically and one for medicinal purposes may not always be the same.

Since this is not primarily a book on Alchemy, this has been covered only briefly with some additional information in certain areas which have not been published before. I n recent years there has been a lot of publicity about alchemy and the Golden Dawn and what exactly they did teach, though nothing has been fully revealed on the subject. Originally the Golden Dawn was concerned mainly with Ritual Alchemy

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