Herbal Allies
Herbal Allies presents a unique and fascinating guide to plant medicine, beautifully illustrated with the author’s own photography including a full colour central section.
Beginning with the author, Robert Rogers’ personal story, the book gives a wide variety of information on twenty herbal allies presented according to Cree lunar cycles.
Rogers describes teachings by traditional First Nation healers in his part of the world (Canada), investigates plant constituents and looks into the world of organic chemistry, essential oils, hydrosols, flower essences and homeopathy. Surmising other potential uses for the plant allies Rogers also shares some of his personal experiences of working with the plants, offering insight into plant combinations and those he has found useful in his practice as a herbalist. There are also preparation recipes for the reader to try, a captivating chapter on the Cree Moon Calendar and tips for budding herbalists.
At 365 pages this is a larger paperback book; although the author says that it is by no means the complete story of his learning with plant medicine and that he found it difficult to narrow down his favourite plants to choose; he has certainly managed to cram in an amazing amount of information. In fact my one criticism would be that the text size is a little small.
Although this work is primarily related to plants native to Turtle Island, many of the allies detailed are also native or now common in other countries including the UK (for example birch, lilac and … bees and honey!) making Herbal Allies a comprehensive and valuable resource for anyone interested in working with plant medicine as well as those interested in the traditions of the Northern Cree.
Book Details: Robert Rogers. Herbal Allies. North Atlantic Books (June 2017). ISBN: 978-1623171391
Review Details: Herbal Allies was reviewed by June Kent, Editor of Indie Shaman magazine; the review was published in Issue 34 of Indie Shaman.
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