The Ramblings and Wanderings

Archive for July, 2008

Kitchenwitch

A witch who works her magick and rituals mostly in the kitchen, who studies food magick.

She studies how to make a magickal home, magickal meals and a sacred kitchen, a witch who practises domestic magick. A kitchenwitch studies herbs and plants that you can eat (culinary), and grows them as well if she can. She is often a source of hearth, food and cooking folklore, customs and traditions.

If she can she will likely have a veggie garden, some fruits trees, and a culinary herb garden.

Her tools are more likely to be kitchen utensils, wooden spoons rather than wands, cooking pots rather than a cauldron.

She will probably have a shrine or altar set up in the kitchen or dinning area.

Her patron deities (if any) will likely be Goddesses and Gods of the hearth, food, agriculture, home, and harvest.

 

Cottagewitch

A witch who practices her magick and rituals in the home, garden and yard.

She studies how to make a magickal home, kitchen and garden, a witch who practises domestic magick. She knows many spells for the home, such as protection or purification spells, and a bit of kitchen and garden magick as well.

She will probably have a well tended home, yard and garden, and may be the source of many tips on stain removal.

A cottagewitch will likely have a garden, with whatever strikes her fancy growing in it, as well as many houseplants. Her home will host various household guardians and spirits.

Her tools will often revolve around household chores as well as the kitchen and garden, such as besoms, a garden trowel, smudge sticks, a wooden spoon, a cleaning bucket.

She will have a shrine/altar set up in her home, probably the living room, but may also have one set up in the kitchen and/or garden.

Her patrons (if any) will be deities of the home, hearth, family, agriculture and harvest.

 

Hearthwitch

A witch who practices his magick and rituals in the home, with the household hearth as a focal point.
His home will host various household guardians and spirits. He is often a source of hearth, home and fireside folklore, customs and traditions. A hearthwitch is a domestic witch who works closely with the elements and various spirits and who may add some shamanic techniques to his practice.

He knows many spells for the home, such as protection or purification spells, and kitchen magick as well. He studies how to make a magickal home, kitchen and garden, a witch who practices domestic magick.

His tools will often revolve around household chores as well as the kitchen and garden, such as besoms, a garden trowel, smudge sticks, a wooden spoon, and fireplace tools.

He will have a shrine/altar set up in his home, probably on the fireplace mantle or by the stove, but may also have one set up in the kitchen and/or garden.

His patrons (if any) will be deities of the hearth, home, family, fire, agriculture and harvest.

Gardenwitch

This witch knows how to make things grow.

A Gardenwitch practices her magick and rituals mostly in a cultivated garden. She studies herbs, flowers, veggies and anything you would grow in a garden. As well she will study the cycle of the seasons, climate, weather, when to plant, when to harvest and such.

She will have a well-tended yard and garden, and love to spend her free time weeding, planting, pruning and tending her lawn and garden.

Her tools will mostly be garden tools and natural, practical tools she has crafted herself. Such as pruning shears, a shovel or digging stick, a garden trowel, a watering can, wooden wands and staffs, and besoms.

She will have a shrine and/or altar set up in her garden, and possibly in her home as well.

Her patron deities (if any) and Goddess will likely be deities of agriculture, the harvest, and nature.

Greenwitch

He studies trees, herbs, wildflowers, wildlife (animals), and the cycle of the seasons.

He will probably know what kinds of trees grow in the different parks in his area. He will study both magickal and medicinal herbalism. He may also study the care of, and working with animals as well.

A greenwitch practices most of his rituals and magick in natural settings, in the wild, in farmlands, in parks and his own yard. He will work with local (nature or otherwise) spirits.

A greenwitch will have a garden, if at all possible. He will also go in to the wild to gather plants and practice his ritual and magick.

The tools he uses are going to mostly be natural, practical tools he has crafted himself, such as wooden wands and staffs, besoms (brooms) made from local bushes, perhaps dishes made from clay. As well as the tools of herbalism, pruning shears, and maybe even a shovel or digging stick.

His shrine/altar may be in his home, yard or garden, as well as in a secluded area in a nearby forest or field.

His patrons (if any) will likely be deities of nature, the wild, animals, healing, agriculture, and the harvest.

 

A Witch who combines many elements of Traditional Witchcraft and Cunning lore, as well as Shamanism and healing, with a more rural tone to their practise.

A hedgewitch studies herbalism, nature, shamanism, healing lore, hearthcraft, nature oriented magick and anything else she may find useful. She will study both magickal and medicinal herbalism.

Hedgewitches study and practice their rituals and magick anywhere they may, but prefer to in rural or wild areas.  They also tend to live in more rural places.

She will work with local (nature or otherwise) spirits and household spirits. Hedgewitches also honor their ancestors as well.

She will have a garden if she can, but prefers to gather plants and magickal materials from the wild. She may know a lot about what grows in the wild, as well as about wildlife and livestock. Her tools will be a mix of different useful items, as well as natural items and shamanic tools.  Such as walking sticks and staffs, wands, rattles, a medicine bag, pruning shears, cooking pots, besoms, and the tools of herbalism, such as a mortar and pestle.

Her shrine/altar can be placed anywhere in her home, garden or yard, and she may have special places set up in her favorite wild places, or a corner of a farm field. Her patrons (if any) will be deities of nature, the wild, and agriculture, healing, the harvest and the Underworld.

Juniper

 

Common Name: Juniper (common)
Botanical or Scientific Name: Cupressaceae Juniperus communis

Other Names: Western Juniper, Rocky Mountain Red Cedar, Dwarf Juniper, Mountain Common Juniper, Old Field Common Juniper (there are many names, for many species of Juniper)

Genus and Species: Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae.

Type: An evergreen coniferous shrubby tree of the cypress family. There are many different junipers in the world.

Physical Description: A wide and low tree with an irregularly rounded crown. A knotty, twisted trunk. Often has a “bonsai” look to it.

Needle: Small (1/8 inch), scale-like and tight against the branches. Backsides of needles bear inconspicuous glands. Pale, yellowish green when young, greyish-green, green or blue-ish when mature. Appear in pairs, overlapping but covering the twig in four rows.

Form: Small tree or large shrub; shape is variable but often short with a round crown.

Size: Rocky Mountain Juniper can reach 13 metres in height

Flower: Dioecious; both male and female flowers are small (1/8 inch) and occur at branch tips; males oblong and females nearly round. Males are nearly yellow, females greener.

Fruit: Round, bluish berry-like cones (1/3 inch in diameter), covered in glaucous bloom, mature in two seasons. Green when young, bright to dark blue with a whitish bloom when mature, located at the ends of the branches

Twig: Covered in green scale-like needles, later turning light brown.

Bark: Thin and quite scaly with long narrow ridges, reddish brown but turns gray when aged and weathered.

Wood: Reddish colour, hard, durable, fine-grained, often knotty, distinctive “cedar-ish” odour.

Climate and Habitat: Rocky canyon bottoms, dry rocky southern facing ridges, and along lakeshores and streambeds. Rocky Mountain juniper often occurs in pure open groups of trees, but it can occur mixed with ponderosa pine on south and west facing slopes, or with Douglas fir on north and east facing slopes.

Soil Preference: Dry rocky or sandy soils

Places Commonly Found: Juniper grows wild throughout the northern hemisphere.

Places I have Found in Wild: Okanagan Valley, BC. Near Jasper, Alberta. Traveling through Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Washington and Oregon.

Parts Used: All but roots

Poisonous Parts: n/a

Safety and Warnings: Juniper is an irritant, and best used with other, more soothing herbs, and should not be used during pregnancy or when suffering from a kidney disease or infection. People with asthma and breathing conditions may not want use it in incense. Handling the needles can cause a slight irritation of the skin, allergic reactions are common, as such they are not recommended as Yule Trees.

Bouquet: Peppery, woody, almost fruity, some people claims its smells like cat piss, and others say it smell of violets. Fragrant and flowery, combining the aromas of gin and turpentine.

Flavour: Bittersweet and peppery with some pine flavour

Magickal Gender: Masculine

Elements: Fire

Celestial Bodies/Zodiac: Sun

Sabbats: Samhain, Yule

Medicinal Uses: Juniper is primarily used in the treatment of urinary tract infections such as cystitis and urethritis. It is a useful remedy for gastric conditions and gastrointestinal infections, inflammations and cramps. The bitter action aids digestion and relieves flatulent colic. Juniper is often used in the treatment of rheumatism, arthritis and gout. Applied externally, the diluted essential oil penetrates the skin to help relieve joint and muscle pain and neuralgia. It warms the tissues by encouraging blood flow.

Medicinal Actions: Antiseptic and diuretic properties, improving digestion, stimulating the uterus and reducing inflammation. Diuretic, increasing the elimination of acid metabolites; urinary antiseptic, carminative, stomachic, antirheumatic, uterine stimulant, anti-inflammatory.

Magickal/Ritual Properties: Protection, love, purification, underworld, manifestation, and prevention of theft.

Aromatherapy and Essential Oil: Clears the mind and is a good detoxifier, especially of uric acid, making it an excellent choice for treating arthritis, rheumatism and gout. The scent and heavy smoke is excellent for creating a ritual mindset.

Culinary Uses: The berries are used to flavour pickling brine, sauerkraut, stuffing’s, game, ham and pork. Juniper extracts are used to flavour gin, beer and liqueurs. Traditionally used by Native Americans, and by Ancient Europeans as a famine food.

Cultivation: The berries are harvested in the autumn of their second year when they are bluish-black in colour.

Preparation: Juniper berries are at their best when they are still moist and soft to the touch, squashing fairly easily between one’s fingers. They should be dried carefully to preserve the volatile oil. The fresh berries can be made into a syrup. It is possible to make a purée from juniper berries or to extract the flavour and aroma by macerating them in hot water, but as all parts are edible and the texture is agreeable, it is usually just as well to use the entire fruit, split or crushed.

Storage: I have found air drying on a screen and storing in a glass jar is most effective for both berry and needle. Whole branches are stored in a paper bag or wrapping to catch the dried needles as they fall off. The plain wood stores just fine on a shelf in a dry room.

Mythology and Folklore: It is said that ‘he who cuts down a juniper will die within the year’. Planting a juniper by the front door discourages thieves. There are some theories and myths connecting juniper to the world tree. Juniper was burned in the Middle Ages to ward off Plague.

Constituents: Contains phenolics, flavonoids, catechol tannins and polysaccharides, as well as an essential oil which contains a- and b-pinenes, sabinene, limonene, terpinen-4-ol, borneol, geraniol and sesquiterpenes.

Other Uses: Carving, cooking, disinfectant, air freshener, in sweat houses, smoking hides, tea, cooking. Juniper branches were a popular strewing herb.

Other Notes: Juniper often develops massed outgrowths of branches called Witches’ Brooms.

 

What is a Mystery?

So what are these Mysteries Pagans, especially Wiccans, are always talking about? Why does the word get a capitol “M”?

A Mystery is a “Divine Secret” or spiritual truth. It is the very moment of enlightenment. A Mystery is something that causes one of those earth shattering, life changing, spiritual moments that changes who you are as a person.  Basically, a Mystery is when something happens that causes you to take a leap or sprint ahead on that development of your soul. The Mystery is the wisdom, knowledge, realization, inspiration etc that comes from those moments in time.

You do not have to be Wiccan to experience such things, nor do they have to occur during an initiation. Mystery is simply the word Wiccans (and most modern Pagans) use to describe a very old thing. A great example of this is the “Shamanic death” it in itself is an initiation of a different sort (and horrifically traumatic), it is certainly not Wiccan, but it is a Mystery that has been part of the human spiritual experience since we lived in caves.

And it’s simply that such things tend to occur during (or shortly before or after) initiations, but not only then.

It is the Gods, our guides, totems and ancestors who are the custodians of the Mysteries. A High Priestess, teacher, or some such person may guide you toward the Mysteries. But it is up to the spiritual beings in your life to decide when you are ready to receive a Mystery, and what that Mystery may be. I’d like to point out that experiencing a Mystery can be rather traumatic, due to the fact that it changes not only your perceptions but it changes YOU. This is why it is safer to have a teacher, friend, or group to help you, and why a solitary practice is so difficult.

I have been both prepared and supported for such things, and not at all. When left on my own and not ready (mistakenly thinking that I was) it was rather like being an insignificant worm that has just been stepped on. The recovery and assimilation from/of the Mystery is incredibly difficult on your own. It can be difficult with the support of others as well, and they can only do so much for you. Each Mystery is a personal experience.

When you are new to your Path, it’s natural to want to rush headlong into such things, like the short child desperate for a growth spurt. I know I was once desperate to FEEL some special spiritual something…looking for some sort of validation or proof.

There is a fantasy novel by one of my favorite authors in which a rather bitter saint (someone who has talked to the gods and done their “dirty work”) comes across a group of pilgrims. One pilgrim talks the saints ear off about her devotion to the Mother and what she would do if the goddess ever showed Herself to her. The saint thought to herself something along the lines of ;
“Yeah right, if the Mother showed herself to you; you’d be kneeling on the floor, pissing yourself from fright and weeping at the unfathomable-ness of it”

Do not allow someone to claim they can teach you the Mysteries, they can only guide. Do not allow someone to claim the Mysteries belong to their Tradition alone, this is not truth. Do not feel left out or like there is something wrong with you if you have not experienced such a thing, it will come when you are ready. Keep studying, keep practicing, keep meditating and eventually it will come. Be prepared to not be the same person you were before it did.

Juniper

Some Topics of study for a Hedgewitch

 

Yes, there are many listed here, and others could probably add more. Obviously, you could never study everything! Part of a Tradition like Hedgecraft is being able to choose what areas you wish to focus on. You are also not expected to become an expert at any thing, unless you choose to. Hedgewitches tend to be jacks of many trades, but master of none or few.

It is important to act with integrity and never misrepresent yourself as an expert when you are not. Be honest with yourself and others about your knowledge, experience and abilities.

Start with what interests, excites and calls to you. Remember that this is not a race.

Herbalism & wortcunning; growing, magickal, ritual and healing

Shamanism & shamanic tecniques

Gardening

Horticulture

Agriculture, hunting & farming

Homesteading

Permaculture

Weather and climate

Nature Magick

Seasons & the wheel of the year

Trance work

Greenhouse; building, running, growing

Environmentalism

Biology

Geology

Animals and animal husbandry

The Elements

The Gaia theory

Evolution

Botany

Plant folklore

Garden Magick

Landscaping

First Aid

Nursing

Natural healing

Homeopathy

Reiki

Aromatherapy

Midwifery

Alternative healing

Holistic healing

Candle making

Incense & smudge stick making

Oil making

Soap making

Crystal and stones; healing, ritual and magick

Cooking

Nutrition

Kitchen Magick

Hearth Magick

Wildcrafting

Identification of and researching of flora

Identification of and researching of fauna

Animal Tracks

Outdoorsman-ship

Orienteering

Bird Watching

Mythology

Folklore

History

Religions and spirituality

Divination

Prophecy

Meditation

Energy work

Spell crafting

Charm, talisman, etc making

Making ritual tools

Arts and crafts

Astral travel and out of body experiences

Sustainable living

Sprit guides

Nature spirits

Totems

The Turning of Spring to Summer

 

The most amazing thing, for me at least, about coming home is returning to the rhythms of the place where I first began to study Paganism, and thus the Wheel of the Year. As a smart-a**ed teenager, I didn’t pay much attention as I followed along behind my garden obsessed Mother. In fact, it took living out in the country, on a small acreage in Alberta, to make me pay proper attention to the turning of the seasons. At first, this was little more than annoyance at the drifts of half-melted snow stubbornly clinging to the shady bottoms of the trees at Beltaine. When I look back, I shake my head at the fact it required snowstorms for Ostara to make me really and truly pay attention to the cycle of the Seasons.

Returning to the Okanagan, a large lake valley in British Columbia, Canada, after nearly 7 years, I was looking forward to learning the rhythms of a much warmer climate. I came back not long before Litha, and with Beltaine almost here; I have now spent nearly a full Turn of the Wheel here. And I have discovered I did not need to learn the rhythms and cycle of the land here. I already had learned years ago, even if I failed to realise it for what it was. For honoring the changing seasons is more than noticing when the first robin appears, or tying pink ribbons on tree limbs. It goes much deeper than lighting a fire at sunrise, or even weaving grain into a dolly. The seasons are a part of us. Childhood memories are full of walking in the Autumn fog, jumping into leaf piles, playing in the warm Spring rain, waiting for the first big snow storm, and sunburns in Summer. The rhythms of life dance in harmony with the seasons, even if we do not recognize it as such.

Spring has arrived when the family cats stop spending most of their time indoors. Summer is on its way when they take up spending their afternoons sleeping in the lavender patch, even before it has bloomed. There is a bald spot in the big patch of English lavender from years of my mother’s, now elderly cat sunning himself in the same spot, year after year. How glorious a place to catnap!

I know that summer is fully upon us when, during the heat of the day, the cats move from the lavender to the sheltering shade of the maple-wall. Roughly 6 feet high, 8 feet long and 5 feet thick, a gang of young Maple trees have been shaped into a wall-shape by my tenacious Mother. Just before bud-burst, we trim them back, never allowing them to become more than shrubbery. Providing shade and a dividing line between two areas of the yard.

We live in a dry region, and with many old Western Red Cedars towering abouve the property; other plant-life must be carefully managed. Cedars are thirsty trees; they are often the first to die when there is drought. We lost 2 large Cedar trees and a few smaller cedar shrubs last year, when construction on the hills abouve changed the course of underground streams. If we allowed the Maples to grow overmuch, they might kill off the Cedars. Natural selection, perhaps, but still costly to have 20 foot dead trees removed, and dangerous to leave a large dead tree to fall on its own.

If the Cedars died, much shade would be lost, causing catastrophe for Mom’s garden, and many plants that grow under their sheltering limbs. The greenery they give to us in winter would be gone, the shelter from wind and rain lost. I have a special fondness for the Cedars in Mom’s yard. Especially the one growing closets to the maple-wall. This Cedar has kindly provided materials for smudge sticks, and one besom handle, over the years, only ever asking in return that it get enough water to thrive.

Between the maple-wall and my favorite Cedar is a lovely patch of grass, clover, and Canadian thistle. A few times over the decade-plus my mother has lived here, a fairy ring of mushrooms has grown up (always seemingly overnight) in this patch. Mom now makes a point of leaving birdseed in this area, along with hanging birdfeeders nearer to the house. Clippings from grooming the dogs are left here in the Spring and again before Winter, providing insulating material for bird nests. This is where I left my very first Offering when I was just 15, this is where I leave them now. The thistle and clover are greening but not flowering yet. When they do, you can see why the Old Ones favour this spot.

At the edge of this special spot, a great old patch of yarrow trails over the retaining wall. Here is one of the first herbs I ever planted, still growing strong. In fact, it has now become cause of much frustration for my Mother, as the hardy yarrow tries to take over much of the garden and the lawn. There are areas of the one acre yard where yarrow, mint and scotch moss vie for dominance of the formerly-all-grass-lawn. Ah well, I would rather walk on fragrant mint and flowering yarrow, with soft moss underneath my feet than grass.

There are half a dozen types of mustard growing wild and unchecked in the corners of the yard. Right now they bloom in yellow, white and purple. I keep threatening to make a salad of them, along with other gleanings from the garden. Pansies perhaps? The nasturtiums have not bloomed yet; will not for a little while.

Mom was quite annoyed when I identified a much-hated weed as wild ginger. Native Americans used the root to flavour foods much as real ginger is used (This plant is not related to the ginger you can find at the local grocery store). In addition it was thought to protect those who ate spoiled meat or food that might be poisoned. It was used for many medical purposes including the treatment of digestive disorders, especially gas, and in a poultice on sores. The dried powered leaves were used to promote sneezing. Often it was used to promote sweating, reduce fever and for coughs and sore throats. In other words, I have chosen a patch of it Mom cannot kill off until I have made good use of it, and ensured at least one patch will come back next year.

My favorite tree in the yard stands guardian by the front door. Planted when the house was first built over 50 years ago, she stands wide and taller than the house she shelters. A beautiful Western Yew, who would have been comfortable in any ancient Druid grove or old-time churchyard. This special lady provided me with my first wand, before I knew how some Pagans are uncomfortable with the Yew in Circle, due to its associations with Death and the Underworld. When I first began to study Shamanism, I would visualize her as my connection to the World Tree, making it one of my entrances into the Otherworlds. When a strong wind or storm blows a limb from her body, I reverently gather it up. Her lost limbs have become wands, her leaves collected and use in “flying” incense. Whatever remains is lovingly placed in the balefire. Even when I lived far away, if I came to visit, I often brought pieces of her (rescued from the compost pile) back to Alberta with me. This fine lady Yew shelters many birds year round in her arms. The robins are especially fond of her. The birds eat her red berries, immune to its poison, as I try to keep my curious dog form doing the same. When I first started my path, this lady was my secret Yule tree. Knowing that we will be moving, and leaving her behind this Summer, I have endeavoured to pot some of her young daughters, in hopes of taking some of her essence with me. I know Spring is here when I see robins building nests in her arms, and jays squawk bossily from the very crown of her.

Summer comes with the blooming of the lavender patch, when the last of the Canadian violet has lost its flower. Summer comes when the last lilac bush drops is fragrant purple blossoms and the wild roses are in full bloom. Summer has come when the Cedars thirstily drink every drop of water we give them. When the Tamarisks are fully green and they prepare to bloom in a delicate light pink. Summer has come when the heat drives us to stand in the slow and low flowing stream, under the shelter of the shrubby Birches who grow on its banks.

I shall miss this Land more than I can say, when we leave next month, headed for a new valley. I look forward to learning the cycles of a new place, but I know that the rhythms of this place will forever stay in my blood and bone. The Yew is a part of my Soul, as are the Cedars, the yarrow and the cooling stream.

O, glorious Spring, Oh magnificent Summer.

Gazing at the beauty that is the home of my teen years, I look up upon the sheltering mountains so close to my Mother’s home. There the mountainside is scarred from a forest fire years ago, caused by a combination of poor forest management and lightning. I strain to hear a stream that once ran through the property all Spring, but now often runs dry due to construction changing the waterways. I walk along the edge of the property, picking up trash commuters have tossed from their car windows. I gaze sadly at a neighbour wasting litres of water on his great grass lawn. I fight with my Mom to save the trees and plant life endangered by changing water tables, pollution, and climate change.

I wonder what the cycle of the Seasons will be like here in another ten years. And I worry.

 

~ Juniper

The First Thing You Need

Basics of Identifying and Researching Plants

STOP! Before you do anything, before we go any further, before I wax poetic about the worship of Nature and reverence for the Earth, before we discuss meditations on plants, before we talk correspondences or magickal properties. Before any of that, there is one thing you need, and some skills you must learn. This is for your own and Nature’s safety. The thing you need is a field guide, and one of the skills is how to use a field guide. A field guide is often times the best first step towards the other skills you must learn; identifying and researching plants.

Sounds terribly boring, doesn’t it? It’s natural to want to jump right in, making incense, collecting plant totems, hugging trees, walking through the forest barefoot. But what if it turns out the incense irritates your lungs? What if the plant you cut to make your totem was not the plant you thought it was? What if the tree you hugged produces oil that irritates your skin? What if, while walking barefoot through the woods, you step on some poison ivy?

Before we talk the spirituality of a Nature Path, before we talk about Nature magick, let us talk practicality. You need to know how to identify plants and how to research them so that you do not end up accidentally poisoning yourself, or making everyone in a ritual circle cough up a lung.

Many plants look very alike, and it is common for a harmless plant to look much like a dangerous one. Most plants have some sort of defensive mechanism, usually in the form of thorns, oils, poison and such. So before you touch a plant, you better make sure you know all about that plant!

I couldn’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve come across someone who brought home a bunch of plant matter they bought or picked, brewed a tea and drank it… and wound up very ill. Plus, if you are planning on using plants for ritual and magickal purposes, you need to know the plants species and genus and such. There are plenty of plants that resemble one species but actually belong to another. I had a friend who made a wand out of what she thought was Alder; only for it to turn out it was made of Poplar. Oops!

The best tools and skills any Nature loving witch could have is a field guide of plants, a working understanding of how to use one, and knowing how to identify and research a plant.

Now, some of you may not know what a field guide is, so here is a definition courtesy of Wikipedia:

Field Guide: A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (plants or animals) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the ‘field’ or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects.

It will typically include a description of the objects covered, together with paintings or photographs and an index. More serious and scientific field identification books will probably include identification keys to assist with identification, but the publicly-accessible field guide is more often a browsable picture guide organized by family, color, shape, location or other descriptors.

For an online field guide, follow this link:

http://www.enature.com/home/

A field guide is a great way to know what grows where, what it looks like, when it blooms, how to tell it apart from other plants and many other useful tips. Field guides have photographs, drawn pictures, diagrams, maps, detailed descriptions and more to help you figure out what plants grow where, and makes it easy to identify each plant. Some field guides will even have practical and medicinal uses listed in them as well. If you always wondered if verbena or sage brush or any plant grows near where you live, this is the best way to find out.

You can find a field guide at your local book store, usually for about 20 dollars or less. The MOST important thing about your field guide is that you have one that is appropriate for the region in which you live and can gather plants. The SECOND most important thing is that it is easy for you to use.

Any book store in your area will have field guides for your area. Today there are field guides for all of North America; for just the eastern or western half; for specific states or provinces, and even for smaller geographic areas, such as counties, hiking trails, and specific refuges, parks, or preserves. For your first guide, I recommend getting one for as small an area as possible that is still where you live or where you can get to some nature. This will help you to avoid flipping through many pages of plants that grow more than a couple of hours drive from your home.

If you live in the city, do not despair! Flipping through a field guide, you will see that many of the plants listed grow in the urban areas; such as in vacant lots, ditches, and “disturbed areas” – construction sites.

Do not pick up a field guide more than 5 years old. With the genetic and advanced scientific testing available today, the older field guides have too many inaccuracies. The best field guides are put out by Peterson Field Guides and by The National Audubon Society, but there are many great field guides to be had. The ideal field guide is easy to use, portable, and accurate.

When looking to buy a field guide, look for a book that feels easy to use. Flip through, if you can, and look at some of the identification keys (usually found in the front), the photographs, maps and descriptions of plants. Does it feel confusing or does it feel like you could figure out what kind of pine that tree in your back yard really is? Are the pictures, drawings and photographs clear and give you a good look at bark, flower, leaves and such? Is it written in a style that will be readable by you, or is a tad too scientific, or not scientific enough?

Make sure the book you buy is also going to be easy to carry around. A big text book sized one will get heavy in your bag or pack after a while.

For the purposes of a Nature witch, you will want a book that also has some practical and medicinal uses listed for each, or most, of the plants as well. Check to see if the book lists whether or not plants are edible or poisonous, you’ll want to know that.

If you are having a hard time finding the herbs in any book, understand that most herbs, like mint for example, are classified as wildflowers.

Get a book that is a “field guide for plants” if you can, as it will have trees, shrubs, herbs, wildflowers, mosses etc. If you cannot find one for all plants, then decide what kind of plant interests you the most. Do trees and shrubs call to you, or mosses and lichens? Are you more interested in herbs and wildflowers than ferns or fungi? How about cacti and succulents?

There are many online field guides as well, use you search engine to find one for your area, or use the one above. Online field guides are great when you just do not have the money to buy a book. However you cannot take your computer into the field. It is a lot easier to put a book into your backpack.

Once you have purchased your first field guide, it is time to try it out.

Exercises:

After purchasing your book, take the time to read through the introduction and sections at the front about your region and what kind of plant life can be found there. Spend some time looking at the maps. Now open up your journal or note book (or what works best for you. I recommend something that will go easily into your back pack along with the field guide. Something you do not mind getting a little muddy) and write in it what kind of plant life, climate and geography is prevalent in your area. Do you live in or near Alpine forest, plains and grasses, arid desert etc? What sort of plants live there? If you are in a plains area, you will be finding lots of grasses. If you live in an arid area, you will be finding plenty of cacti and succulents, and so on.

One of the most important things about using your field guide is being familiar with its content and layout. When you have some spare time, flip through the guide and get to know where the mosses are, where the mint family is, where the roses are – so you can find them quickly when you need to look up a plant. If you already have certain favourite plants, now it the time to write down their page numbers, earmark their pages, or bookmark those pages in some fashion.

Now go identify some plants! Start with some easy ones, like the tree in your back yard, the dandelions in the front yard, the cedar hedge that lines the parking lot at work, how about that weed with the funny shaped leaves that grows in the cracks of the sidewalk in front of your apartment building.

DO NOT CUT OR PICK THE PLANT!!!! That is for another lesson.

If you have a camera, you might want to take a picture of your newly identified plant. If you have any artistic abilities, you could sketch it. Using the Herbal Info Outline, start to write down the info you have gleaned on each plant from the field guide and from finding and studying it. Do not worry if you do not have much to write right away, and that some parts of the Outline will be left empty. Just leave yourself enough space to add more info later.

If you wish to go a little further in depth, you can now research the plant online; try typing both common and scientific names into your search engine of choice. Watch for discrepancies between sites! Double check the info you find online with the info in the field guide. Use your brains and common sense when researching, especially online. If you really want to get good practise and good info on your identified plants, you can head over to the library and look them up in books from the botany and horticulture sections. Remember, the older a book on plant life is, the less accurate the info will be. Keep adding to your notes on the plant.

Once you have a feel for your field guide and for identifying and finding info on plants, you can move on to actually gathering and using them.

Juniper 2007

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