Customer Reviews

Earth Magic: A Wisewoman's Guide to Herbal, Astrological, and Other Folk Wisdom

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Both charming and colloquial, Earth Magic reads like a recipe book of a 17th or 18th century witch or wisewoman. This is both a virtue and a stumbling-block. While the volume is crammed full of spells, instructions, charts, and folklore, it is difficult to read in large doses. The material conforms to no particular tradition or belief system, except perhaps that of Elizabethan hearthwitches, stillroom keepers, and herb grannies. Angelic and astrological correspondences rub shoulders with goddess lore, and references to both the Goddess and Jesus Christ are common.

The book is divided into twelve chapters, each covering one month and/or one sign of the zodiac. The Angels, Spirits, and Stars section for each month includes meditations on the spirit of the months, zodiac profile (on the sign itself, not necessarily a person "of" that sign), starwatching information, and invocations to related spirits. The Wisewoman's Journal section includes folklore, spells, and charms. Also for each month there is the Wisewoman's Weatherbook, with related weather lore. June, July and August feature "Witch's Garden" sections with information on a few garden features. Spells for love, for divination, for healing and protection are mixed with practical medical herbalism and weatherlore. Especially useful for those who use angelic and astrological magic, or who are looking for "traditional" women's magic.

It is clear that the information was gathered and written up by someone who was an avid student of the outdoors, including gardening, weatherworking, and astronomy. The text, though dense with symbolism and thick with information, is in a lyrical, flowing, and tender tone that is worth the time required to comprehend it. While few of us may be able to study under a genuine traditional witch in the old sense of the word -- herbwife, charmcaster, wisewoman -- or, in fact, to study their recipe books, this may be the closest to the old knowledge we will get.

Even though I have not finished this book yet, I have found it to be very good upon my glances and just by leafing through it. It is different than the norm books of natual magick, folklore, Witchcraft and Wicca, etc., that is so prevalent today. This book is a far cry in that it speaks more to and of the wisewoman's old ways of living with harmony of the earth and her cycles, and gives much folklore and 'days of old' knowledge that is not as well known in our fast-food culture, yet still relevant and useful today and everyday as ever. It is broken up into seasons and sections with relevant information astrologically, folklore, holidays, herbal and more. I found it refreshing and different, but also not as easy to read or 'light' in tone or subject as some other books that fall in this category. That in itself is a blessing in my opinion since I find it difficult to find books after awhile that are not just cookie-cutter initations of the same stuff in different packaging and various styles. This book is definately not and is a highly overlooked gem!

A peaceful and loving monthly wisewoman's path. Although most works of this nature are pagan; Claire Nahmad brings a Christian twist filled with angels and Christian Holy Days to celebrate. Traditions reach centuries back in time when the influence of stars and planets on all things of the earth were acknowledged and accepted, and when practitioners of healing and herbalism, whose vision was holistic, took these influences into account and were expert in their understanding of them. This lore of the wisewoman teaches us how to love and revere the earth, how to respond to her magic and return in some measure the blessing and healing that we receive from her. What a great find.

I agree with the others that have cautioned the purchase of this book. It is clearly another means to rope in pagans and attempt to convert them, as was done in days of old. Such as building cathedrals on the spot of an ancient grove to entice the pagan populous to attend.

It was severly disappointing from the aspect that I spent money on this thinking that I would glean some pagan wisewoman knowledge to add to my compendium, but instead I received preaching and Christian slight of hand. This book was a clear waste of money and time.

I really cannot recommend this to anyone of the pagan faiths.

Paganism and Christianity are very well linked. Pagan Rome first persecuted the early Christian faith,Christianity survived.
Christianity persecuted the pagan faith,Paganism survived.
The two faiths have and will always blend together.For better or for worse. I enjoyed reading Earth Magic,it's a good read and would be welcome on any open-minded reader's bookshelf who seeks not to separate, but to bridge.

This book is a wonderful source, particularly on the significance of particular seasons and the location of the sun and moon in specific star signs. It gives great understanding on how to choose times most profitable for one's workings.

Each chapter is centered on a month in the calendar and each contains first a brilliant theoretical essay on the nature, meanings, and associations of particular constellations, gods, myths, etc. Each chapter also contains an invocation to an archangel(not being the sort of witch who works much with the Christian pantheon, I skimmed over these), a handful of spells (many very interesting and useful which I have copied down for quick reference in the future), a table of correspondences for the month's star sign, including sacred numbers and associated planets (everything one would need for creating a sigil, talisman for mojo/gris-gris bag, etc.)and folk wisdom pertaining to the weather and other such agricultural necessities.

One thing I think prospective buyers should know is that this is not a book on Wicca. At its heart it is truly a book of Traditional Witchcraft, and in understanding that the Christian references and instructions on working with archangels are understandable. Robert Cochrane himself associated the Horn Child with Jesus Christ. Also, the synopsis of this book makes it sound very Celtic-based, but in reality Nahmad has a good grounding in all mythologies and there is a great deal of theory on Greek concepts (which one would expect from a book centered on stars and planets) and also includes a splash of information on Norse/Germanic deities. This book is certainly not fluffy-bunny literature, although it is an enjoyable and easy read, and the theoretical discourse at the beginning of each chapter is good proof of this.