Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up [Paperback]

Ellen Dugan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2003

How does your magickal garden grow?... With violets, rosemary, and yarrow to attract faeries; an apple tree for love and health; and a circle of stones in some tucked-away corner? Whether you live in a cottage in the woods, a home in the suburbs, or a city apartment with a small balcony, a powerful and enchanted realm awaits you. Discover the secret language and magickal properties of the trees and flowers, herbs and plants found growing around you, and learn how to create your own witch's garden.

Written with down-to-earth humor by a master gardener who is also a practicing witch, this creative and encouraging guide will inspire gardeners of all ages and experience levels. It includes a journal section that makes it easy to keep track of your progress, practical gardening advice, personal stories, and garden witchery lore and magick. Inside, you'll get the dirt on:

— Flower folklore
— Moon gardening and astrological timing
— Faerie magick
— Beginning to advanced witchcraft
— Floral and herbal spells
— Sabbat celebrations
— Witch crafts (sachets, wreaths, charm bags)
— Creating sacred space
— Shade, moonlight, and sun gardens
— Enchanted houseplant and container gardens
— Magickal herbal correspondences
— Garden blessings    

2004 COVR AWARD WINNER                                   

 

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-With good-humored flair, Dugan offers a practical introduction to gardening that incorporates an eclectic blend of Wiccan and magical traditions. The author encourages readers to work hard to make the garden "a place where both our metaphysical and ordinary lives begin to thrive together." Outlining basic principles such as working with the directions and the elements, moon phases, and color, the author shows how this lore, rooted in a respect for nature, also forms the basis of good gardening practice. She offers succinct and useful information on a great variety of topics such as astrology, fairies, herbal spells and charms, crafts, and journaling, and on dealing with an equal variety of garden situations and types. Throughout, she suggests excellent sources for further information, including the Extension Service, the Poison Control Center, and the public library, and she offers an extensive bibliography (mostly of magic literature). The good advice and sound horticultural practice found here can help novices and/or budding garden witches to discover their own style and get off to a solid start, and can also enrich the experience of those who are already knowledgeable.
Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Ellen Dugan, the "Garden Witch," is an award-winning author, a psychic-clairvoyant and a regular contributor to Llewellyn's almanacs, datebooks, and calendars. A practicing Witch for over twenty-five years, she is also a certified Master Gardener.

Ellen has written several books, including Garden Witchery, Elements of Witchcraft, Natural Magick for Teens, Cottage Witchery, Autumn Equinox, The Enchanted Cat, Herb Magic for Beginners, Natural Witchery, and How to Enchant a Man.  Her Garden Witch's Herbal, and Book of Witchery will be published in 2009.

When not keeping up with her family, Ellen unwinds by working in her perennial gardens at home with her husband. She wholeheartedly encourages everyone to personalize their green spellcraft by getting their hands dirty, discovering the wonder and magic of the natural world, and connecting with the spiritual side of nature. To find out more, visit her website at www.ellendugan.com or check out her blog at http://ellendugan.wordpress.com/.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (March 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738703184
• ISBN-13: 978-0738703183
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Witchcraft
  • #54 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Wicca

More About the Author

Ellen Dugan, is the award winning author known as the "Garden Witch". A psychic-clairvoyant, she has been a practicing Witch for over twenty-seven years. She is a Master Gardener, and is also the High Priestess of her Coven in the St. Louis area. Ellen teaches classes locally and online on Witchery and Magick. She is the author of the following Llewellyn books:

Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up (2004 COVR Award Runner-up)
Elements of Witchcraft; Natural Magick for Teens
7 Days of Magic: Spells, Charms & Correspondences for the Bewitching Week
Cottage Witchery: Natural Magick for Hearth and Home
Autumn Equinox: The Enchantment of Mabon
The Enchanted Cat: Feline Fascinations, Spells & Magick- (2007 COVR Award Winner)
Herb Magic for Beginners: Down-to-earth Enchantments
Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick - (2008 COVR Award Winner)
How to Enchant a Man: Spells to Bewitch, Bedazzle & Beguile
Garden Witch's Herbal: Green Magick, Herbalism & Spirituality (2010 COVR Award Runner-Up)
Book of Witchery: Spells, Charms & Correspondences for Every Day of the Week
Practical Protection Magick: Guarding & Reclaiming Your Power
Seasons of Witchery: Celebrating the Sabbats with the Garden Witch (June 2012)


Ellen's thirteenth book with Llewellyn Worldwide will be released in 2012. When she's not keeping up with her family, Ellen likes to unwind by working in her perennial gardens at home with her husband. Ellen wholeheartedly encourages folks to personalize their Spell-craft. To go outside and connect with the spiritual side of nature. To get their hands dirty and discover the wonder and magick of natural world that surrounds them.

Visit her author's website for tour information and to check out and order the six different online classes she offers at www.ellendugan.com

Visit her blog called, "Blog of Witchery" at ellendugan.blogspot.com/
You can also find Ellen on Facebook

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crafty ideas....., June 14, 2003

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up (Paperback)

Ellen Dugan holds `Master Gardener' status through the University of Missouri and according to her bio has many years of nursery and gardening experience. She is also clairvoyant and a witch with a sense of humor. As she is raising three teenagers all these skills are useful.

Dugan's book is a "user-friendly" introduction and guide to witchcraft. GARDEN WITCHERY is also a great resource for mothers and aunts and anyone else interested in fun-filled ideas for creating special gardens, places for divination and spell casting, Sabat holiday decor, and other pagan treats that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. Many of her suggestions, such as dying Easter Eggs with red cabbage leaves, can be found elsewhere, but Dugan is a practical witch and suggests it is not un-witchlike to buy Easter Egg dye. She uses natural materials at hand for many of her projects, but she recommends craft stores and yard sales as great places to stock up on supplies such as orange lights for Samhain or plastic colored eggs for Ostara.

Dugan not only provides the instructions for making and using many scented items, she includes some suggestions for growing the ingredients-although this is not a gardening book per se. I grow many of the herbs she recommends, and can testify it isn't hard to maintain pots of lavender, scented geraniums, and other plants on a patio, porch, or balcony-as long as you have adequate sun and remember to water them occasionally. And, it is extremely rewarding to make sachets and other scented items with plant material you grew yourself. If you intend to use Dugan's recipes and want to grow your own ingredients, however, buy a good gardening book such as Rodale's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HERBS which includes detailed information about the cultivation and uses of herbs (as well as how to grow them organically AND when they are noxious!!).

Although Dugan has many nifty ideas about gardening, the one concern I have concerning her advice is her recommended use of pesticides. This is quite ironic as she lists "eagle watching" as a fall pastime her family enjoys. If you can skip the poisons (some witches do use them) and stick to her other suggestions, this is a nifty source for many child-centered or adult "fun" activities.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Book but not for experienced gardeners, October 13, 2004

By 

Angie (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up (Paperback)

Ellen Dugan has written a very entertaining book, but I wouldn't suggest it as something to garden by. She leaves out some very important information on the plants she suggests. An example would be her recommendations for shade gardening, while the plants she list will indeed grow in shade, she neglects to mention the soil conditions required for those plants. Shaded areas can vary from bone dry to boggy and if you plant a fern or cardinal flower in a bone dry area failure is certain unless you plan to water constantly to keep the area moist. The other concern is that some of the plants that she recommends are highly invasive, mints (which should always be container grown!!), ivy, morning glories and periwinkle! These plants can over take entire gardens in a short amount of time. Check with your local master gardeners to be sure that these plants aren't listed in the noxious weeds list in your area. If you are going to follow her suggestions make certain that you research the plants that you choose, nothing is more disappointing then buying new plants and then killing them by accident!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very cool book!, November 3, 2003

By 

merrymousies (Waterford, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up (Paperback)

They say life began in a garden and so it did for me one day - I love gardening so much and to find a book like this pulls together a number of things I love to leartn about and play with. One of the things I love about this book is that its such a fun, easy read. There are quotes from the likes of Milton, Seton, Shakespeare, Wolfe, and lots of authors I'm not familiar with but who came up with some really neat lines. There's a section on moon gardening - something I've been planning to do and bought some additional books on. There's flower folklore which is always fun. There's a section on celebrations for the seasons, as well as a section on crafts (like making dream pillows, charm bags, etc.) For those new to gardening there are zone mapstips on planting certain plants (like trees), lists of magical plants & trees, flowers of the month (e.g. January is the month of the carnation - bestows energy & healing). Its just a really full, fun book that captivated me and inspire me to get rid-of more of the lawn and plant more gardens (using native plants of course :)