Customer Reviews

The Herbalist's Way: The Art and Practice of Healing with Plant Medicines (Chelsea Green)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Herbalist's Way is the very best book of its kind. Packed with practical tips, heartwarming humor and a very real understanding of the powerful healing plants herbalists daily work with, Nancy and Michael have created an invaluable guidebook for both aspiring and veteran herbalists. This book is not meant to be an herbal, aspiring instead to speak to the practical, spiritual and philosophical aspects of beginning and maintaining the practice of working with herbs, as herbalist, wildcrafter, farmer and/or supplier.

I really couldn't recommend this book any higher, the writing style is accessible and down to earth, and the design, including profiles of those most involved in the herbal field, lovely black & white photography and gorgeous pencil illustrations, is outstanding. I only wish Chelsea Green had released a hardcover version!

Nancy and Michael own Heartsong Farm Healing Herbs and create/sell some of the best tinctures and syrups I've ever had the pleasure of using. Nancy is a former apprentice and student of Rosemary Gladstar, and speaks with the same conviction regarding both ecological conservation and the spiritual aspects of healing and herbalism. The Phillips have given all of us deeply involved in the plant world a great gift in this inspiring and informative text. Enjoy!

~Kiva Rose, Herbalist
Bear Medicine Herbals

I cannot give enough praise to this work. The Phillips writing style is a delight and the information, invaluable. I disagree with the below review that disliked the "magazine" format...I loved it! It added so much interest and human element to the book. I thought the bio's of some of the more prominent (and not so prominent) herbalists were incredibly inspiring.
The authors treat their subject matter with tender loving care. When one reads this volume you feel as though you are having a chat with a good friend. Michael and Nancy are humble but authoritative in their presentation of community herbalism.
No aspiring herbalist should be without this book! It is a must have for anyone who wants to serve their community (or family)in any capacity as an herbalist.
This book presents so much information that is relevant to not only the herbalist, but anyone who is interested in herbs in general.
The only thing I regret about this book is that I didn't read it 10 years sooner!!!

The Herbalist's Way is not the sort of book one sits down and reads in one or even a few sittings; nor is it primarily a reference work to take down from the shelf when looking for a specific approach to mitigating a specific condition ("Depressed? Try St. John's Wort"). It is in some ways deeply philosophical and decidedly scholarly (quotations/assertions are well-documented where appropriate), while at the same time very practical. It's open and realistic about where a budding herbalist may fit into this country's existing health-care structure, and some possible traps of trying to make an herbalism practice into a lucrative business.

More than anything, The Herbalist's Way is about how a person interested in helping themselves and others live healthier lives can use their talent and interests to realize that worthy goal. It challenges the current thought that tends to look at an herb as an alternative to a pharmaceutical, analyzing it for active compounds, standardizing the levels of those compounds, and administering it as if it were a prescription-less drug.

Yes, there is information on the practical use of a few herbs, but it's much heavier on compassionate, responsible dealing with plants and people. It does contain some methodic information on medicine-making, but in the end, it serves better as a complement to reference works that contain primarily that kind of information.

Some might be concerned by its references to schools of thought decidedly more mystical-spiritual and pagan, such as diagnosing the health of any of six different organs by examining specific areas of their tongue, or establishing a spiritual connection with a personified Mother Earth. Still, it contains a lot of good information, so tread carefully and you and those you care for will benefit.

David Wandelt
Principal, Forward Glance Botanicals

The ONLY complaint I have about this book is that it was done in a sort magazine format where your reading was interupted by bios of prominent herbalists, with the text of what you were actually reading continuing on several pages afterwards. I'm ADD and reading is one way I like to train my mind to stay with one thing at at time. This book aggravated the symptoms of ADD and kept me trying too hard to stay focused on actually reading the text of the book. Wonderful little tidbits and advice and oodles of quotable quotes, definitely worth the read if you are an herbalist of any stripe.

Great book. It was very easy to read. It is a great resource book as well. If you like gardening and growing your own herbs with nature's touch this book is for you. It is definately a book to have in your library. This book is about herbs and practices that originated on the east coast. I live on the west coast it was nice just for the cultural differences within our own country. This book is a must have.

I bought this book as a follow-up to "The Village Herbalist", which I enjoyed, found thorough and informative as an introduction, and now was ready for some denser, more specific material. I was frustrated to discover that "The Herbalists Way" is pretty much a new edition of the "Village Herbalist" under a new name. Not fair! So I ended up paying twice for virtually the same book. I adore the amazing work these authors do in the world (an understatement), and would never want to hurt their success, but feel they need to be upfront with readers when a book is rehashed. When the title is changed, and no mention is made on the cover (or the back of the book) of any relationship to the previous book, people expect new material.

I noticed another reviewer expressed the same disappointment- wish I had seen that info. before I invested in this one.

There Are No Incurable Diseases: Dr. Schulze's 30-Day Cleansing & Detoxification Program, School of Natural HealingHerbal Home Health Care, Herbal Healing for Women, Complete Medicinal Herbal (Natural care) can round this out, on the herbal side. For the Shamanic side, The Physics of Miracles: Tapping in to the Field of Consciousness Potential The Future Is Yours: Do Something About It! There is a Sufi story about moths, and the only moth that really understands the candle is the one who gives himself totally to the light, and the light gives itself to him. This applies to shamanic work. Shamanic techniques work from the larger self, especially in service to others. Shamanism means working with the subconscious, and at times superconscious minds. It cannot be apprehended by the conscious mind, the ego. Without service, many things just don't work, or work only slightly. Whispers of the Ancients: Native Tales for Teaching and Healing in Our Time gives you some idea of how very different native storytelling is, and stories shape the Universe. Indigenous life, for which these techniques go hand in glove, can be approximated from Journey to the Ancestral Self: The Native Lifeway Guide to Living in Harmony With Earth Mother, Book 1 (Bk.1) These are very good basic books, to getting out of the box of Western culture, into the much more fascinating 7 worlds of the spiritual traveller. Wong Kiew Kit's books on Chi Kung show how ideas like this survive in Chinese culture, and Chinese Herbal medicine has aspects very similar to these. Joseph Murphy The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (Revised) can help in understanding this also. Healing For The Millions would also help.