The Real Witches' Garden: Spells,Herbs, Plants and Magical Spaces Outdoors [Paperback]

Kate West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2004

Whether readers have 20 acres of plants or only a window box, real Witches can cultivate a powerful garden that expands and deepens their magic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kate West is the author of The Real Witches' Handbook and The Real Witches' Kitchen. She is Media Officer for The Children of Artemis and High Priestess of the Hearth of Hecate, which runs a popular email support and enquiry service for Witches around the world. A practising Wiccan for over 25 years, she has excellent international contacts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Element Books Ltd. (March 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007163223
• ISBN-13: 978-0007163229
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Use this book for developing the "green" section of your BOS, October 20, 2004

By 

T. Tyne (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real Witches' Garden: Spells,Herbs, Plants and Magical Spaces Outdoors (Paperback)

While it does include helpful growing advice it isn't a how to book on gardening. Which is good because the focus is on the beautiful rituals which make up a good portion of the content. Besides those for growing healthy plants and dedicating your garden as sacred space, the author has included very special ones for the Sabbats that really highlight the connection of nature and Wicca. I thought the one for Mabon was particularly good in the way she ties all the elements as well as the God and Goddess into the tending of the garden.

Because of the rituals, ideas for laying out gardens in witchy styles and the fairly extensive list of plant correspondences this book goes into my top ten list of most often referred to books.

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Green Witches Guide, March 16, 2004

By 

Merlyn (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Witches' Garden: Spells,Herbs, Plants and Magical Spaces Outdoors (Paperback)

For anyone who is interested in both Witchcraft and magical gardening this is the book for you. Kate West explains in her usual clear style how to grow herbs to use in your own spells or herbal remedies. She details the creation of your own sacred space within your garden, where you can truly meet the Gods and Goddesses on your home ground.

A great book highly recommended

Bright Blessings

Merlyn

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go for the (Green) Gold, October 27, 2005

By 

W. Martin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real Witches' Garden: Spells,Herbs, Plants and Magical Spaces Outdoors (Paperback)

Real Witches. Real power. That is the premise of Kate West's new book, The Real Witches' Garden. In this book, like the others in the Real Witches' series Ms. West delves deeply into all the ways to bring your practice into focus using a garden. She states that since we are following a nature-based religion, we might as well do our rituals in nature. Makes sense to me.

Now, you apartment dwellers don't go skipping over this book. There are gardens for the very large area as well as for the non-existent outdoor space. Something for everyone, no matter the size of your space or property. And you might even grow that green thumb you never knew you had.

In 12 easy to digest chapters, we learn how to make and celebrate gardens of all sorts. We are taught about planning for things like pets and children. There are gardens with a focus on the Lady and Lord, the Elements, the Seasons, magic or healing.

Each chapter contains numerous rituals to plant and celebrate in the garden's focus. Gizmos and doodads are kept to a minimum, so costs are not a big deterrent in achieving one with the great outdoors.

While I enjoyed this book and found it interesting, the writing style took some getting used to, probably because the author is from the UK. This is an excellent book for a beginner either to the Craft or to gardening. Especially useful are the lists of correspondences in the book, as well as the chapter entitled "Take it from here" that lists further reading and resources.

I was also pleased with the appendix explaining what witchcraft really is. It included brief paragraphs on our beliefs, something that is usually overlooked in many witchcraft books. All in all this is nice, handy book to add to your spiritual library.

W. Lyon Martin Author/Illustrator of "An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child"