JD Walker - A Witchs Guide to Wildcraft

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

A Witchs Guide to Wildcraft: Using Common Plants to Create Uncommon Magick 2021 by JD Walker.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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First e-book edition 2021

E-book ISBN: 9780738765594

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Maps on pages by Llewellyn Art Department

Interior art by Trisha Previte

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Walker, J. D., author.

Title: A witchs guide to wildcraft : using common plants to create

uncommon magick / JD Walker.

Description: Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications, [2021] |

Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: A Witchs Guide to

Wildcraft explores more than thirty common North American plants,

providing tips for identification, gathering, and cultivation as well as

specific rituals and magical uses Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021000464 (print) | LCCN 2021000465 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738765433 (paperback) | ISBN 9780738765594 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Witchcraft. | Magic. | PlantsNorth America.

Classification: LCC BF1566 .W35 2021 (print) | LCC BF1566 (ebook) | DDC

133.4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000464

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000465

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Disclaimer

Do not eat, smoke, or consume in any form plants that have been gathered away from your home or locations otherwise out of your control. Do not ingest any of the plants you gather if you dont personally know how you will react to that plant or the life history of that plant. Readers are advised to consult their doctors or other qualified healthcare professionals before taking herbal supplements or remedies. The publisher and the author assume no liability for any injuries caused to the reader that may result from the readers use of content contained in this publication and recommend common sense when contemplating the practices described in the work.

Contents

by Sarah McDavid

: Wildcrafting

: Magick in a Modern World

Ground Rules before You Harvest

: Heavenly Bodies and Their Impact on Plants

: From Harvest Prep to Harvesting

: Processing Your Plants

: The Plants

: Learning about Common Plants

Crafting List

Foreword

In my business and metaphysical experience, it has been a challenge trying to find a good down-to-earth reference book on herbs for magickal uses that combines how to identify commonly used plants with the ways to harvest and utilize them. One of the primary focuses in my shop is to offer a wide array of herbs that can assist our practitioners of many spiritual paths. I am always adding more as the clients call for them. And there are a lot of calls.

JD and I met about twenty years ago when she visited my shop, and we found a fast and lasting friendship. She originally came in for the reasons many explorers doto find information and a community of like-minded people. Sources were not as prolific back then, and, believe it or not, the internet was not the information hub it is these days. (My, what twenty years can bring to our lives.) My medical training taught me to be a great phlebotomist and X-ray tech, and my metaphysical training is quite extensive. I truly appreciate the value of herbs and know my way around a cauldron, mojo, and poppet, but I am a brown thumb at best when it comes to plants. My skills with herbs come into play once they are dried. When JD attended one of my herb classes, I quickly learned that she had a vast grasp of how to grow, care for, and identify plant life. Madame Master Gardener (as I sometimes call her) puts me to shame in this regard. Together, JD and I make a damn fine team.

Many years ago, JD and I found ourselves in discussion on how to address the absence of a reference book on common North American plants in the market. It is wonderful to chat about the impact of Middle Eastern resins and African and Central American exotics, but very few of my customers and clients will ever travel to these regions to truly learn about the plants. We decided that she should write a commonsense guidebook on herbs to better assist my Pagan clients.

JD insisted the book had to be about herbs that people could relate to, find nearby, and easily identify. She certainly has the expertise for this kind of project. She has told me many a story about why we grow the stuff we grow, the background of the use of this plant or that, new discoveries about how to use various plants, and more. In fact, my friends and I rib her a bit from time to time when she gets going on the topic.

Now, the publication of such a book is finally happening. I am so proud and happy to see JDs vision realized. This book hits all those marks we considered. A Witchs Guide to Wildcraft: Using Common Herbs to Create Uncommon Magick is down to earth: readers anywhere along the Pagan path can read it, understand what is being explained, and apply the information to the plants in their own backyard. The blend of references to old grimoires with more modern metaphysical classics will help the reader go further in their own journey of discovery with herbs.

This is wonderfully insightful information written by a witch who knows her stuff. I think anyone who picks it up will be impressed with it, and I expect it will become a standard on the bookshelves of many a Pagan. A good reference book like this is one you just keep going back to.

Sarah McDavid

High Priestess of House of Akasha

Owner of Terra Blue

Introduction

Herbs. They are part and parcel of most witches tool chests. Herbalists and Pagan practitioners use them to calm the mind and spirit and to help activate the universe to achieve our goals. One of the best ways to succeed in magick is to really connect with the herbs used. Most average-size cities have at least one herbal store, but there is no better way to really connect with the herbs you intend to use than by personally collecting and processing your own herbs. This is what I call wildcrafting.