I have several passions in life other than Witchcraft; namely baking, reading and gardening. It was no surprise to me that herbs played a big part in my Craft right from the beginning. Not so much the medicinal side (although I do like a good herbal tea) perhaps because I am paranoid that I might kill someone...but I have worked with herbs and plants for magical purpose from the start.
I had several herbcraft books but a lot of them included herbs and plants that didn't grow locally to me or were hard to source or expensive to purchase so I decided I would like to write my own guide. Thankfully once again my publishers Moon Books accepted the proposal and work began.
It was really interesting researching and deciding what plants to include; some of the myths and folklore surrounding the most innocent of herbs and flowers is hilarious, others quite scary!
A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Plants and Herbs (yes I know the title is quite wordy) has become my own 'go to' guide (if that doesn't sound too vain). My own copy is worn and well thumbed and full of 'post it' notes (I never fold down page corners...ever).
I wanted it to be a guide to working with the magic of plants but also a reference book so it includes as much as I could squeeze into it. Including how to work with plant energy, how to harvest and store plants, herb and plant crafts and of course lots of reference guides with all sorts of correspondences.
A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Plants & Herbs was published on 31st October 2014 - very fitting on Samhain (and my birthday... ahem). Getting off to a cracking start and still selling steadily, it was a labour of love and one that I am incredibly proud of.
