Applauds. [Plant Magic by Christine Buckley]

I've read a few herbalism books before. While I like to believe I'm hear for complementary medicine as it's oftentimes referred to, I'm also a bit off-put by the metaphysical systems that often surround it. Maybe I'm too set in my ways, at least as compared to my younger years. Maybe I'm not open all the way to incorporate new beliefs into the structure of my core. Regardless, there's always some hesitancy on my part when I read books on herbalism and its practices. That might be because those respective books often try to establish or assert the tenets of a related spiritual system or mindset of which to approach plants and their healing properties. Whatever the reason, that was not the case here.

As it stands, Christine Buckley's Plant Magic is my favorite herbalism book. And that's on a bunch of things. It's not aiming to be a intro into a rigid system of belief and practice, but is highly self-aware and focuses on the subject, plants. The author invites the reader to be flexible in their interpretation of the information they present, emphasizing individualized medicinal application. Highly important is the recognition of multiple systems of herbalism and the routine reminders for would-be practitioners to always contextualize their actions in the framework of colonialism and its lasting and on-going effects.

Self-aware and informative, the information was presented with a very open tone. The system the author used is a solid model to follow for individual use. On one hand it feels like a shame that the book only focused on 21 plants. Conversely those plants are common enough and so few in number that Plant Magic ends up feeling a most apt entryway into the world of herbalism. 5 stars from me. I would love to keep this in my future home library.

Plant Magic was published March 31st, 2020.