Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants

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Overall, an interesting and informative reference book that I would be interested to see in other formats.

Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants

Imbue your Druids with dripping poison sap, your carefully whittled arrows with unspeakable banes, your potions with natural scourges. Almost every single person in my immediate family is a keen gardener and instilled that love within me at a very young age. At a fundamental level, we are all sustained by plants, either from the oxygen they supply or from the food they can provide or by using them to build shelters. Botanical Curses and Poisons looks at the folklore and science behind evil, cursed, and poisonous plants in a book just as beautiful as its companion. I've enjoyed the wealth and knowledge which the author has included and which gives the impression that producing this has been a real labour of love for her.Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland In both history and fiction, some of the most dramatic, notorious deaths have been through poisonings. Elder trees were believed to be a sign of a cursed placed, which also makes sense because they’re quick to grow in cleared ground, so it was common to see them growing in an otherwise barren (or cursed) area. Plus, in addition to poisonous plants, it covers all sorts of plants with sinister history, ranging from uses in dark magic to mythological associations with death. These defences can vary from the spiked leaves, sour-tasting stems all the way to the utterly lethal parts of some plants that can kill an animal in a short space of time.

Botanical Curses and Poisons The Shadow-Lives of Plants - NHBS

The first section of the book is split into several parts, which look at aspects of the darker sides of plants in a general way, from their associations with witchcraft to their use as poisons. We still use Digitalis in certain heart conditions today, in fact it was one of the first drugs I had to learn the use of in my student nurse days. Some of these things I already knew, but even in the plants I read about that I thought I knew about, I learned unexpected things, whether it was mythology or historical usage or maybe a bit of both. Desirable for the stunning cover and gorgeous interior illustrations alone, I wanted to include this nonfiction book about the shadow-lives of plants.

Definitely worth reading for those that have a passing interest in the subject and has more depth (and a decent bibliography) for those that were to explore this subject more. One that has heavily stuck in my mind is the zombie-making Thorn Apple that literally creates a zombie state, through a combination of altered mind states and thorough enough societal believe systems. Botanical Curses and Poisons is a book to savour and even dipping into and out of it at whim reveals something quite special which the author describes in a such a magical way that even the most deadly of poisons seems strangely beautiful.

Botanical Curses and Poisons: The - Yumpu EBOOK [P.D.F] Botanical Curses and Poisons: The - Yumpu

And if you want more facts like that to impress your friends, you’ll just have to pick up Botanical Curses and Poisons!

This is a glorious book; beautifully and lovingly written, completely engaging and utterly compelling.

Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow-Lives of Plants Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow-Lives of Plants

We believe in an honest and beautiful approach to design that celebrates utility, timelessness, and traditional methods of hand crafting. Create notable villains that offer vile physic - and wise player characters that plait thorns in their hair and might well have been raised in jagged-leaf nettle beds. I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief list of botanical gothic books to get you started exploring this horrifying, yet alluring, genre. Whether you seek knowledge of plant books or a comprehensive plant encyclopedia, this poisonous plants book is a must-have addition to your collection, delving into curses, chemistry, and the captivating world of botanical witchcraft books.I grew to learn which plants could hurt when you fell off your bike into them and even contemplating touching a mushroom was forbidden.