what the water gave me

Honorius of Thebes, the writer of this book, is a possibly mythical scholar of the greek island of Thebes. He was an occult scholar and teacher who was the originator of the Thebian, or witches, Alphabet.

Like many high magic scholars of his time the magic that Honorius describes is very focused on the god of Abraham, and while his discussion of god and Christ is distinctly christian, his methods and magic come from Jewish tradition. He uses Hebrew numerology and principles learned from Kabbalah and Solomon to call on deities and spirits to attain direct knowledge of the cosmos. While I am not a christian, and not on particularly good terms with the god of Abraham, I think this book was fascinating as a historical text; a through line that connects to modern western spiritualism.

This book is very focused on angels and Daemons; or spirits. It lists the heavenly bodies and the four cardinal directions and explains the spirits connected to each and what they would be useful for. I think this section is helpful to understand things like why the south is connected to fire, or why the calling of the towers is used to cast a magical circle. I think this section is useful for understanding astrology as well. The descriptions of the spirits of the heavenly bodies are still used today to explain how certain planets affect magic. Example from the text: "Concerning the Spirits of the Sun... their nature is provide love, gratitude, and wealth to man, and virtue, similarly to guard his health."

I must say I prefer Living Wicca to Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. If you saw my glowing review of that book, then you know I mean business.

The previous book was about what being a wiccan is and this book is all about how to do it. It is practical and focused on the everyday. It includes guidance about things like sickness and the need to live in secrecy, which I greatly appreciate. This book went into much more detail than I have seen other similar guides go into.

My favorite section was the chapter about the Wiccan Mysteries. If you aren't familiar, these are the aspects of Wiccan that cannot be explained with words. These are the experiences that one will only understand when they go through them themselves. Living Wicca talks very frankly about this, how it

What I appreciate about both of Scott Cunningham's guides is that he dedicates himself to defining. In Wicca he defined magic, in this book he defines the mysteries. These are both very squishy efemeral topics that before reading these two books I had no words to explain to the people in my life. I know this is something i've said before, but I mostly like these books because they helped me explain my beliefs to others.

Alot of people come to Wicca already believing that nature is sacred, that there are things beyond physical experience, that magic works. What guides like this do, is put those beliefs into words that can be expressed both within the circle and without it.

Always research plants before you consume them:

Especially if it is something that you have never consumed before. Some plants contain toxins that can do anything from give you diarrhea to leaving you dead in a matter of minutes. Plants can be consumed through eating, drinking, or turning them into balms, salves, tinctures, or oils.

There are toxins and pollutants that can be absorbed through the skin and through inhalation (breathing), so just because you aren't putting it in your mouth, chewing it up, and swallowing it, doesn't mean that poisons can't get into your body. Research what parts of a plant are toxic and why. Look up that toxin and how it can be absorbed into the body. When dealing with potentially dangerous plants and compounds always air on the side of caution.

I recommend starting an herbal practice with herbs that you already have in your kitchen. You already know they can be eaten safely, and some are safe to apply to the skin or to burn as well. For example: thyme is safe to eat and gentle enough to be applied to the skin, but cinnamon is more abrasive and can irritate the skin.

Be Mindful of where the plants you are using have come from:

Plants grow by taking nutrients from their soil. So, whatever is in the soil is in the plant. That includes parasites, heavy metals, and dangerous bacteria that can make you really sick even if the plant itself isn't inherently dangerous.

If you are foraging your herbs, be mindful of where you got your plant from. You can pick the flowers from the side of the highway, but they probably aren't very safe to put in your body. If there are bodies of water in your city, town, or village that are considered too dangerous to swim in or drink from, that water can run off and leach into the soil surrounding it. The plants from that water and that soil can make you just as sick as the water itself can. You should be able to get some information about where is and isn't safe and legal to forage from in your area online or from Municipal systems.

If you're buying your herbs/preparations; know who you're buying from.

Are they growing it themselves? Are they foraging? Are they having them shipped from other people who are growing them? Are those areas known to have clean water and healthy soil? If they aren't, are plant and animal products from that area required to be somehow cleared for safety by your local government before being distributed to the public?

In the united states anyone selling things meant to be eaten, smoked, or put on the skin are required to meet certain safety standards by an organization known as the FDA. Try to find information about similar organizations in your area!

Use products as directed! Those directions are for your safety!

If a balm says "external use only" do not put it in your mouth (or any other orifice). If your essential oil says "undiluted" you need to dilute it before touching it to your skin. There are things that are made to be safe to eat, touch, or breath, and things that aren't.

Rocks

This one is important because too many people don't know about it; including me when I first started.

Some crystals leech harmful toxins into water!

Research whether or not a crystal is water soluble (able to be dissolved in water) before you put it in a bath or potion. The reason for this is that some crystals will dissolve and leave the water contaminated with whatever was in the crystal.

The dose makes the poison, and so does the preparation.

Some substances are safe to consume in small quantities but not large. Some are safe in large quantities but not excessive. A classic example of this is willow bark; a small amount can be used as a fever reliever, but a large amount can thin the blood to a dangerous extent. Another example is Bananas; generally safe and healthy but if you were to eat thousands of them in a single sitting you could give yourself radiation poisoning.

There are some plants that, in their raw form, are poisonous, but when they are prepared in a certain way, they are made safe. A big example of this that's close to my heart is Collard Greens; if you eat them raw they can make you sick, you need to boil them 2-3 times to make them safe and appetizing.

All in All

Having said that I don't think this would be the first book I would recommend to someone just starting out (but it might be the second). I appreciate the emphasis it puts on the fact that there are endless ways to practice the craft, but some of the historical perspectives presented in the book are definitely of their time. I would recommend this to someone who already knows that the witch-cult theory was disproven, but that's just the archeologist in me.

My favorite part of this book would have to be the theory section. I am someone who loves to talk about what I believe and think about why I believe it. This section got somewhat into the nitty gritty about what Wiccans generally believe; There's a spiritual world that can be affected by the physical world through the practice of magic. It gives a definition for what magic is and why humanity practices it. It also explains the divine (or the all) which the lord and lady are expression of, a topic that some sorely neglect.

The section of the book that explains the wheel of the year and all of the holidays is another section that I would recommend you go into with some level of previous knowledge. The explanations of the individuals holidays are varied in detail, and the examples of how to celebrate can be a bit repetitive (almost all of the lower holidays just say to feast lol). But, it does give dates and mentions the natural cycles that the holidays are celebrating, and that's a positive.

This book was so refreshing to read. A book that combined the scientific and the spiritual without sacrificing either. This is a book primarily about herbalism. It has large sections all about the spiritual and mental healing that can come from plants AND large sections designated to the biochemical aspect of herbalism.

This author also does something that I wish more spiritualist would do; admited that Europe has it's own energetic and herbal healing histories. With the amount that the witchcraft community has spoken about decolonizing, suprisingly few people go so far as to let go of using some victorian man's misinterpretation of Asian herbalism. This book speaks from the author's own culture and experience, without putting down other cultures and experiences, and that's something I greatly appreciate.

This was a deeply educational read, but there were some sections that had me scratching my head in a different way. I am a big believer that naturally derived medicine and modern synthesized medicine can and should coexist. There were a few passages in this book that, to me, almost strayed into the area of "antibiotics are the root of modern psychological problems". Having said that, those sections were brief and highly interpretive, so I suspect this reaction was just my hyper alertness from spending far too much time on the internet.

There were also some guided meditations and excersizes in this book focused on reconnecting you with your body and your evironment. I looooove these excersizes. There is one in particular that asks you to connect to your gastrointestinal system, which is a part of my body that causes me some strife (lactose intolerant but I loooove dairy sooooo much), and it helped me to center myself and remember to treat this core part of my bodies ecosystem well.