botanical illustrations (aloe, dill, black henbane, rose, apium, mandrake, water lily, meadow sage)

from a manuscript of johann hartlieb’s kräuterbuch (book of herbs), a treatise dealing with the medicinal uses of various plants. this copy was created in northern bavaria, c. 1462

Peter Schoeffer – Scientist of the Day

Peter Schoeffer, a German printer, was born around 1425 and died in 1503.

This isn't so much an "I'm just checking this off before I publish" proof, as it is an "I've spent too many hours staring at this on a screen to edit it properly there" proof, but I've genuinely put thousands of hours of work into this and it's so surreal to hold it in my hands!

I've recently been considering adding a bunch of extra content to it, so it was surprising to see how chonky she already is (almost 500 pages, without front/back-matter, 3cm/1 ¼" thick)

So yeah, this'll be coming at some point this year 🥰

Chamomile 🌼🌞

This is one of my favorite herbs and has assisted me through many different types of spells believe it or not. It’s such a staple in my apothecary.

Join me on my newest Patreon where I teach beginners witchcraft and go over all the basics!

The First Night of Yule is known in many Northern European traditions as Mother’s Night—a sacred evening devoted to honoring mothers, grandmothers, female ancestors, and the nurturing forces that sustain life through the darkest time of the year. Falling on the longest night, Mother’s Night marks the beginning of Yule, when darkness reaches its peak and the slow return of the sun begins. In…

Cacao. Flore médicale. 1833.

One of these things is not like the others...

At first glance, this looks like the same plant in three different herbals. All three illustrations are labeled Acorus, which we know today as Acorus calamus, or sweet flag. It's an aquatic plant that doesn't bear a flower, and it has been used in traditional medicine around the world. But only the first illustration actually shows Acorus calamus.

The next two illustrations show a plant we know today as Iris pseudacorus, or yellow flag. It's native to Europe and is considered an invasive species in parts of the United States. It looks so much like Acorus calamus, that's how it got the name pseudacorus - but one of its distinguishing features is its yellow flower.

1: Dodoens, Rembert. Cruydt-Boeck. Inde plantijnsche druckerije van Françoys van Ravelingen, 1618. 

2: Arnaldus de Villanova. Herbolarium de Uirtutibus Herbarum. [Impressum per Ioannem Rubeum & Bernardinū fratres Vercellenses, Anno Domini MDVIIII die XV Marcii], 1509.