{"title":"Books by Ellen Evert Hopman","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780892815012","title":"A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year","description":"For the ancient Druids, the healing and magical properties of herbs were inseparable from the larger cycles of the seasons, the movements of the planets, and the progression of a human life. A Druid\u0026amp;#8217;s Herbal shows the reader how to use herbs when creating rituals to celebrate festivals and significant life passages such as births, house blessings, weddings, funerals, and naming ceremonies. Drawing on extensive research and a deep personal experience with Pagan traditions, Ellen Evert Hopman explores the history and folklore surrounding the eight major Celtic festivals: Samhain, Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltaine, Summer Solstice, Lugnasad, and Fall Equinox. Included in each discussion are complete instructions on the medicinal and magical uses of the herbs associated with each celebration. Using these Celtic traditions as examples, the author suggests ways to incorporate the symbolic and magical power of herbs into personal rituals that honor all phases of life from childbirth to last rites. Also included are chapters on how to prepare herbal tinctures, salves, and poultices; herbs used by the Druids; herbal alchemy and the planets; and the relationships between herbs and sacred places. Filled with practical information and imaginative suggestions for using herbs for healing, ceremony, and magic, this book is an indispensable and comprehensive guide to age-old herbal practices.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56295548354933,"sku":"9780892815012","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780892815012_7d625e29-505f-4d78-892f-3140d56d377d.jpg?v=1786015896"},{"product_id":"9781644117804","title":"The Sacred Herbs of Yule and Christmas","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn around-the-world tour of ancient Christmas celebrations, Pagan Solstice customs, and magical seasonal plants.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Whether viewed as a mid-winter observance of the Winter Solstice or a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, for millennia cultures have taken time out to honour the darkest days of the year with lights, foods, and festivities.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In ancient Egypt, people decorated their homes with greenery at the festival of the re-birth of the God Horus. The ancient Romans decorated their homes with vines and ivy and shared gifts, especially candles, at the midwinter festival of Saturnalia. In Scandinavian and Germanic cultures, the Yule Log was burned in the hearth, fruit orchards were wassailed, and sheaves of wheat were displayed to carry luck into the New Year. In Celtic cultures, mummers and guisers went door to door and European mistletoe (\u003ci\u003eViscum album\u003c\/i\u003e) was gathered by Druids as a medicinal and magical aid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Presenting an around-the-world tour of ancient Christmas celebrations, Pagan Solstice customs, and magical seasonal plants, Ellen Evert Hopman shares lore, recipes, rituals, and crafts you can make as a family activity to enliven your Yuletide observance. She explores the origins of the Christmas tree and Santa Claus, as well as female gift bringers, holiday Spirits, and Yuletide animals. She shows how to make a Yule Log and decorate your house with greenery and grain weavings. She explains how to perform Winter Solstice divinations and cook traditional foods and drinks such as Wassail and Elizabethan gingerbread cookies. And she looks in depth at the medicinal and magical properties of the many herbs, barks, and berries associated with the Christmas and Yuletide season such as Frankincense and Myrrh, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Hibiscus, Bayberry, and many more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Woven throughout with mystical seasonal lore, this guide offers practical and magical ways to celebrate and honour the darkest days of the year.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302821015925,"sku":"9781644117804","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781644117804_b4af8080-52df-4f81-92cf-e2a6da9c372e.jpg?v=1786024178"},{"product_id":"a-druids-herbal-of-sacred-tree-medicine","title":"A Druid's Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine","description":"The Druids used the ancient Ogham Tree Alphabet to work magic and honour the dead, surrounding each letter with medicinal and spiritual lore. Poets and bards created a secret sign language to describe the letters, each of which is named for a tree or a plant. For centuries this language was transmitted only orally in order to protect its secrets. Combining her extensive herbal knowledge and keen poetic insight, Ellen Evert Hopman delves deeply into the historic allusions and associations of each of the 20 letters of the Ogham Tree Alphabet. She also examines Native American healing methods for possible clues to the way ancient Europeans may have used these trees as healing agents. Druidic spiritual practices, herbal healing remedies and plant lore are included for each tree in the alphabet as well as how each is used in traditional rituals such as the Celtic Fire Festivals and other celebrations. Hopman also includes a pronunciation guide for the oghams and information on the divinatory meanings associated with each tree.·Details the 20 trees of the ogham alphabet and their therapeutic and magical virtues·Examines the Forest Druid practices associated with each tree as well as the traditional uses in Native American medicine·Describes the Celtic Fire Festivals and how each tree is featured in these holy days","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57484269781365,"sku":"9781594772306","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781594772306.jpg?v=1786266323"},{"product_id":"the-sacred-herbs-of-spring","title":"The Sacred Herbs of Spring","description":"\u003cp\u003eA practical guide to the celebration of Beltaine and the sacred herbs of spring\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExplores the identification, harvest, and safe practical and ritual use of more than 90 plants and trees\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDetails rituals for honoring the traditional Gods and Goddesses of spring, such as the Goddess Chloris, the Goddess Flora, and the Daghda\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReveals which herbs to use for luck, magic, protection, purification, abundance, fertility, and love as well as the herbs of the Faeries and Elves and herbs for journeying to the Otherworld and for contacting the High Gods and Goddesses\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Marking the beginning of the Celtic year, the festival of Beltaine, May Day, is a celebration of the return of spring and the promise of summer, a time for love magic and spells for increasing the fertility of the land and the plants that grow upon it. Like Samhain in autumn, Beltaine is also a time when the veil between the physical and spiritual world is at its most transparent and the ancestors and denizens of the Otherworld easily interact with the world of humans.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Presenting a practical guide to the celebration of Beltaine, Ellen Evert Hopman examines the plants, customs, foods, drinks, and rituals of May Day across many cultures. Discussing the gods and goddesses of spring, Hopman details the rituals for honoring them as well as traditional poems, prayers, incantations, folk rhymes, and sayings related to this time of year. She explores well dressing, the custom of honoring the source of sacred water by decorating a well. She also looks at Beltaine’s association with Walpurgisnacht and Hexennacht, which fall the preceding evening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the extensive section on the sacred plants of Beltaine, the author explores more than 90 herbs and trees, offering spells, rituals, and recipes alongside their medicinal healing uses. She reveals sacred woods suitable for the Beltaine fires and Beltaine flowers for rituals and spells. She explores herbs for luck, magic, purification, abundance, and love; herbs for protection, such as bindweed, elder, and St. John’s wort; herbs of the Faeries and Elves, such as burdock and dandelion; and herbs for journeying to the Otherworld and contacting the high gods and goddesses. She also details the identification, harvest, and preparation of seasonal edible herbs, greens, mushrooms, and flowers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Woven throughout with mystical tales of folk, Faery, and sacred herbs, this guide offers each of us practical and magical ways to connect with Nature, the plant kingdom, and the Spirits that surround us in the season of spring.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57504848216437,"sku":"9781644110652","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781644110652.jpg?v=1786953766"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-ellen-evert-hopman.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}