By (author) Amaia Dadachanji, Commentaries by Claudia Manchanda
A beautifully illustrated herbal guide to every stage of life, that connects us to the medicinal plants that grow around us.
This stunning, one of a kind book is a practical and creative manual that invites us to deepen our relationship with the bounty of the natural world, showing us how we might use plants to support our health.
From babes to elders, and all the life-stages and transitions in between, this is an indispensable handbook designed to celebrate the journey of life and help us overcome some of the challenges we may face along the way.
With recipes for simple medicine-making, self-prescribing and foraging advice, Wild Apothecary is a beginner's guide to herbalism, for all people, and explores the practical applications of plant medicines for the home or community.
Each chapter highlights specific health conditions associated with each phase of life and describes how to work with plant allies and lifestyle changes to promote wellbeing. Rewilding and journaling exercises help the reader go deeper and contemplate their connection with themselves and nature.
There is also a special chapter on grief, plus an examination of herbal medicine in the context of colonisation.
By (author) Amaia Dadachanji
Amaia Dadachanji is a practising herbalist at the Wild Apothecary near Stroud, Gloucestershire where she lives with her two young children. She sees patients, teaches herbalism, crafts botanicals, draws, and writes about herbalism and a wilder life. She is also deepening her knowledge of ceremony, grief tending, and land practices through studies and work. Her work Land Is She is centred on connecting women with land and healing through rewilding, intuiting, and tending through folk and flora kinship. Amaia has travelled extensively and learned, with gratitude, alongside herbalists all over the world and hopes to share her knowledge with others through community medicine gardens, ethical foraging, her words, images and voice.
Commentaries by Claudia Manchanda
Claudia Manchanda is a grandmother, radical herbalist, bio-scientist and lecturer who has a background in social justice activism, community cooking projects and campaigns against deaths in custody. She lives in London organising radical herb walks, teaching integrated cancer care and advocating for patients.
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Wild Apothecary invites us to rewild and rebel toward our sovereignty in relationship with nature. Through elegant and thought-provoking prose, the authors have curated a magical sensory infused space which nurtures the imagination toward a woven tapestry of plant wisdom for us to wrap ourselves in as we rediscover the rich folkways of healing. Drawing from ancestral knowledge, Dadachanji and Manchanda offer us herbal allies for every transition of life from birth and beyond toward our journey back to the roots. The time is ripe to shine the light of the full moon on the decolonization of herbalism and reclaim herbal empowerment for all people.
"The authors encourage us to find our wildness, our plant allies and ourselves, to journal, to seek or create community, to share knowledge and understanding to pass on...a beautiful book enriched with stunning and evocative watercolours. As Amaia say, 'You may find your life is about to be irrevocably changed.'"
"I have been waiting for the publication of this book, and it's surpassed my expectations, delightfully. Amaia and Claudia have created a book significantly different from the many I have on my shelves, one that draws the reader into a wild and welcoming community. They share so many ways to get your hands dirty and your heart uplifted, working hands-on with the plants, forming deep relationships, strong connection, and greater understanding not only of the plants but of our own bodies. With a backdrop of art and poetry, and with the intentional centering of conversations about justice and accountability--conversations long past due in the herbal community-- this is a deeply important book."
Beautiful illustrations, heart-filled guidance both spiritual and practical and the refreshment of a herbal that speaks to the roots and about the politics of our collective health as members of the earth community. We need accessible radical herbals like this to keep reflecting the times and the current shared commitment to delving deep into the systemic imbalances that play out in our relationships, in our health and in how we face the future together - in solidarity with the plant world. Thanks to Claudia and Amaia for bringing this green, layered and loving lore with explicit acknowledgement that we do not all access it equally. May it lead to healing!
I was bowled over by the beautiful illustrations but the text is really extraordinary as it illuminates the history of the plants and sources through a long-overdue exploration of the historical relationship between healing and colonialism which is the opposite of healing. By making these connections the authors have contributed enormously to a healthier approach to living in harmony with nature and acceptance of the cruelty of racism, imperialism and colonialism as we are witnessing right now as the imperialist countries leave the chaos of their invasion of Afghanistan behind. Denial is not an option was the message I took from this book on every level.
