Editor’s Bookshelf is a regular review of soon-to-be-released books that, in the spirit of Iphelia, asks important questions about how the written word and, in some cases, imagery are used to help readers reconnect with their feelings, themselves, each other, and the world around them. Iphelia’s editor, Linsey Stevens, shares her reflections—chiming in on who will be most captivated by each book’s contents and how it invites readers to return to a heart-centered way of being.
Maia Toll’s The Illustrated Herbiary is a beautiful reminder of the connection we all have with the earth and particularly the plant world, which seems to find us whether we’re moving at a slower pace out in the country or hustling in a densely packed metropolis. I came across The Illustrated Herbiary after researching a lengthy piece on using herbalism as a healing modality and was immediately captivated by it. Toll spent a year apprenticing under a traditional healer in Ireland, and this book—in addition to being filled with wonderful prompts and activities, much like the second half of Iphelia—is also an ode to the student–mentor relationship so many seekers crave. Its vivid pages invite us into a lineage that honors symbolism and synchronicity as very real, and it teaches us to find signs in the world around us that prove we are connected to the land we live on and worthy of love and care, no matter where we are in our personal journeys.
While the science of herbalism and the application of plant medicine to various ailments and conditions have produced a great deal of captivating literature and research, The Illustrated Herbiary is not a manual on using plants as medicine per se. Rather, it is an inspirational guide reminiscent of Ted Andrew’s Animal Wise and encyclopedic books on dream interpretation. Flip to any page in The Illustrated Herbiary and you’ll be met by gorgeous illustrations and tidbits of wisdom inspired by a single plant. Captivated? Tuck into the plant-by-plant ritual and reflection Toll recommends to see where her suggestions and the plant on the page take you. If a given plant isn’t speaking to you, though, move on a few pages to see if you can find the right fit for your day or week.
In addition to illustrator Kate O’Hara’s highly detailed artwork, which emerges as a marriage of Eastern mandalas and Western manuscript illumination (the snake in the apple tree image is one of my favorites), the book is filled with inspirational quotes from visionaries from Brene Brown and Elizabeth Gilbert to Dolly Parton (yes, you read that right). Like Iphelia: Awakening the Gift of Feeling, The Illustrated Herbiary acknowledges the child self we all have within and suggests ways of soothing and celebrating this part of ourselves (see Toll’s daisy ritual for a wonderful exercise that maps onto Iphelia’s Love on Connected Kid practice). It also includes suggestions in the way of yoga poses, meditations, tips for mindful eating, breathing and journaling exercises, and means of moving energy (similar to Iphelia’s Anger Release Ritual), all inspired by plants.
I appreciate that The Illustrated Herbiary can go from detailing sage smudging and offering a few easy recipes for scrubs and baths to exploring shame, fear, and the art of holding space. The imagery, in addition to its detail, is also moving and archetypal. It will help any reader center themselves, bringing to the fore things that have deeply impacted and inspired them. For example, the cairn imagery in the oats section was for me an echo of a newfound favorite book: Lissa Rankin’s Anatomy of a Calling, and the white willow illustrations took me back nearly a decade to the freedom and excitement of a summer spent on Cornell’s campus in Ithaca, New York—and the sadness of separating from that idyllic place to return to my “real world.”
The Illustrated Herbiary is a gem, quite literally given its jewel tones, that does not shy away from either the whimsy or the shadows we walk with. It’s a book I look forward to gifting—one that will be appreciated by landowners and apartment dwellers alike—and will be especially celebrated by anyone who has an affinity for the Old World (I’m looking at you, friends who attend Renaissance fairs!).
In addition to all the goodness infused into the book’s pages, each copy of The Illustrated Herbiary comes with a deck of Herbiary cards that can be used much like a tarot deck—to inspire reflection and intention setting—making this book a fully interactive experience, whether you choose to savor it singly or enjoy its plant-powered wisdom in the company of friends.
The Illustrated Herbiary by Maia Toll will be available on August 7, 2018 from Storey Publishing. For more information on the author, visit maiatoll.com (or, if you’re in the Philadelphia or Asheville, North Carolina, areas, take a trip to her neighborhood apothecaries!). For more on Iphelia: Awakening the Gift of Feeling, visit our book page.
