Poison Path Reading List    

By Sarah September 15, 2013 Books, Entheogens, Herbalism 14 Comments

he Poison Path involves the study of traditional ritual entheogens and their
use in magic and witchcraft to aid in the achievement of ecstasy, trance,
shape-shifting, soul-flight, spirit-sight, sex magic, prophetic visions, and
mystic communion with deity. These plants are also used in incense,
ointment, oil, potion, and sabbat wine recipes to aid in ones magical workings and
sabbat rites. This path is not for everyone and requires extensive research to prevent
harm. Besides reading, one of the best ways to gain knowledge and experience is to
grow these herbs yourself from seed to better understand them as well as have the raw
materials to work with. I would even go as far as to suggest becoming successful at
growing them before using them in recipes and rituals as it is my belief the plant spirits
are less likely to cause you great harm if they have a good personal relationship with
you. Having said all this there are also milder plants that aren’t as harmful to work
with such as wormwood, mugwort, and wild lettuce and you can choose which level of
plants you’d like to involve yourself with.

In searching for a reading list of books focused on poisons, entheogens, and witchcraft,
I came up empty-handed and so decided it was high time I come up with a list myself
for others to use for reference. I hope within this list you find books that call to you and
best suit the focus of your interests. If you have any favourites that aren’t listed here,
please feel free to add them in the comments!
Encyclopedia of Aphrodisiacs: Psychoactive Substances for Use in Sexual Practices 

by Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-

Ebeling (Park Street Press, 2013)

If you are mainly interested in incorporating

ritual entheogens into your magical practice
for sex magic or you specialize in love and lust
magic – this is the book for you. It’s gigantic
and it’s pricey (it is an encyclopedia after all),
but the research that went into each plant
profile is worth it. It is full of traditional
rituals, preparations, dosages, folklore,
history, scientific data, as well as full-colour
images.

Encyclopedia of Pyschoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications

by Christian Rätsch (Park Street Press, 2005)

If you wish to follow the poison path, this is your bible.

Within this encyclopedia you are sure to find plants native to
your bioregion or used by your ancestors for magic, ritual,
and intoxication. I’ve spent many a weekend curled up in a
chair lost for hours within its pages. Christian Rätsch is a
German anthropologist (with a doctorate in Native American
cultures), an ethnopharmacologist, and a prolific author on
the subject of psychoactive plants (though many of his works are only available in
German).  Each entry is full of scientific data and research which is balanced with
folklore, magico-religious uses and traditions, as well as recipes and dosages (a rarity
among books on entheogens).
 
Hallucinogens and Shamanism

Edited by Michael Harner (Oxford University Press, 1973)

Whatever your opinion of Michael Harner, this early

work is a very academic collection of articles on
traditional hallucinogenic plants used by pre-Christians
of Europe as well as animistic cultures who practice
shamanism. It is often the only book you will find in a
public library on entheogens. If you have no issue
wading through academia to get to the gems of lore and
experiences, you will be able to glean a lot of knowledge
from this book.

Herbs & Things: A Compendium of Practical and Exotic Herb Lore

by Jeanne Rose (Perigree Trade, 1973 / Last Gasp, 2011)

Jeanne Roses’ Herbal is an unexpected treasure that would’ve

been lost to the magical community if not for its recent reprint
due to her current success as a professional herbalist and
author. This unconventional herbal has a good section on
aphrodisiacs where she’ll teach you how to make a marijuana
tincture and a sweet cocaine oil alongside the more
conventional recipes using damiana and yohimbe. Have
insomnia or a lot of trouble sleeping? Jeanne recommends
tisanes which have belladonna, mistletoe, or hash as ingredients. Within the
encyclopedic Materia Medica section you’ll find entries on all the well-known poisons
and entheogens and even some you’ve never heard of. Each entry covers medicinal
usage and nuggets of lore. Hidden in the back of the book is a section titled “The
Secrets” which is full of recipes for poisonous flying ointments (most without dosage),
amulets, incenses, as well as rituals for summoning spirits and the devil. An excellent
and entertaining book for students of both medicinal herbalism and the poison path.

Magical and Ritual Uses of Aphrodisiacs

By Richard Alan Miller (Destiny Books, 1985)

Look past its slimness and tacky cover and you will find a book
full of psychoactive and aphrodisiac herbs with scientific data on
the chemical constituents, effects and side effects of each plant
followed by magical and ritual uses and sometimes dosages and
recipes. Worthy of special notice here is Miller’s damiana liqueur
recipe – I’ve made it to his specification and, even though my
damiana wasn’t the freshest, the liqueur tasted divine and
disappeared quickly! I highly recommend it as an aphrodisiac to share with your lover
at least 30 minutes before getting down to business. The smoking blend recipe called
“Yoruba Gold” is also worthy of attention with its easy to obtain ingredients and
euphoric cannabis-like effects. I used to make the blend for sale as an aphrodisiac and
many a male customer reported a happy wife and a happy life for him. An excellent
book to start with for those wishing to explore plants to use for sex magic.

Magical and Ritual Uses of Herbs

by Richard Alan Miller (Destiny Books, 1983) 

This innocuously titled book was once subtitled “A

Magical Text on Legal Highs,” and is a perfect beginner’s
book to the poison path. Its one flaw is that its focus is
mainly on exotic and New World herbs many people may
not be able to obtain or be interested in using. What sets
Miller’s books apart from others are the sections for each
plant on its chemistry, effects, and side effects as well as
sections on preparation and ritual use — he goes much
further than most authors in his research. At the back of
the book is a very useful reference chart which lists the
active chemicals, the best preparation methods (tea, tincture, external, etc), and the
type of effect (euphoric, hallucinogen, sedative, etc) of many more plants than are
covered in the materia medica section (including the solanaceae family). Overall, this
book is a practical guide one can actual apply to their magical practice making it worth
tracking down a second-hand copy.

Mystic Mandrake
by C. J. S. Thompson (University Books, 1968) 

Some people are just mandrake people, enamoured as

they are with this plant, they enter into a monogamous
relationship with it as their only poisonous plant ally.
 As someone who works with mandrake, I can see why,
it is the most pleasant and less dangerous herb of the
solanaceae family. If you are in love with mandragora
officinarum, this is pretty much the only book in
existence dedicated solely to its study. It is not a
practical book, so do not expect dosages, recipes, or
rituals. The Mystic Mandrake is a purely academic work
focusing solely on Mandrake’s history and folklore written by the once curator of the
Royal College of Surgeons Museum. Despite its impracticality, it is still an excellent
source of lore on ancient uses of the mandrake in magic and medicine that will take
you on a global trek of this infamous root’s history. The only other book devoted solely
to the mandrake is Scarlet Imprint’s Mandragora anthology mentioned below.

Pharmako/Poeia, Pharmako/Dynamis, and Pharmako/Gnosis

by Dale Pendell (North Atlantic Books, 

2010)

Pharmako is the root of pharmacist from

the ancient Greek – the Greeks used it to
mean herbalist or witch. I describe Dale
Pendell’s Pharmako trilogy as an
alchemical poetic treatise on the
psychoactive properties of plants. In
Pendell’s world plants are living breathing
sentient beings much wiser and older than
ourselves who should be treated with
respect and honoured as elders.  This
trilogy is about Pendell’s own trip down
the rabbit hole speaking from the point of
views of the shaman, apprentice, and plant
spirit. These books themselves are mind-altering — you must change your perception
of a book to read them — and you do not come away from reading them unchanged. I
consider this series essential to those who would be green or hedge witches and walk
the path of poison as they will make you question if you truly wish to do so. As Victor
Anderson said “everything worthwhile is dangerous”.

Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation

 

by Stephen Harrod Buhner (Brewers

Publications, 1998)

Alcohol is its own poison. If you are a home

brewer on top of being a herbalist and follower
of the path of poison – this will likely be your
favourite book. Being all three myself, I
couldn’t put it down as soon as I bought it
from the bookstore, ignoring the friends that
were with me and randomly shouting out
things like “oh my gods, there’s a mandrake
beer recipe!”  There’s actually an entire section
on “Psychotropic and Highly Inebriating
Beers” full of recipes using clary sage,
henbane, mandrake, wild lettuce, and
wormwood. This book isn’t just about beer, it
also covers meads and wines, the recipes and rituals of surviving indigenous cultures,
as well as a good chunk of lore on the history of fermented beverages used as ritual
intoxicants. If you like beer and mead, herbs and magic, get this book.

The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia

by Paul Devereux (Daily Grail Publishing, 2008) 

I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s high on my

wanted book list as a work focusing on the ritual and
spiritual uses of psychoactive plants by prehistoric
peoples. From the back cover: “Using a slew of
disciplines – including archaeology, anthropology,
linguistics, ethnobotany, biology and other fields –
The Long Trip strips bare the evidence for the
psychedelic experiences of various prehistoric
societies and ancient, traditional cultures. It is
probably the most comprehensive single volume to
look at the use of mind-altering drugs, or
entheogens, for ritual and shamanistic purposes
throughout humanity’s long story, while casting withering sidelong glances at our own
times”

Update: I finally purchased this title and it is everything I could’ve hoped. Engrossing,
fascinating, full of wonderful history, archaeological finds, and lore. The focus is more
on the ritual applications of the plants rather than recreational use.

Toads and Toadstools:  The Natural History, Mythology and Cultural Oddities of This
Strange Association
by Adrian Morgan (Ten Speed Press, 1996) 

This is a coffee table quality of book for lovers of

toads and poisonous mushrooms filled with beautiful
colour illustrations and more lore than you can
handle. It is full of information on poisonous and
hallucinogenic mushrooms, their magical and ritual
use, witchcraft associations, and folklore. The toad
also gets its own chapters which are the most
comprehensive and detailed magical and folkloric
sources on toads that I have found. Fly agaric
receives its own chapter as do the toadstools of the
Old and New Worlds. There is an entire section on flying ointments as well. The added
bonus of this book is that the author covers their own experiences in working with the
poisons of toads, mushrooms, and ointments on top of covering historical and magical
lore. I wish this were available as a hardcover, but the paperback is so beautiful I easily
forget my wishful thinking.

Uses and Abuses of Plant-Derived Smoke: Its Ethnobotany as Hallucinogen, Perfume,

Incense, and Medicine

by Marcello Pennacchio, Lara Jefferson, and Kayri Havens

(Oxford University Press, 2010)

This is purely an academic reference book, not meant to be read

cover to cover, but to use when looking up a specific plant. It is a
slim and pricey hardcover, but, if your poisonous interests lay
more in the crafting of incense and smudge, it is worth owning.
I’ve found some gems of traditional European incense recipes
used for magic. It is also full of the historical uses of witches’
favourite psychoactive herbs as incense and fumigations.
 
Veneficium: Magic, Witchcraft and the Poison Path

by Daniel A. Schulke (Three Hands Press, 2012)

This is one of the very few works out there purely focused on the
poison path and the use of poisonous plants in witchcraft, written
specifically for practitioners. That said, it is not a functional
grimoire like Schulke’s other works, but a book exploring the
history and lore of the poison path as well as some of the author’s
own experiences (Schulke is known for his love of belladonna). Of
particular interest to me is the highlight on Hekate and the poisons associated with her
and her worship. Veneficium could be better organized and it is a difficult read,
following the tradition of sabbatic witchcraft authors (you may need a Latin
dictionary), but I believe it is meant to be more abstract than practical with each
chapter presented as a unique essay. However, if you are a fan of works by members of
the Cultus Sabbati, this will be a must-own book for you.

Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants

by Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Christian Rätsch, and

Wolf-Dieter Storl (Inner Traditions, 2003)

This book is a witch’s dream, especially those who

practice ancient Greek magic as the authors give
full correspondences from the ancient Greeks for
their deities along with traditional ointments and
incenses used in ritual to invoke and give offerings
to gods. Witchcraft Medicine doesn’t just focus on
the Greek however – it also focuses on Celtic and
Germanic plant medicine – on the whole, the book
covers animism, shamanism, and witchcraft and how they are related. The gem of this
book for me are the sections that detail which herbs (including many poisons and
entheogens) were sacred to which ancient deities as well as how they were used and
descriptions of the rituals. All of the authors have Ph.D’s in their respective fields
making this book as full of excellent research as it is beautifully laid out with
illustrations and photographs. The only issues with this book are some goddess-
worship fakelore incidents (mostly in Storl’s chapters) and a tendency of the authors to
make leading or opinion-based statements as facts — though these are few throughout
the book. This is more of a coffee table book on witchcraft and ritual entheogens, but
much lore can still be gleaned from it and applied to one’s practice.

Books For Pleasure:

Datura: An Anthology of Esoteric Poesis

Edited by Ruby Sara (Scarlet Imprint, 2011)

This is a swoon-worthy collection of essays, poems, and prose by various

well-known authors in the occult community focusing on datura,
ecstasy, intoxication, and the creative process. I have to admit I’m not
the biggest fan of modern poetry, I prefer my Tennyson and Keats, but
the poems within Datura had my spirit soaring, heart racing, and mind swooning. This
is an anthology for artists, poets, magicians, and lovers of the datura family. You will
not go unmoved.

Mandragora: Further Explorations in Esoteric Poesis

Edited by Ruby Sara (Scarlet Imprint, 2012) 

Because I fell so in love with their previous poetic anthology,

Mandragora is at the top of my list for the next book I purchase. I even
wish I’d found out about it in time to submit a piece of my own.  From
the publisher: “the poetry in Mandragora drives deep into the humus
heart of experience – spellwork, praise, story, song. From the breathless brevity of
haiku through the humming rhythm of the long meditation the thread of hidden
history runs, telling in mosaic the story of the occultist, the witch, the worshipper, the
scholar and the celebrant.”

The Poison Diaries

by Jane, Duchess of Northumberland, illustrated by Colin Stimpson (Harry N. Abrams,

2007)
A gorgeously illustrated 

children’s book that is

just as delightful for
adults. It tells the story
of a young orphan boy
named Weed who is
taken in by his uncle, a
very unpleasant man
who happens to run an
apothecary. Weed
discovers his uncle’s
secret garden full of
poisons and the plants
proceed to teach him
about themselves, their
uses, and the different
ways they kill people. The author also happens to run the Alnwick Poison Garden and
her love and familiarity with these plants shows through in her writing. I was
impressed with how she portrays each plant’s personality, which were pretty accurate
for me — friendly and helpful, but still willing to kill you for shits and giggles if you
don’t keep your wits about you. The talented illustrator Colin Stimpson does an
amazing job with each plant — creating one traditional botanical illustration and one of
the plant’s spirit for each poisonous herb. It is recommended for ages 8 and up, but the
content is pretty dark and it is not a happy tale with a happy ending, in the gothic
Victorian tradition, so it’s up to you to judge if your child is mature enough to read it.

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

by Amy Stewart (Algonquin Books, 2009)

This little book is not useful or witchcraft-focused, but it is still a cute 

and enjoyable read (I get the impression this is the book poisoner’s
keep in their bathroom). It is largely anecdotal, but would be a good
way to begin teaching children about poisonous plants and just why
they shouldn’t touch them or put them in their mouths. It was given to
me as a gift, and while there are some unsubstantiated bits presented as
facts, overall it is a good read with good research and the bibliography gives you many
more resources to track down. If you’re a home brewer this book also has a companion
volume by the same author titled The Drunken Botanist.

Online Reading:
Entheology.com
Erowid.org
If Witches No Longer Fly: Today’s Pagans and the Solanaceous Plants by Chas S.
Clifton
Introduction to Flying Ointments by Sarah Lawless
Plant Hallucinogens as Magical Medicines by Angelika Börsch-Haubold
Some Thoughts on Flying Ointments by Harrold Roth

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14 Comments

Kim
September 15, 2013 at 5:25 pm

Oh Sarah! What a wonderful gift. Thank you. I knew of some of these but
not this many. Now my Wish List just tripled
Megan 
September 15, 2013 at 5:37 pm

Wonderful! Thank you so much for posting this. I can’t wait to dig in!

Todd
September 15, 2013 at 6:21 pm

Thank you for making this list. I’m currently reading Veneficium: Magic,
Witchcraft and the Poison Path by Daniel A. Schulke (Three Hands Press,
2012). Execelent book, (what I’ve read thus far anyway). I would also
recommend Schulke’s other works too. Ars Philtron and his Viridarium
Umbris – The Pleasure Garden of Shadow are both great books. Though
maybe hard to lay your hands upon.

Gill Denham
September 15, 2013 at 10:57 pm

Great article, I have a couple of the books mentioned and am lucky in that I
live not far tfrom the physic garden at Alnwick

Yvonne
September 15, 2013 at 11:33 pm

Yay! Thanks for this fantastic list.

Lucy reid
September 16, 2013 at 1:16 am
Fantastic list of reading material, thank you Sarah. 

Sonya
September 16, 2013 at 2:17 am

Sarah…you have, by the power of research and your willingness to share…

inspired me to completely annihilate my ‘pocket money’…haha
A few of these were already on my lust list…which has now grown
considerably. Thanks!

Christina
September 16, 2013 at 2:50 am

Wow! Thank you! I book lists I have a few of the list, but I have never
even heard of a few of these, and that’s really unusual as an herbalist and
book-a-holic, I usually know about the good books even if I don’t have them
already. What a gift. Thank you again.

Lee
September 16, 2013 at 3:30 am

Great resources I will pass on to my herbalist friends.

Aidan Wachter
September 16, 2013 at 5:31 am

I was just asking my wife, who is the resident medicinal herbalist about this
side of things… so perfect timing. 

I love that you include Jeanne Rose. She was my intro to herbs, and was my
main source for a long time in my 20’s for self medication info. I used stuff I
learned from Herbs & Things to help with insomnia, stop a nasty infection
or two, and many other issues less memorable. I also appreciate how normal
and sensible she makes things, somewhat like Ina May Gaskin did with
childbirth in Spiritual Midwifery.

Thanks for adding to the endless book list (again)!

Jen
September 16, 2013 at 8:21 am

I have a few of these. I can see a few more are going to be added to my
“books desired” list. I’m a grower myself. And a curious wanderer in the
hills. I love to ID and research, but I prefer to leave the crafting of the more
poisonous plants to those of you who create so beautifully (and safely) with
them. I’ll continue to buy your gorgeous flying ointments and I will be found
out in the garden hanging out with the giant mugwort.

Jon
September 16, 2013 at 9:56 am

This is terrific, Sarah! Many of these are already in my library, but I’ve made
a couple of new purchases and added a few more to my rainy day list.

Thank you for sharing!

 Rachel 
September 18, 2013 at 5:45 pm

Wonderful! Thanks for yet another awesome reading list, and as every other
reader has stated, my wish list as now significantly increased in size!!! My
Yule list will be fat this year

Amanda
September 18, 2013 at 6:35 pm

I just finished Witchcraft Medicine and I loved it, I plan on starting to

reread it right away. Now it looks like I have some stuff to order from
Amazon after reading this, several titles looked pretty awesome. Thanks!

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