This was a really informative reading for me as I didn't know much about invasive plants and I love it. Also as a beginner in "green witchery", I love the author talked about planets, lunar phases, elements and correspondences. An interesting and well written book in my opinion ❤️‍🔥

The Tameless Path by Kamden Cornell is a groundbreaking and insightful guide that opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for anyone interested in both the practical and magical applications of plants. This book offers a fresh perspective on invasive plants, transforming them from "unwanted weeds" into powerful allies for your magical practice.Cornell’s approach is both comprehensive and accessible, making it easy for readers to understand and incorporate the teachings into their own lives. The Materia Magica section is particularly impressive, providing detailed information on a wide variety of invasive plants, including their ecological impact, foraging tips, medicinal uses, and, of course, their magical properties. The book’s encyclopedic overview of these plants is invaluable, offering readers a wealth of knowledge that can be applied both in the wild and in their own homes.What I found most compelling were the practical instructions and recipes for mixing infusions, blending incense, creating magical fluid condensers, and crafting libations. These recipes are presented alongside a thoughtful selection of spells, charms, and rituals that are both easy to follow and highly effective.The Tameless Path is not just a book; it’s an invitation to look at the natural world around you with fresh eyes and to embrace the power of plants that are often overlooked or even despised. Kamden Cornell has created a must-have resource for anyone looking to deepen their connection to the earth and expand their magical practice. I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about the magical potential of the natural world, especially those looking to work with invasive plants in a meaningful way.

Delightful addition to my spiritual and herbal archives! I could not put this book down, so often are weedy plants given a bad name and little representation. In today's society so little is readily know about the benefits of plants and weeds, its refreshing to see how thoughtfully this book was put together to help aid in growing the common understanding! A must have for any green witch or herbalist. A modern exploration of an old world tradition. Thank you Kamden Cornell, this is a work to hold on too! Thank you Netgalley and Crossed Crow Books for access to the digital ARC, I will be raving about this title for days. A practical guide to getting the most out of the plants around you!

"The Tameless Path" by Kamden Cornell is a thorough dive into the world of plant magic that deserves a prominent place on the shelves of witches and herbal enthusiasts alike. With a keen focus on the often-overlooked weeds and unloved plants, Cornell’s work stands as a testament to the rich potential of nature’s unsung heroes.

From the outset, the book offers a well-crafted introduction to categorizing plants based on their energy and elemental properties. Cornell’s descriptive prose invites readers to engage in a deeper understanding of botanical magic, and the system they provides for categorizing plants is both accessible and enlightening.

One of the standout aspects of "The Tameless Path" is Cornell’s dedication to practical applications, particularly in the areas of harvesting and preparation. They provide detailed, step-by-step instructions on transforming plants into tinctures, incense, and other magical preparations. This hands-on approach not only empowers readers to explore plant magic but also encourages a respectful and mindful relationship with the natural world. The book’s focus on weeds might be its most remarkable feature. Cornell elevates these plants, often dismissed as mere nuisances, by showcasing their potent energies and various uses in plant magic. This emphasis not only broadens the reader’s understanding of the magical potential hiding in plain sight but also fosters a sense of appreciation for the resilience and value of the plant kingdom.

Cornell’s writing style is both informative and engaging, making complex concepts digestible for both novices and seasoned practitioners. Their passion for the subject matter is palpable and inspires a sense of curiosity in readers, prompting them to look beyond traditional herbs and explore the vast array of possibilities that lie in their own backyards.

In summary, "The Tameless Path" is a true treasure for anyone interested in diving deeper into the realms of plant magic. Cornell has crafted a comprehensive guide that is not only rich in knowledge but also encourages a reverence for the natural world. It is an essential reference for witches and practitioners, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone passionate about harnessing the magic of plants. This book is sure to become a beloved staple in the reference library of all who seek to enrich their magical practices.

Most people think of green witchcraft, they think of them using plants and herbs that they are familiar with. I really like that, this book took invasive plants into account. Because every thing in nature has a purpose and a place. Why not you can use these plants to further your own practice? If this title even interest you in the least, you will definitely learn something and enjoy.

3 out of 5

This book is nominally about invasive plants and their relationship with witchcraft. It is part introduction to invasive plants, part herbal preparation guide, and part herbarium.

The first part of the book, which deals with the concept of invasive plants, is a bit rough. Invasive species are conflated with non-native species and weeds generally. This part of the book is intended to provide clarity but ends up just muddying the waters. There were also a couple dashes of monoculture criticism and a critique of GMOs, which is all well and good, but just served to make the already muddy waters murkier. I ended up being more confused about invasive species after reading this section.

The above paragraph being said, the herbal preparations section seemed to be on point, and helpful as a refresher. The herbarium knowledge itself was handy, but didn’t introduce much new information. All in all, this book serves as an acceptable introduction to herbalism, with a focus on invasive plants, but I didn’t find it to be exceptional.

*Note to publisher*: I didn’t allow this observation to impact my rating. I understand that ARCs are not meant to be finished proofs, consequently I won’t comment on any spelling or grammatical errors, however the formatting of this e-book was very confusing and could be improved before distributing the title to advanced readers, simply for the sake of legibility.

Wow, what a massive amount of (incredibly well-researched) information. The first 50% of this book was about correspondences, so that you can draw your own magical conclusions about certain plants. That did make it feel like a bit of a bait-and-switch, as I was truly in it for the information about how to use invasive plants.

And even though it took awhile to get there, I was NOT disappointed when we did. Each invasive is laid out where it grows, why it's considered a problem, culinary uses for it, and magical uses for it. There's even a sketch of the plant! And although she can't include every single "problem plant" in there, she has a truncated section of the second-most requested invasives. And then several pages are devoted to the bibliography, which you can use for further research as desired.

Overall, I found this informative and useful, though way above my own spiritual practice. Still, I'd rather have more information than I need, than the opposite. I took one star off for it taking 50% of the book to get to the invasive plants, which is ostensibly the focus of this book. A better fix would be to change the title and blurb to clarify that this is a book of resources, which includes invasive plant uses, but also planetary correspondences.

The Tameless Path by Kamden Cornell is an excellent resource for witches and pagans wanting to incorporate weeds and invasive plants into their practice.

What this book excels at
1. Citation, specifically in the first section of the text where the author is defining weeds and invasive plants as the terms that will be utilized within.
2. Varrietly, With 25 different highlighted plants the odds of at least one of the named herbs being in a practitioner area are fairly high.

What I would have Liked to See more of

1. FolkLore, The bits included are already stellar and I would love it if the author did a whole book on the topic in the future.
2. Accessibility, More information on how differently abled witches can interact with these spiritual practices would have been nice

* Overall I loved this title and will be adding a physical copy to my collection as soon as it is available to do so.

This is a great book for any green witch interested in gardening and foraging. It provides uses for common invasive plants that include culinary, medicinal, and magical.

The beginning of the book gives some background for why we call some plants 'weeds', magical associations, and herbalism applications.

The main section of the book is a list of several plants and how to use them. The sections include recipes as well. The back of the book has some great reference tables and appendixes.

I think this is one of the best green witchcraft books I have ever read and I really appreciated the sentiment of the book, seeing value in plants even if they aren't the first ones you think of as valuable. There is also a lesson in how we decide to deal with those plants. Do you need to aggressively attack them with poisons or is it better to learn to coexist?

Great book, I want to add it to my shelves. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers, and author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a review.

Longer review available on my blog at wordlywitch.blog

The first chapter is rather long and repetitive, but makes an essential point; that invasive plants are part of a balanced ecosystem and human attempts to control which plants are allowed to grow disrupts that balance.

I found his associations with Alchemy in the second chapter rather interesting, though at times I felt we were looking inside his personal beliefs rather than absolutes.

Chapter three is where it got really interesting. The author explains what specific qualities in plants give them associations with ruling planets, so that the reader can determine for himself what planet is appropriate if no-one has written about that plant.

There are a lot of references through the book of concepts more from the realm of ritual magic than of witchcraft, though witches might find it useful. I personally glaze over when people bring in angels or ancestors, but others might connect to the religious ideas behind these concepts.

Chapter 4 is unique among herbal books I've read. It gives practical instruction about plant preparation, basically spagyrics. That chapter alone makes the book worthwhile!

Chapter 5 gives good advice about working with plants and nature in a spiritual manner, then lists the properties of many of the author's often used plants, explaining that there are hundreds of species and far too many to write about every one of them.

Rather than just a list of scientific names and a paragraph about correspondences as many books do, he includes substantial information about the plant, preparation, its usage, recipes and magical applications.

Overall this book presents a wealth of information. While the author may be verbose at times, the thorough explanations cover a lot of detail that others too often leave out. Definitely a worthwhile read for the serious magical practitioner.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to opportunity to receive an ARC copy in place of an honest review.

This book is going to be BIG in the witch community. The author did an amazing job utilizing herbs, and "weeds" that are not commonly seen in other witchcraft and herbal books. There was a lot of folklore (which I thrived on) intertwined in every page, allowing you to gain a full scope of each plant. I personally love with author's include recipes, spells and that can be extensive or sped up based on your preference and time frame, and they did just that! I fully plan to buy this as soon as it hits the shelves- it's already been marked into my calendar. Thank you for creating something so beautiful and full of magic for the rest of the world to devour and learn from.

Kamden Cornell is a fresh new voice in the world of witchcraft. Using Their extensive knowledge and experience "The Tameless Path" is written for new witches, and seasoned witches alike. The book has hard to find information and uses of invasive species that I found very helpful and informative. I just wish this book had drawings of the plants used. That said, I highly recommend this book to practitioners of all magicks.

I had a great time with The Tameless Path by Kamden Cornell - one of my best reads of the year so far! A detailed guide to working with and truly appreciating invasive plants (also known as 'weeds') that is well suited to beginner and advanced practitioners of any background.

This book is filled with information on the plant itself (over 25 weeds highlighted, so you're sure to find something local to you), it's remedial applications, it's magical applications, and of course tons of recipes of all kinds - did you know one weed can be made into an alcoholic cocktail AND paper AND speed up your spell? You'll have to read the book to find out which one! There's tons of similar fun and useful facts and recipes, for your herbalism practice and your witchcraft practice alike.

While the bulk of this book is indeed about the 'Materia Medica-Magica' of the various 'weeds' and how to prepare and use them, there is still a ton of great alchemical primer information, as well as planetary and astrological guides as related to plants. If you're new to the world of herbalism, you won't feel lost with this book. Plus you'll get to learn about the history of weeds and the folklore of the various plants, so you can truly connect with the spirit of nature.

As a deeply, neurotically organized person, nothing thrills me quite like the well-flowing book and thorough indexes, so I appreciate the 'Spells and Recipes by Weed' section! Truly saves me so much work of having to tab pages and create an index myself, it's all laid out for me. The appendices with all the information summarized in chart format is incredibly helpful as well. And I always like to note when guides like this have great bibliographies, and The Tameless Path absolutely does - pages of sources to reference and continue to study, if you need.

Don't skip this one!

The Tameless Path by Kamden Cornell shines the light on purposeful plants that many witches consider undesirable.

In Chapter 1, The War on Weeds, Cornell explores how and why many plants became classified as noxious weeds or nuisance plants by the U.S. government, which led to propaganda campaigns by herbicide manufacturers. Although the author does demonstrate some bias, this section includes numerous citations and serves as a great starting point for further research.

Chapters 2 and 3 outline various aspects of plant energetics including alchemy, the elements, planetary magic, zodiac signs, etc.

Chapter 4 provides an excellent general manual to work with herbal and plant preparations such as how to make incense, poultices, tinctures, vinegars, oil infusions, salves, and perfumes. It also includes basic instructions for magical and alchemical preparations.

Chapter 5, which makes up the majority of the book, is a magical materia medica. Each highlighted plant has general and folkloric history, foraging advice, and instructions for culinary recipes, medical applications, and spellwork. The book finishes by calling attention to a few “honor-herbal mention” plants in Chapter 6 with shorter descriptions and less information than what is found in Chapter 5.

While the availability of specific plants mentioned will depend on the reader’s bioregion, The Tameless Path is a great read for any Green Witch looking for ideas on how to to build relationships with the weeds around them.