The Witch's Book of Simples

Keep it Simple

A Simple is a philtre derived from a single herb and was an important element among the natural resources of the parish-pump witch, wise-women and cunning-folk. Simples are common kitchen ‘stuff’ that have been handed down through generations of country people in the form of family cures for everyday ailments. Or as William Fernie wrote in his Herbal Simples (1897) The art of Simpling is as old with us as our British hills. It aims at curing common ailments with simple remedies culled from the soil, or got from home resources near at hand.

These were no fancy recipes with magical formulae, and, often given as a tisane, the woman of the household was able to use the remedies to treat common ailments suffered by her family. And, this elementary form of domestic plant medicine can be as simple as a cup of chamomile tea made from flowers picked fresh from our own garden to aid sleep. This was the most elementary way to use medicinal plants since no fancy recipes or scientific acumen was needed. But this element of traditional witchcraft has long been in the shadows 

Mélusine Draco is an Initiate of traditional British Old Craft and the Khemetic Mysteries. Originally trained in the magical arts with Bob and Mériém Clay-Egerton’s Coven of the Scales, she has been a magical and spiritual instructor for over 20 years with both Coven of the Scales and the Temple of Khem, and writer of numerous popular books including Liber Ægyptius: the Book of Egyptian Magic; The Egyptian Book of Days; The Egyptian Book of Nights; Root & Branch; The Witch’s Treasury of the Countryside; The Thelemic Handbook; The Hollow Tree, an elementary guide to the Tarot and Qabalah and Starchild: a rediscovery of stellar wisdom. Her highly individualistic teaching methods and writing draws on ancient sources supported by academic texts and current archaeological findings. She also has a soft spot for the writings of Aleister Crowley and will only use the term ‘magick’ when writing about Thelema and its associated practices; endorsing his view that magic is an amalgam of science and art, and that magic is the outer route to the inner Mysteries. She now lives in Ireland near the Galtee Mountains and has several titles currently published with John Hunt Publishing including the Traditional Witchcraft series; two titles on totem animals – Aubry’s Dog and Black Horse, White Horse; By Spellbook & Candle: Hexing, Cursing, Bottling & Binding and By Wolfsbane and Mandrake Root: The Shadow World of Plants and Their Poisons; Pan: Dark Lord of the Forest and Horned God of the Witches published by Moon Books; in additional to Magic Crystals Sacred Stones and The Atum-Re Revival published by Axis Mundi Books. Her series of esoteric novels – The Temple House Archive - has been published by Ignotus Press UK and is available in both paperback and e-book formats. All books available on Amazon.