The Tameless Path

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.

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!

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.

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