The Library of Esoterica - Plant Magick (English)

The power of plants throughout history

Celebrating the magick of the natural realm, Volume IV of TASCHEN's Library of Esoterica delves into the symbolism, ceremony, and ritual relationships that connect people with the botanical world.

This visual journey through our interdependent evolution with nature celebrates botanicals as a creative muse, moving from ancient Greek sculptures and Renaissance paintings to visionary art inspired by psychoactive plants, cacti, and mushrooms.

Our myths, beliefs, and shared stories are continually reflected in nature: purity represented by the white lily, spiritual awakening by the bloom of the lotus, and the cycle of our joys and laments mirrored in the changing seasons, the seed birthing sprout, or the dead leaf falling from winter branches.

Plants, trees, and flowers as signifiers of transition are deeply embedded within rites of passage across global cultures. Rose petals strewn along a wedding aisle mark the evolution into womanhood and marriage. A wreath of lilies stands sentinel over an open grave. A lover's bouquet awaits on the doorstep. The wooden May Day pole is circled by girls wearing crowns of woven daisies to celebrate the coming of spring. Birth, unions, and burials, cycles of joyful celebration and deep grieving, are all marked symbolically with herbs, flowers, or branches of a tree. The integration of nature into ceremony becomes a method of signifying catharsis.

Since time immemorial, plants have also served as potent symbols within the religions of the world: Buddha attaining enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, and Eve plucking the Apple of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. From root to vibrant blossom, Plant Magick explores the fertile, interconnected history between plants and people, the ways we embrace plants in spiritual ceremony and healing medicine, and their roles as creative muses and gateways into deeper explorations of consciousness.

The editor and author

Jessica Hundley is an author, filmmaker, and journalist who has written for Vogue, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. She has authored books on artists including Dennis Hopper, David Lynch, and Gram Parsons. Hundley often explores counterculture in her work, with a focus on metaphysics, psychedelia, and magic.

About the series

The Library of Esoterica explores how centuries of artists have given form to mysticism, translating the arcane and the obscure into enduring, visionary works of art. Each subject is showcased through modern and archival imagery drawn from private collectors, libraries, and museums around the globe. The result is an inclusive visual history, a study of our primal pull toward dream and nightmare, and the creative ways we strive to connect to the divine.

Series: The Library of Esoterica, Vol. 4

Format: Hardcover, quarter-bound

Edition: English

Dimensions: 6.7 × 9.4 in.

Weight: 3.99 lb

Page count: 520 pages

ISBN: 978-3-8365-8564-4