The Archive
Grimoire
Dispatches from the margins of herbalism and history. Essays on plants, poisons, and the long tradition of green knowledge.
21 April 2026
On Mugwort
Before all other herbs, remember mugwort. A tenth-century Anglo-Saxon charm said so, and the instruction has not been satisfactorily explained. A study of the dream herb — its history, its properties, and why it keeps appearing at the edges of things.
18 April 2026
The Cunning Folk
They did not call themselves witches. They called themselves cunning — from the Old English for to know. A history of the village healers who kept their notebooks in code and their knowledge alive through centuries of suppression.
10 April 2026
What Is a Botanical Grimoire?
From medieval herbals to Appalachian granny witches, plant grimoires have always existed. A guide to beginning your own — and what the green world might say back.
14 March 2026
On the Doctrine of Signatures
For centuries, healers read the bodies of plants as a physician reads the body of a patient — shape, colour, and texture whispering their purpose to those who knew how to listen.
28 February 2026
The Poisoner's Garden
Some gardens are built for healing. Others were built as warnings. A tour of history's most deliberate collections of the deadly and the dangerous.