Occult Botany

A classic text on esoteric traditional herbalism from one of the most influential herbalists of the Paris occult revival

Occult Botany includes a dictionary of nearly 300 magical plants with descriptions of each plant’s scientific name, common names, elemental qualities, ruling planets, and zodiacal signatures, alongside commentary on their medico-magical properties and uses.

The book explores methods of phytotherapy and plant magic, including the Paracelsian "transplantation of diseases," ritual pacts with trees, the secret ingredients of witches’ ointments, and the composition of magical philters.

Sédir explains the occult secrets of phytogenesis, plant physiology, and plant physiognomy (classification of plants according to the doctrine of signatures).

Merging the scientific discipline of botany with ancient, medieval, and Renaissance traditions of occult herbalism, this seminal guide was first published in French in 1902 as a textbook for students of Papus’s École Hermétique. It sparked a revival in the study of magical herbalism in early twentieth-century France.

Author Paul Sédir, pseudonym of Yvon Le Loup (1871-1926), unveils the mysteries behind planetary and zodiacal attributions, providing readers with the keys to make their own informed determinations of the astral properties of plants. From theory to practice, Sédir explores various methods of phytotherapy and plant magic, including the Paracelsian "transplantation of diseases," the secret ingredients of witches’ ointments, and the composition of magical philters.

In the third section of Occult Botany, Sédir offers a dictionary of magical plants that covers nearly 300 plant species with descriptions of their astral signatures, occult properties, and medico-magical uses. Compiled from an array of rare sources and esoteric materials, this classic text includes additional materials and supplemental charts and diagrams drawn from Sédir’s occult colleagues, all of whom adopted and expanded upon Sédir’s pioneering system of plant correspondences.