The Poison Path Grimoire: Dark Herbalism, Poison Magic, and Baneful Allies

A practical guide to the magical and ritual use of poison plant allies

- Shares a detailed formulary, including rituals, magical correspondences, and recipes for working with the baneful herbs of occult herbalism

- Looks at the plants of fate and the divination practices they support, love magic with poison plants, shadow work and spell work, the devil’s garden, and the use of nightshades as power plants for medicine and magic

- Explores poison history, lore, occult toxicology, and the alchemical power of working with poison

Examining the art and science of working with noxious and malefic plants and fungi, Coby Michael discusses the occult properties of poison and how poison plants can be used in spell work and other magical operations. He looks at the plants of Fate and the divination practices they support, love magic with poison plants, shadow work, the devil’s garden, and the use of nightshades as power plants for medicine and magic. Presenting a detailed formulary, he shares rituals, magical correspondences, and recipes for working with specific poison plant allies and other baneful herbs of occult herbalism.

Exploring the path of dark herbalism, the author explains how it encompasses not only veneficium--poisonous plants and fungi--but all plants that humanity has tried to forget, from ＂invasive＂ plants and those we can’t domesticate to those that have been regulated arbitrarily or simply feared as ＂toxic＂ or ＂poison.＂ He shows how the dark herbalist seeks out plants that are adversarial or taboo because the qualities we consider ＂dark＂ are really the plant’s spiritual medicine and can offer powerful wisdom and healing. Examining poison history, lore, and occult toxicology, he explains how the aim of using these plants is not to cause physical death, but rather death of the ego. He shows how ＂poison＂ in this sense is an alchemical force that allows the practitioner to become a vessel for the forbidden fruit of knowledge and how the transmutation of our personal poisons can lead to powerful self-transformation.

Coby Michael is an occult herbalist and magical practitioner who teaches about the ritual use of poisonous and psychoactive plants. The author of The Poison Path Herbal and coauthor of Leo Witch, he owns and operates The Poisoner’s Apothecary, an online shop and educational resource for the Poison Path. He has been blogging since 2016 and has written articles for Alraune: The Poisoner’s Guild, This Witch Magazine, and The Witches’ Almanac. He lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.