
One of my favorite parts of creating art is diving down rabbit-holes of research about the historical development of the liturgical calendar, the folklore & plantlore entwined with its celebrations, and the spiritual reflections on what these heritage traditions mean to us in our modern lives.
I’ve gathered a growing library of reference materials over the years, and I hope that some of these books will be helpful jumping-off points for your own exploration!
LITURGICAL CALENDAR
If you’re in the PNW, a wonderful way to get to experience the historical liturgical calendar is to visit Camlann Medieval Village – a living history museum portraying rural England in 1376, featuring monthly feasts and festivals that follow the Medieval liturgical calendar.
- A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz
- All Year Round by Ann Druitt, Christine Fynes-Clinton, & Marije Rowling
- Book of Common Prayer
- The Catholic Yearbook: Comprehending, the Circle of the Seasons and Key to the Calendar and Almanac by Thomas Forster
- Cooking for Christ by Florence Berger
- The English Festivals by Laurence Whistler
- The English Year by Steve Roud
- Festivals Family and Food by Diana Carey & Judy Large
- Holidays and Holy Nights by Christopher Hill
- Living the Christian Year by Steven Gross
- A Medieval Life by Judith Bennett
- Origins of the Liturgical Year by Thomas Talley
- The Oxford Companion to the Year by Bonnie Blackburn & Leofranc Holford-Strevens
- Rural Life Prayer Book
- Sounding the Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year by Malcom Guite
- The Symbols of the Church by Maurice Dilasser
- To Dance With God by Gertrud Mueller Nelson
PLANTLORE & FOLKLORE
- The Botanical Bible: Plants, Flowers, Art, Recipes & Other Home Remedies by Sonya Patel Ellis
- The Complete Language of Flowers by Theresa Dietz
- Floriography by Jessica Roux
- Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants and Trees by Ernst & Johanna Lehner
- The Forest in Folkore and Mythology by Alexander Porteous
- A Handbook of Native American Herbs by Alma Hutchens
- Ireland’s Wild Plants: Myths, Legends and Folklore by Niall Mac Coitir
- Legends & Lore of Texas Wildflowers by Elizabeth Silverthorne
- A Modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Grieve
- Nature and Its Symbols by Lucia Impelluso
- Oxford Dictionary of Plant-Lore by Roy Vickery
- Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics by Richard Folkard
- Plant Lore & Legend by Ruth Binney
- Popular Religion in Late Saxon England: Elf Charms in Context by Karen Louise Jolly
- Signs & Symbols in Christian Art by George Ferguson