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!

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

• 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