Edited by Leo Qawas

Wort is an independent journal of grassroots and radical herbalism. Based in Wales, Wort publishes contributions from lay practitioners alongside professionally qualified herbalists in recognition of the richness of folk traditions and the multiple kinds of knowledge they hold.

“Wort” is an old word for a plant and appears in the common names of many herbs. It comes from the Old English “wyrt” and derives from the same Proto-Indo-European origin-word as “radical,” “radicle,” and “root.” This journal brings together all of these different meanings.

Following a welcoming editorial, this fourth issue of Wort contains the following features…

• Pivoting to the Peripheral: What Medical Herbalism Training Programmes Might Learn from the Plants, by Cassidy McKenna: Exploring current approaches to sustainability and allopathic medical care taken within Medical Herbalism training programmes and questioning whether they equip current students for the realities of practicing in a time of ongoing genocide and ecocide under late-stage capitalism.

• The Little Fir Tree, a poem by Catherine Glavina: Inspired by a fairy story by Hans Christian Anderson.

• Patterns of Perception, by Hannah-May Batley: An experiential journey with Blackberry: a story of how surrender to being with other kin and to the senses disrupted the epistemological frame and provoked the emergence of new forms of perception and sensuousness.

• Of the Heart: Linden and Cordials for Modern Times, by Isa Symancyk: Delving into the original applications and historical conception of cordials as a heart-affirming medicine, this article offers an understanding of why this neglected preparation might also suit today’s challenges.

• Growing Munyadzagudo Red Maize, by Kudzai Ruzvidzo: Growing and preserving indigenous Red Maize for food, drink, and medicine in Masvingo district, Zimbabwe.

• Cultivating Chaga: Reflections on New Frontiers in Mycoforestry, by Marco Tenconi: Drawing on recent research for an industry report, this article looks into the cultivation of the medicinal Chaga fungus in open woodland settings, reflecting on some of the philosophical and moral questions surrounding this nascent area of mycoforestry.

• Plants, Mushrooms, and Resistance Collective—Project Focus: Plants, Mushrooms and Resistance: Supporting herbal knowledge and resilience in radical movements in Europe through autonomous collective gatherings for herbalists and mycophiles to connect, learn together, and exchange.

• Reishi for Life and Death: Connecting with the Humans Between It All, by Sophia Handler: Reflections on meeting Reishi, a facilitator of transition and connection with cycles, informed by experiences of being supported by Reishi during pregnancy and motherhood and inspired by the work of Dominik Einfalt, who collaborates with Reishi to create a new rite for death and burial.

• Echoes of an Uprooted World, by Tsitsi Mareika Chirikure: Tracing an evolving relationship with Himalayan balsam, a plant that has been deemed “invasive,” this piece asks if and how we, in this society, can find kinship with the lives we have been taught to uproot, and how this can transform our relationship with plants, place, and each other.

…with illustrations throughout by Ross Fleming and contributing artists Aidan Morton, Ríona Ní Riagáin, Leo El-Qawas, and Tiara Kundai Matonda, mostly in black-and-white with occasional splashes of color.

The Peculiar Parish Bookshop is proud and excited to share this fourth issue of Wort with you.

Cover illustration by Ross Fleming. Published by Wort (Winter 2025–26). A new pamphlet in perfect condition. First printing.

96-page perfectbound pamphlet, illustrated throughout.