The Illustrated Crystallary by Maia Toll
2021-02-15
First Impressions I was unashamedly drawn to The Illustrated Crystallary by the gorgeous cover art, and since it’s an illustrated guide to crystals and minerals,Read More →
Maia Toll
Maia Toll is the author of The Illustrated Herbiary which won an Indie Award, a Nautilus Award, and has been on the Pacific Northwest bestseller list. While published in 2018, the seeds for The Illustrated Herbiary and the other books in The Wild Wisdom Collection (The Illustrated Bestiary, October 2019 and The Illustrated Crystallary, September 2020) were planted years earlier when Maia apprenticed with a traditional healer in Ireland where she spent extensive time studying the growing cycles of plants, the alchemy of medicine making, and the psychology of working with humans and illness. These experiences reawakened an interest in natural philosophy and mysticism which had been a large part of Maia’s academic studies at The University of Michigan and New York University.
Translating the lessons of the natural world for the modern seeker led Maia to open a small shop called Herbiary in 2006. Herbiary now has locations in both Asheville, NC and Philadelphia, PA. Maia has been featured in a PBS special, had a recipe published in The New York Times, gotten photographed by National Geographic Traveler, and been called “a real life Professor Sprout from Harry Potter” by Forbes magazine. She has taught Botanical Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, West Chester University, and Pennsylvania Hospital. She regularly teaches at conferences and festivals where she encourages people to use patterns and metaphors from the natural world to help them understand and grow within their own lives. Maia lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her life and business partner and their two ridiculously spoiled dogs.