Ellen Evert Hopman is a Master Herbalist and lay Homeopath who holds an M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling.
Ellen Evert Hopman is the author of a growing number of books. Her newest offerings are The Secret Medicines in Your Kitchen, a book that teaches the uses of foods and spices already in your home, for health and well being (mPowr, 2012), Secret Medicines from Your Garden (Healing Arts Press, 2016), A Legacy of Druids (Moon Books, 2016), Tree Medicine Tree Magic - second edition updated and revised (Pendraig Publishing, 2017), The Real Witches of New England (Destiny Books, 2018), The Sacred Herbs of Samhain (Destiny Books, 2019) and The Sacred Herbs of Spring (Destiny Books, 2020), Once Around the Sun - stories crafts and recipes to celebrate the sacred Earth year (Destiny Books, 2022) and The Sacred Herbs of Yule and Christmas - Remedies, Recipes, Magic, and Brews for the Winter Season (Destiny Books 2023), and Celtic Druidry - Rituals, Techniques and Magical Practices (Destiny Books 2024).
Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore (Pendraig Publishing, 2011), is a study of the folk magic and healing plants of the Highlands and islands of Scotland.
Her first novel, Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey (recently re-released by Oak Spirit Publishing, 2020), was an exciting new project for her, combining a heart-warming fictional romance with practical Druid rites, prayers and rituals. The sequel is called The Druid Isle (Llewellyn, April 2010). The third book in the series is Priestess of the Fire Temple: A Druid's Tale (Llewellyn, March of 2012). All three books are designed to illuminate the Druid path for seekers of Celtic wisdom.
Another book on trees, Celtic spirituality and the ancient Ogham alphabet is A Druid's Herbal for Sacred Tree Medicine (Inner Traditions - Bear and Company, June 2008).
Other books include Being a Pagan: Druids, Wiccans, and Witches Today (Destiny Books, 2001), People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out (Inner Traditions, 1995), Walking the World in Wonder - A Children's Herbal (Healing Arts Press, 2000), and A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year (Destiny Books, 1994)
Hopman is the Archdruid Emerita of Tribe of the Oak (Tuatha na Dara), an international Druid Order with on line instruction for seekers. She was a founding member of The Order of the White Oak (Ord Na Darach Gile) and its former Co-Chief, a Bard of the Gorsedd of Caer Abiri, and a Druidess of the Druid Clan of Dana. She was Vice President of The Henge of Keltria, an international Druid Fellowship, for nine years and has also been at times a member of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and of ADF, A Druid Fellowship.
She is the co-creator of the Virtual Shrine of the Goddess Brighid.
Hopman has been a teacher of Herbalism since 1983 and of Druidism since 1990. She is a registered member of the American Herbalists Guild. Hopman is also a member of the Grey Council of Mages and Sages and has been a professor at the Grey School of Wizardry.
Hopman has presented on Druidism, herbal lore, tree lore, Paganism, and magic at conferences, festivals, and events in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and the United States. She has participated in numerous radio and television programs including National Public Radio's "Vox Pop" and the Gary Null show in New York. She presented a weekly "herb report" for WRSI radio out of Greenfield, MA for over a year and was a featured subject in a documentary about Druids on A&E Television's "The Unexplained" (Sacred Societies, February 1999).
She has also released video tapes and DVDs on the subjects covered in her books through Sawmill River Productions.
She has been a teacher of Herbalism since 1983 and of Druidism since 1990 and has co-led tours to Celtic and Neolithic sites in Europe. She was the founder of The New England Druid Summit, a yearly gathering of Druids in New England.
She has been on the staff of Keltria: Journal of Druidism and Celtic Magick and has been a contributing author to many New Age and Pagan journals.
Some Recent Reviews
Once Around the Sun: Stories, Crafts, and Recipes to Celebrate the Sacred Earth Year is an illustrated collection of tales with related activities celebrating eight Pagan festivals and the changing seasons. Each is beautifully done, with an illustration, an original story based on a traditional folktale meant to be read aloud, and crafts, recipes, and activities that relate to the story.
Ellen Evert Hopman identifies as a follower of the Earth religion, known as Nature Spirituality. Beginning with Cailleach at Samhain and moving into the dark winter, then to spring, summer, and autumn, the book follows the wheel of the year and the changes that occur. A ninth celebration for January 1 is also included, with the Italian tale of La Befana. Other holidays draw on Norse, Irish, Germanic, Polish, and Scottish traditions.
Using the summer solstice as an example, there is a full-page illustration, in this case, four maidens putting wreaths in the river. Key figures and term are listed with pronunciation guides and translations for foreign words. This is followed by an eight-page story, recipes for the peppermint chocolate tea and sour cherry pierogi, and instructions to make the flower crowns and a Kupalnocka wreath — all part of the story. The magical properties of thirty-one vines, herbs, flowers, and woods are listed so the wreath can be made with the desired intention. There are also photographs scattered throughout.
Readers will learn of the Cailleach, the ancient Goddess of Winter; La Befana, the Italian new year’s witch; Eostre, the Goddess of Spring; Yule among the Vikings; and other deities and celebrations.
Everything you need to know is presented; no need for other reference books to celebrate traditional holy days and festivals of the sacred earth year. Those new to the path will find a complete package and those who have been celebrating for years will find fresh ideas. It’s a helpful book to add to any collection.
- Lynn Woike Pagan Pages Magazine
Praise for Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore;
Many of the herbal and magical practices of the Scots are echoed in
traditional Norwegian folk medicine and magic. This is a valuable resource
book not only for the serious folklorist, but also for a wider audience
interested in a deeper look at rural Scottish practices. Ms. Hopman has done
an amazing amount of research, and her Scottish herbalism section is far
more detailed than I've seen elsewhere. A "must have" for the northern
European folklorist's library.
Jane T. Sibley, Ph.D., author of "The Hammer of the Smith" and "The Divine
Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods".
"The first things is WOW! Ellen Hopman has given us a volume that belongs in
Harry Potter's library. This wonderful collection of enchantments, faery
lore and herbal potions, is presented by a practicing herbalist and (I
suspect) magician. It is a useful manual of magic, an unusual tourist guide
to Scotland, certainly a delightful read, and at the very least, a
comprehensive and thoroughly footnoted collection of folk lore for
humorless librarians and scholars."
Matthew Wood MS (Scottish School of Herbal Medicine)
Registered Herbalist (American Herbalists Guild)
Woven into this well-researched and beautifully presented book is a magical
thread. This thread forms a path and this path winds its way into the very
marrow of the old and forgotten ways of Scotland. Throughout these pages
Ellen lavishes the reader with a body of knowledge that she means to be used
in direct participation with Nature. The message is clear: The old Wisdom
endures and is more vital to us than ever before.
Michael Dunning - Scottish shaman, writer, artist and teacher.
A Druids Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine;
As a practicing herbalist, I am always on the lookout for books rich with
herbal lore. The problem is that most books are either medicinal or magical,
and when they're both, the information therein is not always especially
helpful. Enter Ellen Evert Hopman, whose book, however, is a thorough and
complete look at both. Hopman is not only an herbalist but a Druid
priestess, as well and she obviously has a keen intuitive sense of tree
medicine that she couples this with Druid lore (as well as Native American
lore). Sacred Tree Medicine traces through the Druid Ogham Tree alphabet,
giving the symbolic, liturgical, poetic, medicinal, and spiritual aspects of
each sacred tree.
Though there is focus on herb lore, the Goddess is given plenty of
attention, too. Hopman teaches her reader how each sacred tree assists in
spiritual practice and which face of the Goddess it represents. I had the
most fun taking this book to the forests by my home, identifying trees and
sampling their offerings. The book closes with a section on the Druidic arts
including magic, tools, festivals, and divinations. This gives the reader
the opportunity to put her newfound knowledge of trees and magic to
practical use.
Hopman is an incredible resource for all of us seeking to take our health,
medicine, and spirituality into our own hands. Sacred Tree Medicine deserves
a place on the shelf next to her other guides of magical and medicinal lore. - SageWoman Magazine
