Essential Wisdom – food for your skin and your soul
Our “Essential Wisdom” journey started when we brought an old hospital, complete with operating theatre, at The Rock – a small village south of Wagga Wagga. When we arrived we found that a large percentage of the older population were born in our house – a daunting thought. I started my business making soap, using the operating theatre as my “making room”. It is a lovely space where people came to deliver new life and it really was the birth of a new venture for me. As I make the herbal salves, teas and all things herbal, I feel a sense of a new healing and a new life for this space.
I found this to be a truly beautiful undertaking and it didn’t take me long to realise that a store-brought soap would never compare to a hand-made soap, made with the most beautiful oils and butter. The Toyota ad of “Oh what a feeling” could well have been written about hand-made soaps. I then branched out and learnt how to make creams for the face and body using only 1% chemical input which acts as a preservative to keep you safe.
And then came the herbs! I cannot tell you how many hours of study have gone into learning the actions of herbs, the intricacies of our body and the interaction of the two. The range never seems to end with teas, elixirs, syrups, salves, shrubs, ointments, soaps and bath teas bags even bath bombs. The essential oils that plants give us excites and soothes our senses, can rev us up or calm us down. Added to soaps and creams, inhalers or used as perfumes – there are countless ways to feel good and healthy all form a plant.
The best part of this journey is in teaching others to appreciate our common garden variety herbs and what people call weeds. After my course people never look at nettles and dandelions the same way. Halfway through the day I can see the dawning of an “ah-ha” moment when students realise that this is very simple, safe and do-able. Instead of running to the pharmacist for a chemical fix for a sore throat, you can go out to the garden and pick some sage and thyme, put it in natural honey and take a spoonful of it, or make a nourishing tea and sip it slowly. These herbs are not just pizza toppings or chicken stuffing – they are incredibly beneficial and diverse.
I hold course in Spring and Autumn when nettle abound and the herbs are jumping out of the ground. I have been very blessed to form a connection to the herbs and the elder trees that grow around me, and harvest has been abundant. And yes, I talk to plants, ask their permission before I harvest, and give them a gift as well, in way of an energetic thank you.
The wonderment of our plant would always excites me. How utterly stupendous that trees talk to each other – and many people never get to know that or sadly never believe it (I encourage you to research this topic)
It is exciting that a Festival such as the Off-Grid Living Festival brings like-minded people together where there is no eye rolling or thoughts of weirdness to be seen, and the array of topics is diverse and approached with enthusiasm. Where you can listen to passionate people talk about their ideas and areas of focus, as questions and gain knowledge.