Welcome, friend, to this space. I hope it can be a place of warmth and nourishment for you.
There's a pot of herb-flower tea on the table, eucalyptus honey to drizzle in your cup, and nowhere to be anytime soon.
I'll tell you a little bit about what we're doing here, to begin.
I started the Atlas Apothecary a few years ago, as a means to spread essential knowledge about the use of herbs and plants for healthy lifestyles, in a creative and holistic way.
I came here with a yearning for something I had tasted, true connection to nature in my daily life.
I lamented that I grew up in a society so far removed from the bosom of nature, how I and many others had suffered for our lack of connection to the Real and the Whole in such profound ways.
I suffered because of what I ate, I suffered because of the way I spent my energy, and because of the way I attempted to follow a path that did not work according to my own natural rhythms.
Over these years, I have tried to share what I've learnt on a journey which has taken me steadily closer to the heart of a holistic, natural life. And I'm still learning.
Whilst sharing what I've learnt about the use of plants for healing, I have undergone immense change and growth in my own lifestyle, learning, slowly, how to care for myself first, and even more slowly, to care for those I love and who are close to me.
Since beginning this journey I have settled in a new land that speaks to my soul and challenges me, settled down, married, renovated our naturally-built home and become a mother. It's been a pretty wild ride!
In the process I have become impatient with the apparent slowness of it all (patience will always be my greatest challenge!) as I have yearned to master the arts of herbalism, healing cooking and... what else? In short, I once put immense pressure on myself to "be" something, but finally learnt that I "was" all along.
What I mean, is that this knowledge - of nature, her plants, and ourselves - is open to us all, at every instant. There is no competition, there is no-one to be "master" over. We are all here to learn. At our own pace. In community. Because this knowledge is important.
It is important that we claim it. Because it has been forcibly taken from us. I sincerely and seriously believe that we all can trace the path of herbalism, and in so doing, grow as a community in knowledge and healing.
This is also about womanhood. Not that the herbalists were always women, but that the women were always herbalists.
My own emergence into motherhood has taught me all kinds of lessons I'm yet to be able to articulate, but the greatest of all has been in recognising the innate intuition that lies within all women. A knowledge that is neither empirical or measurable, but felt on the most fundamental of levels. Which speaks the language of plants.
So, I welcome you again to the Atlas Apothecary Sourcebook, an online space for the discussion of plant craft, healing cooking, the sacred feminine and the journey inwards.
I've designed this to be a treasure chest for you to delve into and take what you need. A bookshelf where you can exchange texts. A fortress of healing for weary souls. A source of sweet sustenance on your journey.
From the Hebrides to the Sahara, through blog posts, translations, interviews, reviews and creative writing - I hope you can find something that speaks to you.
For collaborations, please email me at info@atlasapothecary.com
Contributors and Photos: Miriam Hicklin, unless otherwise stated
