Our Forth and Final weekend of the First year of our Apprenticeship was focused on the Element Fire and the qualities of Flowers – and how beautiful were those delicate pink and pale apple blossoms that we tinctured? They looked so incredibly prefect. We made Apple Blossom Brandy, infused with each individuals intentions which was what ever they personally intuited from our abundant, giving and open Apple friend. It was humbling to think of how supported we have all been through our lives by this Fruiting Tree - How many Apples have you eaten in your life??
We started the weekend with a hilarious trip out to the prestigious Chelsea Physic gardens dressed as Herbs! – We had Pictish Blue Woad, Bandaged Comfrey, Hatted princely Chamomile, Porn Star Nettle, Refined Linnen clad Flax, Seedy Poppy, Unforgettable Forget-me-not, Frothy Meadowsweet and Nutty Fly Argaric toadstools to name a few. We were shown around by Anne, who explained a little of the history of this brilliant place. London’s oldest botanic garden, Chelsea Physic Garden was founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries for the purpose of training apprentices in identifying plants. It subsequently became one of the most important centres of botany and plant exchange in the world. It now houses an impressive collection of medicinal plants, many which are the beginning of Pharmaceutical drugs.
Back at Base, We spent a morning dissecting, drawing and marveling over the diversity in the flowers of our native plants. Tiny, perfectly designed fragrant beauties…white dead nettle, comfrey, daisy…
We then honed in on immunity and the lymphatic system and took a wander to see what was out n about that could be used in the treatment of coughs. We made honey Daisy syrup from those fairy princess folk, breath easy tea from herbs collected in the past few months and Ache Ease balm from a combination of everyone’s horseradish and comfrey oils. Bags were a jangling as people left with additions to their medicine cabinates.
Our red-hot chilli Saturday night culminated in the Hokie Cokie around the fire and a few verses of Lily the Pink –our anthem.
We shared in all the fab work that's been produced in the amazing sketch, scrap, journal, art books. It was astounding the love and care that has gone into these beautiful creations...ready for you all to carry on your herbal work.
We shared in all the fab work that's been produced in the amazing sketch, scrap, journal, art books. It was astounding the love and care that has gone into these beautiful creations...ready for you all to carry on your herbal work.
We want to thank all of you partakers for making this past year’s Apprenticeship possible –it has been an amazing learning curve for us and a truly unforgettable experience.
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