Ruskin Apothecary

2011

• DEEPENING – The Incense class – 8th-10th December

2012

• YEAR CLASS – Intuitive Herbalism

29th February, 28th March, 25th April, 30th May, 27th June, 5th September, 10th October, 7th November (Dates for the Wednesday start day)

• Three Day ‘Introduction to Intuitive Herbalsm’  11th to 14th April 2012

• Practical Herbalism

6th March, 3rd and 17th April, 1st, 15th 29th May, 12th 26th June, 11th September, 16th October

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Advance for 2012 (provisional)

Introduction: Weekend class at Hawkwood College in late May

Introduction: Autumn 3 day class at the Apothecary in September

Masterclasses: 5 over the year (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, deep Winter)

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Practical details for those attending courses:

Accomodation suggestions can be found on the ‘contact’ page on this website. The address and map link can also be found here. Parking is tricky, so please allow extra time if it’s your first visit so as not to rush. If there is space, you can park at Horsely Mill (<1km further along the valley from Ruskin Mill) and enjoy the lovely walk back down the valley.

Timing and practicalities:

These details are for courses run at the Apothecary. Other venues will have their own details.

Most courses start on the Wednesday evening at 5-5.30. The evening, which runs until around 7.30-8.00 is a time for us to meet, have a shared meal, check in and start to create the space for the course. A key part of this is a shared meal, and there is a ritual intent with this to share each other’s energy through the food we bring. For this reason, it’s great if you can bring some food that you’ve made yourself and put your consciousness into so as to help start creating the space for the deeper work we will be doing.

The following days (either 2 days or 3 days) start at 9.30, but you are free to arrive anytime from 9.00. I really encourage you to come a little before 9.30 so that you can take some time to walk in the valley and ground yourself. Tea and lunchbreaks happen with the flow of the day, and if you feel a short break is due, do say so!

We generally finish around 5.00, but sometimes we all feel quite saturated earlier and finish 4.00ish. Equally, if we’re on a roll with something, we may go on to 6.00!

Food: There is a cafe at Ruskin Mill is you wish to buy lunch here. Otherwise you are welcome to bring your own food. There’s a kettle and tea’s at the Apothecary so make yourself at home the rest of the day. Apart from the shared meal, which has something of a ritual quality, I prefer people not to eat in the Apothecary since the smell of food can interfere with the work with herbs later.

What to bring: The Apothecary is a small and very full space, so it’s great if you can bring with you the minimum that you need. This would most likely be drawing pad/notebook and if you have it a shawl and sheepskin are useful for the journeying work. If you like working with colour, do bring oils/watercolours with you – I have pastels and pencils at the Apothecary.

Honouring the space: From the start of each course we create a sacred circle for the work that we do here. The work can only be as deep as the circle is strong. Another way to say this is that if someone does not feel comfortable, they are unlikely to open up the parts of themselves that will be the most potent for the work! For this reason I keep numbers small and really encourage you to speak to me if there’s anything you need that is not being recognised. It is common for the work to unlock some quite profound healing processes in people, and we honour this by witnessing with an open heart and maintaining the confidentiality of the space.