My mission is to bring the beauty and healing properties of the natural environment into my products and make them available to a larger population.
Arkana - "The sacred Mystery of Life expressed through Nature"
Sun - "The light of the Sun gives all things Life - these Herbal Products begin by receiving Sunlight"
Botanica - "A Market Stall selling medicine derived from Plants"
"As we grapple with a planet out of balance, we turn to nature to help us align to a path of healing. Christine has a deep knowledge and a studied wisdom of the healing properties of plants and herbs. Her essential oils feel almost magical when applied to the body for a great variety of needs. From bruising, to inflammation, malaise and energy, the subtle powers of these remedies are truly amazing. I have offered these oils to my clients with confidence followed by results."
- Susan Kirk. Numerologist/Spiritual Counselor.
Gathering Herbs
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The organic plant materials I am using to create herbal salves and oils are grown in our gardens and wild-crafted from their natural environment in the forests and fields of Trinity County.
Cultivating -Calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis) like to grow between rows of vegetables and are valuable companion plants to keep bugs at bay. Calendula oil is an emollient known for soothing and healing dry, rough, inflamed skin. I use it as the base of Happy Foot Balm.
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) leaves and stalks from my garden are sun-infused in organic olive oil for several weeks to release the healing properties of allentoin, a substance known to regenerate healthy cell growth.
Plantain (Plantago major), growing wild throughout my garden, is considered by many a common weed. This plant has powerful healing properties and is used for insect bites, cuts, wounds, and inflammation. The oil of plantain makes a wonderful skin lubricant and together with comfrey and calendula is the base for the Yoni Balm.
Wild crafting - During the midsummer heat, I collect St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) in the mountains. St. Johns Wort infuses oil with a deep ruby red and is a valuable anti-inflammatory preparation for wounds and traumatic brusing. Together with comfrey oil, these form the base of Bruise Brew Salve, Bruise Brew Oil as well as the Arthritis Relief.
One of my favorite things is "being" with the plants in their natural environment and feeling the peacefulness of the forest glens. I give thanks to the plant spirit and ask permission to bring its healing properties into my products. I pay careful attention to how I select, pick, and prune each plant to encourage healthy growth for years to come.
Cultivating -Calendula flowers (Calendula officinalis) like to grow between rows of vegetables and are valuable companion plants to keep bugs at bay. Calendula oil is an emollient known for soothing and healing dry, rough, inflamed skin. I use it as the base of Happy Foot Balm.
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) leaves and stalks from my garden are sun-infused in organic olive oil for several weeks to release the healing properties of allentoin, a substance known to regenerate healthy cell growth.
Plantain (Plantago major), growing wild throughout my garden, is considered by many a common weed. This plant has powerful healing properties and is used for insect bites, cuts, wounds, and inflammation. The oil of plantain makes a wonderful skin lubricant and together with comfrey and calendula is the base for the Yoni Balm.
Wild crafting - During the midsummer heat, I collect St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) in the mountains. St. Johns Wort infuses oil with a deep ruby red and is a valuable anti-inflammatory preparation for wounds and traumatic brusing. Together with comfrey oil, these form the base of Bruise Brew Salve, Bruise Brew Oil as well as the Arthritis Relief.
One of my favorite things is "being" with the plants in their natural environment and feeling the peacefulness of the forest glens. I give thanks to the plant spirit and ask permission to bring its healing properties into my products. I pay careful attention to how I select, pick, and prune each plant to encourage healthy growth for years to come.
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"Out beyond the ideas of right doing and wrong doing, there is a field; I will meet you there"
Jala al Din Rumi |
Meet Christine
I am Christine Hassler-Brandt, a long-time herbalist and teacher. I have the privilege to be living with my husband, Jean-Pierre, in a remote valley in the Trinity Mountains.
I am passionate about working with the flowers and herbs that I wild craft, collecting plants in the wild or cultivating them in my own garden to make herbal preparations and medicinal healing products. With the creation of my products, I share with you the beauty, healing and peace of this place I call home.
I spent many happy years in my grandmother's garden in southern Germany. There she taught me to love plants and how they can nourish and assist us in a gentle way. When I came to California, I lived for many years in Big Sur, where I deepened my knowledge of herbs while studying with Michael Tierra, Christopher Hobbs, Jeanne Rose and others.
My husband and I started a private rain forest preserve, Parinati, in southern Brazil. There I had the good fortune to apprentice for six years with local women in the traditional healing methods of using plants of the Mata Atlantica rain forest.
Returning to California, I had the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of essential oils while working for Will Lapaz at Eden Botanicals, a renowned essential oil business based at that time in Hyampom.
I have worked in the healing fields for over 40 years, as a Massage Therapist and instructor, as an Herbalist and as a Health and Wellness instructor. One of my passions has been in the field of Aroma Therapy, using the essence of the plants in the form of essential oils to include in my products.
Each Saturday, for the last 12 years, I have been teaching a Health & Wellness Class to the local community, consisting of Qigong, Yoga, meditation, body awareness, and many cups of herbal teas. Together with Jean-Pierre we are tending our orchard, gardens and wilderness we call home. Much of our food is grown in the garden or the neighbor’s garden, the water comes from a year around creek by the house, the heat from the wood burning stove.
We are living an artistic life in this beauty we create to share with others. Fine arts and crafts and good food are part of our daily routine along with walking on the banks of the Trinity River with our dog Stella.
I am passionate about working with the flowers and herbs that I wild craft, collecting plants in the wild or cultivating them in my own garden to make herbal preparations and medicinal healing products. With the creation of my products, I share with you the beauty, healing and peace of this place I call home.
I spent many happy years in my grandmother's garden in southern Germany. There she taught me to love plants and how they can nourish and assist us in a gentle way. When I came to California, I lived for many years in Big Sur, where I deepened my knowledge of herbs while studying with Michael Tierra, Christopher Hobbs, Jeanne Rose and others.
My husband and I started a private rain forest preserve, Parinati, in southern Brazil. There I had the good fortune to apprentice for six years with local women in the traditional healing methods of using plants of the Mata Atlantica rain forest.
Returning to California, I had the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of essential oils while working for Will Lapaz at Eden Botanicals, a renowned essential oil business based at that time in Hyampom.
I have worked in the healing fields for over 40 years, as a Massage Therapist and instructor, as an Herbalist and as a Health and Wellness instructor. One of my passions has been in the field of Aroma Therapy, using the essence of the plants in the form of essential oils to include in my products.
Each Saturday, for the last 12 years, I have been teaching a Health & Wellness Class to the local community, consisting of Qigong, Yoga, meditation, body awareness, and many cups of herbal teas. Together with Jean-Pierre we are tending our orchard, gardens and wilderness we call home. Much of our food is grown in the garden or the neighbor’s garden, the water comes from a year around creek by the house, the heat from the wood burning stove.
We are living an artistic life in this beauty we create to share with others. Fine arts and crafts and good food are part of our daily routine along with walking on the banks of the Trinity River with our dog Stella.
"Dear Christine, I recently bought a jar of your Yoni Balm and have been using it for several weeks now. What a wonderful product! All natural ingredients and a delight to use. It has a yummy smell to it. I’m 56 years old and in the final stages of menopause after surgery and Yoni Balm is proving to be just the thing to restore the moisture and elasticity to the walls and interior of my vagina. A most welcome occurrence! Thank you for putting out such a superior product, it’s making my life much more enjoyable." -Iris Chinook
