Archeus 10 Years On Episode #1

Hello, and welcome to the soul garden. This is where we explore the inner and the outer workings of living in a connected world. And it's really lovely to have you here. I'm Georgina Langdale, the host of this podcast, and the founder of Archeus. Hello, here I am in the in my office, and the Archeus Apothecary it's lovely to have you here, it's a beautiful day, I've got the door open, and I can hear birds, you know, doing their thing. It's kind of incredible, because today marks the 10th anniversary since the launch of Archeus. Back in 2013. I mean, I can hardly believe that it's been 10 years and what an incredible journey, it's been beginnings tend to start with a name. And the name Archeus has some ancient history behind it, the 16th century physician and alchemist Paracelsus, who lived in Switzerland, he created the word Archeus. To swing he said that for alchemy and for healing, we first need to connect to the vital force that Archeus that flows through us nature and Cosmos. And you know, back then in 2013, and even more so I think today, that word and those ideas were absolute music to my ears. Because since a really, really early age, I have felt a very deep connection to that healing force in nature and Cosmos. And it's really absolutely the bedrock of the work I do here at Archeus. So I'm just gonna talk a little bit about the evolution of Archeus and 10 things I've learned over the 10 years of Archeus. And I just also want to recap some of the recognition that Archeus has had. I wrote all these things up on a wall the other day, and I thought, wow, there's actually quite a lot. So I'm just going to touch on a few things here. So 10 years ago, Archeus began kitchen table in my home in Wellington that I shared with my husband, owl. I had returned to New Zealand in 2011, I was living in Europe, I was single, I could see that my parents health was beginning to decline. And they were here and I I wanted to be around for them when things got sticky. And I think for many of us, when we reach our mid 40s, we can find ourselves becoming really aware of that relationship of child and parent changing. And we can find ourselves navigating a whole new way of being as we have to step up for parents as they start to, you know, age and their health starts to fail. Returning to New Zealand was an opportunity for me to make a new start in so many ways. It was an opportunity to think about what I did my career, what mattered to me. And so I thought, you know, use this moment, because if not now then when, when when I make the changes. And so with absolute naivety actually, I started laying the groundwork for what would become Archeus and I have to say here, thanks to my husband for being so supportive in that I knew that I wanted to do something was my lifelong passion for working with the healing power of nature. And I used it in different ways. In my career. I'd worked for Kew Gardens, I'd worked for the United Nations Environment Program, but I wanted to move kind of from the macro to the micro level. And I saw that there was an opportunity for me to combine my herbal knowledge I built up over many years, my environment Two studies and trainings and things like aromatherapy and Reiki and massage therapy and all these sorts of things, to create something that was beneficial for people and also a tread lightly on the earth. And I really found myself recalling how when I lived in London, you know, all that urban landscape. Although there are beautiful parks in London, I found myself sometimes yearning to find some sort of products, you know, that I could open a jar and put something on my skin and feel myself absorbing and connecting with nature, physically, emotionally and spiritually. You know, I couldn't find that product. So when I started thinking about Archeus, I thought, Well, why don't I try to create that. Underpinning all of this work as well, was connection to rich, rich writings left for us by people like Paracelsus, who I mentioned before, who was a 16th century physician and Alchemist, the 15th century physician and philosopher Marsilio Ficino the 12th century abbess, Hildegard of Bingen, there are just so many people through history that have left us just wonderful, wonderful wisdom. And these, the wisdom of healers, kind of reaches back through all traditions through written and oral history. For me, I found myself tugging on a thread that led me through these people I've just mentioned, to Hippocrates, and Asclepius and into the wide blue sky of Vedic traditions. And what I saw was through all of these different paths, from my end, my own kind of British Isles, earth based traditions, all of these paths can illuminate aspects of how we work with nature for and spirit and cosmos for health and well being. And so my hope was that over time Archeus, would help would grow into embodying some of that. And those ideas. And when I reflect on that, and I look forward to the next 10 years, I know that that work, I'm kind of really ready to step out into the world with that a lot more. As I look back over this 10 year period of Archeus, I do it with a huge amount of gratitude. And I really want to say thank you to everybody who has believed in me or believed in Archeus, and found me on the web in, you know, on the internet, or it, I don't know, trade shows, or markets, or talks and things and bought my offerings, whether it's a product and a jar, or plant essence, or coming into courses and workshops, or signing up for some coaching or inviting me to collaborate or do talks and workshops with you, thank you, you know, I really, I really, really love these connections, it just is really lovely to be able to do that and to, to, to to make those connections. Also thinking about 10 years, I thought people like lists stone we we all love a number plan and you know, 10 lists and three then seven steps. So I thought I would do a list of 10 things I've learned since starting Archeus So he goes, one Archeus has shown me that I'm really comfortable helping others with the stuff that can be hard to talk about, or gets kind of pushed away under the carpet, you know, things like dry vaginas and death and dying. You know, this stuff is not easy. It's kind of taboo. It can be a little bit frightening or people feel embarrassed or shameful or scared. I feel really comfortable in those places. Not literally in a dry vagina but you Know what I mean? So yes, I like being able to show up and help with things to help people in those difficult places in life. Number two, for me, working was plant medicine is a form of spiritual practice, full stop. Three, it can really, really take a heap of courage to step up and answer one's one's own calling, you know, and over the past 10 years, boy, I have really learned how much courage is needed to do this. So I just want to say to anybody listening to this, or watching this on YouTube, really, if you are out there, setting up something for yourself carving out your own path, being the artists, the creator, the artists and the entrepreneur, whatever it is that you are, I really salute you. It takes guts, stamina, and courage. Which leads me to number four, which is, everything seems to take three times longer and cost three times more than you expect to do. So be prepared for that. Five, again, this is about changes, life changes and transitions. You know, stepping away from a career or the corporate ladder. To do something of your own from scratch means losing all the job titles that have become so much part of one's identity. And that can be really difficult. So I'm hoping that my own experience of that can actually help me help others, as they maybe even you navigating that in yours or their own circumstance. Now, number six, acknowledging death and dying as a natural part of the life cycle can be incredibly liberating, and actually very life enhancing. And the phrase Death and Dying isn't just directed at our own mortal life, it's about looking at the times where ideas have their day, where things that we do or ways that we are in this world kind of don't fit anymore, and need to be, you know, and we can benefit from them being cleared away from them dying away to let new growth and circumstance come in. Number seven, the Buddhist idea of beginner's mind or don't know, mind gives us permission or give someone permission to ask curious questions of everything. And I wish I'd realized that 10 years ago, now, it's a real mainstay of linchpin of my process here at Archeus. Number eight, I'm motivated by compassion, not hard nosed commercial gain. I know that if it were the latter, I would be making my products in very, very different ways. I wouldn't use all the traditional processes I use, I wouldn't be harvesting so much of the materials I use and grow in the gardens and things I wouldn't, there's just so much I wouldn't do that I do do because I'm doing it from a place of compassion, not just you know, catching goes to the cash register. Number nine, nature, my customers and my clients and students. You are all extraordinary teachers, and thank you for absolutely everything you've all taught me along the way so far. I'm truly grateful to the emails and letters and cards even got a gift in the Post this week from someone as a thank you for stuff I'd made that help them. You know, I keep having to buy boxes of tissues because you know, I'm postmenopausal and slightly emotional at times like these things, you know, genuinely bring tears to my eyes. And number 10 A decade feels like a really significant moment. You know, there is water. Now, under that bridge. There's a whole lot of learning and and a whole lot of growing. And that brings with it confidence. And I'm ready now to actually deepen my soul work and those offerings even further. So that I can really support individuals as they navigate life. It's changes in the life changes of those they love you love. So there are 10 things. Also, then I can't, you know, when you have a party and a celebration, you have balloons and speeches and bubbles and things like that. And I'm sitting here in my office listening to the birds outside the door. So I'm actually going to do a shout out to the awards that and recognition that Archeus has had over the past 10 years, because, well, I'm actually really proud of it. In 2013, when I started Archeus, was given the startup Star Award by the Dominion newspaper as part of the Wellington business awards or gold awards, I think they're called, she was lovely, it was really great encouragement. In 2015, the New Zealand Sustainable Business Network selected me as a finalist for the sustainability champion that year for their awards. Such a huge accolade. You know, when I set up Archeus, I really wanted to place nature at the heart of every business decision, formulation, ingredient choice, everything that I did, was really, really important to me. And giving back to nature was right at the center of the work. So I did things I gave helped a rural school, our galleys, primary school, the kids with their ecosystem restoration stuff, and things like that, anyway, to receive that recognition from the sustainable business work network was really wonderful. But I remember the woman who won the award, I can't remember her name, she was really incredible. And I was so so delighted that she won that year. Also, in 2015, my vital ink tattoo conditioning oil was selected for best new natural product by the pure beauty Beauty Awards in the UK. Now, I had created this product for a woman who was getting a tattooed on over her mastectomy scars, after cancer treatment. And she came to me asking if I could make or had made anything that could help with the healing of that process. And so I developed the vital link conditioning oil, it was really wonderful to be able to help her and be part of that healing journey with her. And then for the product go on and get selected for best new natural product. Well, that was amazing. And in the UK as well fab in 2018, so this work that I started really seeing this work around transitions, life changes was a core part of of what I did, and in 2018 good magazine, here in New Zealand recognize that as well. And they gave me an award to acknowledge that work that I was doing creating things to support people through life transitions. And that was a beautiful affirmation. So thank you so much for that good magazine. It was just lovely to receive that. That recognition. 2018 also saw at a global level my botanic repair balm, selected as finalist for best new premium skincare product in the pure beauty global awards which are announced in Dubai. So Botanic Repair Balm was a follow on from the mastectomy tattoo oil development. I saw that micropigmentation and cosmetic tattooing of eyebrows and nipples and things after cancer treatment was a really big part of helping people with self confidence after going through these treatments. And so I wanted to make a product that was beautiful and natural and can be used in sort of tender places to help the healing of that micropigmentation work. So to get a global shortlist for that was pretty stunning, actually. And I should mention here that COVID You know, then came along changed so much for us in this world. And for Archeus. It was a moment that made me have to decide what to focus on and I decided that the menopause transition would become a key driver for Archeus products. And that's most notably the NatFem Botanics collection. And I started doing more teaching online, and things which I'll talk about in another podcast. And then finally, most recently, last year 2022 and 2022 NatFem Super soothing balm, which I made for vaginal dryness, and vulval dryness was selected as a finalist for best new intimate and sexual care product in the UK again, wow, thank you so much. That was I think that was the pure beauty awards UK. So you know, I'm sitting here I'm in the apothecary on my own developing this product. So to get all of these award shortlist and things Fabulous, thank you. I want to thank all the health clinics, GPS practice nurses, gynecologist, cancer Foundation's pelvic health, physios and other any other sort of medical or health professionals that use NatFem, balm and clinic or make it available for their patients, clients or customers. Really, thank you so much for seeing how this natural product is helping soothe irritations and atrophy due to hormonal changes or medical interventions. You know, I remember the day a few years back when I met with a gynecologist when he said to me that he said something like it is really helpful to have an alternative to be able to be able to offer women who can't use estrogen creams. And I just I remember actually feeling my heart just skipping a beat and having butterflies just thinking how I was going to be able to help people. And I'm actually Coincidently, as I was preparing to record this podcast, I received an email from a new customer saying that her gynecologist has given her a sample of NatFem to try for her for vaginal dryness and she really liked it and she'd ordered a jar. Thank you. Anyway, onwards we go. Earlier this year, Hawke's Bay where I live was hit by the devastating tropical cyclone Gabrielle. And a week after that cyclone, I made a plant essence elixir called Love and resilience. And I made it from plants in my garden because I figured that all of these plants had been through this trauma, too. And we all needed to heal and could all help each other heal together. So I made this love and love and resilience Alexa, and I donated all the proceeds for a couple of months to the Hawke's Bay Disaster Relief Fund. And I can't recall the exact number but I think I raised over two and a half$1,000 For that fund. So thank you, to all of you who helped make that possible. And I hope that that beautiful healing magic of those plants helped you or the people that you purchase that for when I started Archeus 10 years ago, I was a woman in my mid 40s. And over this past decade, I like so many women of my age and men to of course, have been navigating the changes in the pressures and the opportunities that come with midlife. And for me this included the death of both my parents. So alongside tried to build a new business and get it up and running. I was also trying to support my parents as their lives were declining. And and I was going through menopause haha. This is you know, such a shared experience for so many of us in midlife. And as that decade this decade moved on. I found for me that all of my own experiences really gave impetus to my feeling of wanting to step up for others. As they navigated these life changes to And I'm going to talk more about this in a future post. But it's really very much woven itself into the fabric of my work. If I have to think of one word to sum up the past 10 years, I think it would be connection, connection to the natural world and to people. And it's this connection that inspires me as I reflect on the 10 years that have been and ponder the 10 years to come. And over the next few weeks, I'm doing this 10 years on series to elaborate different aspects of this work and and future direction. That word connection just keeps rippling out for me. And, and I think of Ram Dass who said, in the end, we are all just walking each other home. Thank you so much for listening to this. I will be posting next week about more about my relationship with working with plant medicine, and plant healers. So I hope you'll join me for that. In the meantime, I'm Georgina Langdale, founder of Archeus, celebrating 10 years of that and thanking you for listening to this episode of the soul garden. See you next time. Bye. If you are interested in seeing more of the Archeus products, you can find them on my website Archeus dot NZ that's a CH E U S dot NZ and for my coaching and courses and consultations. Head over to Georgina langdale.com Bye