Where the sun sets at midnight

There’s something about returning to my birthplace in Norway that so deeply touches my heart. A sense of stillness and magic that is hard to encapsulate in words. A feeling of belonging. I feel my roots deeply anchored into these lands, stretching generations into the past. No matter how much time I spent away from these lands, this connection never ceases to amaze me…

We’ve had just over a month on the island where I grew up, and between our events and retreats, we’ve spent our time meandering through the forests, eating juicy oranges in the sun, harvesting mugwort and nettles and savoring the late-night sunsets. Wherever I go in the world, I find myself immersed in nature. She is my ultimate teacher and guide, and I am forever her devoted student. I’ve been sipping rose tea each morning, harvested from the wild rose bushes that grown so abundantly here on this little island.

I read, and then re-read a most beautiful book, “Renegade Beauty” by Nadine Artemis. If you enjoy a book that’s as poetic as it is informative, I suggest you pick up a copy. Nadine covers topics from holistic dentistry, to the importance of the sun, whilst sharing stories from her childhood and early adulthood opening up North America’s first “natural perfumery” called Osmosis. A rather magical place where customers would come in to inhale the magical world of essential oils, and create their own blends from a ‘blending bar’.
I truly cannot recommend this book enough!

“Welcome life into your system
watch as night gives way to day,

drink in fields and forests; dew drops and dandelions,
dance under elderflowers,
and bathe in mugwort’s silver colors.

eat the wild; berries and bark, honey and hawthorne,
rose for rosacea,
comfrey on fractured limbs,

St. John’s wort brings the sunshine within.
each tree holds a bottle of healing sap,
and valerian root makes a dreamy night cap

‘Digestion is a door to every pore,
so sip on peppermint, parsley and centella asiatica,
hydrate with luscious lipids of rosehip, buckthorn and golden jojoba

inhale the heavenly fragrance of honeysuckle
ginger blossoms
and lily of the valley
scent is an often undervalued ally,

-don’t forget about her.

instead of chemical extractions,
pesticides, pollutants
and harsh disinfectants,

seek the ancient crafts of the healing arts,
steamed,
pressed,
infused and distilled

mother nature’s medicine is sweet and tranquil
a balm for every broken bone,
a nectar for each aching heart,

and remember-

take only what you need,
leave a gift in return,
may we deeply care
for the roots and flowers,
the seeds and fruits,
for these precious plants,
as they take care of us.’

wishing you a magical summer from my corner of the world, which is currently in the beautiful forests of Canada,
Iselin xx