Deborah Weymouth spent part of her professional life as a conservationist, and now she’s sharing natural gifts in the interests of health and well-being.
Weymouth is the founder and owner of Ancestral Moon Herbals, a Hancock-based business devoted to helping people feel better through gifts found in nature. Weymouth doesn’t have to go far to acquire the ingredients for her elixirs, as a medicine wheel and hoop house garden are just steps from her shop on Middle Road.
“That’s St. John’s wort, and this is calendula,” she said on a recent walk through her space. The Mayo Clinic notes studies of the former to have found it useful in treating depression and minimizing symptoms of menopause. Weymouth’s journey has led to her “commitment to nourish mind, body, heart and spirit by embracing the wisdom of our ancestors.”
A folk herbalist, gardener, plant spirit educator and reiki practitioner, Weymouth has spent her life focused on healing and nature. From a young age, she wanted to become a nurse, and planting a tree with her father at age 5 flipped a switch for her in terms of growing things. Her nurse’s training led her to to Easter Seals, but an affinity for growing things and other skills landed her as the assistant state conservationist for programs with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. She kept her hand in organic gardening, and knows her herbs.
“There are aspects in all cultures that include herbals,” said Weymouth. “Native Americans trusted them.”
Johns Hopkins Medicine has noted how goldenseal “is popular for its healing properties and germ-stopping qualities. It is often used for colds and flu,” and that evening primrose may be helpful in treating arthritis and premenstrual syndrome.
“Over half of the products are hand-crafted with care and intention from flowers, herbs or plants grown in the garden here using organic methods – no chemicals,” Weymouth said.
A year ago, the garden space was a sheep farm and there was a farmstand, and now the medicine wheel offers up flower essences. Holy basil is commonly used in India’s traditional health system and has been said to reduce swelling and act as an antioxidant. Sweet grass is used by some Indigenous nations in North America to treat coughs and sore throats.
The extraction process for her elixirs requires patience and precision. Weymouth uses a stove to treat what she has grown, which is then moved to another device that, for simplification purposes, she likens to a bootlegging “still.” These steps are applied to calendula, a very fragrant plant known for treating skin irritations. The Journal of Wound Care has written on it, and the plant has been used to treat the likes of diaper rash and yeast infections, and has been used as a sunscreen.
Another offering involves having one of her herbs mesylate – to prepare in a pharmacological sense by separating its qualities – in sunflower oil for six weeks in sunlight.
Weymouth said mental health therapists she’s in touch with share the qualities of various herbal treatments with their patients.
“We can’t grow tea in this climate, but we can grow herbs,” said Weymouth, but she indeed offers teas, including moon teas.
“There are different phases of the moon, and they impact everything,” she said, tracing her interest in the subject to receiving a telescope at age 9.
A National Institute of Health website notes that “the incidence of crimes committed on full moon days was much higher than on all other days,” according to a study conducted between 1978 and 1982.
“Think of how it impacts the tides; it’s bound to impact us,” Weymouth said, gesturing to a selection of teas based on the moon’s phases.
Her studies with Ecoversity, which has an herbalism program, have padded her understanding of her craft, but “people can buy herbs and make their own blends,” she said. Weymouth also provides reiki, which is healing involving energy between the provider and the client, and is preparing to become certified as a reiki master. She’s in the process of having a website created, and is currently getting word out via Facebook at facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575148697895.
“I also offer a comfort care box, which has lots of ingredients from the garden,” she said. “I want to help people reconnect with nature, and provide support to their bodies’ system.”