The Story of Amethyst & Rose
Amethyst and Rose is what my beloved Christine and I would have created together if she were still walking this earth. We met when I was two and she was nineteen and she was my world from two until ten. So much of who I am today is because of Christine. She showed me the healing power of nature, she showed me what it was like to befriend plants and animals and to see that magic and medicine is everywhere if only you open your eyes.
When I was ten I moved from Southern California to Washington state and though I was not able to see Christine as much she still stayed my closest friend and confidant. At age 31 she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Wegener's Granulomatosis and for 7 years she fought through flare after flare after flare. At the time I was still in high school and I was not ready to accept the gravity of her condition.
I watched her body change; I watched her sweet and beautiful face change as she had to have the bridge of her nose removed. I watched the grace with which she handled and managed her disease, and never once did she give up. She believed that love is the force behind all healing and I did everything I could to give her every ounce of love but it wasn’t enough. She died at the young age of 38. I was 19… the same age she was when we first met.
Christine was like a mother to me. There was no one on this planet I trusted more than her and losing her sank me deep into a sadness that I had a hard time coming out of. Through this sadness I found my path as a healer. I turned to the teachings of herbal medicine and poured my heart and soul learning everything I could about plants and botanical medicine while finishing my undergrad at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
I spent hours writing down everything I could remember from my plant walks with Christine and these notes became my bible. Her words of wisdom became my why and each and every decision I have made on this path to becoming a healer has been influenced by the love and wisdom she gave me.
Amethyst was her favorite stone and the last time I saw her just before she died she gifted me her favorite Amethyst crystal and I have worn it everyday since for the last 17 years. Rose is the medicine that helped heal my heart as I processed the loss of my closest person.
Four years ago Christine came to me in a dream and presented me both an amethyst crystal and a wild rose and when I woke from that dream I knew it was time to step up and create my own business. Amethyst & Rose bridges my 15+ years of training in herbal medicine and functional nutrition with ceremonial and ritualistic tools that allow the women I work with to deeply connect to what it means heal.
This goes beyond elimination diets, food protocols, and meditation and though I do at times include these elements, I believe that healing, true life long healing is a journey and the first place to start is by opening your heart to the love and medicine that is within.