Greetings

  

Welcome.
  This blog is dedicated to all things herbal (with perhaps a few field trips to other ideas as well). I will be posting herbal monographs, photos, recipes, and related musings.

    I am Trish McCaul, an herbalist and botanical perfumer now living in the high desert of Southern New Mexico. I've always had a love and fascination for the wild plants and places of Earth. Some of my earliest and fondest memories include chewing on the sassafras my grandfather picked for me, and climbing conifers while getting my hands coated in aromatic sap. I delighted in opening the wonderful milky Asclepias syriaca (Milkweed) pods and spreading their fluffy seeds about, or sniffing violets and lilacs until I was dizzy. I love the sensory relationship to plants... the wonderfully complex array of tastes, aromas, textures and visual delights.

   This love of plants came full circle when I began to study herbalism 7 years ago. I immersed myself in this study, and it quickly became clear to me that herbalism was my calling. The bulk of my learning has come from rigorous self-study and experimentation. I have also studied with Deborah Brandt AHG and taken intensives and classes with Matthew Wood, Paul Bergner, Howie Brounstein and Margi Flint.
     I was fascinated with infusing aromatic & healing herbs into balms for topical use. I enjoyed making healthy organic products. And I'll that admit that part of my motivation grew from realizing that many body care companies define themselves as "natural", yet base a product formula on synthetic and often toxic ingredients, add a few token herbs, and present their products as holistic forms of nourishment. Weary of the green-washed marketplace, I started Mother McCaul's several years ago, with an offering of balms, salves and other body care products containing only organic and ethically wild-harvested ingredients with superior healing benefits. I trusted the herbs and the knowing that clean & simple ingredients would be effective. The response to these herbal products has been enormously affirming. 

  Just over two years ago, and with the same commitment to clean, simple, genuine products, I started developing select perfumes and incense as Emma Purple Aromatics. I named the company after Emma Purple McCaul, my Cherokee and Irish great-great grandmother.
 

    For me, herbalism is rich in primeval mystery, like roots digging down into hidden Earth. And yet, it is completely accessible. It is simple medicine for common (and not so common) folk.
 So, as an introduction, I've shared parts of my journey as it's unfolding thus far. There's more to come, for myself and for all of us who share in this process. Welcome to Mother McCaul's Herbal.