Tag: Fes

Blossoms and Blooms in the Fassi Spring

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Credit: Maaria/Barakah’s Womb

I sometimes feel that in all the grief and sorrow of these times, it might slowly be becoming impossible to connect back into older and wiser ways of being, I wonder if without knowing it, the possibilities of a bigger and deeper world might be slipping away from me, one short year at a time. I know that like many, but also in my own ways, the times are heavy, and I feel the weight of it pass, whilst sensing the unknowability of it all, or indeed, the lack of barakah in it. It had been two springs since I had spent a full distillation season in Fes with the flowers, and whilst I have been distilling other plants since, a part of me wondered if their secrets were slipping away from me too.

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Journeying with Orange Blossom and Rose

miriamhicklin6 Comments

Dear ones,

I write from a stormy Devon, still deep in the midst of transition timings and the dark necessity of timelessness that a northern winter demands. However, like the buds on the trees, little shoots are stirring that I thought I should break my silence to share.

In spring, we will be gathering to distill once again, this time opening up the process to more friends and travellers who would like to journey with us as we distill quintessential orange blossom and rose in the spring sunshine (we hope!) of the Fes medina. This has been arranged over a weekend to facilitate travel for as many as possible, with accessible flights for international travellers.

Do be in touch with me if you feel inclined to join us, I am sensing that it will be a special one. And for those who can’t join us in Morocco this time, I will be sharing soon some UK-based offerings that may be more accessible for some.

Bookings and further information at the link here.

Lessons from Orange Blossom and Rose

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Dear ones, I write from the mists of orange blossom and rose. These two friends have walked with me the strange pathways of my adult years, from my early days in Morocco as a young woman, to motherhood, and through many changes. Their medicines are of the heart, of ease and of a special feminine power and magic.

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Lemon Balm: A Translation from the Garden of Blossoms

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Description:

From the genus of fragrant herbs, and there are many types of it. With a fresh scent, it is found in gardens. It is formed of many creeping branches that spread widely across the soil. It has a white blossom and the leaves are similar to that of marjoram.

There are two main types: one with a small leaf, known to the people of Fes as clove herb, and one with a larger leaf, known as the barbaris herb. Its name in Farsi means that of royal scent, and it is known as the one that brings joy to the sad-hearted.

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Nettle: A Translation from the Garden of Blossoms

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Description:

From the baql genus of perennial plants, known to the layman as the “stinger” and “Qurays”. There are two types: rough and smooth, and both with their aerial parts and seeds are used by doctors.

It appears on rough, untended wasteland, and the rough variety stings the skin of those who touch it.

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On the Sacred Loci of the Henna Souq, Fes.

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A Homecoming

The Henna Souq has a determinable atmosphere, defined by the wind in the leaves of its two plane trees and the towering building of the 13th Century Maristan at its heart. Lining the small square are little shops, some of them no bigger than three metre square, of which around half are cosmetic herbalists. There is also the old weighing scales, which are still used today when large quantities of herbs are brought here by merchants. It is the home to Simohammed, a friend to many in the city, who operates one of the shops alongside his brother. Always inviting visitors to sit and drink tea with him, it easily becomes a rest-stop on a day of earnest wanderings up and down the hills of the medina. The chance you get to sit in the presence of the square is often enough to reveal just a hint of its magic. 

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