Uriel Pharmacy – Why an Archangel?

by Mark McKibben

It is a curious thing, but begins to make sense when examined more closely. The outer facts are that Uriel started 23 years ago in rural Wisconsin and now employs 15-20 people to produce and supply over 1000 anthroposophic remedies to doctors and patients throughout the United States.

What does Uriel do? We start with biodynamic plants, with metals and minerals, and take them through processes of etherealization and potentization, exposure to sunrise and sunset, then combine them according to formulas created by doctors. We make ampules, oral pellets and liquids, oils, creams, gels and ointments, eyedrops, suppositories, capsules, tablets, powders, suspensions, sprays, eardrops, body care products—you name it! We also regularly make custom orders for specific patients and situations. If you stop to think about it, it’s quite fascinating! If you don’t stop to think about it, but just live in it, it feels like working in a beehive, busy, warm, quietly focused, but relaxed.

Uriel Garden, chamomile in bloom

We haven’t done much marketing because we grew by word of mouth and the emphasis has been on meeting demand. Our most effective marketing has been to support the educational efforts of PAAM to train new doctors ( www.paam.net) and the patient outreach of organizations like Believe Big (www.believebig.org). Now I see new opportunities, so we are changing to reach out to a wider audience.

The inside or biographical story is that the whole enterprise has been an extraordinary, even daring attempt to meet a need, with a willingness to adapt to changing demands while remaining quietly under the radar.

In what follows I will share something personal because Uriel is at a point where something new must happen, and in order to engage the new, you will need to know something of the Uriel story. I became a pharmacist many years ago at the request of an anthroposophic physician who initially suggested I become a doctor. At the time I was in university and my grades weren’t going to get me into medical school, so he then told me they needed a pharmacist to provide the medicines. It was a destiny moment. I had the therapeutic temperament to be a doctor, but the biggest need was for a medicine maker.

The Pharmacy, in Troy, Wisconsin

My life had already been touched by anthroposophy as a former Waldorf student who began reading Steiner at 19. I was here to help and liked the idea that there was practical work in anthroposophy. I went to pharmacy school, working at Standard Homeopathic, Weleda USA, then WALA in Germany and the Ita Wegman Klinik pharmacy in Switzerland (now Klinik Arlesheim) before opening Raphael Pharmacy in California and, finally, starting Uriel at age 40. Frankly, I don’t know anyone else who would have done it. I had a young family, the financial prospects were not promising, and I knew little about business, but I saw a need and trusted destiny.

Pharmacy stock room, Stephanie

The fact that Uriel has grown this large is nothing short of amazing. Uriel grew organically over the years and then in 2017 and 2018 we grew over 50% each year! Although growth was more modest in 2019, it has given us a chance to implement a business management system (www.eosworldwide.com) that will lay the foundation for sustainable future growth.

I’m now 63 and have always looked for colleagues. I need a business manager and eventual successor to help write the next chapter of Uriel’s story. If you know someone, I want to hear from you. We are also looking for a Production Manager to apprentice with me and a Marketing/ Customer Service Manager. Write me at mark@urielpharmacy.com for detailed job descriptions or to discuss your ideas for Uriel.

Customer service, Tracy

So, why an archangel? We don’t have a lot to go on with Uriel. He appears in the Book of Enoch as one of the beings that evict the rebellious angels from heaven, and again in Steiner’s Four Seasons and the Archangels as the summer regent who prepares Michael’s garment. A few things from Karl Koenig and that’s about it. He is described as exceedingly stern, looking down on the errors of human beings and comparing them with the regular, lawful growth of crystals in a judicial manner.

You can’t answer an archangel with B.S. No T-shirts that say “Jesus is Coming—Look Busy!” Reality sandwiches are always on the menu. Our job is to meet needs and further our mission to help keep anthroposophic medicine alive and available in the US.

The decision to name a pharmacy after this high being may be akin to the scene in the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz where he is on the way to the Royal Wedding and reaches a crossroads. He reviews the road signs and after realizing that once a single step is taken on a path he cannot turn back on pain of death, he decides to stop for lunch. (As a good friend of mine once said, “When the going gets tough, I’m going shopping!”) A dove alights and he shares some bread crumbs with it, but then a hawk flies down and attacks the dove. Christian Rosenkreutz chases after the hawk only to realize he has thereby embarked on one of the paths, leaving his hat and lunch behind.

It may happen in life that we make a decision whose consequences cannot be foreseen and which will take a long time to fully comprehend. In the meantime, we keep showing up for the work.

Mark McKibben (mark@urielpharmacy.com) is founder of Uriel Pharmacy. The company is online at shopuriel.com