FEATURES
Growing interests Her interest in herbalism led Calne Central NWR member Christina Stapely to a career in healing, and she now teaches, runs workshops and writes on the subject. Judith Charlton finds out more. How long have you been an NWR member, and what prompted you to join? I joined in the 1970s as a stay-at home mum living in Barnard Castle. My mother-in-law advised me, ‘Don’t become a vegetable!’ so this was my solution. I lapsed for a while but joined again when I moved to Wiltshire 15 years ago. For you, what has been the best thing about being a member? Friendships, and the wide range of interests. I sometimes go to a meeting thinking I won’t find much enthusiasm for the subject, only to find there is so much more to it than I had imagined. I have enjoyed giving talks, and we have had some fun afternoons trying on the historic costumes that I use in my workshops at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, including underwear! Another excellent outcome of NWR membership came quite recently. While planning my research for a second volume of The Tree Dispensary, which will cover non-native species, I felt I needed a companion for my trip to Oman to see the frankincense trees, and while on an NWR outing talked with another member about this. We hardly knew each other at the time – just from attending meetings – but she immediately offered to go with me. Sally and I are firm friends now and the following summer went to Chios together for the mastic harvest. I see that your books on herbalism and your BSc in Phytotherapy came later on in your life. What led to your interest in the subject? I already had an interest in herbalism, but when I moved south I was lucky enough to have a third of an acre in which to establish a herb garden. People were interested in the garden, so I would hold workshops, and write what I had told people in my books so that they could refer back to it. As time went on I found that I was earning money from the workshops, as well as talks and writing, and could afford to expand my knowledge by buying old herbals, of which I now have a large collection. As for my BSc, when I was younger I had wanted to train as a nurse but found I couldn’t because of my health: I have
Photo: Christina Stapely
The Boswellia tree, which gives frankincense resin
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NWR Magazine Summer 2021
problems with my joints. So, the desire to become a healer had always been there. As soon as I started the course, I realised this was what I should have been doing all along. You now teach, write, and run workshops and courses. Which do you find the most satisfying, and why? Following my studies, I also worked as a healer but I retired from this five years ago and now teach at the School of Herbal Medicine. I love sharing my knowledge with other people and especially being able to see young people coming into the field. You also grow herbs etc in your teaching garden. Is this mainly for teaching purposes or do you also use your produce? And what for, chiefly? Everything I plant in my garden has to have a harvest, in other words it has to have a use. The range is huge: for cookery, home medicines, dyes, cosmetics – herbs can be involved in every aspect of life. I take plants to show to people at my talks, and I used them in my practice – it was helpful to be able to show a patient what they were to be treated with.
Priests, when visiting the sick, were advised to cover their mouth and nose with a thick piece of bread soaked in vinegar One of your workshops is about ‘Surviving Epidemics Through the Centuries’ – what do you think are the main differences between our current experience of pandemic and the experiences of those in the past? Are we better placed for survival or are we our own worst enemies? This is one of my workshops at the Weald and Downland Living Museum. I show some of the products that people used to protect themselves, and I have a book from 1485, Pestilence, which details precautions. Some are remarkably similar to those we have now, such as washing hands and face, and keeping one’s house well aired; and there is even a recommendation for priests, when visiting the sick, to cover their mouth and nose with a thick piece of bread soaked in vinegar. As well as vinegar, angelica root, myrrh, rosemary and various other herbs were known to have anti-bacterial properties – in fact I took to spraying my shopping with rosemary water when I unpacked it, much nicer than sanitiser! The importance of mental well-being was also recognised: ‘Be of merry heart, for that promotes health!’ I think one of the differences between then and now is that people had very different expectations. Average lifespan was much shorter and death was taken for granted. More people had a faith, and accepted what came to them as their lot.
