Many ancient peoples perceived five elements. At The Apothecary we turn to them for inspiration and structure. They remind us of the importance of respecting all aspects of life, and that striving to attain gracious goodness means considering all of them.
Fire
Fire represents the hearth and and the passing on of knowledge, as humans have always done when gathered around the home-fire sharing stories and experiences. Fire also signifies inspiration, passion and devotion, such as those behind our commitment to bringing you gracious goodness. Fire is a process of transformation and symbolises the many changes necessary for us to reach a state where we truly respect ourselves, others and the whole of our natural home.
For all these reasons, we have used fire to signify our Home page.
Water
Water is synonymous with cleanliness and cleaning, and also reminds us that what we wash away, remains with us in the waterways and oceans of the earth. This simple truth keeps us resolved to only create and supply cleaning products that are benign and easily dealt with in the natural settings where they inevitably land up. Water is the medium of life: both in our cells and those of all living things, and in the seas, rivers and rain of the earth. When water is lacking, unavailable or polluted, death is inevitable.
This element is so fundamental to life that we can tend to forget its importance. Using it to represent our Spotless Cleaning range reminds us to think carefully about conserving and nurturing life everywhere, not only cleaning up our little portion.
Earth
Human bodies are part and parcel of the great body of the Earth. Using the Earth as a symbol for our body products reminds us that everything that sustains our bodies, comes ultimately from the Earth, and will eventually be returned to it. It keeps us in mind of the importance of nurturing good soils by favouring wholesome ingredients and of limiting processing so as to minimise what we extract. The Earth symbol reminds us that our bodies do not set us apart from the rest of nature, on the contrary they keep us a part of it. It inspires us to keep our ingredients as whole and close to their natural form as possible, so as to retain the goodness inherent in them.
Because of this, our Delicious Body care range and everything that inspires it, is represented by the element of Earth.
Air / Wind
News and information have always travelled on the air, whether in the form of the spoken word, the calls of the wild, or the messages read in the weather. We hope to hear from you, and that you will spread the word by telling others about The Apothecary. The wind also represents action, movement and change. The Apothecary is all about helping shift our collective behaviour towards a more benevolent way of relating to the earth, our communal home and body. Cleaning our homes and caring for our bodies has unfortunately often been done at the expense of true health and goodness. We hope The Apothecary can act as a breath of fresh air in this area, breathing in some gracious goodness.
We’d like to keep you updated as we develop and would love to hear of any positive impact our products have had in your corner of the globe. We have chosen the element of wind or air to symbolise communication and the Contact section of our website.
Spirit / Ether
The Ether has always represented the great guiding spirit that underpins and surrounds all matter, energy and existence. We use it to signify our guiding principles and the reasons behind the way we do things, and what we make. The element of Spirit conveys a sense of mystery and humility in the face of the great wonders of life and the universe. It reminds us to respect the principles we see present in nature and to look to them for our guidance and inspiration. The curious, exploratory Spirit of the apothecaries, the great Muse that is the natural world, and the guiding principle of respecting all the elements of life in what we do, are all signified by this element.
The section of our site where we describe our Ethos, contains the Spirit of The Apothecary and is represented by this element.