This month I was kindly invited to write an article for the amazing online magazine ‘The alchemical voice’. It was a perfectly timed full stop in our quest to uncover what sits at the heart of ATTIC, making us pause and share what draws us to this miraculous drink.
We realised that what connects us all, the people that drink ATTIC Tea, is a conscious desire to realise a truer, stronger version of ourselves, through self-development practices and wise daily choices. This may begin at a physical health level, but more often than not, the search leads to an uncovering of what is under all the layers of conditioning and societal influences, so we might find the sense of peace or wholeness that is our birthright. Hurrah for you all, the seekers, the dreamers and the curious, you are our people.
This deeper journey of uncovering, often referred to as the hero or heroine’s journey, is an essential right of passage, especially as we enter the second half of life. As we realise so much of what the world assured us to be true no longer contains any meaning, we eventually have no choice but to turn inwards and descend into the shadows, because that is the call of the Soul. It demands that we make sense of the darkness we have turned away from and question all we think we know, for within the act of the descent, we find our gifts.
This work is hard, it can be lonely, painful and confronting, it shakes things up before it settles them back down. Navigating the complexities of modern life is becoming increasingly difficult because our societies are no longer built to support the true, wildly human spirit. But here’s the thing, we were never meant to take this journey alone. Although a deeply personal exploration, we would always have had sentient guides and protectors from the beyond-human world, even beyond this physical realm, to witness and hold us.
Tea began its relationship with humanity as a sacred tree, the brew from its leaves honoured culturally in China as a health tonic. The leaves were carefully harvested by hand to retain the Chi or life force energy and it was strongly favoured by monks and cultivated in their monastery gardens, drunk with reverence not only for health and fortification, but also used in ceremony and as an important anchor for spiritual practices.
When the British stole the Tea and the secrets of its production from the Chinese with the sole intention to commercialise it, the spirit and sanctity of the drinking experience never really left China. As we were gradually weaned onto greatly inferior tea and cost-effective teabag options, in China they still, to this day, continue to use traditional, organic and manual practices to create beautiful whole-leaf teas and drink them with the reverence they deserve. The fact that these exceptional ancient Chinese Tea varieties still exist is great news for us.
Drinking such high quality Tea allows us to connect into the flow of life, a process tried and tested by the monks for over 2 thousand years. By engaging with something who’s core nature remains unchanged, helps us reset and return to a less corrupted way of being.
Chinese Tea is one of many ancient soul medicines, honed and honoured by our clever human ancestors as a way of connecting to the invisible world, the guides and healers, the energy and plant spirits. From meditation to Tai Chi to chanting to crystal healing, these ancient practices still sit at the core of all spiritual work and help us begin to cultivate a deeper connection with ourselves, our beliefs, and the world around us.
Sitting with a cup of ATTIC Tea each day is a call to stillness. It is also a rebellious act. It quietly demands the right hemisphere pull you back to centre, back to your humanness, something that was taken from us when our left brain got bolshy and allowed us to become domesticated ‘human resources’, too busy to take a breath.
The tea and the stillness ask nothing of you but in return offer connection in whatever form you seek it. Tea is about belonging and finding that joyful soulful connection to life once more and that is it’s gift to the world, as it helps us dig deep and find ours.
Wishing you a wonderful August, can this gorgeous weather continue! We look forward to speaking to you again in September.
Anne and Ric x