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September/October 2002 Living Now
When Skin Discovers Spirit

by Marianne Wilson Stein

"The Great Spirit is our father, but the earth is our mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us, and healing plants she gives us likewise."
- Big Thunder, North American Indian, circa 1900.

Mango Passion, Island Ginger, Northwest Nectar…imagine a sensual place--one we can feel in our bodies and touch with our spirits; a place to connect with the beauty in the world around us. Beauty, healing, spirit, and passion... these words bring all the elements together to reflect my inner essence and what I bring to others.

In 1994 I felt I was missing something. I had to find a way to give back; not just work but to create and develop my own business, to set my own path. Feeling disconnected from myself, I delved deeper into my spiritual quest. I spent more and more time in nature, teaching my young daughter to live simply, explore her creativity, and give gifts from the heart. Walking my talk, I teamed up with my friend and naturopath to create handcrafted gifts for Christmas. Personal soul-searching gave birth to my company.

In 1996, I founded "Gifts from the Earth" in the belief that our beauty, healing, and health are directly related to the strength of our connection with the beauty and energy of the earth and to how we honor that connection in our daily lives.

I worked hard the first couple of years developing a product line, researching, studying, taking courses, and practicing what I was learning. In 1998, my sister, Tiffany, a spa owner and nail technician, needed natural alternatives to the commercial products she was using with clients; they were causing the skin on her hands to peel and become inflamed and infected. I spent the next two and half years researching pure, natural ingredients to develop effective, powerful, healing products for spa professionals. I still spend lots of time in my lab expanding the line, testing new product combinations, and preparing custom formulations. I pride myself on returning to the cycles and rhythms of nature, knowing that I bring nature into my clients’ lives, fresh for every season.

Now, some 6 years later, I ship products worldwide. I train spa professionals how to incorporate natural healing products into their work. In finding a way to give back to the community, I also conduct natural skin care workshops, and donate 15% of any proceeds to a charity chosen by the workshop’s host.

A story from Mali beautifully illustrates my passion for my work.

A traveler happened upon a small village where a wedding ceremony was to take place. In Mali tradition, a man gives his bride’s family as many of his own herd as he feels his wife is worth. The bridegroom had given 20 head of cattle to the bride's family--nearly his whole herd. The visitor thought that this man’s bride must be the most beautiful woman in the village. However, when he saw her, he couldn’t believe her husband-to-be paid such a high bride price. Many of the villagers also thought the groom was crazy for exchanging so many cattle for an ugly woman.

A few years later, the traveler returned to the same village and called upon the man who had been married that day. As they sat down to have tea together, a beautiful woman came in to serve them. Curious, the American asked what had happened to the woman he had seen years before. His host answered, "She just served you." He alone had seen the beauty within his bride.

Just as this man saw the beauty in his future bride, my passion and desire is to help all women realize their inner and outer beauty, using the natural healing energies of earth. Have fun and honor yourself as a gem of the earth that you are!

Marianne Wilson Stein, creator of Gifts From the Earth can be contacted at 503-452-3644, marianne@giftsfromtheearth.com or visit her website: www.giftsfromtheearth.com.