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Natural Nostrum: Carrie Moore, right, at a recent Healdsburg Farmers Market. Magic in a Bottle The numinous mists of the Elixir Cafe By David Templeton On the colorfully trippy, steadily evolving website for the Elixir Cafe, a quote by Dr. Richard Gerber is prominently displayed: "The Einsteinian paradigm as applied to vibrational medicine sees human beings as networks of complex energy fields that interface with physical/cellular systems." Gerber goes on to describe vibrational medicine as a way to encourage "specialized forms of energy" to positively affect "energetic systems" that may be out of whack due to various "disease states." Frankly, I have no idea what any of that means. But Carrie Moore does. A self-described modern-day shaman and energy worker, Moore had already conjured a unique, and uniquely satisfying, career as a leader of spiritual and personal-empowerment workshops all across the globe. It was during one such workshop in England that Moore, a Sebastopol resident, had the seed of an idea, a notion that would eventually become the Elixir Cafe. "I started getting this grocery list in my head," she laughs. "And it wouldn't go away. This list of ingredients kept repeating in my head for all three days of the workshop. Once that was done, I finally said 'OK! OK!' and I wrote it all down." Not being one to indiscriminately ignore the inspirations of her inner wisdom, Moore took this mystical cook-book experience seriously and began to research the various healing properties of the materials she'd envisioned. Her first attempt at whipping up a batch of something resulted in something she now affectionately calls "metaphysical jam," a concoction of beets, pineapples, ginger, rosemary, sweet violet, juniper berry and a number of other herbs and essences. It began as a gift she'd give to friends and family. But as more folks began asking for her metaphysical jam--claiming it activated energy centers that helped them aspire to higher levels of knowledge--the alchemical chef developed the idea of distilling the same ingredients into an elixir that could be consumed a drop at a time, instilling the same health properties, only more directly and instantly. Moore's magic jam eventually came to be called Star Fire, a sublingual (you put it under your tongue) elixir designed to heighten energy, stamina and awareness. She quickly developed other elixirs, with similarly evocative names: Miriam's Heart Elixir, Ancient Amazon and Lavender Fields Forever, which contains lavender grown in Petaluma and was created to restore the imbiber's sense of inner peace and relaxation. Moore now sells six elixirs ($18 per one-ounce bottle), with Wisdom of Venus and the Bridge--a "transformational support" for men--rounding out the line. Every batch takes Moore 45 days to make, a specific, ritualized processes that includes the saying of prayers and blessings over the concoction as it percolates, or whatever it is that elixirs do. Along the way, she's added a second line of products called Mantra Mists. Described by Moore as body and space elixirs that are designed for external use (unlike the oral elixirs, you don't eat these), the Mantra Mists ($24 dollars per four-ounce bottle) are spray-on mists with names like Buddha Blast, Mystic Beet, LavendEssence, Speak Easy and Sanctuary. "You can use them on your body or on your face to revitalize or calm you, and to protect against negative energies," Moore says. Once again, I'm not sure what that means. "Some people sage their spaces," Moore patiently explains, "burning sage to cleanse an environment and make it holy. This is something like that. While the Mantra Mists can certainly be used ceremonially, there have been a lot of massage therapists, psychologists, doctors and school teachers who use the mists in their work spaces. Sanctuary is an especially popular mist among schoolteachers. One teacher told me that when the kids are bouncing off the walls, she mists the classroom with Sanctuary, and within a few minutes, the whole classroom is calm and peaceful again." For the holidays, Moore has created a number of gift packages and sets and has taken special care to consider the psychic and spiritual needs of both the recipients and the givers of all Elixir-oriented gifts. "When selecting a gift for a loved one," Moore suggests, "let yourself be guided by your feelings rather than what you think. Hold that person in your mind, and let your intuition guide you." Even I know what that means. The Elixir Cafe is at www.theinnershaman.com. Carrie Moore can be found every Thursday and Sunday morning at the Marin Farmers Market at the Civic Center, Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael. [ North Bay | Metroactive Central | Archives ]