initiative! IN THIS SECTION: The story of Uriel Pharmacy is almost archetypal in its simplicity. Something needs doing, and I am here to do it. M.C. Richards was a remarkable creative artist, teacher, and seeker. A new learning program for young people looks worthy to bear her name. Across the big state of Florida, scattered schools and initiatives; this calls for a yearly gathering. After a childhood in Hawai’i’s natural beauty, and years sharing nature with your children, perhaps you’d like to offer it to others, Silicon Valley?
Uriel Pharmacy – Why an Archangel? by Mark McKibben It is a curious thing, but begins to make sense when examined more closely. The outer facts are that Uriel started 23 years ago in rural Wisconsin and now employs 15-20 people to produce and supply over 1000 anthroposophic remedies to doctors and patients throughout the United States. What does Uriel do? We start with biodynamic plants, with metals and minerals, and take them through processes of etherealization and potentization, exposure to sunrise and sunset, then combine them according to formulas created by doctors. We make ampules, oral pellets and liquids, oils, creams, gels and ointments, eyedrops, suppositories, capsules, tablets, powders, suspensions, sprays, eardrops, body care products—you name it! We also regularly make custom orders for specific patients and situations. If you stop to think about it, it’s quite fascinating! If you don’t stop to think about it, but just live in it, it feels like working in a beehive, busy, warm, quietly focused, but relaxed. We haven’t done much marketing because we grew by word of mouth and the emphasis has been on meeting demand. Our most effective marketing has been to support the educational efforts of PAAM to train new doctors (www.paam.net) and the patient outreach of organizations like Believe Big (www.believebig.org). Now I see new opportunities, so we are changing to reach out to a wider audience. The inside or biographical story is that the whole enterprise has been an extraordinary, even daring attempt to meet a need, with a willingness to adapt to changing demands while remaining quietly under the radar. In what follows I will share something personal because Uriel is at a point where something new must happen, and in order to engage the new, you will need to know something of the Uriel story. I became a pharmacist many years ago at the request of an anthroposophic physician who initially suggested I become a doctor. At the time I was in university and my grades weren’t going to get me into medical school, so he then told me they needed a pharmacist to provide the medicines. It was a destiny moment. I had the therapeutic temperament to be a doctor, but the biggest need was for a medicine maker. My life had already been touched by anthroposophy as a former Waldorf student who began reading Steiner at 19. I was here to help and liked
Uriel production buildings in East Troy, Wisconsin: “the Pharmacy” and the Barn
20 • being human