Two years ago, my partner Robert and I packed up our London life and moved to the Oxfordshire–Cotswolds borderlands. At the time it felt like a small rebellion, a decision made somewhere between exhaustion and instinct. London, wonderful as it can be, had turned into a concrete blur of deadlines, sirens and compressed creativity. A life of motion with no space to breathe. We weren’t running away so much as reaching for air.
Here, just beyond our front door, the world opens out: the towpath of a quiet canal, an ancient burial ground tucked between hedgerows, the kind of silence that’s alive rather than empty. Within a few weeks of arriving, something softened. Ideas that had felt stuck for years began to move again. And from that gentle shift emerged our two connected brands: Rootlight Rituals, our lunar-aligned herbal tea company, and Simple Truths, a philosophical reflection deck rooted in systemic constellations.
Both belong to the growing wave of ‘slow wellness’, a return to ancestry work, ritual, the intuitive arts, and the older ways of knowing that used to sit just outside the mainstream. People are craving meaning that feels embodied and unhurried. Strangely, once we slowed down ourselves, our work began to flow.
From the outside, our garden studio looks peaceful, almost quaint. Inside, it’s another story: herbs drying on hooks, notebooks half-open, mugs of tea in various stages of being finished, and always a faint hum of thought. It’s chaotic, but it’s home – and it’s where Robert and I sit side by side most days. He with decades of philosophical practice behind him; me with my love of ritual, scent, colour and the small textures that make life feel meaningful.
Simple Truths came first. Robert had spent years working with systemic constellations – a therapeutic approach that reveals hidden patterns and ancestral dynamics within relationships. He began gathering sentences distilled from that work: short, clear, unsettling in the best way. Sentences that shift how you see things.
Around the same time, I planted my first herb garden in our new home. What started as a simple pleasure became something deeper. I found myself blending teas instinctively, guided by the qualities of each moon phase. Soon enough, Rootlight Rituals had taken shape. One brand grew from the mind, the other from the senses, but both from the same desire: to help people live more intentionally. Rootlight Rituals rests on a simple idea: life feels better in rhythm. And humanity’s earliest, most reliable rhythm has always been the moon.
Long before clocks and calendars, people measured time by her changing light. Farmers sowed and harvested according to her phases. Women tracked their cycles against her 28-day pattern. Sailors, fishers and coastal families lived by the tides she pulled. Certain sea creatures still open and close with her glow. Storytellers saw in her waxing and waning the shape of myth itself.
The moon has always been our quiet companion – a guide, a keeper of time
At Rootlight Rituals, we honour that lineage through a Selenodynamic blending method: each tea is created only during its rightful lunar phase.
New Moon: Begin Again is blended in the dark of the moon.
Waxing Moon: Grow is mixed as the moon gathers light and strength.
Full Moon: Illuminate is crafted under her brightest glow.
Waning Moon: Let Go is made as the moon recedes, releasing what no longer serves.
Every herb is organic and chosen for both quality and energy. Every batch is blended by hand, intentionally. And once a cycle passes, that batch is gone until the moon comes round again.
People drink the teas for many reasons – to mark a beginning, to soften a feeling, to reconnect with themselves, or simply to pause. In a fast world, these small rituals become anchors.
A New Wave of Slow Therapy and Esoteric Wellness
Alongside this, we’ve felt a cultural shift going on. People are turning back to the practices once whispered on the edges: ancestral healing, ritual, tarot, moon work and systemic understanding.
Not to escape their lives, but to see them more clearly. Rootlight Rituals works through the body. And Simple Truths works through the mind.
Both point to something ancient: the wish to live in harmony with forces larger than us.
How the Deck Works
Simple Truths is a 200-card deck designed to help people rethink their relationships – whether with loved ones, colleagues, family, or even with our relationship with things like money, health or purpose.
The deck is built on seven principles that often make relationships go better:
Finding a place for the other person, even when it’s difficult
Taking responsibility for our part
Giving more weight to facts than to our personal interpretations
Seeing ourselves as equal rather than ‘better than’
Honouring the past while moving forward
Seeing the person as they are, not our idea of them
Releasing the need to feel innocent.
These principles come directly from systemic constellations.
Simple Truths began as a Kickstarter and, to our amazement, attracted backers from across Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia. Even tarot readers have told us they use the deck for clarity.
It’s extraordinary to imagine these cards being turned over in living rooms and therapy rooms worldwide.
Our First Steps in the Cotswolds
We launched locally, with Rootlight Rituals debuting at the award-winning Deddington Farmers’ Market. That first sale felt symbolic – as if the land itself had given us a nod!
From there, things grew naturally: therapists began using the deck, independent shops asked for the teas, and invitations arrived for workshops and retreats. The response kept circling back to the same desire: people wanted tools that help them slow down and see themselves more clearly.
Philosophy Meets Ritual
Robert and I work differently, and that’s exactly why it works. He is philosophical, analytical, quietly brilliant.
I am instinctive, ritualistic, guided by beauty and atmosphere.
Robert’s work has travelled far beyond Oxfordshire. His book Breakfast with Socrates recently appeared in Hillary Clinton’s memoir Something Lost, Something Gained, described as one of the final books her mother was reading before she died. The passage is deeply moving: ‘On her nightstand and another table were the two latest books she’d been reading: The Mind’s Eye by Oliver Sacks and Breakfast with Socrates by Robert Rowland Smith. I chuckled to myself. She had said to me not long before: “You should read these when I’m done.” I didn’t think I had time to read them in addition to my State Department briefings. “No,” I replied. “But Chelsea would love them.” I am not ready to give up my mother. Or this old house she called home… And her books? They’re right where she left them.’
To imagine Robert’s writing offering comfort in a moment like that reminds us why meaning matters.
The rise of slow wellness isn’t a trend, it’s a recalibration. After a decade of optimisation, hustle and productivity, people are turning toward ritual, ancestry, nature and deeper connection. The Cotswolds, with its blend of countryside calm and creative spirit, feels like the right place for this shift to take root.
Through our teas and our cards, we hope to offer something simple: moments of breath, clarity and reconnection.
As I write this, the moon hangs pale behind clouds. The garden is soft with damp earth. Inside our studio, jars of herbs wait for the next cycle. A small tower of Simple Truths decks is ready to be posted. The kettle is humming. Robert is reading. And Nebula – our ever-watchful, celestial little cat – is curled up near the heater, occasionally lifting her head. And I’m reminded of why we do this.
Life becomes meaningful when you shape it with intention. When you move slowly enough to notice things. When you honour where you’ve come from, and make rituals that help you arrive where you’re going. Here in the Cotswolds, that feels possible..
If you are curious about systemic constellations, the Simple Truths deck, or Rootlight Rituals teas, you can follow Miri and Robert’s work here:
robertrowlandsmith.com
simple-truths.org
rootlightrituals.com
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