Thanks to a trio of young brands, the island&rsquo;s wildest plants are getting their moment in the sun.

Ibiza&rsquo;s natural beauty is mesmerising. From the plunging cliffs of the north to the inky calas of the south and the fertile red earth of the interior, the island has enchanted people as far-flung as the Greeks, the Romans and the Byzantines. It was these historic arrivistes who first exulted Ibiza&rsquo;s plethora of fragrant plant-life; Ibiza and Formentera were christened Las Pitiusas &ndash; the Pine Islands &ndash; by the Greeks, while the Berber tribes brought their own precious resins to add to Ibiza&rsquo;s home-grown scents. Fast forward a few thousand years, and three women on the island have revived Ibiza&rsquo;s botanicals for their own purposes, creating fascinating crafts with more than a palpable link to the island&rsquo;s distant past.

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/islandwitchcrafts/?hl=en">Island Witchcrafts</a>

The Chilean photographer, graophic designer and yogi Sof&iacute;a Gomez Fonzo has lived on the island for years. A self-confessed spiritual seeker, she has always been at home in the world of holistic health, therapies, training as a both a&nbsp;reiki master and crystal healer. Forever surrounding herself with scent, Sofia sought out incense and smudge sticks from far and wide. When the pandemic hit in spring 2020, Sofia needed a creative outlet. Having been unable to buy her usual smoke bundles, she decided to create her own. &lsquo;I realised that Ibiza was this hotbed of natural aromas. You know when you walk in the forest and theses scents billow up from the air? Those are all precious herbs and resins combining: sabina pine, rosemary, wild thyme, chamomile. They&rsquo;re all there for the foraging! And as the seasons change, the botanicals change. And on a wet day the earth smells totally different to in the sun. I became intensely connected to the ever-changing campo and to the seasons. It&rsquo;s a very intuitive work and quite addictive!&rsquo; But what of the recognisable herbs that don&rsquo;t grow here &ndash; does she substitute? &lsquo;Yes, absolutely. We don&rsquo;t have wild white sage here, for example. Occasionally I get some from my friend Yaron (Marko, the fabled Ibiza percussionist), who grows it. But usually I use Ibizan wild sage instead, which has this sort of soft, sweet aroma of the earth. It features heavily in my Campo Bundle, which is really to aid with opening and releasing with praise, and getting back to the heart, the centre. The Fores Bundle is packed with Ibiza&rsquo;s classic herbs - sabina, lavender, rosemary, pine, and thyme. I found the most sensational thyme on the road to Cala Conta&rsquo; she smiles, adding. &lsquo;I always have smoke around me, I love it. It&rsquo;s my way of connecting to the spirit realm. The air you put into the fire is going to create smoke, and it&rsquo;s going to go up and touch the spirit world. It's truly beautiful.&rsquo;

Island Witchcrafts

Goldtooth

When the herbalist <a href="https://www.instagram.com/veenusvortex/?hl=en">Veenus Vortex</a> first moved to Ibiza from East London, she found herself irresistibly drawn to the campo and to the wild, scrubby landscapes that make up Ibiza&rsquo;s interior. Her senses enlivened; she began to see magic everywhere. &lsquo;Living in the beautiful Mediterranean, our days and nights are full of magic. Lyrical moments weave themselves in on the scent of a wild rose bush, or the flicker of a small snake as it disappears from the corner of the eye into the quiet forest.&rsquo; An idea was born, and <a href="https://www.goldtoothvermut.com/">Goldtooth Vermut</a>, a modern take on a classic Spanish aperitif, was the fruit of that idea. &lsquo;Goldtooth is a drink created with herbs that we forage and farm ourselves, in tune with both the seasons and the lunar cycles. With a contemporary flavour profile, we&rsquo;ve taken a tradition hundreds of years old and brought it forward for enjoyment, connection and ritual.&rsquo; The essence of Goldtooth is Ibiza&rsquo;s wild herbs, and it the more unusual ones that Veenus is keen to uphold. &lsquo;Artemesia is one of the most important herbal ingredients for us. Named after Artemis, the goddess of hunting and childbirth - an interesting combination of arenas to divinely govern - it is said that she found the most joy when running around the mountains with her hunting dogs, and a bow and quiver full of arrows.&rsquo; Known colloquially as wormwood, the plant has been used for thousands of years in a medicinal sense. &lsquo;It also has slight psychotropic properties, which when used with care, can allow the nature of our dreams to become more powerful, vivid and prophetic,&rsquo; smiles Veenus. Along with its mystical-sounding ⁠sisters motherwort, damiana and rosehip, Veenus&rsquo;s artemisia is just one element of a drink that&rsquo;s cause for deep celebration. &lsquo;It&rsquo;s about remembering the good stuff and letting happiness wash through us when it offers itself to us. However and whenever that may be. Just be yourself and be open to receive.&rsquo;

Goldtooth

Evelyn Na&oacute;n

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/evelynnaon/?hl=en">Evelyn Na&oacute;n</a> is a Middle Eastern polymath who speaks eight languages (including Arabic and Hebrew) &nbsp;and uses scent to &lsquo;build bridges through the senses&rsquo; &ndash; redefining the age-old bonds between the Arabian Peninsula and the Mediterranean land through the art of perfume. As a lifelong traveller and long time Ibiza resident, Evelyn is passionate about the role scent can play in discovery. &lsquo;My mission is to conserve and promote the intangible heritage of the ancient tribes of Arabia, to whom I belong. Reconnecting the heritage of Jews and Muslims and Christians here in Ibiza. This she does through the creation of her signature scents, such as Ibiza Al Oud, inspired by the Moorish Priod on Ibiza when Yemeni tribes collaborated to construct qanats, the irrigation channels still seen across the islands, but especially noticeable in the valley of Es Broll, near Buscastell. &lsquo;This perfume translates the valley of Buscastell into perfume notes, its history into scents. Tones of fresh Ibiza lemon, orange, local bay and basil, blended with Guaiac palo santo, smoky cade oil and rich Ibiza clay. I include mystical sandalwood, amber, musk and oud to take you back in time to the most exotic period of Ibiza, or the land of perfumes and figs, as it was known centuries ago.'

Rural ritual; the women honouring Ibiza’s herbs

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