About me
I am Leticia Cartujo García, and this is the story of why Esencias de Liébana became part of my life’s path.
Childhood & Roots
I was born in Madrid on May 15th, 1978, to parents who wanted to evolve towards a life of abundance… material abundance, since they had experienced scarcity more than once. My parents settled in a residential area, and I grew up as what could be called a “bourgeois” child.
A phrase I often heard in my childhood was: “you’re a little lizard’s tail… you’re untameable… but what beautiful eyes.” I don’t know if I was born “wild” or became that way. What I do know is that I find great peace in my untamed essence.
I spent many summers in small villages, staying with friends or acquaintances, and although I was a city girl, I was never squeamish. The “dirt” of the countryside and animals never repelled me; on the contrary, those summer times were, for me, absolute freedom.
I didn’t have an easy childhood/adolescence… depending on how you look at it, but today I feel that everything I lived through made me more human and more natural.
Education & Discoveries
I studied Pharmacy, first at CEU and later at Complutense University (I strongly needed my education not to be paid for with money). I never studied that degree to run a pharmacy; I always felt drawn to research, as I am compulsively curious (though not nosy).
University gave me powerful tools that still accompany me today, such as botany, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacognosy, and above all, the fascinating laboratory practices.
I didn’t finish my degree; I stopped in my fourth year, as motherhood appeared in my life and I embraced it instinctively.
Motherhood & New Paths
With motherhood came a strong need to leave the city, and Formentera became our next destination. The island welcomed us for almost ten years, during which I discovered Waldorf pedagogy, and from there, Biodynamic agriculture and Anthroposophical medicine.
Through my great teacher Clara Castellotti, I immersed myself in Naturopathy, Macrobiotics, Ayurvedic medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and natural and artisanal cosmetics (without a doubt, the most respectful form of cosmetics).
My life took a profound turn when my third daughter was born. I began a new life and wanted it to be in a new place, so I moved to Villaverde, a small village of 19 inhabitants (including us), in the Liébana Valley (Cantabria).
The Birth of Esencias de Liébana
At the peak of motherhood, with a deep conviction not to distract myself from it and the need to generate income, one winter in 2012 Esencias de Liébana was born: a project that grounded and made tangible all the knowledge I had acquired over 13 years.
Later on, I would discover that this project was not born from a material need, but from a vital one.
Spagyrics: A New Approach
And finally, something very important entered my life, and therefore Esencias de Liébana: the discovery and study of Spagyrics (plant alchemy), through my great teacher Eloy Sanz, a direct disciple of Abu Omar Yabir, alchemist and spagyrist.
This philosophy of healing almost radically changed the way I see EVERYTHING.
Today, I sustain and nourish my life — and therefore my project — with the vital impulses of my heart and with fierce loyalty to Nature, for me, my Mother and the visible face of God.
Little Things About Me
When I was 13, I used my mother’s self-care products and had an allergic reaction that left my skin raw. From that moment on, I looked at conventional cosmetics with suspicion and began to explore all kinds of traditional and natural practices to care for my skin.
The feeling of care I experienced by toning and soothing my skin with cucumber slices, applying mayonnaise to my hair to nourish it, putting mud on insect bites, or when my mother removed little warts with fig milk… that feeling still accompanies me today in my self-care and in caring for my loved ones.
• My name means “Joy” in Latin — my grandparents always reminded me of that. It is an emotion that was very present in my personality. At times I hid behind it and used it as a mask. When I made the firm decision to be an authentic woman rather than just a “good” one, I broke my bond with that mask, and now the emotional rainbow walks with me.
• A plant that awakens deep admiration in me is nettle — an incredibly medicinal and useful plant that hides its generous properties behind a simple appearance and a soft weapon.
• I feel a strong attraction to the sound of the letter “L”, and in fact, the names of my three children all begin with L.