Geneva’s Peaceful Parlour tea house to close

Shari Ralish estimates that her business, Peaceful Parlour, has sold a half-ton – 1,000 pounds – of tea during the more than 14 years it’s operated at 212 S. Third St. in Geneva.

One wall in her shop is stacked floor to ceiling with jars of tea, such as Earl Gray, Darjeeling and Golden Monkey, and herbs, such as nettle, red clover and comfrey.

Other items include mugs and tea balls, jewelry, bags, sage to burn for a home’s spiritual cleansing, meditation tools, incense, books, tarot cards, and card and tea leaf readings.

But now, Ralish, a Geneva resident, is looking to move on and will close her shop on April 30.

“I’m going to do something else,” Ralish said. “I have joined the coordinating team of the Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference.”

The Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference, founded by Wisconsin resident Linda Conroy, offers workshops and classes to explore herbalism’s tradition of healing.

Ralish said she has done a three-year herbalist apprenticeship with Moonwise Herbals.

There’s no official certification to becoming an herbalist, just life-long learning, she said.

“I learned botany to identify plants with confidence and how to utilize herbs to make herbal-infused vinegars and oils,” Ralish said. “I learned different body systems so that I understand working with herbs and ... their actions and how they support the body to function more optimally.”

The herbal approach she studied is known as a wise woman tradition, essentially grandmothers’ kitchen remedies.

Peaceful Parlour will be on the map for the Geneva citywide garage sale on April 26-27.