I am a night botanist. My name is Luna Martínez. People call me Ms. Nightingale behind my back. They say I'm the queen of moonlit gardens because I know how to coax beauty out of plants even in the darkest hours. My great-great-grandmother was a curandera and taught me everything she knew about the healing powers of herbs under the light of the full moon.
My day job is running my apothecary on Main Street, where I sell homemade potions made from locally sourced herbs that I've grown myself in my greenhouse at home. People say I'm a witch because they don't understand how plants can be used to heal ailments or make people feel better mentally and spiritually. But all I do is listen carefully to the whispers of nature.
Sometimes when it rains, and I have nothing else better to do, I like to walk along the cobblestone streets in my neighborhood under a streetlamp with my umbrella. That's when inspiration strikes me – the smell of wet stone, the sound of raindrops hitting pavement. It always brings out new ideas for potions or elixirs that can improve people's lives.
I have a special ritual I perform during Halloween night to prepare my apothecary for the market that comes after it. That involves carefully trimming herbs like sage and wormwood under candlelight, which makes everything feel more magical.
Here are some pictures of me doing this ritual:
Picture 1: Trimming Sage by
