ABOUT ME
Route Five delivers the ancient art of medicine making to your home.
Each plant is ethically sourced from farms across the Earth that are dedicated to
organic methods, ethical wildcrafting, and non-GMO.
Our medicines are infused with reverence from seed to cell membrane.
We're devoted to promoting sustainable, biodiverse ecosystems across the planet,
as well as within the infinite wisdom of your internal landscape ~
offering deep, whole health, on all levels of being.
We are stewards of the Earth and listen to the wise counsel of each plant and fungi teacher in formulating our potent medicines. Our formulas are alchemized to generate restoration, integration,
and wholesome wellness. We are committed to co-creating in a good way
as we walk together on this Earthen journey.
Our Devotion
R O U T E F I V E
Everything is Earth, Fire, Air Water, and Spirit
We are North, South, East, West, and the Center.
We are whole, born whole, living whole, and will pass on from this human life whole.
Our wholeness travels through many interconnected routes; five among these are physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and action. Throughout life, exposure to internal and external stimuli may create interference with our connection to wholeness. This interference can contribute to an imbalance
in our experience of aliveness, resulting in disconnection, over or under-functioning,
fragmentation, or habitual detours within these five routes,
Though adversity may first be experienced as loss, illness, tragedy, or defeat,
it often marks the beginning of something deeper, a threshold through which resilience, meaning,
and transformation quietly emerge.
These aversive moments may facilitate the emergence of unrealized strength
and fundamental shifts in thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that lead to vital growth.
Whole health exists despite pain and suffering. We can be in the midst of a health crisis and
connect to a range of emotions, be mentally stimulated, have a sense of our part in
the interconnectedness of life, and integrate the meaning of it all.
"We are made for these times." ~ Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes
We have an inherent capacity to bring whole health and healing into our personal and collective systems.
Route Five emerged into the collective in response to a persistent nudge from Spirit.
We're all being called to approach our lives in a Good Way. To walk lightly upon the earth,
thoughtfully connect to the infinite wisdom within and all around, shift our awareness
or perceptual patterns, and expand our definition of whole health and healing.
We are nature. Deepening your connection with plant allies will
shepherd you into your wild, luminous essence.
*Route Five is a non-profit 501c3, EIN # 830849697,
We donate a portion of all of our sales to local charities, organizations, families, and individuals in need.
A r i n n T e s t a, PsyD
~Founder, CEO Route Five
Welcome! I'm so happy you found your way to
our apothecary and collection of curios.
I'm the alchemist, plant companion, medicine maker, dreamer,
medicine carrier, momma, and faithful steward of Route Five.
I have spent my life following quiet things.
The curve of a hawk riding an air current. The scent of sweet grass after summer rain. The way a willow leans toward water. A story hidden inside a vintage dress. The intelligence of plants. The resilience of the human spirit.
Long before I became a psychologist, I was a bruised knees and ratty shoes little kid wandering our family farm, making mud pies beneath the weeping willows, climbing trees, collecting treasures, and sensing that the natural world was not simply beautiful, but alive. Somewhere in those fields I learned that healing is less about fixing ourselves than remembering our place within something much larger.
That understanding has quietly guided every chapter of my life.
Today, I am a licensed psychologist with more than thirty years of experience integrating neuroscience, depth psychology, contemplative practice, and botanical and psychedelic medicine. My work has taken me from academic research and forensic psychology to hospital settings, private practice, ceremony, and medicine making.
Across each of these paths, one truth has remained constant: healing rarely happens through information alone. It unfolds through relationship to ourselves, to one another, to the living world, and to the unseen patterns that quietly shape our lives.
Route Five Medicinals grew from that understanding.
Every botanical preparation, ceremony, tea, mist, oil, and balm is created as an invitation to slow down, listen more deeply, and cultivate a relationship with the wisdom already present within you. I believe plants are not here to rescue us. They are companions that gently remind us of capacities we may have forgotten: presence, resilience, tenderness, imagination, and belonging.
Alongside Route Five Medicinals, you'll also find Route Five Revival, a thoughtfully curated collection of vintage pieces and handcrafted goods. To me, old objects are much like old stories. They carry memory. They ask to be seen again. They remind us that beauty often emerges not from perfection, but from being well loved.
Whether we meet through a ceremony, a botanical preparation, a conversation, or a treasured object that somehow finds its way to you, my hope is always the same:
That you leave feeling a little more connected to your own inner knowing...
~A little more rooted.
~A little more alive.
Welcome.
I'm so glad you're here.
~Arinn
Meet the Team
Angelique Roja
CFO & Board Member
This exceptional woman began her business savvy-ness as an independent hairdresser with a flourishing practice for more than a decade - while simultaneously
raising four children.
She later returned to school, graduating with honors, expanding her mad skills in finance and entrepreneurship. Postgrad, she's managed complex financial portfolios through New York Life and dealt with all the minutia of health insurance administration. In the past few years, she's experienced a resurgence of her creative fire - diving deep into photography, up-cycled art, and interior design.
She offers us invaluable counsel on her creative & economic skills.
She's my cousin, oldest friend, and embodies the true essence of
what it is to love and be loved.
You can check out some of her
up-cycled art on our site or book
a photography session with her
here.
Delaine Olson, MA
COO & Board Member
Delaine is a trailblazer
and I wouldn't be here without her, no really,
she's also my mom.
She has an eye for detail, a keen sense of humor, and
laser-accurate intuition.
She graduated from both her Bachelor and Masters in Psychology with honors while raising
my brother and me.
Her professional portfolio is an impressive array of community activism and civil service.
She's worked with survivors of Domestic Violence, at-risk elderly and hospice, children in crisis
and in foster care, and
for many years was the
Director of the Central Valley
Training Center working with Developmentally Disabled
adults and their families.
She's a lover of plants, animals, children, culinary arts, and travel ~and we're so fortunate
to have her on board!
Elizabeth Cline
Creative Collaborator
Have you ever met someone that just does what they say they're going to do, no matter how lofty the vision, and can create something from anything? Elizabeth is a living example of this.
Her creative actions knows no limits - from music to clothing and jewelry design, to food, to how to make the most of every moment.
I feel so grateful (and frankly like I'm getting away with a high crime) that she agreed to be Route Five's Creative Collaborator. I've watched her turn everything she touches into thriving contributions for individuals and communities. She's offered her counsel to Route Five on everything from
how to form a non-profit to the overall esthetic.
Check out her handcrafted jewelry and homegoods here:
or, check out a show at the theater
she founded with her husband:
