Sacred Vibes Apothecary
All photos by Curt Saunders for Black-Owned Brooklyn
Karen Rose, owner of Sacred Vibes Apothecary, says her childhood home of coastal Guyana may have lacked medical doctors, but many elders in the community — from the midwife who handled births, to the person who rubbed bellies to treat hernias — practiced some form of healing. Karen’s grandparents were held in particularly high regard for their mastery of herbal medicine.
Her grandmother made teas for every possible ailment; her grandfather was a root worker who used plants to provide both spiritual services and to help with physical troubles like rattlesnake bites. But Karen, who moved to East Flatbush with her parents at 14, didn’t take an interest in herbalism herself until much later with the birth of her daughter. Rather than rely on a doctor’s prescription for, say, an ear infection, she’d call her grandmother to ask: “What were the plants that you would use?” ⠀
After training at herbal medicine school, and alongside indigenous practitioners in Mexico and Jamaica, Karen began consulting with clients. But when she would tell them to pick up certain herbs, they had to go to Manhattan. “There were places that existed before me that sold herbs, but there was no specific, herb-focused shop in Brooklyn,” Karen says. “I opened Sacred Vibes to fill that need.” (Last week, her apothecary celebrated 10 years in business!)
“There were places that existed before me that sold herbs, but there was no specific, herb-focused shop in Brooklyn. I opened Sacred Vibes to fill that need.”
The shelves at Sacred Vibes Apothecary are teeming with alphabetized jars of medicinal roots and herbs: things like astragalus, chickweed, devil’s claw root, elderberries, horsetail, Irish moss powder, mugwort, shepherd’s purse and wormwood. It’s all designed for easy browsing. “I want people to open the jars and smell what’s inside, so they know it’s fresh,” Karen says. “There’s something so beautiful about being pared-back and accessible.” Sacred Vibes also carries its own formulas of teas, tonics, tinctures, sprays and balms, all made in-house for conditions from insomnia and migraines to heartburn and stress. ⠀
Karen’s biggest priority over the years has been education. “Even people who are exposed to plant medicine still have doubts about it,” she says. “The more we educate people about how to use it and when to use it, it opens their eyes.”
Her apprenticeship program has trained almost 400 women in herbalism — a two-and-half-year commitment that students use not only for learning about plants, but to build their relationship to their ancestry. “Most of the people who study with us are Black Indigenous women or POC,” she says. “Everybody’s grandmother used plants as medicine, in some form or another, across the diaspora. Our apprentices are folks from Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, Nigeria, the American South, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and they all remember their ancestors using herbal medicine at some point in their life.”
As herbalism and self-care become increasingly popular practices, many Sacred Vibes Apothecary customers have already done their research before arriving. “They’re like ‘Oh, I saw this tonic on Instagram; I want dandelion leaf and echinacea,” Karen says.
In other cases, new visitors share what’s ailing them, for which she will make recommendations or schedule a consultation. But along with herbal remedies, Karen encourages clients to still check in with their doctors. “Allopathic medicine and herbal medicine should go hand-in-hand,” she explains. “If you’re taking high blood pressure medicine, or meds for depression and anxiety, we’ll ask, ‘What are the ways that herbal medicine can supplement that?’ It’s not to say, ‘Stop taking your medicine and just take plants.’ We meet you where you are.”⠀
Then there are the Sacred Vibes regulars, who come in for refills on her popular lines specially crafted for men, women and children — and for this season’s bestseller, allergy tea.
“I grew up here, so when I started my business, it was important to me that I serve the people of Flatbush,” Karen says. “I knew already that there were plant healers in this community, even if they don’t call themselves herbalists. I knew my business would work here.”
376 Argyle Road, 718-284-2890, sacredvibeshealing.com
