To Re-Enchant and Heal the World, the Everyday world around us. Herbalists, Witches, Alchemic Baristas; Send Good Energy to Yourself, Do not Allow FEAR into your Energy Field.

"As Halloween approaches, images of scheming witches have started popping up around New York City — weird sisters stirring their brews over caldrons, conjuring toil and trouble for those who drink their potions.

And yet in Brooklyn, real-life good witches are concocting much friendlier brews for public consumption: a group of devoted young herbal healers who are less concerned with casting spells than with helping people feel better from the inside out. Think of them as alchemical baristas, serving up individualized elixirs to treat all kinds of urban ills.

One hub of this new movement is Botica & Co., a brick-and-mortar apothecary in Greenpoint created by Adriana Ayales. Ms. Ayales, 27, is an herbalist who learned the art of herbal distillation and healing from her grandmother, a medicine woman and shaman in her native Costa Rica. She opened Botica & Co. early this month with the hope, she said, that it will become “a healthy version of the bar on ‘Cheers.’ ”

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“I want everyone to come in and talk to us, tell us their problems, and we will whip up the perfect cure,” she said. “I want to bring back the intimacy and personal attention of a vintage pharmacy, but instead of aspirin, we are prescribing yerba mate or ayahuasca flowers.”

Above the bar are dozens of large Mason jars filled with dark, smoky liquids — Ms. Ayales calls them “tonics” — potent, concentrated mixtures of herbs, many of which Ms. Ayales sources directly from the rain forests of Costa Rica, where she works with “sustainable, certified wild-crafters.” They are meant to be consumed at the bar, diluted inside fresh pineapple or Concord grape juices that she keeps on tap or taken as a single shot, like espresso, on the go. She also sells a line of cold-pressed juice and coconut water called Pura Fruta.

Ms. Ayales’s best-selling formulas are Love Handles, a tonic said to help blast fat with ginger, Himalayan pink salt, green coffee bean and a rain forest tree berry called cha de bugre, and Lucid Dreaming, a pungent cocktail of kava, ashwagandha, rose and passionflower that addresses anxiety.

Also popular? Eros, a quick shot of aphrodisiac stimulant containing night-blooming jasmine, hibiscus and Costa Rican ingredients like catuaba and muira puama. “I get a lot of men asking for that one,” she said. “On opening night, we poured a bunch of it into a vat of red wine. Things got ... crazy.”

Should you be looking for an even witchier apothecary experience, head to Bushwick, where the hip occult store Catland is celebrating all things magical, from tarot cards to crystals to local covens (who hold gatherings around a fire pit in the backyard).

The real attraction, however, is the private apothecary in back, where Joseph Petersen, the 26-year-old co-owner, creates custom oils and incenses to fit the daily needs of his customers.

“Part of our mission here is to find ways to re-enchant the world,” Mr. Petersen said. “And what is more enchanting than coming in, telling us what you’re going through and working together to make something?”

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He acknowledges that some people are skeptical of “herbal magick” as a remedy for ills, but he says that you do not have to believe in the occult or speak spells to experience the healing powers of his potions. “I got into magic when I was 18,” he said. “And what I found was, it’s all about the power of conviction. If you believe something works, and you intend for it to work, then usually that’s all you need.” 

If that sounds like a placebo effect, that’s because that may be exactly what herbal healing is.

“Most of the big N.I.H. studies on herbs have shown that while they are not harmful, except in extremely high doses, they don’t do much either,” said Dr. Pieter Cohen, a professor of medicine at Harvard who studies herbal supplements. “That said, the placebo effect they have is powerful. If you believe a supplement is healthy, it can actually make you healthier.”

Catland’s stylish patrons — think less bohemian witches in tasseled shawls and more young professionals in flannel and leather jackets — ask Mr. Petersen to help with a variety of ailments, from insomnia to acne to attracting a mate.

His most powerful remedy is a ritual bath concoction, which he mixes from his arsenal of herbs and minerals in a hulking mortar and pestle.

The potions, which contain ingredients like benzoin, galangal, lavender and mugwort, come with a canvas pouch that one steeps in boiling water like tea and then pours into the tub. Mr. Petersen also includes a candle, onto which he carves a tiny image of whichever pagan deity he thinks will most help his client.

“You can say a prayer to it if you want, or not,” he said. “It’s more important, when you get into the bath, to send the good energy back to yourself. That’s where the healing is.”

Source
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/fashion/halloween-brooklyn-real-life-good-witches-concoct-herbal-brews.html?_r=2