The Art & Practice of Spiritual Herbalism: Transform, Heal, and Remember with the Power of Plants and Ancestral Medicine

Guided by leading Black herbalist Karen Rose, discover how to harness the magic of plants and diasporic ancestral practices in remedies and ritual.

*2022 Foreword Indie GOLD Winner for Body, Mind & Spirit*

Master Herbalist Karen Rose is a first-generation immigrant from Guyana with ancestors from Ghana, the Congo, China, and India who continues her grandmother’s legacy as a healer and herbalist. In The Art & Practice of Spiritual Herbalism, she shares her wisdom on how to partner plants and rituals to guide the process of self-healing. As you alleviate physical symptoms and heal emotional and spiritual imbalances, you will see how plants can help you stand in your power, strengthen your intuition, and provide protection.

This guide to harnessing the power of plants is a practical tool for working through the symptoms of body disease and the underlying emotional and spiritual issues. Organized by major body systems—circulatory, respiratory, digestive, liver, sexual, skin, nervous systems, and immune health—The Art & Practice of Spiritual Herbalism gives a brief overview of the physical mechanisms of the system, the spiritual correspondences associated with that system, and the plants, remedies, and rituals that can be used to bring oneself back to healing and balance.

Accompanied by beautiful color illustrations of the plants, the organs they affect, and their related spirits, or orishas, each plant profile includes:
 

• Botanical and pharmacological information
• Planetary correspondences
• Ethnobotanical and historical use
• Healing properties and indications
• Methods of preparation and dosage

Applying this herbal wisdom, the recipes include:
 

• 4th Chakra Heart Oil for healing a broken heart, also helpful for healing generational trauma
• Inspired Sleep and Dreams Tea to inspire dreams
• Breathe Easy Steam to improve respiratory health
• Immunity Chai Tea to fight off cold and flu viruses
• Laying Hands Stomach and Womb Oil for indigestion and menstrual discomfort
• A Castor Oil Pack for Liver Health to remove pain and swelling from sprains and bruises

Filled with stories, ancestral recipes, and accessible practices that anyone can use, The Art & Practice of Spiritual Herbalism shows you how to use the power of plants for spiritual and physical healing.

Trained in Eastern and Western Herbal Medicine, Master Herbalist, Karen M. Rose has dedicated her life’s work to empowering individuals to reconnect to their own ancestral traditions. Over the past 20 years, she has created several outlets to offer her teachings and healing modalities to women, people of color, Black, and LGBTQX communities. The opening of the Brooklyn-based Sacred Vibes Apothecary in 2009 was merely the beginning. Karen has now expanded her enterprise, opening Sacred Botanica and Sacred Spice in 2020, two new locations in Brooklyn, to make healing more accessible to the greater community.

Karen’s inspiration for this work began as a child in her native home of Guyana, where she was exposed to how African, Caribbean, and Latin American traditions profoundly influenced plant medicine and community healing. The legacy of these lands is the foundation of Karen’s core values and spiritual practices.

Regarded as a Spiritual Herbalist, Karen is revered for being the first to teach Spiritual Herbalism, plant medicine deeply rooted in ancestral healing and spiritual consciousness. Offering guidance to those on the path to finding the truth, she has trained over 400 herbalists through her Spiritual Herbalism Apprenticeship program as an act to reclaim their own health and offer healing to their own communities.

Karen’s accomplishments include several in-house projects such as the Sacred Vibes’ Annual NYC Spiritual Herbalism Conference, the 2019, 2020 Herbal Almanac, the Global Virtual Apprenticeship Program, the Spiritual Herbalism Apprenticeship Community, and the free Herbal Community Summer workshops. Karen has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Black Enterprise, Refinery29, Allure Magazine, Organic Life Magazine, and Elle.com and has partnered with brands like BET and Squarespace. Karen currently resides in New York City with her three children, grandson, parents, and sisters. Her family is valued foremost and all of her work is supported by this firm foundation.