If you felt sick, where would you go?
The most obvious answer may be the doctor, which is why Riana Martinez, the creator and owner of Atascadero’s the Green Omen Apothecary was surprised when a woman came into her shop after leaving the urgent care next door.
Unlike traditional biomedical centers loaded with prescriptions, Martinez’s shop is doused with personal care items, herbal teas, elixirs, metaphysical items and crystals. Freshly harvested herbs can be seen drying in bundles hanging from the ceiling.
Martinez currently runs her shop at 6280 Palma Ave., where she provides for the community as an herbalist. After earning a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, she pursued a number of jobs ranging between the arts and corporate work.
However, Martinez’s true passion laid outside of her corporate job and within herself, as she happened to have a hidden intuitive knack for herbalism.
“You can definitely change your mind and you can definitely grow on something while you’re doing something else,” Martinez said while referring to her shift of career.
Despite only selling herbs she has studied and grown to know well, Martinez’s sharp intuition gifts her innate knowledge of plants she has never heard of before.
“I was working with arrowroot the other day and using it to cook, and my husband asked, ‘what is it?’ I was like, ‘I’m not sure, but it helps stop bleeding, especially on the gums,’” Martinez said. “I have no idea where that came from. I looked it up and sure enough, it was there. There’s a chance I may have read it before, but it just comes naturally.”
Martinez said that the defiance surrounding traditional beliefs about medicine inspired her to open the shop.
“Western medicine really started from plants,” Martinez said. “A lot of medication is either made from a plant or copied to look like a plant, and it’s really frustrating that herbalism has gotten lost.”
Witchcraft can be a taboo topic that is frequently misinterpreted. One of Martinez’s biggest goals for both herself and her customers, is to question the ordinary and welcome the unfamiliar.
“I love the topic of religion in here,” Martinez said. “It comes up sometimes just because I have some witchy stuff and people bring up the word ‘witch.’ Let’s talk about that.”
Another notable part of Martinez’s journey within herbalism and witchcraft is her experience with imposter syndrome.
“Imposter syndrome is not a term that I had growing up,” Martinez said. “I thought that something was just really wrong with me, and then I realized other people feel this way too. Trying to like dig into that and figure out why has been really empowering.”
Herbalism isn’t only something Martinez practices to benefit customers. It has also played a big role in her life when it comes to developing mindfulness and becoming more in tune with her body.
“Herbalism and the culture of herbalism has really gotten me to slow down and be okay with [that],” Martinez said.
As of now, Martinez’s favorite herb is Tulsi, which is holy basil.
Tulsi is an herb sacred within Hinduism. It originates from India and is considered as “a threshold point between heaven and earth,” by the Shree Tulsi Mandir Hindu Temple. It has mood-stabilizing benefits as well as disease prevention and longevity.
“I also use it in a magical sense by brewing a tea with it, letting it cool and putting it in my mop solution,” Martinez said. “It’s great for prosperity and cleansing the space.”
There are many plants we are likely to come into contact with every day that the average person may ignore. Yet it turns out that some of these plants are rich with medicinal and spiritual benefits.
Martinez hopes to share these benefits with her customers and emphasizes how guiding others provides her with purpose.
“The biggest compliment I could ever get is somebody who comes back and says, ‘Your tea blend did amazing things for me,’” Martinez said.
