Meet Rachel Burgos of Snakeroot Apothecary in Highland Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Burgos.

Rachel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was 18, I was living in Philadelphia — I was kind of living a life of partying and punk music and not really doing much more than that. I sort of started to feel the summoning of another energy and purpose unfulfilled. On a whim, I chose Yosemite as a destination in my mind’s eye — a destiny of a deep relationship with the flora and fauna of California. I headed out to California in the Spring to work on an organic farm and backpack in the national park and surrounding forest. I had never done any backpacking or really much camping growing up, and I had no idea what I was doing.

At one point, I was backpacking with my bicycle messenger bag and Chuck Taylors for two days with a sore back just wondering, “what the hell am I doing out here?” On the farm, there was this person named Christine who was saving all the weeds that we were removing from the gardens. That was the first time I met the herb, Yellow Dock. My interest was kind of sparked from there. From there, I spent a good rest of the summer, fall, and part of the winter traveling. Eventually, I ended up in Big Sur to caretake a small farm deep in the mountains.

There was no cell phone service, internet, or anything like that out there. Eight miles as a crow flies from the ocean but 3,500 ft. above and an hour away from town. The property I lived on was nearly the end of the road, and there were only about three other houses around. I was very isolated and spent many days and months by myself, herding goats in the mountains and tending to my gardens. It was really there that I opened myself to the spirits of the place around me. The forest really opened me up in a way that I could feel I would never be the same again. In Big Sur was where I really started to communicate with plants, receive their messages and work with them.

The first plants that I really worked with were Yerba Santa, California Poppy, Comfrey, Mullein, Elderberry, and Mugwort. I spent four years in Big Sur living off the land and working through a lot of childhood trauma. It was an incredibly healing time. When I left I had a really hard time with people because my only friends were plants and animals, but I’m almost exactly half and half introvert/extrovert, and it was a really important step for me to reintegrate back with the rest of the world. There is still so much to learn, and I believe it’s important to be in connection with others. When I left big sure, I spent a summer working with different primitive skills teachers and herbalists.

I lived on a renegade goat farm and spent time in the herb garden making medicine for the small community that lived there. Soon after I left, I went on a long bike tour with my best friend Clemmie (who is now this wild woman riding horses through Australia – always adventuring), and we were loosely studying herbs and seeking herbalists and people who knew anything about the plants to learn from. We road from Tucson, AZ down to the border and through the mountains up to New Mexico and zigzagged through into Colorado and ended in Utah. I fell in love with the southwest then and desert plants.

I was fairly nomadic for a while after leaving big sure. I was working odd jobs and living out of my car making all kinds of potions. This was how Snakeroot Apothecary was born – as my first brand; Snake Oil Magic Potions. Eventually, I ended up in Joshua Tree and interned with the owner of the herb shop, Jenny Q. She’s an incredible herbalist and registered nurse. & Then I went to her school for a summer in the Mount Shasta area — Blue Otter School of Herbal Medicine. I am still studying with Karyn Sanders and Sarah Holmes. They made a HUGE impact on me. Their approach to herbalism felt like everything I was missing from my life.

Now I am studying with them in their Advanced Herbalism program which is more about energy work: energies of plants and working with our own energies so you can go deeper with your clients, see their energy, etc… It’s a lot of deep, deep work and it feels so so hard sometimes, but ultimately I feel so different than the 18-year-old girl moving to California to change her life.. and probably save it. Through herbs, I have really found a way to come into my personal power and overcome so much crap it’s amazing. What I am constantly working towards is having an open heart and clear boundaries — which was one of the profound teachings Karyn and Sarah have taught me.

In April of 2018, I decided to make a leap of faith to build my business and expand my clinical practice. I moved to Highland Park in Los Angeles to the current herb studio that I operate out of now. LA has been a great move for me in lots of ways; culture, activism, teaching, learning, etc..

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Business wise, it hasn’t been completely smooth. I have completely built my business & practice from the ground up with only the emotional support of friends and family.

Financially I have had to learn how to run a business ALL BY MYSELF. I dropped out of high school and never went to college — was living fairly underground and didn’t do my taxes until the last couple of years! I still don’t feel like I know what I’m doing – but I’m able to focus and work in the field I love, and that’s what matters most to me.

As far as my clinical practice – I think it’s gone pretty smoothly. After attending Blue Otter, I felt extremely empowered as I had never been before. I truly think I found my life calling. As both a practitioner and artist I am still figuring out how to juggle all of the art and creativity I am trying to incorporate – and sometimes I take on too much.

Please tell us about snakeroot apothecary.
Snakeroot kindof took off when Marlee Grace of Have Company (now Center), posted about my Stop Smoking! Formula and her journey of quitting. I had probably only a few bottles left in stock, and all of a sudden had 100+ orders in one day. It was insane! People LOVE that potion. I was a smoker for YEARS, and I know how hard it is to quit – and I’m so happy to provide support to folks who are trying to quit.

The Snakeroot Apothecary line provides quality, energetic plant and stone based formulas. No plant material in these products are wildcrafted (problematic for ecological & indigenous sovereignty issues) but sourced from small organic farms, local herbalists, and Rachel’s own garden. Herbs are processed according to the lunar calendar; made with love and ceremony the way that I was taught.

Some of my best sellers are “Chill Vibes” — a nervous system tonic that aids in relieving stress & anxiety. “In Dreams” helps to exemplify your dream world & enhances psychic activity & lucid dreams. “Loving Care” is one of my early formulas – I made originally as an aphrodisiac – however when I first sat with it – the herbs told me that it was a portion focused on Self Love.

My clinical work focuses around addressing not only the physical ailment but the emotional/spiritual imbalance underneath. Oftentimes people come to me with an issue as a last resort, they’ve tried everything. Once we start to work on the emotional/spiritual patterns underneath oftentimes, we find relief in the physical realm. My training was deeply spiritual, and I carry that into every aspect of my practice. I hold my clients tightly, and it is a high honor to be trusted to do so.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing. I’m really proud of where I am, and I think every mistake has informed major growth.

Pricing:

• Chill Vibes – $20
• In Dreams – $20
• Loving Care – $27

Contact Info:

• Website: www.snakerootapothecary.com
• Phone: 4846242748
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credit:
Heather Daniels Pusey

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