EVERETT — It’s an herbal store that doesn’t sell Washington’s favorite herb.
Instead of pineapple kush and purple haze, Moddejonge’s Herbals has peppermint tea and stinging nettle.
What’s up with that?
“It’s your old-time apothecary,” owner Lynn Moddejonge said.
And it looks the part, with tall shelves, glass jars, scales, mortar and pestle.
Jar after jar is filled with herbs to cure your ails, spice your food, help you sleep and make you happy, not high.
But first you have to find the place.
It’s tucked in the block of shops and restaurants on Hewitt Avenue, across from Xfinity Arena. The nondescript storefront belies the bounty inside the narrow chambers brimming with loose-leaf teas, essential oils, crystals, magic and metaphysics.
The seductive aroma of incense greets you at the door, with sticks and cones of fragrances sweet and flowery. Incense is made here, in a back room, along with teas, lotions and potions.
Some are for medicine, some for magic.
Moddejonge will make it for you or you can concoct it your way.
There are ointments for arthritis and eczema. Teas for ADHD. Pills for lagging libidos. Scented bath balms that fizz up the tub.
“With the base ingredients, oils and herbs, you can make any kind of medicinal salve or personal care item, like toothpaste and shaving cream, spa items or any cleaning item for the house,” she said.
There are hundreds of herbs. Buy it by the ounce, the capsule or the drop.
“I sell oil by the drop, so you don’t have to buy a whole bottle of lavender oil,” Moddejonge said.
She sells a lot of bedtime remedies. “People need help going to sleep at night,” she said.
One herbal remedy includes the root of the flower velarian.
“Velarian will put you to sleep,” she said.
If you hold your nose.
“It smells like very old dirty gym socks,” she said. “It is the most horrible smell in the store.”
But you have to open a jar to get a whiff.
“You can open any jar in the store,” she said.
The jars are in alphabetical order. Part of the fun is poking around.
“I am happy to share recipes with folks,” she said, “and we also talk about what end results they are looking for.”
Moddejonge, 61, said she’s still learning. “I am in a constant state of study.”
The mother of four and grandmother of seven started in her kitchen garden, fueled by an interest in herbs in cooking and healing. The first remedies were for her family. “People kept saying, ‘Can you do that for me?’” she said. “So I opened a shop.”
She recently marked four years in business. P.J. Parsons of Snohomish is among the regulars.
“I get my spices, herbs, oils and jewelry here. What don’t I buy here is probably the better question,” said Parsons, who came in for activated charcoal. “It acts as a magnet to suck the toxins out of your body to keep you clean. It’s also super great for hangovers.”
Nicole Lemmert of Marysville gets tea for bedtime. “It helps me feel calm. I have insomnia,” she said. “I wake up more energized and more ready to go.”
Heather Bryan of Everett turned to Moddejonge for help with intense facial pain. “I had to do a topical chemotherapy. She fixed me up with a few things to ease the pain.”
It is part art, part science.
“Like any pharmaceutical, some work better for some people than others do,” Moddejonge said.
It often costs less than modern medicine.
For example, damiana is 22 cents a capsule and horny goat weed is 24 cents.
Horny goat weed “is nature’s answer to Viagra,” she said. “Take one or two depending on the person. The counterpart is damiana, for women.”
Does it work?
“I have several people coming back on a regular basis,” Moddejonge said. “I only have anecdotal information, because I don’t take it. I’m single.”
Moddejonge mixes, brews and teaches her craft. Yes, it even includes witchcraft.
“Witches come into the store. Pagans. Druids,” she said. “Ritual items for pagan magic are made here in the store, when the moon is right.”
She offers Reiki, tarot cards, angel readings and healings.
There’s something for everybody, if they are amenable.
“It’s a community place for folks who believe in this sort of thing,” she said. “Yesterday we had somebody in here who needed to talk to a medium so we brought a medium in here. She had an aunt who had died sometime ago and it was to get in contact with the aunt. We have a channeler who comes in and channels different folks from the other side. She’ll channel Mother Mary, Archangel Michael and guides who are not deities or angels but people. There’s an old herbal lady who channels to me fairly frequently.”
What does Moddejonge say to doubters?
“I am probably the most skeptical person in the world,” she said. “I think it is healthy to be skeptical.”
The scents alone are worth a visit.
Andrea Brown at 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.
Moddejonge’s Herbals
1905 Hewitt Ave., Everett; 425-610-4458.
A class on Third Eye Chakra is 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 17. Cost is $15.
An incense-making class is 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 23. Cost is $20.
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