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The Prayer Flag Project (PFP)
for the Northern California Women’s Herbal Symposium
Our vision was brought forth initially to have folks invoke their prayers into these flags to help bring about a smooth transition as the Symposium was making some changes. As we carry on, the project still holds that intention by continuing the active artistic participation of all members of the community. Come and create a work of art for the symposium that also expresses our diverse visions & dreams for healing our sisterhood, extended communities, and our beloved planet.
We will be putting the flags up every year with the intention of eventually surrounding the camp with a creative, loving, colorful. and magical embrace. Flags can be made Friday, Saturday, and Sunday between lunch and dinner. Children 10 and under are required to be accompanied by an adult. We look forward to seeing the many beautiful creations yet to be born!
The PFP is facilitated by Randi Seidner & Uschi Schnell.
Classes & Teachers
Please join me to look at the incredible world of medicinal mushrooms. Mushrooms have been used all around the world for their magical, healing qualities. I will share my favorites and include methods to make them into extracts (Reishi, Turkey tails, Oyster, Maitake, Shiitake, and Cordyceps…).
all levels
The lymphatic system is called Rasa in Sanskrit, meaning the river of life. Keeping this river flowing allows our tissues to receive nourishment, which is the secret to being and looking healthy. Our lymph fluids allow hormones to get from one endocrine gland to another and play an important role in our reproductive health. The lymphatic system is also called the Immune system, which we all know is important for fighting foreign invaders and staying healthy. There will be demonstrations on how to map the lymphatic system in your body with an emphasis on breast health. There will be time for Q &A about our breasts and immunity, massage assessments for experiential learning & what tools can support change and prevent diseases. Students will leave having a clear understanding of the lymph system and how to keep it and their breasts healthy.
*Breast Checks will be continued throughout the entire weekend.
There is strength in a river that is flowing
all levels
The three-fold Goddess Brigid is connected to poetry, mid-wifery, and blacksmithing. She holds the power of transformation, knowing the right words to recite, and the proper herbs for change.
Together we will call Brigid and ask for her guidance with our creative pursuits and to help us heal our relationships with our bodies.
Through our bodies, we experience the world’s most outrageous pleasures and most frustrating pains, and these experiences determine how we move through the world. Celebrate, examine, heal, reminisce over and laugh about your relationship with your one and only body in this two-part writing workshop. We will sample flower essences and tinctures and will call in Brigid for inspiration.
Is it time for you to work with the heat and temperance at the forge? Is it time for you to write the poetesses words of change for a better world? Is it time for you to become with wild witch and learn the healing arts? Brigid shows us the way to our own empowerment and from that place we change the world. Using song, trance journey, and embodiment we connect to Divinity and take that power out into our lives.
This two part class begins with exploring the nature of death from a female oriented cosmology based on Leslene’s book, Midwifing Death: Returning to the Arms of the Ancient Mother. Leslene trained in spiritual midwifery on The Farm in Tennessee where she lived for nearly 11 years. After leaving The Farm, she applied her training to midwifing the dying, beginning with tending to her father in his transition.
Birth and death are the same portal—it is a door that swings both ways. Leslene’s training in midwifery showed her that along with natural birth as the optimal experience for mother and child, natural death is also the optimal experience for the dying. In the first part of the class we will explore how death was regarded by the ancients in woman centered cultures as well as learn about the nature of the Yoniverse and what is not taught in school. Leslene feels that it is important to understand where we come from in order to understand where we are going. In the second part of the class we will learn more about the nature of midwifing the dying, home funerals and green burials. Both classes will incorporate experiential time and will include written materials.
Experience matchless fire starting and become a member of the Fire Devas. Join us if you would like to be a Sacred Fire Tender this session. Establish an intimate relationship with this powerful elemental. Holding the central fire is an act of service, a source of healing and a teacher of awareness.
When to plant and when to sow? The moon is our ruler of water, and the seasons. Come learn her influences on you and the planet. Apply her teachings to effectively run your herbal practice or life. Her sixteen phases help you understand yourself as a cycle, as circle as wemoon. This class respectfully begins on time.
all levels
all levels
all levels
We will cover propagation, growth and harvesting of the following favorites:
Elecampane, Echinacea, Astragalus, Spilanthes, Ashwagandha, Skullcap, Tulsi –Holy Basil, Passionflower, Motherwort, and White Sage.
The big question each spring for many would be Herb growers is often do they have space for the traditional concept of an herb garden. Should it be formal beds of plants organized by the uses of each herb or maybe each garden bed is planted for a certain body system. Maybe an herb spiral will be built or circular beds are filled with herbs organized and labeled. All of these are great ways to plant Medicinals but these projects can be quite overwhelming to a new gardener or someone with very limited space. I like to encourage people to think outside the box as well. Our culture tends to compartmentalize things and Herb gardening is no exception. What if we look at the whole landscape of your yard or garden or farm as a whole herbscape where we incorporate herbs in many different areas where they serve many different purposes. Even within the Permaculture Design World plantings of perennial Medicinal Plants are often very under-represented in the designs. I would like to share a few of the more popular and reasonably simple Herbscaping ideas here but I want to remind you that this barely scratches the surface of the many ways both medicinal and culinary herbs can be incorporated into your landscape!!
Learn how to start a crop swap in your area. Learn tips and tricks for keeping people excited about coming and how to include people who do not have any crops.
Learn how to decipher the messages in your child’s behavior. Discover the connection you had with your own parents. Learn practical tips for handling meltdowns at any age. Try simple chakra exercises that will help you and your child ground your first and second chakras and discuss herbs that are useful in this process. Explore a brief DIY version of EMDR and tapping.
all levels
all levels
First half: Join herbalist Abi Huff for this hand-on hydrosol distillation. Students will have the opportunity to distill hydrosol, learn of their healing properties, & explore the taste and energetics of various hydrosols.
All students will go home with hydrosol they produce, and will have a deeper understanding of hydrosols and the depth of this gentle, yet potent medicine.
Second half: Students in the distillation class will collect their hydrosol. We will discuss pairing our hydrosols with flower essences to empower the distillation, and students will have the choice to empower their hydrosol with flower essences. We will clean the alembics used, and discuss care and treatment.
A look at setting the stage for a juicy moon cycle free from pain or imbalance. Tools to be explored include lifestyle, mantras, essential oils, vaginal enemas, castor oil packs and of course our blessed herb allies. We will discuss the nature of common reproductive imbalances from the lens of the Ayurvedic perspective, allowing us to understand our moon cycle from an ancient science based in the 5 elements and their qualities. You will leave with concrete practices, recipes and herbal inspirations to support a happier healthier moon.
In a world of endless options to cleanse, tone and nourish everything from head to toe it can feel overwhelming…. And many products contain complex ingredients that are of little actual use to your wellbeing. In this hands-on workshop you will learn how to connect with the wisdom of nature while creating your own Ayurvedic herbal body care products. You will receive written instruction and take home recipes of many products covering things such as skin cleansers, hair tonics and hydrating creams; and experience making your own all organic herbal preparations to take with you. You will leave empowered in understanding some of the key herbs valuable to your body care needs and able to take that knowledge into your home kitchen to create all natural, effective products for yourself and loved ones
beg/intermed
beg/intermed
Learn the basics of plant medicine making including proper garbling, formulation mathematics & learn how to make a variety of medicinal preparations using various mediums.
Magical bundles, mojo bags, mystic pouches these magical and herbal creations aid in our healing and empowerment. Using the Law of Correspondences we will create mojos to help us in our journey. Whether you desire deeper love, flowing abundance, self healing, or strong protection a magical bundle will help you. Together we will build a personal magical tool that will strengthen our resolve and bring our desires closer.
Herbs, oils, smudges, baths, and colognes can all be used to clear your spirit, your body, and your home. We will explore different methods of cleansing; for your body, mind, and spirit. Together we will make a cleansing herbal blend to be used as a smudge, bath, or turned into a tincture. Each woman will leave with a piece of this blend for their use later on.
Aradia is often called the first witch. Daughter of the Goddess Diana, Aradia is a wise teacher, a fighter in the resistance movement, and a source of magic. Using The Gospel of Aradia oracle deck we will connect to the part of Aradia that we most need as an individual. Through the messages we receive, we will use herbs (the magic of the hedge witch) to deepen, expand, and empower our connection to the thread of witches and wise women that goes back to the beginning of time. Aradia will guide us along the way.
Yeshe Rabbit and Phoenix create a beautiful, haunting ceremony in honor of Baba Yaga. Her medicine can be bitter, but it is effective. Her wisdom is unarguable and universal. Her gift is not always readily visible to the naked eye, but to the inner eye it is unmistakable. She is the ancient Maiden, the barren Mother, the sexy Crone. She is Queen of the Forest and she welcomes you to her Chicken-Legged Hut.
Yeshe Rabbit will lead a practice of chanting to the Buddha Goddess Kuan Yin, sharing divination and a guided meditation to connect with the compassion of your heart. During this session, participants will create an alcohol-based tincture of heart-healing, soothing, cooling herbs that will charge during the practice.Then, each woman is encouraged to take her tincture home and chant over it until it is completely steeped and ready to use.
In this session, Yeshe Rabbit will teach about Maiden Magu, a Chinese goddess whose name means "Cannabis Maiden." The lore of Magu involves magic, sacred sexuality, tantric practices, shamanism, female-centered cosmology, and the ritual use of hemp. No hemp will be distributed during this class, but participants are invited to come and learn about the Wei Magu, or the Tao of the Cannabis Maiden.
all levels
beginning
intermediate
This Saturday morning 4 hour intensive will include both lecture and field time as we cover the fundamentals of animal and landscape tracking. We will examine track characteristics and animal behavior in order to discern different species. Animal sign such as scat, chews, scrapes, and beds will inform us of our neighbors, as we learn to detect patterns on the landscape. We will also look at how animals interact with the landscape, plants, and medicines that are on the land. (This class is mostly for all beginners and intermediate level trackers, but all are welcome, as the landscape suits all knowledge.)
In this Sunday morning 4 hour intensive, we will spend our time away from camp and deeply tracking the animals, plants, and landscape that we are visiting and that other species call home.
In recent times we have seen the emergence and acceptance of plant and fungi medicine, yet the benefits of animal medicine remain taboo and underground. But healing with animals has been and continues to be a powerful medicine the world over. During this 2 hour class we will explore how animals heal.
all levels
all levels
all levels
In this highly experiential two part class we'll explore what it means to be in conscious relationship with the plants, in this case Cannabis. We'll explore the practice of shamanic drum journeying as a means of establishing a direct line of communication to our beloved plant healer for guidance and healing. In part I we'll briefly discuss some basic shamanic approaches to cultivating relationships with plant spirits and plant energetics before embarking on a drum journey to the Spirit of Cannabis for guidance and healing. In part II we'll journey to the Ancestors who carried the seeds of Cannabis and explore how we can honor those who came before and our future descendants in our relationship with Cannabis. Feel free to bring your percussion instruments with you! We'll be sitting and/or lying down throughout most of the class, so please bring what you need to keep yourself comfortable throughout our time together such as a sun shade, umbrella, chair, yoga mat, scarf, pillow, eye covering (scarves work great), plenty of water and a journal to take notes and/or to record your journeys. This class is not suitable for children/young adults under the age of 16 yrs old.
Learn how to make your own Cannabis Flower Essences and how you can use Co-Creative Science tools to communicate with your environment. Discover how Cannabis Flower Essences can be useful for the body, mind, spirit, home, garden and even astrology! Every student will have a chance to make their very own flower essence to take home.
Crystal Rae
Using old world alchemy & unrefined organic plant oils, we transform
the healing power of medicinal herbs into food for your skin.
We will explore the amazing world of essential oils and their terpene profiles and the role they play in our daily lives from nature to industry. Did you know that terpenes exist in our foods, medicines, perfumes, cosmetics and cleaners?
Where do they come from and how are they made? We will go over the various methods used to extract terpenes. We will look at some common terpenes found in key medicinal herbs. We will discuss the therapeutic values of specific terpenes as well as specific profiles of plants (including Cannabis) and explore some of their medicinal uses.
We will go over the basic process of steam-distilling Cannabis. We will have a short discussion on quality and what defines it. With the use of our nose, we will explore strain-specific, steam-distilled essential oils of Cannabis along with the lab’s reported terpene analysis. Working with one strain at a time, we will try to identify the terpenes that are present by using our nose. We will also compare essential oils made from dried versus fresh flowers.
After filling our senses, we will take a 10 minute mediation CannaSpirit journey, coming back into the circle for the last 15 minutes for anyone who wants to share their experience with us.
Brooms are an important tool all around the world for sweeping in the physical and energetic realms. Hand crafted brooms are on the brink of Extinction. In this class, each student will learn the very basics of Broom craft. We will each make a small hand whisk to take home and use in our everyday rituals.
Experience matchless fire starting and become a member of the Fire Devas. Join us if you would like to be a Sacred Fire Tender this session. Establish an intimate relationship with this powerful elemental. Holding the central fire is an act of service, a source of healing and a teacher of awareness.
The Traditional Blessingway ceremony is an ancient Navajo Ritual to celebrate a woman’s transition into motherhood, and the passing of motherhood from Grandmother to Mother to Daughter in the circle of life.
Celebrating Pregnancy, Birth and Motherhood, this class explores the traditional Blessingway and the herbs, the history and the purpose of the ceremony. We will discuss the Blessingway as a tool of birth, the sacred plants that are used in the ceremony, how to prepare & use them during the ceremony, and what the purpose for each herb within the ceremony represents.
We will explore how to incorporate the ancient with the modern and adapt the Blessingway into our birthing culture as an alternative way to celebrate our pregnancies and births in the 21st century.
This class focuses on herbs for pregnancy, birth and newborn care. We will explore the herbs that are especially useful in preparing for and during pregnancy, the herbs that are safe and those that are not, herbs helpful to common discomforts of pregnancy, labor and delivery helpers, herbs for postpartum care, herbs for breastfeeding and breast care in the first days after birth and herbs for the care of the newborn babe.
This class is focused on building a first aid kit for kids (newborn to 10), although the kit is also useful for adults! The remedies taught in this class are useful to people of all ages. We will discuss how to make remedies for a variety of ailments. Some of topics we will cover are cuts & scrapes; burns; bug bites; bumps & bruises; rashes & skin ailments; fevers; tummy troubles; sleepless nights; and more as time allows!!
Digestive health and emotional well-being are deeply intertwined. In this class, we’ll overview the brain-gut-microbial axis and how it impacts both the digestion of food and of emotion. We’ll explore tools for interacting with the digestive nervous system, including breath techniques, self massage and herbal strategies.
Blood sugar has a significant impact on cellular energy production, mood balance, brain function, and more. In this class we’ll discuss the causes of blood sugar imbalances along with associated symptoms, and elucidate the systemic impacts of chronically high or low blood sugar levels. Lastly, we’ll explore strategies for keeping blood sugar balanced, with an emphasis on nutritional support and herbal allies
intermed/adv
intermed/adv
Essences are infused vibrational waters that can create subtle, but very distinct, shifts in consciousness, enabling us to meet the moment in new ways. Come learn some of the less-often-heard aspects of making essences~ of plants, trees, rocks, planets, journeys, and more! We'll also experience and explore the ways that taking essences can support our bodies and beings in adjusting to and engaging with the shifting energies of these times. Prepare to be dosed!
Wood carving is an amazing way to become more present in your body and hands, and to learn to approach life in a crafting way. Come learn about the tools and techniques used in various kinds of wood carving (spoons and bowls, sculptural/decorative, and chip carving). This class will give a basic overview and demonstration of knife sharpening and safety, knife grips and cuts, the use of other carving tools (saws, axes, gouges, and mallets), decorative carving, carving with the grain in green and dry woods, and finishing with sandpaper and oil. Bring a whittling knife if you have one.
The intention of this class is to gain skills to connect with our ancestors and their plant medicine traditions. We will talk about epigenetics and ancestral trauma, and how we can help heal this trauma with herbal medicine. We’ll explore the basic tenets of Indigenous Science and learn how we can apply them to our ancestral remembrance process and to our work as herbalist and healers.
We’ll explore herbs that can help us connect to our ancestors in waking and dreaming life. We’ll also learn about other practices that can help us to remember and reconnect with our ancestral healing traditions. Class time will include a guided meditation with plants.
This class is open to women of all backgrounds and cultures and of all levels of experience with herbal medicine. The approach of the class is based on a universal approach to understanding indigenous science, and is not specific to any particular culture.
The limpia is an important healing practice in Mexican curanderismo. The limpia is a traditional cleansing ceremony which is used to purify one’s energy field, to release emotions, to unblock and move old trauma, and to call the spirit back into the body.
In this workshop we will introduce some basic concepts of curanderismo, the traditional folk medicine of Mexico, and focus on the specific practice of limpias. We will focus on the role that plants play in this healing ceremony. Finally, we will practice giving ourselves a limpia with fresh plants.
Understanding Lomi Lomi is more than technique, it is a gentle strength, a loving touch, it inspires healing down to the bones. Within our bones lies the genetic content of who we are at a soul level. When we heal within ourselves, we begin to heal all, for we are all connected. Come join in learning about Lomi Lomi and take part in the Massage circle.
"Lomi Lomi was the act of lovingly massaging salt to the body of the deceased by close family members. The intention was to purify the journey into the next place as well as to tenderize the flesh through massage so it would easily release from the bones and the bones could be preserved. Lomi today is still the same. We see ourselves as 'ohana lovingly massaging clients as though they are our sister, father, grandmother etc. We assist them in moving forward to the next place on their healing journey." ~Aunty Mahilani Poe Poe
beginning
Tribal Fusion belly dance is an American amalgam of dances from the Middle East, North Africa, Spain and Eastern Europe. The most enchanting and powerful facet of this dance is Taxim, or slow sensuous movement. Fluid movements inspired by sacred geometry and the energies of birth have the capacity to create a trance-like state in the audience and dancer alike. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned dancer, come and experience the power and grace of Taxim.
Students will learn a short, sassy, tribal-fusion belly dance choreography that is appropriate for birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers or anywhere that you want to show your friends and family what you can do! Emphasis will be on technique, group dance precision, stage presence and the joy of performance. Appropriate for all levels.
We will be working interactively to make a fermented chili sauce. We will discuss the health benefits of fermented foods, and look at the FDA safety regulations around canning and preservation. The chilies were grown in Sonoma, and hand-picked and dried by Claire.
beginning
Crones
High Crone Jill
with Linda Glazier
Crones, come share lunch with other Wise Crones. We will discuss loving life after menopause, finding joy, appreciation, and health in our Crone years. We will also discuss our part in the Maiden’s Rites of Passage Ceremony and our own Crone’s Honoring Ritual.
This is time to reflect and share our experiences of Cronehood and our love for our Wise Crone ways and bodies. Past menopause and into memorypause, we will tell our stories. A time to make a ritual Crone Broom will follow.
Crones, come share another lunch with other Wise Crones. We will continue our plans for the Maiden’s Rites of Passage and our own Crone’s Honoring Ritual.
Join us for a quiet honoring of the loss of an unborn child through miscarriage or abortion.
Young Women
Maidens of the First Moon – is a series of classes in preparation for the Maiden of the First Moon Ceremony🌙 on Sunday.
Opening: Welcome, create sacred space, group rules/boundaries, introductions and rapport building, intentions, and sharing about first moon experience.
Read the myth, Sir Gawain and Lady Ragnell, to introduce the concept of sovereignty in one's life, one's body. Body image, how to hold boundaries, hold center, grounding, (chant from Starhawk). Cycles of the moon and our sacred blood mysteries, with cross cultural references. Ancestors and our legacy. Beauty and our gifts, predators, sisterhood.
Read, Vasalisa the Wise, to introduce intuition, guides, mentors. Create an intuition doll, imbued with power, protection, inspiration.
Self care, mindfulness. Introduction to ceremony.
Ceremony structure, practice, and preparation. Henna to adorn the body, mudras, chakra meditation, with Art response.
Mid Kids
all levels
Weaving intentions into the herbs, we'll craft wreaths using fresh plants. We'll choose a special talisman bead for the center, and put a spell into the wreath for something specific. We'll talk about how to create intentions, how to use your powers of manifestation and creation, and how to work magic with the herbs!
Want to get to know herbs and herbalism better? Come meet the herbs! We'll talk about how to make simple herbal infusions for health, wellness and nourishment. Bring a cup, because we'll have the chance to taste each herb we talk about - beginning your special relationship with that plant! Materials will be provided for older/interested kids to make reference cards.
After a short talk on the power of setting intentions, using small clay planting pots, children will write wishes for the future (for themselves or the world) on slips of seed embedded paper. We will "plant" these intentions together with song to give power to manifest the wishes.
There will also be sharpies for children to decorate the outside of their pots if they'd like.
Mid-kids will be shown how to create and maintain a Garden/Field Journal. This class will include ways to organize the journal, how to add samples of plant specimens into your journal for reference, how to make a beautiful and scientific document, and other possible uses. We will craft a cover for the journal and make the first entry together.
Song, Dance and Yoga
Maggie Rose Self, LMFT
Integrating Vinyasa and alignment-based yoga styles, this will be a nurturing flow yoga class to support you to wake up to your body and ease into your day. All levels welcome. Wear comfortable clothes and bring a yoga mat and/or blanket.
If you go outside and close your eyes, you can hear the symphony of the earth. Being able to hear this amazing symphony depends on each person’s state of attention. Learning how to join your voice with this ongoing symphony is the focus of this workshop. This workshop seeks to plant seeds of vocal knowledge that enable each participant to gain a strong understanding of how to use their bodies to sing. We will nourish each seed by going through various exercises that access the ancient gift of singing. Each participant will be coached on translating what they hear into a melody line of notes, words and rhythms. We will then use this knowledge to open up our hearts and sing each other’s spirit songs.
We are living in trying times that require us to learn the nature of true devotion. Devotion takes many forms and singing has always been one of the most sacred; sound heals both the singer and the listener. Many of us hear the clarion call of revolution these days; it’s in the collective sound of protesting marchers across the land for all kinds of grievances. Let us sing sisters, for the Earth needs to hear our voices healing the wounds of time. We will sing ourselves into being and then together explore protest songs that give rise to the spirit of revolution. Our songs are dedicated to the rhythms of the earth, the flow of the lyrics, the dynamics of the wind within, and voice of the fire from our hearts translated… Today we take root and sing together as an action of deep green resistance!
My class at Symposium will be a gentle but active hatha yoga class, Iyengar inspired, with some therapeutic viniyoga influence. All classes will end in relaxation with sound bowls.
all levels
