Classes Session 3: September 4-7, 2026
Click on the + sign to see the class description. Click on the teacher photo or name to go to her bio page.
After getting out of your vehicles, come and enjoy the beautiful welcome from the amazing green beings who open their home to us. Learn a bit of their magical attributes which they so sweetly offer us. Ground yourself in the peace and beauty of Black Oak Ranch.
Come visit our plant elders and experience their habitat and companion choices. We will discuss their preferences and needs. We'll also discuss their many gifts, and how sometimes their habitat makes them not appropriate for medicine making.
Join Copperwoman in singing songs that nourish feelings of closeness and unity, and assist in raising vibration, creating a fertile ground for prayer and healing. Bask in the Divine Silence that fills the space between songs.
Copperwoman "catches" songs that emerge out of the energy and common experiences of our growing beings. They inspire us with wisdom and insights and rise from a place of core connection. The songs are easy to learn and nurture our feelings of being earth family. “Open your heart, let your voice come through, just the way you do it, nothing to compare to.” Music IS the Medicine! A safe place to sing for anyone!
We will sing Sunday morning in the kitchen/coffee cart area. Let's fill the food with love and good vibrations and support the kitchen volunteers who just might join in.
An introduction to hands-on healing through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). We will share the basics of TCM and practical techniques such as qigong-based energy work, acupressure, and gua sha.
We will learn how touch and intention can support regulation of the nervous system, relieve tension, and restore balance in the body. The class includes guided partner practice and live demonstrations, with Erin offering treatments for up to six participants to illustrate techniques in real time.
This workshop is ideal for anyone curious about embodied healing practices, whether for personal wellness, community care, or as a complement to an existing healing practice.
Shannon Williams
This class intends to give an overview of practicing medical herbalism within the walls of an allopathic clinic. It is taught by two herbalists who are also nurses. The traditional plant medicine is by far much older and has evolved alongside us for our entire existence. It holds a firm place in healing. We feel compelled to continue to explore and share with others for all of our benefit. Please enjoy learning alongside us about integrating techniques, diagnostics and treatment plans. Clients and students are by far our greatest teachers!
The Simpler was one who used one herb for healing. An herbalist in fact can use but one herb for everything prepared in many ways. Alternatively an herbalist could get to know each herb and then try formulating them to the perfect trifecta for instance. We will discuss healing, and use of simple (single) herbs and move on to formulations of common plants that give us health. We will learn to make a basic formula and then we will reap the fruit of our creation and give thanks to the plants that heal us.
This interactive class reviews the many forms of plant extracts and scent building techniques. Participants would explore the plant kingdom through scent, including an overview of aromatherapy, cultural, and spiritual traditions. This would be tempered with an understanding of the different types of plant extracts, as well as hazardous plants and how to research materials for safety. Nature is beautiful, but it can hurt you if not approached with respect--even in perfumery.
Cancer is a journey that touches every aspect of life—body, mind, and spirit. In this class, we will explore the role of herbal medicine in supporting individuals during cancer care, complementing conventional treatments, and addressing the physical and emotional challenges that arise. Together, we’ll delve into herbs that support the immune system, ease side effects such as nausea and fatigue, and nurture the emotional heart.
We’ll discuss how to navigate potential herb-drug interactions and how to craft personalized protocols to honor the unique needs of each individual. This class will provide a space for both herbalists and caregivers to deepen their understanding of the healing power of plants while fostering a compassionate approach to holistic cancer care.
Join me in learning how to integrate the wisdom of herbal medicine into a supportive framework for those navigating the complexities of cancer treatment and recovery.
Our menstrual cycle—our moon time—is a sacred rhythm, a monthly opportunity to connect with our creative center and our innate power as women. In this class, we will explore the beauty and wisdom of the menstrual cycle, weaving herbal traditions and functional approaches to address common concerns that disrupt this sacred flow. We will dive into supporting the womb and overall reproductive health with herbal and holistic practices that can ease PMS, alleviate period pain, and address imbalances such as endometriosis, fibroid tumors, and cervical dysplasia. Through this exploration, you will gain tools to honor our cycle, nurture our body, and deepen our connection to our creative self. In this class, we will cover: The menstrual cycle as a time of reflection, renewal, and connection to creative energy. Herbal approaches to support a balanced cycle, enhance fertility, and address imbalances.Remedies and practices for relieving period pain and PMS naturally.Herbal and functional perspectives for addressing cervical dysplasia, fibroids, endometriosis and more.Join us for this nourishing and empowering session, where we’ll work with plant medicine to celebrate and care for our creative, cyclical selves.
Spiritual Hygiene is the forgotten ritual of modern life and yet for sensitives, empaths, and those who hold space for others, it's as essential as air. In this hands-on class, we'll tend to our energetic body the way our grandmother's grandmother did: with salt, with plants, with intention.
We’ll learn to craft our own herbal tools for spiritual cleanliness using basic kitchen essentials like salt for scrubs that strip away what's stuck, plants that sweep the aura clean and flowers in baths that call our spirit back home. This is necessary energetic maintenance to increase our ability to show up clear for our family, clients and community.
This is a communal ritual rooted in sacred song, supported by meditation and simple ceremony. Together, we sing with the Earth—offering our voices as vibration, prayer, and connection. Everything in the natural world communicates through vibration. The Earth speaks through wind, water, stone, and rhythm. In this circle, we remember the human voice as a living instrument—one of the oldest ways we have related to the land. When we sing with intention, our voices carry into the soil, into our bodies, and into the wider web of life. Our bodies and the Earth share the same elements. What we carry has long been held by the Earth, and we are invited into a reciprocal relationship of care. This is a space of listening and sounding, where voices rise in communion with the living Earth.
Inspired by Lectio Divina, this experiential circle invites participants into a living dialogue with plants and trees. Through a simple rhythm of listening, sharing, and listening again, we explore the wisdom of the plant world alongside our own inner knowing. We begin with grounding and gentle guidance, then move into direct relationship with a plant or tree. Participants are invited to notice what is felt, sensed, or received—without expectation or interpretation. In Earth Divina, we practice: listen… notice… share… listen again… This unfolding rhythm deepens awareness through both personal experience and collective reflection. Plants are not only resources, but living teachers and companions. This practice supports a deeper sense of connection, presence, and belonging within the more-than-human world. Please bring something to write with and paper to write on.
The diet of dogs, cats and livestock is crucial to their health. Learn how the glyphosate in commercial kibble, grains and legumes affects your furry companions. Homemade balanced meals and an organic diet keep dogs and cats healthy, promotes gut flora and protects soil organisms. Keep your garden, compost and soil healthy by feeding organically grown feed. Learn how to create an affordable organic pet food. Prevent disease and increase longevity with a foundation of superior nutrition for your pets.
Botanical Medicine along with a natural and organic diet can address many health challenges of our four legged companions. Fresh herbs, salves, tinctures and poultices can aid healing and prevent more serious diseases. Parasite prevention, skin and hair problems, and digestive issues will be discussed.
Learn how to make Nourishing Herbal Infusions. This simple herbal method is the best way to receive vitamins and minerals from our plant allies. Learn how to make them and why drinking them daily has such a profound effect on our health long-term. We will sample infusions from several tonifying herbs and learn how to prepare the infusions.
From menarche to menopause women traverse many changes unique to our physiology. With our monthly blood, to pregnancy & postpartum, through our Queen years & beyond to Crone we encounter changes in our brain, nervous system & hormonal equilibriums. Understanding the shifts in dominant elements from the ayurvedic perspective can help us navigate these changes.
This is a fun class to learn and explore all the how’s and why’s of V-Steaming, bring all your questions and curiosities! We’ll cover the history of this lovely self-care practice that can be found all over the world. We will move through the Five Blood Mysteries of Woman and the herbs to support each phase with vaginal steaming.
Picture this: a flame flickers inside a glass cup for a split second, vanishes, and the cup seals onto the skin like magic — creating a vacuum that pulls tension right out of the muscle. That's fire cupping, and it's one of the most striking techniques in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Used for thousands of years, fire cupping works by creating suction that draws blood flow to the surface, releases fascia, and helps flush out stagnation — what TCM calls "stuck Qi and Blood." Athletes swear by it for recovery. Olympians have worn its signature circular bruises like badges of honor. And it's not just for muscle soreness — practitioners use it to ease colds, respiratory congestion, and stress.
What makes it so compelling in class is the sheer sensory drama: the whoosh of the flame, the pop of suction, the visible mark it leaves behind telling a story about what's happening beneath the skin. It's hands-on, visual, and unforgettable — a perfect gateway into understanding how ancient medicine reads the body.
Come ready to watch fire meet skin and see centuries-old healing in action.
Imagine medicine that smells like a bonfire and works through pure, penetrating heat. That's moxibustion — the art of burning dried mugwort (moxa) to warm and stimulate specific points on the body, often the same points used in acupuncture.
For over 2,000 years, practitioners have used moxa to boost circulation, strengthen the immune system, ease pain, and restore balance to what TCM calls "cold" or "deficient" conditions. The herb itself, Artemisia vulgaris, burns slowly and radiates a deep, penetrating heat unlike anything from a heating pad — it doesn't just warm the surface, it's believed to move Qi and Blood beneath it.
There's real theater to it, too: the curling smoke, the earthy aroma, the glowing tip hovering just above the skin or resting on a slice of ginger or garlic. Whether it's a moxa stick warming an area from a distance, or tiny cones burned directly on acupuncture points, the ritual feels ancient and alive at once.
This is a technique we’ll remember by scent alone — come experience why warmth has been medicine for millennia.
Cordage is the ancient process of making rope and twine by hand. We can honor special people or times in our lives by transforming fabrics that we have held onto into strong, beautiful, and renewed lengths of cord. In this class we will come away with a cordage necklace and the ability to apply this skill to other materials in our lives.
Learn traditional drumming and dances from Ghana, West Africa.
Herbalist Michael Moore developed a constitutional perspective that focuses on the patterns of excess and deficiency in the body. We can use this theory as a framework to see where the imbalance is causing symptoms. what organ system is running excess or pulling too much of the body’s energy, and what organ system is running deficient and not getting the energy or raw materials it needs to function properly.
This perspective allows us to see the map of the body and a reference of where to focus with a protocol. No matter what system you use, having a big picture view of functions and patterns in the body can help with finding balance.
We will explore the overview of anabolic, catabolic and thyroid constitutions as well as the symptoms of excess and deficiency for multiple organs systems. We will include a discussion of daily choices and herbs that work with these different body types.
This interactive and lively class will provide an overview of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, highlighting advances that Africans brought to the North American continent, including medicinal plants, common remedies, preparations and methods, cultural herbal perspectives, and traditional foods.
This class explores traditional herbal practices across diverse cultures and examines the evolution of herbal medicine.
This beginner friendly class offers a gentle introduction to astrology through the lens of herbal practice. Together, we’ll explore how the language of the stars can help us better understand our bodies, tendencies, and patterns of imbalance. By looking at elements, planets, and the zodiacal body, we begin to see how our inner landscape reflects the rhythms of the natural world.
Rather than predicting outcomes, astrology becomes a tool for awareness, helping us recognize our unique constitution and work more intuitively with plant allies. This class invites curiosity, observation, and connection, offering a new way to listen to both the sky above and the body within.
Come join us for an evening under the late spring constellations. Guided by a green laser wand, you’ll learn to find your way around the night sky and the names of the stars and constellations, while hearing folklore from different times and cultures. We’ll meet the bright shining stars of the Twins, the Lion, Virgo, the Scorpion, and more… You will also be dosed with Essence Elixirs!
Have you ever wondered why Tulsi is referred to as "Holy Basil?" In many Hindu traditions, Tulsi is revered for much more than her medicinal qualities. This class will introduce us to the spiritual practices of Tulsi through ancient folklore. We will hear the story of the powerful goddess who became a plant, learn practices of Tulsi worship, discuss the different varieties of Tulsi and which of these are used for worship and medicine. If you are one of the many herbalists who have fallen in love with Tulsi, this class is for you! Please attend class with curiosity and respect of spiritual traditions.
Crones
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 ages 12-21
Adorning our bodies with flowers and herbs is a fun and gentle way of communing with their protective, empowering, and healing properties. We will begin this botanical craft circle with a discussion of herbs and flowers of power, used traditionally in ceremony and adornment. We will then create our own botanical head wreaths, to be enjoyed for the rest of symposium! All materials will be provided.
Curious about poi spinning? Have you ever seen fire dancing? Poi spinning is good introduction to flow arts. Join poi-teacher Loreta to learn and master the fundamental moves and transitions of poi! Move your body while enriching your mind! Poi spinning is a beautiful art. If you ever wanted to try this, this is your chance. Or maybe you already know some of the moves and want to improve it, this is a class for you too. We will cover the basics, turns, transitions, stalls and other techniques. We will have some sets of poi to play with.
This workshop will introduce young women to songwriting from the lens of nature’s music. We will take a walk in the woods and listen for melodies. We will explore our voices as conduits for the sounds of nature. From melody, we will write lyrics and create finished songs. At the end we will share our songs with the group and harmonize with one another.
Welcome maidens, to the Circle of Women! Join us in celebrating the beauty and strength of this phase of your life, the time of your bloods. We will explore ideas and feelings, hear stories, make things to care for ourselves and prepare for the Maiden’s Rites of Passage Ceremony to be held Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. Any young woman who would like to go through the Maiden Ceremony must attend this class.
Mid Kids ages 7-11
Calling all creators who want to get curious about using plants in your art projects! In this two-part class, we’ll make turmeric sun prints, create fun herbal crowns that we can wear all around camp, use plants for shadow drawings and as stamps for paint projects. Come explore lots of ways we can have fun and be creative with plants! To make sun prints you have to come to BOTH parts of the class. Otherwise, all mid-kids (and mid-kids at heart) are welcome to drop in to either or both classes!
Curious about poi spinning? Have you ever seen fire dancing? Poi spinning is good introduction to flow arts. If you ever wanted to try it, this is a class for you. Or if you already know some moves, we can learn more tricks. Come and learn and we can perform together during the talent show on Saturday night. We will have some sets of poi to play with.
Young Children
Early Morning Classes
Join Angie for morning yoga aimed towards connecting us to our breath, our core, our limbs, and our spirit. Emphasis will be placed on the breath’s ability to change our shape from within, creating a gradual invitation for the subtle body to speak. Come as you are. Bring a yoga mat or blanket.
Wear loose clothes and bring a yoga mat if you have one.
The ancient practice of Vipassana, or Insight, meditation is one of observing—and coming into balance with—life as it is. This technique results in a foundational restructuring of the mind, by learning to perceive subtle and profound expressions of natural law (universal truth) through one’s own direct experience.
Long-term practitioners report:
Relief from destructive mental habit patterns
A general sense of happiness and well-being.
Release from addiction.
Greater confidence
Higher productive capacity
A greater understanding of one’s own path and purpose
Developing mental concentration through observation of breath related sensation
Expanding practice by observing sensation throughout the body
loving compassion meditation
We will do movements for deep medical healing- using sounds, images, emotions and movements to get to know the personality of each organ system for deep healing.
Intensives
1. Lymphatic Breast Health ~ DeAnna Batdorff
2. Open Hand Healing ~ Touch & Energy Work in Chinese Medicine ~ Erin Masako Wilkins
3. Constitutional Physiology - An Overview of Excess and Deficiency In The Body - Inspired By The Teachings of Michael Moore ~ Shana Lipner Grover
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