Featured Presenters
The women presenting at the inaugural Plant Magick Gathering are visionary matriarchs with a wealth of experience who know there is ancient wisdom alive in all of us. The generative perspectives they bring forth and their dedication to plants, place and people are exponentially activating.
Amikaeyla Gaston
Amikaeyla's healing practice is rooted as much in the earth as in the voice. Her studies with traditional healers, herbalists, and cultural artists around the world have shaped a deep, cross-cultural fluency in plant and herbal medicine — the elemental wisdom of working with the natural spirits, the body, and the land as partners in wholeness.
In war zones and divided communities alike, Amikaeyla demonstrates a universal truth: when we anchor in the rhythm of our breath and the sound of our own voice, we build the capacity to stay present, to act from wholeness, and to transform trauma into a force for collective liberation.
Susan Leopold is the Executive Director of the United Plant Savers, an ethnobotanist and conservation biologist known for her work in the fields of plant conservation, sustainable agriculture, and ethnobotany.
She is an advocate for ethical wildcrafting practices, community-based conservation initiatives, and the preservation of traditional plant knowledge, She is a proud member of the Patowomeck Tribe of Virginia.
Susan Leopold
April Pallette Punsalan
April Punsalan is the visionary founder of Wild Herb Academy and a lifelong devotee of the plant world.
With over 29 years of experience in herbalism and botany, her path weaves together science and spirit.
She holds a two-year degree in Horticulture, a Bachelor of Science with an emphasis in Botany, a Traditional Herbalism Certificate, and a Master of Science emphasis in Botany.
Beyond formal education, she has spent thousands of hours in direct relationship with wild plants—listening, harvesting, and preparing medicine in rhythm with the seasons.
Magickal Teachers
We have many incredible teachers, facilitators and ceremonialists lined up!
Jeannie Dunn
As a professional herbalist and North Carolina native, Jeannie has been wildcrafting and making herbal extracts, oils, and salves for 20 years.
She studied formally at both the NC School of Natural Healing and One World Healing Arts, but her herbal roots go much further back to the back-to-basics lifestyle infused in her as a child. Jeannie picked strawberries, canned vegetables, and pulled weeds from row crops with her parents and three siblings on their multi-generational family farm in Efland, NC.
Today, knowing the powerful beneficial properties of those 'weeds' she used to pull, Jeannie happily uses them in her fermentations, herbal extracts, and fun, health-affirming elixirs.
https://redmoonherbs.com/
Sharon Oxendine Black Crow
My work is part of my mission at Medicine Wheel Way. Medicine Wheel Way is a nonprofit sponsored by Medicine Bowl Giving Circle. Our mission is to end racism, break systems of oppression, and restore our connection to the Earth. By holding space for Indigenous ceremony, celebration, and cultural preservation, we nurture collective healing through an ecosystem of Nature Restorative Practices including Land Restoration, Education, and Community.
‘We envision a world where community is the cornerstone of healing. As indigenous women, we care for this land, striving to create a sacred space where individuals can reconnect with their roots, each other, and the elements of nature through transformative ceremonies.”
www.medicinewheelway.org
Greya
Greya is a spiritual renegade living in fierce reclamation of the sacredness of feminine wisdom. Her work is a devotional practice rooted in reverence for the mystery, radical self-acceptance & awakened authenticity — offered in service as a living reflection of the liberation available when we choose to embrace our true nature.
As a ritualist, herbalist & sacred space holder, she weaves herbal medicine, ancestral practice & embodied ritual to guide women back to the wisdom held in their wombs. Through fertility awareness education, somatic womb attunement & movement, she supports women in developing clear communication with their wombs as an internal compass — a direct pathway to intuition & inner authority. Greya is a spiritual renegade living in fierce reclamation of the sacredness of feminine wisdom.
She is also a certified naturopathic practitioner offering HTMA testing & holistic health coaching. She holds the cycles as sacred teachers, illuminating a path toward inner knowing that comes only through their reverence.
@rise.root_Live.Free
Ruth Elliot
Ruth has been studying osteopathic manual therapy and pelvic energy medicine since 2012. She began reading Akashic records in 2016, and since 2017 has been combining osteopathic manual therapy with the Akashic records.
Ruth is proud to have studied with the Barral Institute, the Herman and Wallace Institute, the APTA, Summit Education Group, the Akashic Alliance and Deborah Hellman, Tami Lynn Kent for Holistic Pelvic Care™, and the Birth Healing Institute. She has been a presenter at the South East Wise Women’s Herbal Conference, the Midsouth Women’s Herbal Conference, AB Tech, the Asheville School of Massage and Yoga, and for Asheville birth workers.
Ruth teaches and lives feminine medicine with a masculine joy, clarity, and enthusiasm.
https://ashevilleholisticpt.com/IG: ashevilleholisticPT
Kelli Johnson
A Native American ceremonial leader of 34 years, homebirth midwife and medicine elder serving community through sweat lodges, moon circles, birth, support groups, herbal medicines, teaching circles and sacred song.
FB: Coyotes Natural Medicine iG: Mother Medicine 88
Paloma Devi
Paloma Devi is a devoted conduit of the sacred sound current. She is a soul singer, ethnic dancer and seasoned Yogini. As an Internationally recognized Teacher and Singer, her voice carries the sadhana.
She is a Certified Reiki Master Teacher and has completed various yoga teacher training programs. From these outer and inner studies and 21 years of teaching Voice she has birthed Vocal Moksha Method.She has earned a Degree In World Religions, Asian Studies & Dance as well as a Master's degree in Theta Healing with the Founder, Vianna Stibal.
Paloma is of Cuban, Spanish & Asian descent. She has provided thousands of classes over the last 21+ years in Yoga, Sacred Sounds & Dance Embodiment workshops around the world.
palomadevi.com
IG: palomadevi 
Brook Sullivan
Brooke Sullivan BA, c-IAYT, e-RYT500 is an educator, dharma igniter, and rebellious paradigm shifter who rests on the shoulders of tradition. With the twilight alchemy of tantra yoga, herbalism & wise women mysticism, she empowers spirit-led changemakers, wellness professionals, and aspiring leaders to step into the most powerful version of themselves and live a life of greater joy and impact.
Brooke is the founder and director of The Wild Temple School of Yoga and Herbal Wisdom and The Wild Temple Podcast. Her most well-known running programs are the Sage Apprenticeship, Plants Drop Wisdom, Yogis Apothecary, and Wild Sage: A Dharmic Revolution. Her mission in life is to burn karma + serve dharma.
https://www.thewildtemple.com/IG: thewildtemple
Julie Hatch
“I am here for the Earth and the Spirits. I am here to build a bridge between the people and the plant world. I am here to heal and to help others heal. I am here to reconnect the people to the Earth & their hearts.”
I have spent the last 11 years devoted to studying the plant kingdom and the world between worlds, living for years in the Amazon jungle, apprenticing with indigenous healers as well as the plants themselves. In Peru, I also trained with curanderas and plant doctors.
I apprenticed and worked for Matthew Wood for over 5 years, working as an Herbalist, Medicine Maker, Ceremonialist and Energy Worker. I have a private practice in Barnardsville, NC.
www.wildheartmedicinals.netIG: wildheartmedicinals
Lee Warren
Lee Warren is a Tantra educator, somatic guide, writer, mystic, and community builder whose work invites people into a more intimate relationship with embodiment, eros, and the mystery of being alive. Her teaching is centered on the inner marriage of spirit and matter—the lived experience of bringing our deepest essence into a fully embodied life. Her work invites participants into greater intimacy with themselves, one another, and the awe-filled mystery of existence.
She is the author of the forthcoming book Dying Together: The Art of Community Death Care, founder of Reclaiming Wisdom, and a writer on community, transformation, embodiment, mortality, the mystical dimensions of incarnation, and the ecstatic intelligence of existence.
https://reclaimingwisdom.substack.com/ IG: lee_warren_reclaiming_wisdom FB: lee.warren.966137
Elicia Deva
Elisha is an interdisciplinary thinker who has been researching social inequality for almost thirty years. Her degree is in Human Biology from Stanford, a multidisciplinary combination of anthropology, psychology and biology. After working for four years in neuroscience at UCLA, the politics and sexism drove her out of academia. Since then she’s collected data across disciplines to interpret it for the public, reading every book, article, and paper she could find on the rise of dominance in the Bronze Age. She’s travelled the world, visiting matrilineal cultures and searching museums for clues to our ancient past.
https://substack.com/@eliciadhttps://beforewar.com/
Sangoma Ia
Gogo Sangoma is a Cultural and Sacred Activist, traditional Orisha/Ancestral priest, Mentor , Elder and Anchor to many communities throughout the Southeast. The Daughter of Cherokee, Yoruba, Dogon and Bombara tribes walks a Destiny of Animism and devotion to All our Relations… most especially the Plant and Stone Kingdoms.
Marie Spears
Marie Spears is a singer, songwriter and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She is a direct descendant of Nanyehi and the creator of Your Mother’s Medicine. She leads international healing retreats around the world and has an upcoming pilgrimage at the Oracle of Delphi, Greece Nov 1-5 IG @yourmothersmedicine
Mae Mims
Somatic Doula & Reiki Master. I weave somatic tools and ancestral healing practices to support womxn in claiming creative life force, and sovereignty.
Lena Eastes
Lena Eastes is devoted to cultural renewal, Earth connection, and sacred rites of passage. With contagious joy and deep empathy, she inspires others to live in alignment with their inner wisdom, the rhythms of nature, and the call of justice and beauty.
For over 16 years, Lena has led transformational Rites of Passage for girls and women, including Earth Path’s five-day “Growing Goddess” ceremony. As a thresHOLDER, she lovingly officiates life’s major thresholds—birth, motherhood, marriage, self-marriage, and the sacred passage from girlhood into womanhood.
Lena walks as student, teacher, mother, mentor, and friend—with reverence for the plant world, the spirit world, and the deep intelligence of each being she meets.
https://www.earthpatheducation.com/
Cathryn the Grateful
As a sacred activist, Cathryn strongly believes in the importance of creativity, storytelling, and community as we co-create a just world for all.
Cathryn’s primary joy generator is dancing through life. She has a dance sanctuary near Charleston, SC where she hosts the global DIVINE DANCE PARTY as well as intimate group dance and individual movement healing.
Her spiritual journey has taken her across the globe, dancing with the Hindu Goddesses in India and chanting in Buddhist monasteries in Korea. She maintains her commitment with a daily altar practice and work with several sacred elders across spiritual traditions, Christianity, Creation Spirituality, Indigenous Wisdoms, and Goddess Traditions.
https://cathrynthegrateful.com/
Deanna Rose
Deanna Rose is a certified holistic herbalist with more than 17 years of experience studying, practicing, and teaching herbal medicine. She earned her certification from the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine and has continued to deepen her knowledge through extensive hands-on work and ongoing education.
Passionate about connecting people with the healing power of plants, Rose has designed and planted herbal gardens for clients and community members. She grows many of her own herbs for teas and herbal preparations, sharing them with family and friends. Her work blends herbal wisdom, sound meditation, and music to support wellness, balance, and a deeper connection to nature.
bookingdeannarose@gmail.comPresenting Our Second Round of Teachers
Mary Lane
Mary Lane is an elder living in Black Mountain, NC, who has mentored women for over twenty-five years, supporting them to see themselves through the eyes of Mother Earth. She is an author, a facilitator, a forager, herbalist, gardener, plant spirit essence practitioner, and retired chef, who has walked an archetypal journey of reclaiming and restoring the feminine wisdom in our world.
www.divinenourishment.netMyquel Demartra Wheat
Myquel Demartra Wheat is a Holistic Health Practitioner, Herbalist, Doula, Human Design Specialist, and Spiritual Midwife with over 20 years of experience weaving herbal wisdom, family wellness, energy work, ceremony, and intuitive guidance to support healing, transformation, and ancestral connection.
www.thewellspringgathering.com/
Lori Collins
Lori Collins is a Traditional Herbalist, Wildcrafter, and practicing Kitchen Witch of over 20 years, who focuses on creating a magickal community within her community. Currently living just outside of Asheville in Mars Hill, NC. She is the owner and creatress behind Sister of Mother Earth, LLC, a small-batch herbal business focusing on herbal tonics, wildcrafted potions and elixirs, and products made for the kitchen witch at heart.
www.sisterofmotherearth.com
Jessica Durivage
Jessica Durivage is a transformational leader, facilitator, ceremonialist, and strategist working at the intersection of leadership, healing, ancestry, and collective liberation. A proud Sicilian American, Jessica is deeply devoted to remembering the wisdom traditions, earth-based practices, and ancestral ways of her lineage. Her work is rooted in somatic healing, ritual, social justice, and the belief that leadership can become a practice of connection, repair, and freedom. Currently, Jessica serves as the Director of Online Programming at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health.
jessica.durivage@gmail.com
Shannon Lockhart
Shannon Lockhart is a Mother, Folk Herbalist, Yoga Instructor, and light-worker who weaves herbalism, yoga, grief care, and community advocacy to empower others in their health, healing, resilience, and well-being.
As a healer, her passion in life has become empowering others by helping them take responsibility for their personal health and well-being. Her work in herbalism extends beyond daily wellness, including emergency mobilization to connect people to the medicine and holistic health services needed during and after times of tragedy.
shannon@americanherbalistsguild.com
Peggy Kasse
Peggy co-created a perennial plant nursery in Black Mountain, NC called "Bellyfull Plants" and has had a life-long passion for growing food and medicine. She feels that growing food is one of the most radical and empowering actions a person can do: planting more perennials, forest farming, and transforming yards to be edible and medicinal. Peggy is a kitchen witch, worked at Red Moon Herbs for 3 years, took doula training with Whapio, in Asheville, studied with Patricia Allison and Chuck Marsh to earn her permaculture design certificate in Black Mountain, NC in 2004.
After six years living in a WNC intentional community, helping organize permaculture classes, the Katuah bioregional congress, Taylor Creek valley watershed coalition, and other community-oriented gardens and events, Peggy built her home/stead near the village and grew her family. One beloved traditions was attending Southeast Wisewomen Herbal Conferences since 2005."
www.bellyfullplants.com. 
Britteny Young
