Welcome back to Ritual Herbalism—a podcast exploring the sacred threads of plant medicine, ancestral memory, and the ways we return to ourselves through earth-centered ritual.

In this episode, “Flower Power: Modern Herbalism & The Return of Plant Wisdom,” we’re joined by special guest Ilana Sobo, herbalist and founder of the Flower Power Project. Together, we travel through time, back to the revolutionary bloom of the 1960s and forward into the present moment, where the spirit of Flower Power is rising again with renewed force.

This is a conversation about plants as teachers, ritual as remembrance, and the cycles, astrological and earthly, that return us to the wisdom of the living world.

Brew your tea. Open your heart. Let the plants speak.

Episode Themes: Flower Power, cultural cycles & the rising herbal renaissance

We begin by returning to the roots of the 1960s Flower Power movement, a time when beauty became activism, when flowers were symbols of peace, and when gardens became places of community, imagination, and ecological hope.

This was not simply an aesthetic.

It was a cultural remembering.

A remembering of earth.

A remembering of relational living.

A remembering that plants hold intelligence, magic, and medicine beyond the clinical.

Today, that remembering is resurfacing. And Ilana’s work with the Flower Power Project carries this lineage forward—bridging ritual herbalism with contemporary needs for connection, healing, and collective transformation.

Astrology & The Cycles That Return

The cultural revolutions of the 1960s emerged during the Uranus–Pluto conjunction, a time of rupture, awakening, and deep transformation.

Uranus disrupts. Pluto reforms. Together, they catalyze.

We now live through the square of that same cycle:a moment of pressure, friction, and evolutionary demand. The resurgence of herbalism, ritual work, ecological awareness, and collective questioning mirrors this astrological climate. These are not isolated trends. They are expressions of a cycle returning, a call to re-root into the living world.

Ritual Invitation

A grounding ritual shared in this episode:

Take a slow walk and allow your body to move without destination. Notice which tree draws your attention. Stand with it. Place your hands against its trunk and feel the steadiness held there. Root your feet into the earth beneath you. Offer the tree what you are holding. Receive the quiet strength that rises through its roots. Let this moment serve as a reminder to turn inward and listen to what is deep and true within you.

Learn with Us

For those who feel called to understand plants through the lens of astrology, the full Astro Herbalism Course is now available as a self-paced online program. This offering brings together planetary correspondences, energetic patterns, and the larger cosmic cycles that shape our work with the green world. The course allows students to explore how astrology can illuminate the emotional, spiritual, and medicinal dimensions of plant practice.

Listeners of this episode receive twenty-five percent off the course using the code ASTRO2025. The program can be accessed through twinstartribe.com/astro-herbalism-immersionor by DMing us “Astro” on Instagram @twinstartribe.

This course extends the themes of this episode by inviting practitioners into a deeper dialogue with the plants, the planets, and the cycles that weave them together.

Ilana Sobo is a community herbalist, Ayurvedic Practitioner and Yoga Instructor and offers courses, classes and consultations in Connecticut and Vermont. She has spent over 28 years in the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga and Herbalism and has worked with & apprenticed for several of the pioneers in Botanical Medicine & Ayurveda in the US. You can visit her at flowerpowerproject.com.

Together, we teach the Practicing Herbalist, a 9-month immersion course designed to guide participants in taking the next steps toward becoming confident and compassionate Herbal Practitioners. Learn more at https://www.twinstartribe.com/level-3-the-practicing-herbalist.

Want to go deeper?

Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you’re just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.

Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website at www.twinstartribe.com and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.

Please remember that not every herb is right for every person. Know your medicine and consult a trusted herbal practitioner before beginning new remedies.

Welcome back to Ritual Herbalism—a podcast exploring the sacred threads of plant medicine, ancestral memory, and the ways we find our way back to wholeness through ritual.

In this special edition episode, “Herbs for the Ancestors: A Samhain Journey,” we gather at the threshold of the year, where harvest ends and winter begins, when the veil thins and the ancestors draw near.

Samhain is a liminal time, both an ending and a beginning. It calls us to remember, to root, and to listen. Across cultures and generations, this season has been honored as a portal between the worlds, a time to reconnect with those who came before us and to walk the green path of remembrance.

In this episode, we reflect on the roots of Samhain, explore ancestral traditions from around the world, and walk with plant allies that help us bridge seen and unseen realms.

This is a slow, sacred journey. Brew some tea. Light a candle. Let yourself be guided.

Episode Themes: Samhain, ancestral memory & ritual plant allies

We explore:

* The ancient roots of Samhain:

Once known as “summer’s end,” Samhain marked the Celtic New Year—a firelit turning point between seasons, when the veil between worlds grew thin and the ancestors returned home.

* Cross-cultural reflections:

From Día de los Muertos in Mexico to La Festa dei Morti in southern Italy, the spirit of Samhain echoes globally: memory is medicine, death is a return, not an end.

* The legacy of the Green Witch:

Through persecution and forgetting, the herbalists, witches, and wise ones carried the flame of remembrance. Every Samhain candle, every herb gathered, is part of that legacy.

Plant Allies of the veil: Herbs for ancestral connection & protection

These herbs guide us gently through the thinning veil. They cleanse, protect, and open the heart to ancestral wisdom.

* Sage (Salvia officinalis): A purifier and protector. Clears stagnant energy, supports clarity, and teaches that all endings are transformations. Whispers: “All that you lose is only changing form.”

* Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris): Herb of dreams and vision. Opens intuitive pathways, invites ancestral dreams, and connects us to the liminal. Murmurs: “Dream, and remember.”

* Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus): An herb of the heart and memory. Strengthens resolve, protects the spirit, and honors the dead. Speaks: “Remember who you are, and those who came before.”

* Elder (Sambucus nigra): Tree of the threshold. Strengthens immunity and spirit connection. Held as a guardian between life and death. Says: “Death is not the end, but a doorway.”

* Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa): A shadow guide. Supports transformation, releases ancestral pain, and calms the nervous system. Whispers: “The shadow is your teacher.”

* Angelica (Angelica archangelica): A radiant protector. Brings divine guidance, restores vitality, and reminds us we are not alone. Sings: “You are guided. You are held.”

Ritual Invitation

Bring these herbs into your practice with intention:

* Burn sage and rosemary before ritual to clear space and open your heart

* Drink mugwort and elderflower tea before dreamwork or meditation

* Anoint with angelica or black cohosh essence during grief rituals or when calling in ancestral support

* Place rosemary on your altar as a symbol of remembrance

Each herb is a doorway, each ritual a return.

Learn with Us

If this Samhain journey resonates, you’re already walking the path of ritual herbalism.

Our Green Witch Online Course is now open for registration, a guided journey into plant spirit connection, ancestral remembrance, and the sacred rhythms of the seasons. This immersive course weaves herbal wisdom, ritual practices, and Green Witch traditions to help you deepen your practice and tend your own apothecary with intention.

Early bird enrollment is open through November 3. Save $100 with code WITCH at checkout.

After that, the door closes on November 15th, and we begin. Join us, and step fully onto the green path. Not sure if this course is for you? Watch our free class from the program through the button below.

Samhain teaches that life and death are lovers in sacred dance. That nothing truly ends. That memory is a bridge, and ritual is how we walk it.

Across centuries, the Green Witch tradition endures.

We are still tending the altars.

We are still speaking with the plants.

We are still remembering.

May the herbs of Samhain: sage, mugwort, rosemary, elder, black cohosh, and angelica, guide you through this turning of the wheel.

May your path be rooted, protected, and lit with ancestral fire.

If this episode speaks to you, please share it, subscribe on your favorite platform, and leave a review—it helps more people find this work and return to their roots.

Know your medicine. Trust your rhythm. Let the sky and the soil guide you.

Want to go deeper?

Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you’re just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.

Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.

Please remember that not every herb is right for every person. Know your medicine and consult a trusted herbal practitioner before beginning new remedies.tw

Welcome back to Ritual Herbalism—a podcast exploring the sacred threads of plant medicine, ancestral memory, and the ways we find our way back to wholeness through ritual.

In this episode, “Eclipse Season, Virgo Discernment, and Pisces Surrender,” we are stepping into eclipse season, a time when the Sun, Moon, and lunar nodes align to open doorways of change. This particular season unfolds along the Pisces/Virgo axis, asking us to hold both devotion and discernment. Pisces dissolves boundaries, reminding us of our deep connection to mystery, spirit, and the collective dream. Virgo calls us back to the body, to ritual, to daily care, and to the humble tasks that keep us grounded. Together they invite balance—surrender without losing center, structure without losing soul.

Eclipses quicken what is already ripening. They can stir the nervous system, amplify emotion, and bring to the surface what we’ve been avoiding. For herbalists, this is not a time to push with strong protocols or force outcomes. Instead we lean into plants that soothe, steady, and anchor us as the tides turn.

Episode Themes: Eclipse Medicine, Ritual & Calming the Body

We explore:

* Nervous system soothers: Linden, Skullcap, and Milky Oat for softening tension and replenishing frayed spirit

* Heart-centered allies: Hawthorn and Rose for courage, tenderness, and meeting change with an open heart

* Virgo’s gift of digestion: Chamomile and Marshmallow root to ease eclipse anxiety and bring gentleness to the body

* Pisces’ realm of dream and spirit: Mugwort and Blue Lotus to support intuition, meditation, and grounding dreamwork

* Grounding roots & mushrooms: Ashwagandha and Reishi for resilience, slow strength, and graceful adaptation

* Ritual practices for balance: A Linden bath with sea salt, Rose and Chamomile tea before sleep, and journaling what you’re ready to release and tend

Ritual Invitation

Create a simple practice for this eclipse season:

* Draw a bath with Linden and sea salt to honor Pisces’ waters while grounding in Virgo’s earth

* Brew a cup of Rose and Chamomile tea, sip slowly, and speak an intention before sleep

* Journal with devotion: What am I willing to release? (Pisces) and What am I ready to tend? (Virgo)

Learn with Us

This episode flows into the heart of As Above, So Below, our four-week immersion into astro herbalism. We will study the origins of celestial medicine, the sacred elements and directions, the planetary rulers of herbs, the twelve zodiac signs with their bodily correspondences, and the twelve astrological houses where life unfolds.

You’ll receive a beautifully designed booklet, weekly lessons, and practices that weave the sky directly into your apothecary.

If you have felt stirred by this eclipse season, you are already listening. Join us in learning to walk with both the stars and the plants, to trust your medicine, and to let timing become part of your healing art.

If this episode speaks to you, please share it, subscribe on your favorite platform, and leave a review—it helps more people find this work and return to their roots.

Know your medicine. Trust your rhythm. Let the sky and the soil guide you.

Want to go deeper?

Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you're just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.

Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.

Please remember that not every herb is right for every person. Know your medicine and consult a trusted herbal practitioner before beginning new remedies.

Welcome back to Ritual Herbalism, a podcast exploring the sacred threads of plant medicine, ancestral memory, and the ways we find our way back to wholeness through ritual.

In this episode, “Music as Medicine, Ritual as Resistance” with Leah Song of Rising Appalachia, we journey into the heart of community resilience after Hurricane Helene shook the Appalachian mountains. In the wreckage, what arose was not only the spirit of service, but the power of song, the tenderness of ritual, and the steady presence of plants.

Together, we’ll remember how healing comes in unexpected forms: in a voice lifted, in altars of stone and blossom, in garlands of marigolds arriving just in time for Día de los Muertos. We’ll speak with Leah about music as medicine, the sacred act of altar-tending, and how ritual itself becomes an act of resistance in times of collapse.

Through story, spirit, and song, we invite you to tune in, breathe deeply, and remember the ancient ways that carry us through storm into renewal.

This is Ritual Herbalism. And you’re right on time.

Episode Themes: Music, Ritual & Community Healing

We explore:

* The aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the role of community care

* Music as medicine: voice as grounding, prayer, and protest

* The quiet altars—grief, memory, and ancestral ways of tending the land

* Plants as messengers: blossoms, herbs, and marigolds as carriers of devotion

* Ritual as resistance: how prayer and presence become essential in collapse

* Seeds of wisdom for grief, resilience, and collective healing

Ritual Invitation

Create a simple altar today. A stone from your walk, a flower from your garden, a few drops of water, a whispered name of a beloved. Place something there that means something to you—grief, gratitude, a seed, a prayer. Let the plants be part of it. They’ve always known how to carry what we cannot hold alone.

Learn with Us

We are currently enrolling in both of our flower essence programs:

The Art of Flower Essence Therapy – a self-paced foundational course, open anytime for those ready to begin or deepen their journey with flower essences.

Flower Essence Practitioner Training – our professional-level program begins this November. Registration is now open!

We’d be honored to walk beside you as you step into deeper relationship with the plants, the land, and your own healing lineage.

If this episode speaks to you, please share it, subscribe on your favorite platform, and leave a review—it helps more people find this work and return to their roots.

Want to go deeper?

Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you're just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.

Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.

Leah Song is a musician, artist, and a ritualist, well known as the lead singer of the internationally celebrated ensemble Rising Appalachia, which she co-founded with her sister. Her work weaves together music, storytelling, and grassroots activism, uplifting traditions of folk medicine and community care. As a lifelong student of plants, Leah describes herself as a “back porch herbalist,” tending the edges where song, ritual, and the green world meet. She brings to this episode her gift for creating spaces of healing through music, ceremony, and the everyday medicines of the people. Follow her journey @leahsongmusic.

Welcome back to Ritual Herbalism, a podcast exploring the sacred threads of plant medicine, ancestral memory, and the ways we find our way back to wholeness through ritual.

In this episode, Lionheart, Hawthorn & Rose: How the Wound Becomes the Way, we explore the truth so many of us know deep in our bones: that the path of the herbalist often begins with heartbreak. Illness. Loss. A rupture that cracks the heart wide open—just enough for the plants to slip in.

Together, we’ll walk through the sacred threshold of pain and explore how grief itself can be an initiation. With the support of plant allies like Hawthorn, Rose, and Motherwort, we’ll remember that healing is not just possible, but inevitable, when we listen to the wisdom of the heart.

Through science, spirit, and storytelling, we invite you to tune in, breathe deeply, and return to the wild rhythm that pulses through your own chest.

This is Ritual Herbalism. And you’re right on time.

Episode Themes: Initiation of the herbalist, heart coherence, plant allies

We explore:

* The wound as an initiation on the healer’s path

* Heart coherence: where science meets soul

* Plant allies for heartbreak, grief & emotional resilience

* Working with Hawthorn, Rose, and Motherwort in both herbal and flower essence form

* A guided ritual for connecting to the wisdom of your own heart

* Reframing grief as a collective healing practice

Ritual Invitation

Join us in a heart-centered ritual using breath, memory, and a cup of herbal tea.All you need is a moment, your heartbeat, and a plant ally who’s ready to meet you there.

Learn with Us

We are currently enrolling in both of our flower essence programs:

The Art of Flower Essence Therapy – a self-paced foundational course, open anytime for those ready to begin or deepen their journey with flower essences.

Flower Essence Practitioner Training – our professional-level program begins this November. Registration is now open!

We’d be honored to walk beside you as you step into deeper relationship with the plants, the land, and your own healing lineage.

If this episode speaks to you, please share it, subscribe on your favorite platform, and leave a review—it helps more people find this work and return to their roots.

Remember that your heartbreak is not a detour—it’s a doorway.And the plants are already reaching for you.

Want to go deeper?

Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you're just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.

Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.

Welcome to Ritual Herbalism, a podcast devoted to exploring how we heal in relationship with the Earth, our ancestors, and ourselves. Each episode invites you to slow down, tune in, and root deeper into nature’s rhythm.

In this second episode, Remembering the Sacred Roots and Ritual of Plant Medicine, we embark on a journey through time and tradition—a prayer, a re-membering, a call back to the old ways.

Together, we visit the sacred wells of Ireland, the folk charms of Southern Italy, the healing altars of Mexico, the cacao ceremonies of Costa Rica, and the medicine bundles of Turtle Island. This episode is a weaving of the many ways our ancestors carried plants in one hand and prayer in the other—reminding us that ritual herbalism is both ancient and alive.

Episode Themes: Ancestral Medicine, Sacred Ritual, Everyday Magic

We explore:

* How global plant traditions carry threads of connection and remembrance

* The intersection of healing, ceremony, and land-based devotion

* Simple ways ritual herbalism already lives in your life—like making tea with intention or tending your home with herbs and care

* How reconnecting to ancestral practices can support both personal and collective healing

Ritual Invitation

Let this episode be a remembering. Sit with a plant, a cup of tea, or a sacred object. Ask: What ritual lives in my hands? What prayers are mine to carry?

Learn with Us

We are currently enrolling in both of our flower essence programs:

The Art of Flower Essence Therapy – a self-paced foundational course, open anytime for those ready to begin or deepen their journey with flower essences.

Flower Essence Practitioner Training – our professional-level program begins this November. Registration is now open!

We’d be honored to walk beside you as you step into deeper relationship with the plants, the land, and your own healing lineage.

If this episode speaks to you, please share it, subscribe on your favorite platform, and leave a review—it helps more people find this work and return to their roots.

May this episode nourish your remembering, your reverence, and your rituals.

Want to go deeper?

Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you're just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.

Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.

Disclaimer and release of liability: information and services provided on this website, by Lauren “Lupo” Passero and by Twin Star Herbal Education and Shakti Exchange LLC are not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any medical condition and have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information provided on this website and during all classes, programs, and trips are for educational and entertainment purposes only.

Welcome to the very first episode of Ritual Herbalism, a podcast devoted to exploring how we heal in relationship with the Earth, our ancestors, and ourselves. Every episode will invite us to slow down, tune in and remember our place within nature’s rhythm.

In this episode, The Song Beneath the Soil, I’m joined by Jenna Faccenda—Twin Star’s beloved office goddess and a gifted herbalist in her own right—as we explore what it means to emerge, transform, and reclaim our voice.

Episode Themes: Cicadas, Pluto, and the Voice Within

Right now in Western North Carolina, the Earth is alive with the sound of 17-year cicadas—ancient beings who spend most of their lives underground, only to rise in chorus. At the same time, Pluto is in retrograde, ushering us into a season of introspection, personal excavation, and powerful transformation.

This episode explores:

* The symbolism of cicadas and what they teach us about timing, emergence, and ancestral rhythm

* The energy of Pluto retrograde and its invitation to uncover, release, and rise

* The power of voice as medicine, and how speaking truth is a form of healing

* The medicine of Black Cohosh flower essence, a powerful plant ally for shadow work and rebirth

* What it means to walk the path of ritual herbalism, attuned to nature’s cycles and the deeper currents within

Plant Ally: Black Cohosh

In this episode, we journey with Black Cohosh, a native Appalachian plant that germinates underground for nearly a decade before flowering. Its flower essence holds medicine for those navigating deep inner transformation, grief, or suppressed truths. It helps us:

* Move through the shadows with clarity and strength

* Reclaim silenced parts of ourselves

* Support emotional release and emergence

If you’re drawn to flower essences or curious to learn more, we invite you to explore our courses below.

Ritual Invitation

Sit with a plant. Listen.

Ask: What do you want to teach me about emergence?

Or journal with the prompt:

What voice within you is ready to rise and be heard?

Learn with Us

We are currently accepting students into both of our flower essence programs:

* The Art of Flower Essence Therapy A self-paced foundational course open for enrollment anytime—perfect for anyone feeling called to begin or deepen their journey with flower essences.

* Flower Essence Practitioner Training A professional-level program beginning this November. Registration is now open!

Step into a relationship with the plants, the land, and your own healing journey. We’d be honored to walk with you.

Thank you for being here for this first step. May this episode support your emergence, your voice, and your reconnection with your own medicine. If you liked the episode, please share with your friends, subscribe to Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts and leave a review!

Want to go deeper?

Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you're just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.

Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.

Disclaimer and release of liability: information and services provided on this website, by Lauren “Lupo” Passero and by Twin Star Herbal Education and Shakti Exchange LLC are not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any medical condition and have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information provided on this website and during all classes, programs, and trips are for educational and entertainment purposes only.

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