The Transcendent Path
Honoring the Sacred Traditions of Herbal Medicine
I am so happy to have you here and considering walking this path with me.
The plant path is a deeply sacred journey, and I would not be complete without it. It is this work, these practices, and this connection to the earth that guides me through every breath, movement and thought, and my goal is to help awaken those places within others. These practices are deeply inherent ancient wisdom that exists in every cell of every being just waiting to be reawakened.
Welcome to the journey into plant medicine
This is more than an herbal medicine study.
It is a way of life. Our connection to nature, plant medicine, the earth's cycles, and our communities are all intricately woven together in the web of life.
Our program is for you if you are….
looking to immerse yourself in the world of herbalism while fostering a container for spiritual and personal growth.
Beyond practical skills, this program is an invitation to embark on a personal and spiritual journey through the seasons—learning to weave plant medicine and magic into everyday life.
Rooted in earth-based spirituality, we move through the Wheel of the Year with plant ally journeys, meditations, and sacred connection to nature.
We honor the Munsee Mohican land on which we live and work, carrying forth a living tradition of reciprocity, sovereignty, and remembrance—healing the broken threads by honoring the original people of this land through ethical practice, right relation, and reawakening connection to each our own unique ancestral heritage.
This is a path of discovery, transformation, and belonging for those called to walk in harmony with the earth and her medicines.
A Spiritual Journey
What You Will Learn
Our program is designed to guide you on a journey of herbal education, as far as you want to take it. We encourage a commitment to learning, and welcome you to attend as many of our classes as you can. The more you immerse yourself, the deeper your knowledge will become.
Each class is crafted to enhance your understanding of plant medicine on both a spiritual and physical level, empowering you on your journey to becoming a skilled and intuitive herbalist. Each month we will focus on a body system relevant to the season, another form of medicine preparation, in addition to guiding through and aligning with seasonal shifts and holidays.
Core Topics Covered Throughout the Program:
Plant Identification:
Learn to identify native and garden species, understanding their unique properties and uses. (this is an important part of every year of the program)
Foundations of Herbalism and the Wise Woman Tradition:
Embrace the ancient wisdom of healing and nurturing, and what it means to walk this spiral.
Journey Through the Wheel of the Year:
Align with the seasons and their corresponding energies.
Rituals and Practices:
Learn the sacred intentional acts of medicine making in addition to integrating seasonal rituals into your herbal practice and daily life.
Plant Spirit Communication:
Develop a deeper relationship with plants through intuitive communication.
Body Systems and Seasonal Correspondences:
Connect body systems with the seasons and the herbs that support them.
Herbal First Aid Medicine:
Prepare to handle common injuries and ailments with herbal first aid techniques.
Ethics of Practice:
Learn sustainable foraging, ethical wildcrafting, legal considerations, and the oath of this path.
Hands-On Herbal Medicine Making
You will have an opportunity to make and practice a wide range of herbal preparations, including, but not limited to, tinctures, glycerites, vinegars, flower essences, cordials, infused oils, salves and ointments, creams, and more.
Empower Yourself with Herbal Wisdom
Our program will empower you to confidently incorporate plant medicine into your daily life, addressing common ailments and enhancing well-being for yourself, your family, and your community. By tuning into your own body and reconnecting with ancestral knowledge, you will begin to reclaim your health and deepen your bond with the natural world.
The program is open to all over the age of 18 who come in peace, including women, women-identifying individuals, and non-binary or gender non-conforming people comfortable with a focus on women's experiences.
“The experience of the herbal apprenticeship program with Kim has been transformative in my personal, communal, spiritual and professional life.
The richness of the program’s offerings are in the informational, applicational and spiritual aspects that embody the heart and soul of the herbalism path.
Lead by a wise, experienced, heart-centered and integrity-lead facilitator, Transcending Roots program wholesomely accesses both skill/science and practice/spirit, making for a comprehensive experience for any new or experienced herbalist.”
- Lynn Gallagher, Third Year Student
Immersive Study
Our gatherings will begin in April and flow through December.
Be prepared to stay a while. Herbal medicine is slow, patience, stillness. Our classes will gather on Saturdays, beginning at 10 am, and go until at least 5 or 6pm, sometimes later.
Community Nourishment:
Herbal infusions, snacks and clean mountain water, will be provided, in addition to all of the teachings and medicines I will share.
The meals the rest of the day are a collective offering from each student.
Please plan to bring a dish to share for a potluck style intentional and nourishing community meal for our lunch and dinner, in addition to anything else you need to be comfortable.
What Else to Bring:
We will provide more details on what you need for each class in the weeks prior to the gathering.
***In addition to in person classes, there will be a monthly week-night virtual meeting, usually for about one hour, that will allow time for Q&A and any additional relevant teachings that were not covered in our time together in person.
Ways to Join Us
Drop In or Full Investment Registration:
Join us for a class or few, or join us the whole year. Those students that attend the entire year, there is a discount to registration.
Our offerings meet you where you are. Each class has a focus on a seasonal medicines, associated body systems and earth spirit holidays.
We recognize that signing up for a whole program can be challenging, but it is our mission to share the wisdom of the plants with our community through accessible herbal education, while still tending to my commitments as a mother. At this time, we have broken our program up into monthly classes that can be signed up for individually, or take as many as you'd like.
In each class, you’ll gain foundational herbal skills such as plant identification, medicine making, understanding body systems, and applying herbal remedies to everyday ailments. You’ll learn about plant synergy and energetics, diving into the rich, complex world of herbal interactions.
Drop-In class registrants do not qualify for a certificate. Pre-registration for all classes is required
In an age where the spread of inaccurate information is rampant, especially regarding foraging and herbalism due to social media, our goal is to provide accurate, detailed, and evidence-based knowledge to ensure you practice safely and effectively.
My goal is to equip you with the knowledge, backed by experience, science, historical wisdom, and reverence to become a skilled and ethically conscientious community herbalist, while cultivating a healing relationship with the land.
At Each Gathering...
We honor the Munsee-Mohican People & Land we occupy and have the privilege to teach on and tend to.
Circles will be held on our land in the forest of Western Massachusetts.
(4.5 HOURS NORTH OF PHILADELPHIA)
Practicum:
Each year, students have an opportunity to schedule additional study, outside of class time, to engage in activities such as gardening, foraging, and medicine making.
The depths to which you take this apprenticeship is in your hands. Opportunities like helping out on our land outside of education days will provide more hands-on work with gardening, medicine making, learning about herbs and their actions, plant communication, constitutional prescribing, etc.
At each gathering, together we will:
Open and hold a sacred circle
Connect with the land
Work in the gardens, tending to and harvesting medicinal plants
Wild plant ID and forage
Prepare and make various herbal remedies
Build community and share wisdom
Tend to a sacred fire
Gather in ritual and ceremony
In the warmer months, we will have an opportunity to explore the sacred waters and lakes on the land
"This was my first herbal apprenticeship, and it was such a beautiful learning experience. Kim really opened the garden door for me and helped me hone in and slow down, by getting to know one plant very well. I see the Earth with new eyes because of this apprenticeship. I see the lineage of my ancestors, and the TCM wisdom that is fading from my family. It is because of this apprenticeship journey that I felt called to dive deeper into the medicine of my ancestors. The community of women brought together through this apprenticeship is something I am truly grateful for as well. We all came from different levels of experience, different backgrounds, but centered around our gratitude and connection to the Earth. Kim's wisdom runs deep and her passion for the plants and their gifts are seen in how she teaches, through hands-on experiences. Making medicine, gathering flowers, spring greens, summer berries, I live more in tune with the seasons thanks to this apprenticeship. And she was so welcoming to my little 2 year old joining in and learning alongside, which was truly so so special."
- Steph, First Year Student
Accessibility & Sliding Scale Tuition
Once we confirm dates for next year, each session will be listed for registration. You can also register for the whole program at a discounted rate. Space is incredibly limited, and registrants will be accepted on a first come first serve basis.
Tuition includes all that is listed above, including teachings, infusions, supplies for medicine making, harvesting plants we grow here on our land, and all preparations made throughout the year together.
Single Class Registration:
Sign up for the classes of your choosing, at a sliding scale.
Full Program:
For those that wish to sign up for all classes, we offer a discounted annual registration at a sliding scale.
We ask our students choose the tuition that is honestly the most within your means.
Tuition is determined on a sliding scale to ensure accessibility while honoring the time and energy dedicated to teaching.
All tuition is due before the start of each class and may be paid in full or paid in equal installments.
We ask that applicants consider their commitment to the program carefully to honor the time and energy of our teachers and fellow students.
Refund Policy:
100% refund (minus registration fee) if cancellation occurs up to 15 days before the program starts.
40% refund (minus registration fee) if cancellation occurs within the first 30 days of the program.
No refunds will be issued after the first 30 days. However, we can discuss arrangements for making up lost time.
Contact Information:
For questions or more information about the programs, please email us
Work trade discount options are available on a very limited basis.
Welcome to the journey of remembrance.
The path awaits…
-
Walk the Full Path
For those ready to commit to the full year of classes.
Welcome..
-
Spring Seasonal Commitment
Join us for a season.
Choose:
Spring - The Awakening
Summer - Radiance
Autumn/Winter - The Inward Journey -
Summer Seasonal Commitment
Join us for a season.
Choose:
Spring - The Awakening
Summer - Radiance
Autumn/Winter - The Inward Journey -
Autumn / Winter Seasonal Enrollment
Join us for a season.
Choose:
Spring - The Awakening
Summer - Radiance
Autumn/Winter - The Inward Journey -
Choose Your Journey
Register for individual classes.
DATES & CLASS INFO COMING SOON!
2026 Monthly Dates
**Dates may be subject to change
April
11th (In-Person), 30th (Virtual)
May
16th (In-Person), 28th (Virtual)
June
20th (In-Person), 29th (Virtual)
July
18th (In-Person), 29th (Virtual)
August
15th (In-Person), 26th (Virtual)
September
19th (In-Person), 24th (Virtual)
October
24th (In-Person), 29th (Virtual)
November
14th (In-Person), 24th (Virtual)
December
19th (In-Person), Virtual TBD
"We all wake up with the same Sun, and fall asleep under the same Moon. We feel the weather changes as the seasons shift. The cold hard breeze of a winter afternoon, the crunch of the leaves under the soles of our feet, and the refreshing waves of the ocean on a hot summers day. Earth is always reminding us of her presence, and immersing myself with her medicine opened a door I never even knew existed.
This herbal apprenticeship brought Earth to life. When I’m outside, the world around me becomes more vivid. The songs of leaves dancing in the wind, the sun kissing the trees as it sets, the bees blissfully bathing in the pollen of flowers, and the plant allies that once were just “weeds” still mesmerize me. Every time I leave my home, I see and deeply feel the life radiating through the plants that encompass our surroundings. I can feel the Earth shift through the seasons, as this winter called for rest. When I make medicine for myself and loved ones, I feel our energies dance with each other as we work together to heal and support. My plant allies have taught me lessons that I never knew I needed, invoking a new level of awareness and balance. Plant medicine has expanded my capacity to experience life. I’ve learned that everything can take place at once. The euphoric, the suffering and the overcoming. Instead of running away, I now welcome the spiral of life.
So thank you for opening this door. Not only teaching me the ways of plant medicine, but gifting me the opportunity to create this enchanting relationship with Earth herself. I recommend this path to you all, and I leave you with this:
“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.” ― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants"
- Genesis, Second Year Student
I look forward to walking this path with you and welcoming you to the herbal community.
You’ll build relationships that will last a lifetime.
Lodging &
Travel
-
We recommend those traveling from outside of the area arrive Friday so you can be on time for class Saturday morning, or plan to arrive promptly by 930 am. We will not wait to begin class for late arrivals and we appreciate your timely arrival.
-
You may choose to plan to take care of your own lodging (recommendations provided) or stay on the land upon approval, (note: camping may not be an option for every circle and is rustic!).
Local lodging recommendations in under 30 minutes from us:
Vrbo or AirBnB are options as well - in Becket, Lee, Lenox, Pittsfield, Dalton, or Stockbridge
-
Our home is sustained by a small septic system, and we’re grateful to share this land in a way that honors its natural rhythms and limits. When larger groups gather here, we invite guests to use outdoor facilities when possible, with respect and care.
A wash station will always be available and thoughtful accommodations are always made for those who are bleeding or have mobility needs, so that everyone feels supported and welcome in this shared space.