Rebekah Dawn is a community herbalist, crisis counselor, artist, and death doula. Join in for an interview exploring death as a vital stage to our human growth and development, how we can make friends with our mortality. Learn the skills of grief, and how grief might actually make our lives more joyful!

This singing workshop focuses on chants for the female life cycle that can be included in a variety of women’s rituals. From birth to death, including the uterine blood mysteries of menses and menopause, this workshop celebrates the power of the female body.

Learn to prepare Přivařenka, a beloved South Bohemian mushroom and dill soup that captures the essence of Czech comfort food. This dish combines wild mushrooms, dill, and eggs in a rich, creamy broth. Whether you're looking to explore Czech culinary traditions or enhance your mushroom cooking skills, this workshop will teach you tips and techniques for making this authentic, wholesome dish.

In this workshop, participants will read thought-invoking prompts. These questions will open us up to our own beliefs, edges and experiences around Death, creating a container for contemplative heart-opening connection. With multiple rounds, everyone will be able to pair with different participants with varying experiences and perspectives and drop us into heartfelt contemplations.

We will explore ways we can contribute to supporting the health of the places where mushrooms grow. We will begin with a grounding presentation about environmental challenges happening locally and more broadly, share stories about actions we have taken, or plan to take, to help ensure the mycelium world will thrive into the next generations.

Ethnobotany is the scientific study of the traditional knowledge and customs of a people concerning plants and their medical, religious, and other uses. Herbs are at the center of ethnobotany traditions, in many of our cultural heritages. This workshop will explore some of those herbal traditions.

This is an illustrated talk about making a community sourced-cookbook, and the lessons I’ve drawn from testing hundreds of mushroom recipes, to wit, how and why mushrooms behave differently in the kitchen than other foods.

The Voice is the oldest and most complex instrument to have existed. Let’s learn to treasure and nurture our unique voice! Now, more than ever, we need to confidently speak and sing our truths. This introductory class will teach basic exercises that help warm up the body, strengthen the breath, exercise the voice, develop the ear, match pitch, develop tone quality, and shape and define your vowels and consonants.

Drawing from her own experiences, Caro offers practical strategies and techniques to cultivate curiosity in artmaking and deepen our relationship with the natural world. How can we dive deeper into our personal relationships with non-human kin? How can we become citizen scientists and explore nature in our own ways?

We will explore the connections between fungi and the feminine throughout history. Uncover the mysteries of the birth of human spirituality, and how fungi have helped women to mother the development of society on a global scale. Meet the brilliant women of the past few centuries who changed how science viewed females and fungi. We will discuss the ever evolving role of women in the field of mycology today.

Join Abigail on a meditative voyage to commune with the ancestral wisdom nestled within our sacred womb space. This somatic experience invites participants to receive messages from their ancestors, unlocking the profound truths held within. By honoring the cyclical essence of our wombs, we can forge potent connections to the wisdom of those who came before us.

This workshop offers a female-centered approach to learning about the Elder Futhark runes. It has been suggested by many runic scholars that the written form of runes originate in the dendritic patterns found in our own bodies and throughout Nature. The shape, form, and energetic pattern emanated by each rune is rooted in the mysteries of nature from which this ancient alphabet was derived.

Dive into the mysteries of Lichens with this Keynote Address from ethnobotanist Patricia Armstrong from the 2022 Mycelium Mysteries Women's Mushroom Conference. Lichens are two plants living as one: are they a mutualistic symbiosis or a controlled parasitism? There are many conflicting theories about lichens. They are both old and young, long-lived yet extremely sensitive to air pollution.

In this talk, Sarah will take us on a meander through the world of wild mushrooms, with an eye towards the intricate relationships mushrooms have with a surprising array of wildlife, including, ourselves. Using this lens of ecological awareness, we’ll challenge ourselves as foragers to examine our own role as active stewards of biodiversity, recognizing that natural areas everywhere are in crisis.

We can learn from the rich story of the ancient Sumerian Goddess Inanna, the Queen of Heaven, and her underworld sister Ereshkigal. Their story of power struggle, liberation, and forgiveness requires trust, a bit of grace, and a whole lot of compassion. How might we see these two Goddesses within ourselves? What is possible when we learn to let ourselves off the hook?

In this talk, we'll delve into the sadly short list of ladies who helped advance the science of mycology prior to 1900. We'll learn who they were, what they did, and give them some long overdue thanks!"

What is the story we are weaving for our granddaughters? All of our granddaughters? Will they want to cultivate what we are seeding, in their lives, in the soil, in the world? Sit with Venice Williams as she shares the stories of her ancestral grandmothers, and invites us to explore, more fully, what we are, and may not be, sowing for the women who will follow us.

Barbora will share her personal journey into the fascinating world of mushrooms, highlighting the significance of ethnomycology as a vital field that connects culture, ecology, and culinary heritage. You’ll learn about the historical context of mushroom foraging in Czech society, culturally significant mushroom species, old mushroom legends, and the culinary heritage through traditional Czech mushroom recipes.

Katherine MacLean will trace the development of psilocybin mushroom medicine from its underground, secret, humble beginnings in the hills of what is now called Oaxaca, Mexico through the halls of academia and the social lives of modern Americans, and finally, to its current lofty status as an alleged treasure of the Western corporate pharmacopeia.

Truffle-forming fungi, cryptic, charismatic, and living right here in the Midwest. This includes genera like the genus Tuber with its rich culinary legacy as well as many, many other truffle-forming fungal species with fascinating and important ecological histories. This presentation will explore and introduce you to the diverse fungi which produce truffles and can be found in the Midwest region of North America.

Thank you for joining us for an engaging and magical Community Conversation between herbalist Linda Conroy and Mystic Rev. Judith Laxer who talked about Judith’s journey that led her to call herself a mystic, a priestess and an herbalist. They also discussed what Judith plans to cover during her presentation, Skills of the Herbal Mystic, in the 2026 In Our Own Hands: Women’s Wellness Series.

Scottish herbalism is a methodical, scientific, yet mystical approach to health concerns and wellness, which evolved over 12 thousand years of practice. Join us on a sensory journey through these largely oral traditions that have been collected in writing for the past 400 years. Explore the use of this system of healing, and get a glimpse of it’s preventative measures, herb remedies, and healing lifeways.

Overview of the Medicine Generations Book from the History throughout eight generations of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe. Talk about how to use the Medicines, how to gather, dry preserve them, make the teas, tea sampling, show examples of dried and fresh Medicines, overview of the Medicines and what they are used for.

This experiential workshop invites us to enter the mycelial forest of grief, where loss is not something to fix or avoid, but to compost. Through embodied practices, communal ritual, and deep listening, we'll honor personal, collective, and ecological grief, allowing what is dying to be laid down with reverence.

We’ll explore the lore, chants, and rituals of sacred plants like Mugwort, Hypericum, Mandrake, Rue, Vervain, Rowan, and Datura. Topics include the Nine Herbs Charm, folk names for women healers, midsummer herb customs, traditional healing methods, and practices of Italian, Slavic, Celtic, and Germanic herbalists—plus songs, offerings, and ancestral plant wisdom.

Ritual is a human need- the more conscious we are with ritual in our lives, the more grounded our lives become. In this workshop, we will talk about the importance and significance of personal ritual. You will learn basic ritual structure and a process for Personal Ritual Creation. We will create our own personal ritual and enact a mini-ritual together.

A trip through the faerie portal into the realms of plant intelligence. A slide into the center of the Earth to reconnect with plant wisdom. A flight on magic carpets of pollen into the heart of green blessings.

The holy day of October 31st in the Northern European agricultural calendar marks the first day of Winter, and the closing of the old year. It is a time to honor our Beloved Dead and prepare to enter the liminal space between endings and new beginnings. Learn traditional customs and themes of this holiday, and how we can ritualize this holiday with meaning for today with consciousness and reverence.

Birth is a profound rite of passage, and a culture’s birth rituals tell us much about that culture’s beliefs and values. Returning to wild human birth is integral to healing our culture and the Earth. Discussion will include the perils of professionalized birth support and how to create community that supports woman-centered birth.

We all have a story. How and when that story is told, and the framing of the story, can all affect the success and timing of healing. Listen to some historic and modern case studies of the use of narrative story to heal. Discover the method to use narrative story in health and healing, for preventative measures, healing lifeways, and to tell the stories of herbs.

Take a journey with Elder and it's centuries of medicine and magic. You'll be enchanted with a presentation rich with the story and lore of these globally embraced plants, as well as the medical possibilities emerging today. We will look at contemporary application and the latest biomedical research, and we'll incorporate ecology, specific clinical prescriptions, and other surprises.

We will explore what we have learned from our people and the seasonal foods that we gather, grow and prepare throughout the year through stories. From maple sugaring, wild leeks, wood greens, and morel Mushrooms in the spring, to milkweed, berries, corn, beans, and squash in the summer and beyond, this Keynote will explore the fishing, hunting, and gathering practices through stories of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe.

Join Sarina Partridge in creating a space to hold our personal and collective grief, fresh and ancient grief, disconnection and loss of our bodies’ holy pathways to grief, and practices of remembering through breath, truth-telling, and song. We will share original songs to support us in tending and holding grief, and offer reflections around using song as a healing modality for individual and collective grief work.

Learn chants for female seasonal celebrations and rituals celebrating the mythic cycle of the Goddess within the earth’s seasonal cycles of birth, death, and regeneration, and it’s correspondences to Women’s Mysteries.

This workshop focuses on songs that propel us into the Light. Learn songs about healing, peace, love, and building community. This is music that affirms us in our own truth, body, and spirit. We will also learn songs that are widely known among women's circles.

Join Phyllis for this introduction into Southern and Appalachian Folk Medicine. We’ll learn about the Southern Blood Types (bitter/salty and sweet/sour), the four constitutions (fire/water and air/earth), and the blood qualities of high/low blood, thick/thin, fast/slow, and good/bad. In addition, we’ll talk about local plants and how to prepare them in the Southern Appalachian traditional manner.

All around the world and throughout time, are beliefs in Otherworld Beings who share the natural world with humans. These beings live around us, attend to us, and help us and guide us with our work. The Folk are understood to be powerful sentient beings with whom it is important to be in good relations. Learn who their neighbors are, how to honor them, and how to begin fostering a deeper relationship with them.

The adventure of unpacking this invisible perspective changes as our needs change. This is an exploration of our connection with plants beyond fixing, curing and saving. We are rising up rooted in our heritage, seeing how this old way for a new day still has a place in the world.

What are the basic principles of Celtic Spirituality? How do these principles apply to Celtic Christianity and Celtic Paganism? How is Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism different from more modern paths such as Wicca? We will examine evidence from the historical Celts and their cosmology, traditional practices, poetry, Celtic triads and aphorisms, and Brehon Law.

Learn how to make clean, safe water using BioSand Filter technology. BioSand Filters are based on traditional slow sand filters, removing pathogens and suspended solids from water. Helen will share how her nonprofit, Motherland Rhythm Community, builds and delivers these life-changing filters in Guinea, West Africa, and show you how you can do it too.

Explore and learn about the ancient agricultural practices of harvesting and readying seeds for storage. While our forebears utilized baskets, gourds, and the wind, we'll practice streamlined ways to speed up the process. Come immerse yourself in a time honored tradition. Feel free to bring seeds to swap as well!

Learn helpful skills in how to design personal rituals and to work effectively one-on-one with others. Whether it is to initiate a life change or attitude, facilitate a change already in process, or name and claim a change or transformation that has already occurred, tools from Ruth’s unique guided intuitive process includes how to develop the purpose, theme, energetics, and appropriate structure of your ritual.

In this workshop you will learn tree lore of Northern Europe and North America and explore the mythical, magical, science, and healing properties of selected trees. Learn about common, yet ancient customs, and why we still adhere to them in this fun and informative class

Helen will share the joy of traditional hand drumming. You will learn basic patterns and we will play a rhythm together. Everyone is welcome no experience is needed. Your instruments are welcome. Some djembe and bass dunun drums will be played.

In this session, you'll learn about the science and scientists working to help protect the landscapes and mycelial species we value as well as the ways mushrooms are helping solve sustainability challenges. We'll talk about what we can do individually and collectively to support and nourish the diversity of living things in the places we live. Go home feeling empowered to protect what you love!

Learn the basics of foraging for wild edible mushrooms in this beginner-friendly lecture. We'll cover 14 species commonly found in Wisconsin (and much of North America), focusing on key identification features, practical foraging tips, and how to distinguish them from look-alike mushrooms. This is a great way to kick start your journey into safe and satisfying mushroom foraging!

Did you know that the brewing of beers, ales, & the like was considered a role of the ancient woman? Learn about the long herstory of brewing & fermentation from prehistoric humanity to the extreme cultural changes wrought by the Inquisition to female brewers today. The preservation of nutrients has been vital to the development of humankind, lets celebrate the powerful role of the feminine in this important practice

The Wheel of the Year refers to the Solstices, Equinoxes, and cross-quarter days that traditionally mark the seasonal holy days. This workshop is an introduction to the interconnectedness between the earth and agricultural cycle, the mythic cycle of the goddess, and the female life cycle.