9th

Annual Gaia Gathering for Women

Schedule of Classes

FRIDAY: Arrive/Registration After 5:00 pm

7-8:00 pm: Opening Circle and Teacher Introductions
8-10:00 pm: Evening Festivities with Keynote Presenter Rachel Bagby

SATURDAY
6:30-7:30 am:
Yoga with Joanna Hughes
Plant Walk with Suzanna Stone - Meet in front of the Lodge
7:45-8:30 am: Breakfast
9:00-10:20 am: Morning Classes
Sacred Sweetness: Honey as Medicine with Inger Brown - Lodge
Sacred Drumming with Jennifer Borishansky - Pavilion
Creative Dance for the Body & Soul with Kelly Silliman
It Takes a Village; Community and Two Layers of Support with Kate White - Tent B
Japanese Tea Ceremony with Asha Greer
10:40 am - 12:00 pm: Mid Morning Classes
Cordials with Teresa Boardwine - Lodge
Melody and Harmony: Music for Everyone with Kelly Silliman - Tent A
Goddess Visioning with Ursula Goadhouse - Tent B
Plant Walk Wise Wombyn Wander with Rain - Meet at Fire Circle
12:30-1:30 pm: Lunch
1:40-3:00 pm: Afternoon Classes
Welcome to the MUD TRIBE with Kate Knott Meet in front of the Lodge
Herbal Medicine Making with Heather Wetzel Lodge
Between the Heart & the Head: Nurturing Your Thyroid with Maia Toll Pavilion
CIRCLE WITHIN A CIRCLE Mehndi & Masala with Gypsy McMillian Tent A
3:30-4:45 pm: Late Afternoon Classes or Free Time
CIRCLE WITHIN A CIRCLE - ADULTS WELCOME:
Sacred Wisdom Dolls with Ursula Goadhouse Lodge
Vibrational, Vocal Toning & Energy Work
with quartz crystal singing bowl with Pam Karthik - Tent A
Sacred in Everyday with Beth Le Grande Tent B
5:30-7:00 pm: Dinner
7:30-10:00 pm: Beltane Celebration

9th

Annual Gaia Gathering for Women

Schedule of Classes

SUNDAY
6:30-7:30 am:
Yoga with Joanna Hughes - Lodge
Plant Walk with Heather Wetzel - Meet in front of the Lodge
7:45-8:45 am: Breakfast
9:00-10:20 am: Morning Classes
Erotic Beginnings of Eclectic Herbalism with Susan Leopold Lodge
Welcoming Spirit: Finding Home & the Role of Community with Kate White Pavilion
African Dance with Suzanna Stone Meet at Fire Circle
Rites of Passage with Kate Knott Tent A
Japanese Tea Ceremony with Asha Greer
10:40 am - 12:00 pm: Mid Morning Classes
Wild Foods Class with Rain Lodge
Keeping it Juicy with Teresa Boardwine Pavilion
Remedy Testing with Inger Brown Tent A
CIRCLE WITHIN A CIRCLE, Rise up:
Finding Your Own Voice by Helping Others with Gypsy McMillian Tent B
12:15-12:45 pm: Closing Circle & Songs of Gratitude

9th Annual Gaia Gathering for Women

CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
TERESA BOARDWINE
Keeping It Juicy
Reproductive health may be maintained through herbal nourishment, hormone balancing herbs, and the
spice of life. Come explore the juicy side of our female form that responds well to enlivening, stimulating
Tantalizing and Succulent herbs. Be inspired by the Southern Vixen of Earthly Delights.

Cordials
Creating tasty beverages for pleasure and health with herbs, spices and weeds. Fresh berry cordials, new
kava recipes and several adaptogenic elixirs will be shared. Newly developed recipes will be demonstrated
and Lots of tasting will occur so come prepared to imbibe.

INGER BROWN
Remedy Testing
In this class we will explore the practical and spiritual aspects of testing plant medicine on clients. A useful
tool for beginning and experienced practitioners, it can help narrow down herbal choices, serve as
confirmation of those choices, and help create a deeper connection with the client. This class will use pulse
taking and observation of tongue, body language, and appearance. No experience is necessary.

Sacred Sweetness: Honey as Medicine

Let's gather to celebrate this most fascinating substance while we make an herbal honey paste and taste a
few herbal honeys! We'll dwell in the sacred and the practical as we discuss the energetics of honey and
symbolism of the bee as well as making and preserving herbal infused honeys, honey pastes, syrups, and
wound dressings. We'll have time to discuss topics most of interest to the group such as sourcing honey,
what questions to ask your source, how to support pollinator health, temperature and enzymes, and more.
Please bring a small lidded jar to take your honey paste sample with you.

JENNIFER BORISHANSKY
Sacred Drumming
Among the first sounds we hear is a babe in the womb is the continuous beat of our mother's heart.
Speeding up and slowing down, moving us in waves of emotion and exertion, the heartbeat is the signal of
life and love. It is very likely that a drum was the first musical instrument ever created. Whether they are
moving us to dance around the Beltane fire or guiding us on an inner journey, the music of the drums and
the act of drumming have the power to alter our state of being. In this class we will play traditional
rhythms from West Africa. All ages and skill levels welcome. Bring a drum!

URSULA GOADHOUSE
Making Sacred Wisdom Dolls: For Maidens and Women
Make a special and powerful Sacred Wisdom Doll of your very own to take home with you! Come join in a
circle of women and children to drop down into Sacred Space, and have a creative journey! We will vision,
play with the fabric, beads, feathers and paints, sing songs, help each other and be nourished by the
experience we create. $5 Materials Fee

Goddess Visioning
What kind of Goddess are you? We will sing and chant, drop down into sacred space and open our creative
spiritual selves to explore what elements of Nature and the Elements are we aligned and drawn to. Are you
fire like? Do you connect to water or birds?With a playful heart we will sing, draw, write and share our
Divine selves. Each woman will have a personal Goddess vision board to take home with themand enjoy.

JOANNA HUGHES
Yoga
Class will incorporatevinyasa style asanas (breath lead postures), pranayama and meditation for all levels
of practitioners. Please bring your mat.

PAM KARTHIK
TBA

KATE KNOTT
Welcome to the MUD TRIBE~ Embracing your wild woman self!
Find your Wild Woman self and connect deeply with the earth. In this experiential class, we will break out of
our comfort zone and do something most of us have been told not to do, for most of our lives. Get muddy!
Be ready to dive in, let go and find freedom and empowerment in embracing your wild woman self! And
yes, you will get officially welcomed to The Mud Tribe!

Rites of Passage~Understanding the natural journey and transitions of life.

Come learn about the ages and stages of transition that links the human being from birth, to mid
childhood, to coming of age, to Vision Quest, to Elderhood and more. Why do we need this and how do we
bring it back?

BETH LE GRANDE
The Sacred in Every Day
Every moment is a gift; every day becomes an opportunity to honor ourselves, and all that surrounds us.
Join us as we explore the power and purpose of simple, daily ritual, altar building, prayers and offerings.
Each intentional act, no matter how small has a profound effect on the healing of our precious Gaia. Come
light the fires that are we.

SUSAN LEOPOLD
The Erotic Beginnings of Eclectic Herbalism and How the Plants that Started it all
are Now At Risk.
Learn about the colorful & controversial characters of early American Herbalism and the plants that they
most depended on and used in their herbal medical practices.Many of these plants are now at risk
and/or endangered. What are we doing about it? Join Susan Leopold, Executive Director of United Plant
Savers, in this lively and timely discussion.Become a Plant Saver!

GYPSY MCMILLIAN
The Red Tent
Historically, the Red Tent was a place where women would go to support each other, pray, sing, and
let their bodies naturally cleanse during their moon times. It has evolved into a sacred space for
women to explore and discover the strength and power of their sacred selves. Come to Gaias Red
Tent to rest, relax, meditate and circle with your Gaia sisters. It is a place that is warm and
welcoming to all women.

Mehndi & Masala: Bringing a Little Tradition and Spice into Everyday Life
Sometimes everyday life can get repetitive, and needs a little something to spice it up. Learn a few
ways to bring color and ritual to the ordinary by exploring the vibrant cultural traditions of India,
including the art of henna and the spices of masala chai.

Circle Within A Circle

Rise Up: Finding Your Own Voice by Helping Others
Discover the countless ways in which girls across the world have helped each other to find their own
inner power, and how girls have fought for their rights and education. Any girl can help those
around her, and oftentimes helping others find their voices is how you find your own voice.

RAIN
Plant Walk - Wise Wombyn Wander
Meet the plants and hear Rain weave herstory, mystery and wisdom shared from our local plant
community.

Wild Food Class Lets go Wild

Explore the wild abundance of the woods and fields and delight in ways to bring these nourishing
foods to your table.

KELLY SILLIMAN
Melody and Harmony: Music for Everyone
After a brief overview of music theory to help you start to understand how harmonies are made, we
will sing! Songs will range from folk to contemporary to many of those we sing in circle and around
the evening fire at Gaia, and will include simple melodies and harmonies accessible to all.
Instruments are welcome but not necessary. If you have song requests please contact me by
mid-April via my website and I will do my best to incorporate them.

Creative Dance for the Body and Soul

Come move with the earth and each other! We will roll around, jump and stretch, support each
other physically, and engage in full-bodied movement phrases that will offer structure but remain
open to interpretation.

SUZANNA STONE
West African Dance
Traditional West African dance is a community expression through movement and rhythm to honor
the ancestors, celebrate rites of passage, harvests and to express joys and sorrows. Let's dance our
joy as we learn Kou-Kou, an initiatory celebration dance. This class is appropriate for all skill levels
and is accompanied by live drumming. Please wear comfortable clothing and bare feet.

The Medicine at Your Feet: A Wild Weed Plant Walk

Some of our most powerful healing plants are the weeds growing freely almost everywhere in
abundance. Let's delve deeply into the medicine of those plants most common and wild by
experiencing how they taste, where they grow, whom they like to grow with in addition to the basics
of identification and their inherent healing.

MAIA TOLL
Between the Heart & the Head: Nurturing Your Thyroid:
At some point in their lives, many women will have thyroid troubles. Problems may be brought on
by pregnancy, menopause, or stress; this reactive gland easily gets out-of-sorts! We will discuss the
energetics of the thyroid, food and environmental factors that cause it unhappiness, and botanical
remedies to bring back balance.

Sage Circle: Are you ready to step into your own power?
Come witness, share, and participate as we work together in a community circle to catalyze change
and healing. Youll hold space and explore the depths of your own wisdom as we support one
woman on her healing path, modeling how to use plant medicine, food, ritual, and seasonal
awareness as tools to live more deeply. Come ready share the wisdom of your heart!

HEATHER WETZEL
Herbal Medicine Making
Using water, alcohol, vinegar, or oil to preserve and harness the healing power of the plants is an
ancient, simple, and vitally important skill. Come join Heather to learn and experience the art &
science of basic herbal medicine making. Whether you're looking for a review or whether you are
brand new to the herbal realm, she will cover teas, tinctures, and oils. Receive recipes, taste a
variety of herbal concoctions, and get your hands busy making stuff. $10 materials fee optional if
you'd like to make and leave with an 8 oz. oil or tincture of your very own to take home.

Plant Walk ~ Medicines in the Meadows and Woodland

Join herbalist Heather Wetzel and wander the fields and woodlands meeting the medicines we have
known and loved for millennia. All levels welcome.

KATE WHITE
It Takes a Village: Community and Two Layers of Support
In the professions that help birthing families, we have a saying: Every baby needs two layers of
support. In this gathering, I will talk about the blueprint of health illustrated by support in our
systems that starts when we are inutero, and touch on how these layers are there, or not. The
early period of pregnancy and birth creates an imprint for all of us. Experiential exercise will
explore and evoke where our blueprint meets this imprint.

Welcoming Spirit: Finding Home and the Role of Community

We are spiritual beings in a physical body; our body is our first home. This presentation will talk
about the journey of the soul from conception to implantation, the earliest part of our development
in the creation. What is the role of others here? We will explore our ancestors and other
community through experiential artwork. Bring pictures of your parents that can be cut up and
used in the artwork as we explore conception and being welcomed.

Teacher Biographies
Rachel Bagby: If I were to create a rsum, it would be scrawled on a piece of sheet music. With a big,
swooping treble clef next to my name: Rachel Bagby, J.D. Graduate of Stanford Law School. Poetic innovator
& creator of Dekaaz Facilitation International speaker & author of Divine Daughters: Liberating the Power
and Passion of Women's Voices. Soprano in Bobby McFerrins original touring ensemble, Voicestra. Wall
Street Journal reporter. Composer. www.rachelbagby.com

Teresa Boardwine, RH (AHG):

As teacher, medicine maker, clinician, and director Teresa has been

delivering the herbal word since 1992. Her many years experience rolls into Cordials and BonBons to make
the medicine go down while having fun and imparting the wisdom of the plants at Green Comfort School of
Herbal Medicine. www.greencomfortherbschool.com

Inger Brown

is a student of the plants and community herbalist. She and her partner live in the
Shenandoah Valley where they grow and wild craft medicinal herbs and raise bees, chickens, and a teenage
home-schooled daughter. They sell products from the hives along with a range of herbal products at their
local farmers market. Inger loves bonfires and herb folks and spends entirely too much time reading.
www.pureandsimplefarm.com

Jennifer Borishansky is a teacher at The Community Homeschool Enrichment Center in

Charlottesville, VA, where she teaches astronomy, anthropology, archaeology, and West African drumming.
She is also a member of the Charlottesville Community Drum Choir. Walking the path as both teacher and
student, Jennifer cherishes the Gaia experience and looks forward to sharing her passion with the
wonderful women of this community.

Jude Christian, Clinical Herbalist, MSN, FNP:

Jude first met the plants as a child growing up in

rural Norfolk, England. A graduate of the UVA nursing program and University of Maryland Masters
program for Family Nurse Practitioner in 2004. She is a graduate of the Sacred Plant Traditions clinical
herbalist program and owns Mossyard Botanicals where she practices holistic integrative care. In addition
Jude designs and builds temporary and permanent labyrinths both locally and nationally for personal and
conference uses. www.mossyardbotanicals.com

Ursula Goadhouse, MSW is a workshopfacilitator, Spirit Joy and Kaizen

MuseCreativityCoach,artistand mother of two. Shespecializesin helping people drop into their truth,
break through overwhelm, fear,procrastination and perfectionism so they can access a joyful and creative
life. She knows that your heart holds wisdom and that your light knows the way.Through her workshops
and individual client work she provides auniqueexperience for the heart and soul to be supported and
gently guided back into its own Divine wisdom. www.SpiritJoy.us

Joanna Hughes has been practicing yoga for 17 years in mostly the Ashtanga tradition. She is the
mother of 4 children, works as a labor and delivery nurse and finds many of the physical and mental
practices learned on the mat equate quite well with coping strategies women can use through their life
cycles.
Pam Karthik
Kate Knott is the Co-Founder and director of The Living Earth School, which has been connecting adults
and children deeply to the natural world for 14 years. Her current passion is Rites of Passage and
providing stepping-stones for people of all ages to honor and step into their life stage, finding
empowerment and self-worth. www.livingearthva.com

Beth le Grande: My lifes journey has sent me along many paths and provided me with many tools to
help in my work. I have worked with and learned from the plants for 25 years, as a gardener and the owner
of Jefferson Greenhouses, in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. My Spirit life has been nurtured and
enhanced by my 27 year connection with The Sun Temple, a spirit group founded by the late Cherokee
teacher Mellow Rye.

Susan Leopold is Executive Director of United Plant Savers, has her Doctorate in Ethnobotany from
Antioch New England, and her Masters in Environment Landscape Design from the Conway School.She has
studied Amazonian ethnobotany, and been involved for the past ten years with a traditional medicinal clinic
among the Bribri in Talamanca, Costa Rica.Currently she lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of
Virginia.Read her blog atwww.unitedplantsavers.org.

Gypsy McMillian is a teenager with a passion for travelling, reading, and masala chai. She recently
lived in India for two months and is now back home again in Scottsville with her parents and sisters, where
she writes novels and learns plant medicine from her mother.

Rain: For the past 17 years, Rain has been weaving traditional lifeways. She currently lives in the Blue
Ridge on an intentional community with her man and their seven children where she has been re-claiming
her Wild-Wombyn Self while Re-Membering the Ancient Skills of Wombyn-hood. Her current threads are
hunting, gathering, midwifery, plant medicine, wild foods and tribal culture.

Kelly Silliman is a dance artist and educator from Northampton, MA (formerly Dyke, VA). As part of her
arts and sustainability initiative, the tinydance project, she tows a small stage by bicycle to performance
venues and produces ultra-low-tech dance events. For the past year, Kelly has been hosting a regular music
circle in order to feed her ongoing obsession with singing in harmony. Kelly believes that everyone can sing
and dance, and that movement and music are vital building blocks of a strong community.
www.kellysilliman.com

Suzanna Stone is an herbalist in Scottsville VA. She runs Owlcraft Healing Ways, which offers clinical
consultations, a nine-month herbal apprenticeship and day classes in the healing arts. She was raised with
herbs and whole foods as the foundations of health and has spent the last 15 years deepening that
foundation. She is also a graduate of Sacred Plant Traditions' clinical program and serves as a guest
lecturer there and at other herbal schools and conferences throughout the East Coast.
www.owlcrafthealingways.com

Maia Toll, RH(AHG) is a green witch and clinical herbalist. Her journey began with an apprenticeship in
Ireland and has led to a successful clinical practice, two herb shops (in Philadelphia and Asheville), a PBS
special, and a faculty position in Botanical Medicine at West Chester University. Favorite moment?
Co-teaching plant medicine with a shaman and a scientist in the jungles of Peru. Now living in Asheville, NC,
Maia brings this mlange of medicine to students worldwide through her online programs.
www.maiatoll.com

Heather Wetzel: Heathers deep love and respect for the green world began early on her familys farm
in remote northern Pennsylvania. She earned her herbal certifications from Clayton College of Natural
Health and Sacred Plant Traditions where she then worked as apothecary manager and staff herbalist for
five years. Heather practices energetic herbology to support womens and childrens health. But with a
masters degree in education from the University of Virginia, she offers herb classes in Charlottesville and
Northern Virginia through her practice Heathers Herbals. www.heathersherbals.com
Kate White, MA, LMT, RCST is owner of Belvedere Integrated Healing Arts, Director of the Center
for Prenatal and Perinatal Programs, and Director of Education for the Association for Prenatal and
Perinatal Psychology and Health. She specializes in therapies and education about experiences from the
prenatal period, birth and first years of life, especially how they impact our health throughout the life span.
She is married with two children and lives in Charlottesville, VA. www.belvederearts.com