Community Herbalist Retreat

Step into a world of plant wisdom, deep connection, and soulful celebration at our annual Community Herbalist Retreat, held during the luminous days of Summer Solstice on our beautiful medicinal herb farm in rural Maine. This is more than a weekend retreat—it’s an invitation to slow down, reconnect with the land, and immerse yourself in the magic of herbal medicine in the company of kindred spirits.

Nestled within the lush gardens, woodlands, and flowing waterways of Blessed Maine Herb Farm, you’ll spend three days learning, exploring, and honoring the plants that have guided healers for generations. Our School House at the edge of the medicinal herb gardens serves as our indoor classroom, while open-air sessions invite you to walk the Medicine Trail, gather by the Wesserunsett Stream, and experience the living classroom of the land itself.

The Community Herbalist Retreat is a space of intimacy, inspiration, and renewal—a time to breathe, to be present, and to nurture both your knowledge and your spirit. Here, we cultivate a reciprocal, plant-honoring, eco-friendly, woman-centered community—a circle that is loosely woven yet deeply supportive, bound by shared purpose and reverence for the healing arts.

Over the course of the weekend, we will:

Deepen our understanding of the medicinal and magical properties of plants and trees

Craft amulets, herbal bundles, and medicines of the heart and hands

Strengthen our plant identification skills through direct experience with the land

Engage in storytelling, drumming, song, and sacred ceremony

Dream, pray, and honor the unseen realms of plant spirit medicine

Create art, tend to our inner landscapes, and embrace the joy of shared experience

This is a gathering that feeds the mind, body, and soul—a space to learn, but also to play, to listen, to share, and to simply be. Bring your notebook and pen, yes—but also bring your curiosity, your open wild heart, and your willingness to step into the unknown with trust and wonder.

The weekend includes seven nourishing meals, all materials, and camping accommodations, so you can fully immerse yourself in this sacred experience.

Come celebrate the season, the plants, and the healer within you. We can’t wait to welcome you.

Words of Reflection from Retreat Participants:

“It was a privilege to be on your land and to be with you and the students who you brought together…I felt present and my heart was opened - and i felt that other people were in the same place too. Vibing together is the best. I experienced healing. And so much enjoyment being with these beautiful people who you brought together and attracted….I also experienced something that left me heightened and inspired - and was lifted up. I think you helped me to get to another level….Anyway, I had a meaningful experience during the retreat. And I want to thank you for that…Thank you again, I look forward to coming back.”

-Dana

"As I am sitting in my home decompressing from the weekend, I want to thank you for a special weekend. I am so grateful to have been a part of such an extraordinary experience - it’s just what I needed to reset myself after an incredibly challenging school year teaching. My heart is so full right now and I am over the moon as I process the connections to feminine energy, to our Mother, and of course my own mother. Thank you for sharing your space, energy, and love with us; you are a beautiful soul! Hope we meet again…."

-Melissa 

"I just attended and taught at a weekend retreat at Blessed Maine Herb Farm, in Athens. It filled my soul to reconnect with dear friends, meet new ones, eat delicious food, learn new things, sleep like a rock, do yoga, create art, partake in sacred ceremony, sing, chant, drum, and rattle. I've released some of what I don't need and made space for new growth. It was nourishing and transformative."

"Thank you, Gail Faith Edwards, for sharing your knowledge, your holy space, and your wild heart with us. Thank you to the staff with boots on the ground for taking such good care of us. Thank you to everyone who attended and held space of safety and unconditional acceptance. I'm already looking forward to next year." 

-Kathy

"I just want to tell you how much I enjoyed the retreat . . . I got a little emotional at the end, because so much of what you and others were saying and doing resonated so strongly for me. I haven't been with such a like-minded group in such a long time! I felt so truly gathered in and lifted up . . . definitely soul restorative! Thank you for holding such a beautiful space for us all!"

-Jan

"Thank you again for three wonderful days at your retreat!"

-Brenda

Presentation Information

Our weekend begins on Friday morning (arrival/ set-up between 10AM-11:30) and continues to mid-afternoon on Sunday.

Join us for a deeply enriching weekend of herbal wisdom, creative exploration, and heart-centered connection as we honor the magic of Summer Solstice. Here's what we've got planned thus far:

HERBS FOR ACUTE CARE

CECILIA QUIMBY 

Explore herbal remedies for acute ailments and build confidence in using plants for first-aid care. 

Cecilia will present a follow-up to the first aid class that she offered last year. She will describe a number of plants successfully employed to treat acute ailments. A reference guide will be provided. Cecilia values everyone’s input and experiences and welcomes participant contribution to the discussion. 

Cecilia Quimby is a Registered Nurse, for 40 plus years, and is currently working in Southern Maine in Home Health. She studied herbalism with Gail Faith Edwards, Mischa Schuler and Deb Mercier. Cecilia is a longtime Tai chi practitioner. 

COURAGE TO OUR HEARTS!
DEB FATE MENTAL

Learn about herbal allies for heart support. 

Unstable times call for bravery and courage. Bravery and courage is heart-centered action. In this presentation we are going to explore herbs to support our courageous hearts no matter what the challenge. We’ll meet allies such as hawthorn, rose, motherwort, vervain and linden. We’ll spend some time getting to know them and how they work with us in physical form, energetically and spiritually. Courage from the plants to your heart! 

 INDIGO DYEING

DEB FATE MENTAL

Dye fabric to be used for creating an amulet

Deb will lead us in ritually dyeing fabric squares to be used to create amulets on Sunday morning. Once dry, your fabric can be decorated with paint pens before making your personal amulet. Deb will walk us through the process and talk about indigo and the history of indigo dyeing.

Deb Fate-Mental of Elder Grove Shamanic Healing is an archetypal Wise Woman and has been in practice for almost a decade. Deb teaches and works from a deeply animistic perspective keeping in mind the sacredness of all life. Her healing expertise combines traditional plant lore with authentic spiritwork healing. Deb mediates between the human world and the spirit worlds; untangling and restoring energies to their proper places; removing blocks, clearing energy, and bringing a deep sense of contentment and joy to her clients. Deb also has a deep folkloric and medicinal knowledge of plant medicines based on many years of study with several teachers.

 PLAYING WITH BAY!

RYAN JACKSON

Explore and create with bay leaves

Bay Laurel is associated with the sun and the fire element which makes our solstice gathering
the perfect time to honor and get to know her better. We will talk about Bay’s ancient history,
steeped in myth, magic and victory while we sip a bay tea blend. Then we will chat about her
practical modern uses while we test some of the physical and spiritual medicine Bay has to
offer. Finally, we will end our celebration with some grounding creative practices using Bay. You
will have a friend forever after this play date!

MORNING MEDITATION WITH SOUND BATH

RYAN JACKSOn

Sound Bath to start each day

Let’s start the day peacefully in the solstice gardens for a mindful moment together. We will
breathe and let go, supported by the earth, as we open to what our weekend together brings.
Bring a yoga mat or blanket and anything else you need to feel supported.

Ryan Marie Jackson lives with her husband, two daughters and Cobberdog in Massachusetts. Currently, Ryan is teaching yoga as well as local herbal classes. She has coached people through various healing nutritional programs while helping them learn about and use herbs for support. Food was Ryan’s first plant medicine, learning about diet as the basis for healing.  She has been gardening for most her life and still has not yet learned how to avoid buying way too many plants every spring. After having children, over 17 years ago, herbs became an intuitive way to care for her family and she has been studying whole-heartedly since.  

TAI CHI

LISA SHAEFER

Experience Tai Chi each morning 

Tai Chi is based on the laws of nature and unites mind and body.  It improves balance, strength and mental health through slow and controlled movements.  In this class Lisa will be leading the participants through the forms of Tai Chi for Heart Health for one session and Tai Chi for Arthritis for the second session. This form of Tai Chi has been developed to make it accessible to most people.

Lisa Schaefer has been attending events at Gail's for many years including completing the Community Herbalist Program.  She is certified to teach Tai Chi for Heart and Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention through the Tai Chi for Health Institute.

ILLUMINATING THE SOUL: A SOLSTICE MEDICINE PAINTING RITUAL

GAIL FAITH EDWARDS

Create a personal Summer Solstice Medicine Painting

As the sun reaches its peak on the longest day of the year, under the open sky and surrounded by the land’s wild beauty, we will explore themes of illumination, transformation, abundance, and the blooming of our inner light, using color and symbolism to express the solstice’s radiant energy. We will weave herbs traditionally associated with Summer Solstice, such as bay, rose, St. John’s Wort, mugwort, and lavender into our process, welcoming their inspiration and intention as we paint. Through guided visualization and intuitive brushstrokes, participants will create a personal reflection of their inner radiance and the turning of the season on a 8 inch round canvas which will be provided. No painting experience is needed—just an open, wild heart and a willingness to explore a space of creativity, self-expression, and connection to the solstice’s vibrant energy. Bring paints and brushes if you have them - for those who don’t supplies will be provided. 

FA LO SANTUCCIO - DO A LITTLE HOLY THING

 GAIL FAITH EDWARDS 

Deepen your practice of Dream Incubation 

The practice of Benedicaria is all pervasive in Southern Italia. These spiritual practices and traditional ways of restoring health to body, mind and spirit, long referred to as "just the way we do things", became known as Benedicaria, a term that links spiritual faith, from the dawn of time, to our physical well-being. We're going to continue exploring the pharmacopeia and practices of the Benedetta, and also to deepen the traditional Southern Italian Healing Dream work we’ve been exploring the past several years. This work will be informally woven into our weekend together.

Gail Faith Edwards is a Community Herbalist with more than forty years experience. She is the author of several books on herbal medicine, operates a vibrant medicinal herb farm, school and herbal products business and consults with clients. She teaches internationally and leads sacred journeys to Southern Italy twice a year. 

CEREMONY OF CONDOLENCES

Summer Solstice Ceremony

Release negativity and welcome inspiration

National and world affairs have been such this past year that many of us are dealing with a bottleneck of fears, frustration, deep sadness, helplessness, even despair. The very real effects of Global Warming, the increasingly rapid extinction of plants, animals and cultures, the heavy heartache over what is happening here at home as well as in the Middle East and Ukraine, combined with on-going corporate greed and world-wide political conflicts, are just a few of the issues that have impacted all of us negatively, and continue to do so, whether we are conscious of it or not. It is difficult to be a creative and optimally functional member of community while weighed down by worry and sadness over things for which we have little control.  During our Ceremony of Condolence we will employ flame bathing, rhythm, feather and herbal waters to ceremonially burn, brush and wash away this clinging negativity, to lift and cleanse our spirits, remove what weighs us down, and give each of us a chance to speak what is in our hearts. Our ceremony will offer a fresh new start and hopefully inspire creative and transformative ideas about how best to take action in our local communities for the benefit of all

Magical plant gathering

After the release of that which no longer serves us and welcoming fresh, new energy into our lives we will gather herbs for magical purposes, as is traditional on this sacred night.  We’ll use these plants to create our protective amulets on Sunday morning. 

Sunday morning magic hour - creating amulets and herb bundles.

Sunday morning Barter Faire - bring your beautifully handcrafted items to barter! 

Blessing of Roses Ceremony will close our weekend.

SEVEN EXQUISITE ORGANIC MEALS AND CAMPING ARE INCLUDED IN YOUR FEE. All our meals will be freshly prepared with local, organically grown produce, and this is included in your fee. In fact, our mealtimes are sure to be one of the many highlights of our time together!

Choose your camping spot in the herb gardens or up in the orchard, adjacent to the pollinator field, an acre full of native wildflowers. The views are beautiful up there and the sky is so big. You can get fresh wild water at the spring or use the water provided from our kitchen. It all comes from the same fabulously pristine source, an ancient glacial lake buried deep under the earth here.

You will need to bring a tent and camping supplies if you intend to camp, a knife, basket or bag, notebook and pen, and personal items of choice. We have a limited amount of rustic indoor sleeping space for those who prefer indoor accommodations. You will still need to bring a sleeping pad, blankets, etc. Please let us know when you register that you would like this choice. Again, these spaces are limited and assigned on a first come, first served basis.

A list of local motels and bed & breakfasts will be provided to those who ask.

Please note that the retreat is a smoke free zone. Dogs, drugs and alcohol are not permitted.

We ask that all cell phones be turned off during classes and we have a strict no cell phones in the gardens policy to protect our pollinators. You may use your cell phone, as necessary, in the driveway area.

Come celebrate the radiant energy of the Summer Solstice with us! Whether you seek healing, inspiration, or community, this weekend offers a sacred space to connect, create, and transform. We look forward to sharing this experience with you.

2025 Community Herbalist Retreat Schedule

Our 2025 schedule is still being finalized, but it will follow a similar rhythm as past gatherings. This immersive weekend blends hands-on herbal wisdom, creative expression, storytelling, and sacred ritual, all set within the beauty of the land. From morning meditation and herb walks to evening fires and dream work, each moment is designed to deepen our connection to the plants, ourselves, and each other.

Whether you’re learning new skills, creating art, or simply soaking in the community spirit, we invite you to move through the weekend with curiosity and reverence. Below is a glimpse of what to expect and the flow of each day:

Detailed Schedule
Our 2025 schedule has not yet been formed, but will follow a similar pattern: 

FRIDAY
10:00 -12:00 – arrival/camp set up
Opening prayer 12:00 noon
1:00 – 2:00 Lunch
2 – 3:00 – Oil Extraction with Kathy Gray
3:00 – 4:00 - Tick Prevention and Care with Cecilia Quimby
4:00 - 5:30  Fantasy and Folklore with Deb Fate Mental
5:30 - 6:30 dinner
7:00 – 8:30 Storytelling with Gail

SATURDAY
7:00 - 8:00 - Yoga with Ryan Jackson
7:00 coffee and tea
7:30 – 8:30 breakfast served
9:00 - 10:00 Stroll the herb gardens together 

10:00 - 11:30 Petroglyphs on the River outing - sing the Water Song to Bless the Waters    

12:00 – 1:00 lunch                                                                                                                                             1:30 - 2:45 Honey Electuaries with Julie Hundley                                                                                               3:00 - 4:00 - Making Color with Gail Faith Edwards
4:15 – 5:30 Grieving with Pine with Susan Stone
5:45 – 6:45 dinner
7:00 – 8:00 Fa Lo Santuccio - Healing Dream Preparation with Gail Faith Edwards
8:00 - 10:00 Summer Solstice Fire - Magical Plant Gathering

SUNDAY
7:00 - 8:00 yoga with Ryan Jackson
7:00 coffee and tea
7:30 – 8:30 breakfast served
7:30 - 8:30 Stroll the gardens independently
8:30 - 9:30 – Creating Protective Amulets and Fumigation Wands/Smudge Sticks
9:30 - 10:30- Barter Fair! Bring your herbal or other handmade creations to trade!
10:30 - 12:00 - Flower Mandalas with Pam Post
12:30 – 1:30 lunch
1:45 - 2:30rose blessing closing ceremony
2:30 - 4 PM camp breakdown and depart

Note: If you are staying off the farm please arrive in time for the opening ceremony at 12 noon on Friday.

Register and pay in full for the Community Herbalist Retreat at the link provided at the top of this page. If you are a currently enrolled student in the Year-Long Body Systems course you are eligible for a 25% discount on our registration fee. Email gailea88@gmail.com for coupon.