THE VILLAGE WITCHES

A passionate educational curator, facilitator and mentor dedicated to adult learners of all backgrounds. A representative for Mother Nature as a writer and teacher of Deep Ecology, Therapeutic Ecology and whole systems design through the lens of Herbalism and Permaculture. Sarah Wu has 22 years studying the science, art and craft of Planetary Eclectic Herbal Medicine, with a foundation in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Wise Woman Tradition.

With 28 and counting, 75+hour Permaculture Design Courses (PDC) in her portfolio, Sarah, along with her partner in wellness Lala Palmieri wrote the 2000-hour original curriculum Permaculture for the Herbalist’s Path (PHP). Uniting two huge studies with the foundation in Whole Systems Design, this course is tailored to those seeking a well rounded, formal education in herbalism, while also achieving a certificate in Permaculture Design. Sarah teaches full length and specialized Permaculture courses and workshops tailored to community involvement, event production and holistic health.

Sarah is the co-founder of Envision Festival, an annual arts, music, education and movement festival in Uvita, Costa Rica where she curates the educational experiences as well as the Village Witches: Herbal Elixir Bar, Sacred Spaces, Healing Sanctuary, Herbal First Aid Clinic. She is the founder and producer of Medicines from the Edge: A Tropical Herbal Convergence, dedicated to bridging the eclectic healing traditions of Latin America. Former Director and General Manager at the Punta Mona Center for Regenerative Design & Botanical Studies, Manzanillo, Limon, Costa Rica, Sarah brought herbal studies to the location in 2009 and is regular annual faculty member. Sarah is a guest facilitator for Earth Speak, and presents on numerous podcasts, video blogs and universities.

Sarah studied formally with David Winston and had the opportunity to work with 7Song at the Omatepe, Nicaragua Natural Doctors International Clinic, as well as having attended and presented at the New England Women’s Herbal Conference and the International Herbal Symposium. She is a contributor to Rosemary Gladstar’s online course through Sage Mountain and has written for various herbal publications.

Laura “Lala” Palmieri is a biologist, botanist, herbalist and permaculturist, with a lifetime working with plants. Lala was raised in a greenhouse, cultivating orchids, building living walls and aquaponic systems. She lived at Punta Mona for three years as an educational facilitator and mentor to apprentices and volunteers and is currently part of the Fungi Academy.

Katryna Bell, 27 year old woman, born and mostly raised in the great state of Georgia, a beautiful slice of heaven nestled into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. As a teenager, Katryna spent a lot of time in the woods with her friends, it was their greatest escape, and also the place they felt both the safest, and at home. She moved down to Atlanta when she was 19 to start college at Georgia State University, graduating in 2014 with a Bachelor’s in Journalism, a focus on Public Relations and a minor in Sociology. She didn’t realize when her journey of studies began that those subjects combined would inevitably lead her to question everything she thought she knew, and everything she had believed to be true, and with that, once she graduated, she decided it was time to start traveling and find the truth that was calling to her.

It only took a year after college for Katryna to find herself called back to the woods, where she began to find her teachers, her passions and the life that she had been unknowingly dreaming of. From there she began to work with plants, taking up an interest in health and nutrition, which led her to the never-ending field of herbalism. Since then, Katryna has traveled, seeking out different teachers that have helped her to develop the tools to bring herself into a state of health within her mind, body and spirit. As her life style shifted, she found a deep passion for working with plants, coaching other’s, and writing about her deepest truths and the secrets that continued to unfold before her. She has now developed into a plant loving, chocolate making, writer, obsessed with all forms of expression. Now, back in South Eastern USA, where she began, Katryna is teaching other’s in communication and sexuality, making medicinal chocolates, and writing both her story through poetry, and the very plants she continues to study and fall deeply in love with.