Red Earth
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The 10th Annual Red Earth: The Mountain West Women's Herbal Gathering July 31st - August 2nd, 2026* at 13 Moons Ranch in Carbondale, CO
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Mary Lou Singleton
Mary Lou Singleton is a mother, a grandmother, and a lover of the green world. She has been studying herbalism since 1990 and she practiced as a homebirth midwife for over 25 years.
Mary Lou now provides primary health care as a nurse practitioner to families seeking wise woman care. Her independent clinic, Enchanted Family Medicine, offers community herbal classes, an extensive herbal apothecary, and a resource center for the women of Albuquerque to build collective sisterhood and support.
Plant Friends of 13 Moons Ranch: 1.5 hour, Adults, All Levels
Getting to know plants is similar to getting to know people. Sometimes you see someone across the room and you just know you want to be friends. The same phenomenon can happen with plants. When a plant catches your attention, that plant is usually an herbal ally who will become your good friend. Let's walk around this beautiful land and acquaint ourselves with some cool new friends.
Menopause as a Rite of Passage: 1.5 hour, Adults, All Levels
As wise women, we understand how blessed we are to be born female. To be female is to be an alchemist: we change and we change and we change. The shift from our fertile years into cronehood offers the opportunity to integrate all of our previous transformations, to alchemize into our golden selves. Magic powers previously unknown to us often arise as we exit the wheel of cycling. Our bodies may send us strong messages during this changing time, but menopause is not an illness. Plant allies can help ease our journeys, supporting rather than suppressing the gift of growing older. Women of all ages are invited to come discuss and celebrate the croning process.
Dream Medicine: 1.5 hour, Adults, All Levels
We are experiencing an epidemic of insomnia, and with this comes a loss of dreaming. What happens to a society when people no longer dream?
As wise women, we know that dreams have great value. Dreams bring us insight, illuminate our hopes and fears, and sometimes give us direct messaging from the Divine. It is both our birthright and our duty to dream. The green world provides us with many allies for dreaming. Come learn about herbs to promote gentle dreams, lucid dreams, prophetic dreams, and more vivid dreams.
Bring a dream story to share if you have one.
Forbidden Wisdom: Wise Use of Potentially Dangerous Plant: 1.5 hour, Adults, Advanced
A discussion on the (hypothetical, of course) use of plant medicines the authorities tell us are dangerous but our foremothers used wisely.
We are witnessing growing fear and self-policing among herbalists around "dangerous" plants. Herbs much less likely to harm us than common pharmaceuticals are treated as poisonous. Let's remember and renew our relationship with the plant medicines that require us to be especially prudent, mindful and wise. Herbs discussed will include chaparral, poke, ephedra, datura, and our much maligned sister, comfrey.
The Wise Woman Panel: 1 hour
Join our amazing Wise Women teachers (Brigitte Mars, EagleSong Gardener, Ellen Evert Hopman, and Mary Lou Singleton) as they answer and discuss questions from the audience. There will be a box at Registration/the Info Booth for those women who would prefer the Red Earth team to ask their questions for them.