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Folk Medicine Making Series
With Xylia Willow
8 in-person classes to explore the empowering & creative magic of herbalism. Over 20 hours of traditional knowledge & skill building through story & practice.
February 11th- April 1st 6pm-8:30pm
Each class we dive into a new form of creation & expand upon specific herbs. Over the course of 2 months we build up a medicine cabinet & a personal Materia Medica of different herbal allies.
Alongside our weekly medicine making & relationship building, each student is supported in a class project to be shared at our final gathering.
Cost: $600
All materials included.
For more information or if you’d like a payment plan, email Herbs@PilarsWellnessCollective.com
Our workshop series has limited seats to ensure an intimate, & attentive space, so reserve your spot!
Week 1: Teas & Decoctions
Our first week together we are laying the foundations of herb work, starting with water extractions. We will introduce herbal vocabulary & explore the global practice of using water as a solvent. Xylia will guide students through their methods of herbal formulations to instill confidence in creating an herbal tea blend that is functional, delicious, & sustainable.
Week 2: Medicinal Syrups
Expanding on our foundation of formulation & water extraction we journey into the delicious & functional realm of medicinal syrups. From cough syrups to mineral-rich daily tonic syrups to playful herbal syrups, we will cover a multitude of recipes along with common errors. We will collaboratively craft a functional syrup to take home.
Week 3: Tinctures
With a foundation set of basic extraction principles, we introduce new solvents: alcohol or ethyl extracts. In this class we will learn when & why alcohol is appropriate as a solvent, what herbs like to be extracted in alcohol, & common mistakes/misunderstandings around folk methods. Students will build deeper relationships with specific herbs & then craft their own folk method ticture.
Week 4: Oil Infusions
From body oils to culinary oils, we will cover the breadth of creative opportunities when we infuse herbs into oils. We will learn a variety of herbs for topical support as well as exploring the variety of different types of oils & their benefits. We will cover form & function for different topical herbal supports & begin our ow personal herbal oil.
Week 5: Herbal Honey & Electuaries
Honey itself is a powerful medicinal that loves to extract the multifaceted aromatics of herbs. These honey extracts can be used in a plethora of ways. When we combine a formula of powdered herbs to our honeys we get an accessible & unique method of medicine making. We also will explore the energetics & ethics of working with honey & honey bees to better build a holistic & non-exploitive relationship with them & their medicine. Students will craft their own formula of powdered herbs to create their own electuary, or choose to infuse an aromatic herb of their choosing.
Week 6: Salves & Balms
With our learned skills of oil infusions & understanding of bee medicine, we combine these into creating soothing & nourishing salves & balms. From skin healing, to muscle tension, to lip care, this exploration of herbal topical care opens up doors to rich creativity & versatile folk medicinal care. We will collectively create a salve formula for the needs of the cohort to take home.
Week 7: Vinegar Extracts- Fireciders, Oxymels, & Acetums
Vinegar extractions are deeply rooted in history, as both a food & medicinal. It is a crucial solvent in the home medicine cabinet as well as the pantry. This class we will explore the significance of vinegar extracts within both ancient & recent history. Understanding the differences & overlaps of these three crucial forms of herbal medicine, as well as the seasonal relationships to what herbs or foods we choose to extract. Students will choose which method calls to them & create a personal vinegar extract.
Week 8: Mocktails &Kitchen Wizardry
Combining all of the skills we’ve built over 2 months, we get to be especially playful in our creativity. Xylia will guide students through their methods of formulating tasty herbal libations alongside the joys of kitchen herbalism. This perspective is aimed at the flavor & function of bringing your herbal skills into daily culinary practice. Though a class, albeit a tasty one, this is our final gathering. So we share in an important practice that we are cultivating alongside our medicine making- the joy of sharing & creating together. In this final class, we also present & share our class projects, emphasizing the importance of collective knowledge building.
Folk Medicine Making Series -
Class Project
Over the course of the 2 month series, students have 2 options for their class project. On our final class day, we will present a quick 5 minute share on the experience & what they chose to create.
Option 1- Make a folk medicine of your choosing to share with the class. This could be a salve, a tincture, a syrup, a tea blend, or whatever your heart desires that is inspired by the skills we’ve cultivated. You will parcel your creation into 10 small containers that will be shared with each member of the class
Option 2- Choose 1 herb to explore in different forms. This could take the shape of a song, a poem, a drawing, or writing a monograph on its medicinal uses & history. The aim of this option is that you sit with one herb & build a friendship, then share the story you’ve learned of & with this herb to the class.
Register for the Spring 2026 Cohort!
About Your Instructor:
Xylia Willow is Pilar’s Wellness Collective’s Co-Founder & Lead Medicine Maker. They are a 3rd generation herbalist, community field botanist, & a true herb nerd. Xylia has been a teacher since 2011 & is intensely passionate about demystifying herbalism & earth based practices through the lens of history, reverence, & honoring the lineages who have cultivated this knowledge.
Their devout relationship to rematriating knowledge & skill informs their practice as a teacher, giving honest insight into the often exploitive modernization of herbal industry. It is imperative to them that students don’t just learn skill & action, but build real, slow relationships & understand the cultural & ecological impacts of this work. Inviting true curiosity & encouraging personal responsibility within the layers of cultural context that are inseparable to herbal practice.
Payment plans available with a $100 deposit to hold your seat.
Please fill out this form if you’re interested in a payment plan, or if you have any questions regarding the series.
Note from Xylia
“Herbal medicine is the people’s medicine. It is heritage & ancestry alive through oral & physical traditions. These threads link us all back to a time when our connections to the land were not vague abstractions, but a lived reality.
I am honored to share my own family lineage of herbal practice, as well as traditions I’ve humbly been student to through the old ways of story, work, & time. This is why hands-on workshops are imperative to me. In these times of disembodied & overstimulating knowledge sharing, slowing down & learning a craft through your hands & in community is another way that we connect to all who have carried & shared this knowledge before us.
I regard myself less as a teacher, but more of a translator. In my classes I aim not to show you how to do things, but rather to help you remember. As is the way of this work, I am a student to you all & your traditions with every time we gather.”