(**Please note: This class is reserved to persons who have native ancestry from the SWANA [aka Middle East and N. Africa] region- mixed ancestry included. Please note that identity is more than a genetic consideration. This circle is intended for people with traceable generational relationships to the SWANA region. Thank you for respecting this space.

This space is inclusive to trans and queer kin, and welcomes ethnically marginalized communities from the SWANA region to join us in re-membrance. This work explicitly celebrate the pluralism of the SWANA region and strives to reject internalized nationalism and supremacy based on dominant identities, and colonial erasure and violence. The space does not tolerate harm of this nature in our communal spaces.)

This extended ONLINE series is for SWANA* community to engage in embodied learning about our ancestral plants and their uses as medicinal, cultural, and spiritual allies. It is designed for people interested in cultivating deeper, embodied relationships with plants, lineage, and the earth in general.

Registration deadline is April 1st, 2023

This is a 7 month long immersion, from April - October.

Plants are agents of consciousness, story, and memory. Our ancestral plants carry the DNA of our homelands, of our ancestors, and resonate this memory with the truths that live deep inside our own bodies and hearts. We will work with this relationship to access deeply held wisdom, revitalize lost bodies of knowledge, and re-establish relationship to ourselves, our ancestors, and the resilience and medicine available through being in conscious relationship with our plantcestors/homelands. Each participant will receive a package of SWANA native plant medicines to work with through the course of our class together. Experiential relationship with the plantcestors will be emphasized and facilitated through the duration of the class.

In this class we will:

• Immerse deeply in the Plantcestral Re-Membrance methodology, to deepen at the intersection of ancestral re-connection and herbal medicine

• Develop fundamental tools to work with plants as medicinal, cultural, and spiritual allies

• Practice and learn tools to communicate with our medicines, land, and our internal selves

• Engage in a process of personal healing through building relationship with plantcestors, working with our dreams, our ancestral stories, and each other

• Learn traditional principles and ethical practice around harvesting, medicine making, and more

• Build embodied relationships and gain experiential, folk, and medicinal knowledge about 3-4 SWANA plants

• Deepen relationship with our lineage lands from wherever we are in the world

• Learn how to better connect to our own embodied wisdom, intuition, and the cues of the natural and spiritual worlds to support our day-to-day lives and healing

• Contribute to strengthening the knowledge and practice of our SWANA plantcestral traditions, stories, dreams, and ways of knowing

• Receive a package of SWANA plantcestral medicines to work, heal, and learn with at home

• Explore and revitalize traditional ways of healing and connecting to place

• Take a personal journey into the plantcestral realm with the support of a close community, a generous facilitator, and a deeply intentional and caring container

• Gain access to private community spaces for flourishing support during and after the circle

Circle Structure, Time & Participation Commitment:

• A combo of live, pre-recorded, experiential, and written educational engagement.

• The online sessions are conducted via live video conference calling on Zoom (can download for free).

• Communication and a private member forum will occur through the BAND app. (dowload for free) and a password protected webpage.

• Participants should be prepared to spend a little time (5-30 mins) each day with the online material and medicine packages sent to you via mail, in between sessions. This is a CRITICAL part of the collective process.

• There will be small groups arranged based on your timezone, to support your process in between live classes. Communicating/meeting with them on the suggested dates will be required.

• The foundation of this class is based on the cultivation of your own experiential personal relationship with the plantcestral allies we will be working with. This often opens up deeper healing processes. Participants must be willing and available to this process.

• You will have exclusive access to discounted 1-on-1 mentorship sessions with Layla, if additional support is needed.

dates and times:

• This circle entails a combo of live, pre-recorded, experiential, and written educational engagement.

• Large group live sessions will occur on the following dates (time tbd based on applications submitted):

Mon, April 17th
Sat, May 20th
Fri, July 21th
Fri, Sept 22th
Sat, Oct 28th

• With additional small cohort live sessions on:

June 10th
Aug 9th
Oct 10th

FEE EXCHANGE: 

The registration for this immersive circle equals $125/month plus the cost of the herbal package and shipping to your home. The total amounts to:

$999 [FOR BASIC PLANT PACKAGE]

+ Includes all teachings and sessions.

+ 1oz bottle of microdosis with flower essence of each plant we will work with in the circle.

+ A bonus bottle with a plant remedy for supporting integration.

$1111 [FOR GENEROUS PLANT PACKAGE]

LIMITED QUANTITIES AVAILABLE.

+ Includes all teachings and sessions.

+ 1oz bottle of microdosis and/or flower essence of each plant we will work with in the circle.

+ A bonus bottle with a plant remedy for supporting integration.

+ At least one additional preparation of each plant we will work with. For example, an infused honey, tincture, herbal oil, oxymel, hydrosol, dry tea, dyed fabric, or other such remedies, depending on the plant.

PAYMENT PLANS AVAILABLE

+ 4 monthly payments of $250 - for basic package

+ 4 monthly payments of $278 - for deluxe package

+ 6 monthly payments of $167 - for basic package

+ 6 monthly payments of $186 - for deluxe package

SCHOLARSHIPS + WORK-TRADE AVAILABLE.

Limited numbers of partial scholarship and work-trade are available. Details for application are included in the application form.

If you would like to contribute to our scholarship funds, you may do so here. THANK YOU in advance!

REGISTRATION DEADLINE:

The application form is a confirmation of your intention to participate in the class and MUST be submitted by April 1, 2023. Once you are accepted into the course, a follow up form will be established to confirm final dates, due with initial payment links by the first week of April, to ensure your place. This is also a COMMITMENT and agreement to completing all following payments and participation to the best of your ability in our circle. If for some reason, you discontinue participation in our circle, the completion of your payments will still be expected.

Space is limited and no refunds will be given (questions concerning alternative financial arrangements will be addressed in the application).

Help us find each other: PLEASE SHARE with SWANA friends and community who would enjoy or benefit from such a circle.

(**Please note: This class is reserved to persons who have native ancestry from the SWANA [aka Middle East and N. Africa] region- mixed ancestry included. Thank you for respecting this space.)

This extended ONLINE series is for SWANA* community to engage in embodied learning about our ancestral plants and their uses as medicinal, cultural, and spiritual allies. Agents of consciousness, story, and memory. Our ancestral plants carry the DNA of our homelands, of our ancestors, and resonate this memory with the truths that live deep inside our own bodies and hearts. We will work with this relationship to access deeply held wisdom, revitalize lost bodies of knowledge, and re-establish relationship to ourselves, our ancestors, and the resilience and medicine available through being in conscious relationship with our plantcestors/homelands. Each participant will receive a package of SWANA native plant medicines to work with through the course of our class together. Experiential relationship with the plantcestors will be emphasized and facilitated through the duration of the class.

In this class we will:
* Develop fundamental tools to work with plants as medicinal, cultural, and spiritual allies
* Practice and learn tools to communicate with our medicines and our internal selves
* Engage in a process of personal healing through building relationship with plantcestors, working with our dreams, our ancestral stories, and witnessing each other
* Learn traditional principles and ethical practice around harvesting, medicine making, and more
* Gain & generate experiential, folk, and medicinal knowledge about several plants
* Deepen relationship with our ancestors and ourselves
* Learn how to better connect to our own internal wisdom, intuition, and the cues of the natural & spiritual worlds to support our day-to-day lives and healing
* Contribute to strengthening the knowledge and practice of our SWANA plantcestral traditions, cosmologies, dreams, and ways of knowing
* Receive a package of SWANA plantcestral medicines to work, heal, and learn with at home
* Explore and revitalize traditional ways of healing ourselves and our communities
* Take a personal journey into the plantcestral realm with the support of a safe community


MORE INFO...
- This online class is a small group and is conducted via live video conference calling for more than half of our sessions, which requires LIVE ATTENDANCE and participation (must have access to internet/camera or audio to participate via Zoom- can download for free). Participants should be prepared to spend a little time (5-30 mins) each day with the medicines/material in between classes in order to contribute to our sessions- this is a CRITICAL part of the collective re-membering. 1x per month, we will have pre-recorded sessions which participants will be asked to engage via audio or text comments on our class website or class phone thread via WhatsApp (please download the app in preparation). There will be small groups arranged to support your process in between live classes. Communicating/meeting with them at least 1x per month will be required.

- A package of medicines will be sent to you via mail for you to work with through the course of our class.

- The foundation of this class is based on the cultivation of your own experiential personal relationship with the plantcestral allies we will be working with. This often opens up deeper healing processes. Participants must be willing and available to this process. The group and facilitator are here to support thru each step of the way, but having support networks and routines in place to hold yourself through the deepest parts of the process are advised. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to ask. 

- Class will meet for 13 sessions from April - August. Exact time and dates of the class will be determined based on the group's schedule and announced on March 6th. Answer registration form questions to include your own needs, timezone, and preferences so that we can determine this ASAP please.

FEE EXCHANGE: $555 USD (includes all teachings plus medicine package mailed to your home to work with through the course)

Fill out this application to register: APPLICATION SPRING 2020
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: The application form is a confirmation of your intention to participate in the class and MUST be submitted by March 2, 2020. Once you are accepted into the course, a follow up form will be established to confirm final dates, due with deposit of $155 USD by March 6th to ensure your place. This is also a COMMITMENT and agreement to completing all following payments and participation to the best of your ability in our circle. If for some reason, you discontinue participation in our circle, the completion of your payments will still be expected. Space is limited and no refunds will be given (questions concerning alternative financial arrangements will be addressed in the application).
Send registration deposit and following payments to venmo @plantcestral or  paypal.me/riverrose (friends and family option, please).

Help us find each other: PLEASE SHARE with SWANA friends and community who would enjoy or benefit from such a circle.

ONLINE 5-class series | January 14 - March 18, exact time TBD| $333

(**Please note: This class is reserved to persons who have native ancestry from the SWANA [aka Middle East and N. Africa] region- mixed ancestry included. Thank you for respecting this space.)

Good folks, many of you have been requesting and asking for another one of these series to come up. I haven’t offered one for a year and I’m not sure when I will again, so join us for this chance while it is here!

This extended ONLINE series is for SWANA* community to engage in embodied learning about our ancestral plants and their uses as medicinal and spiritual allies. Our ancestral plants carry the DNA of our homelands, of our ancestors, and resonate this memory with the truths that live deep inside our own bodies and hearts. We will work with this relationship to access deeply held wisdom, revitalize lost bodies of knowledge, and re-establish relationship to ourselves, our ancestors, and the resilience and medicine available through being in conscious relationship with our plantcestors. Each participant will receive a package of SWANA native plant medicines to work with through the course of our class together. Experiential relationship with the plantcestors will be emphasized and facilitated through the duration of the class.

In this class we will:
* Develop fundamental tools to work with plants as medicinal and spiritual allies
* Practice and learn tools to communicate with our medicines and our internal selves
* Engage in a process of personal healing through building relationship with plantcestral allies and witnessing each other
* Learn traditional principles and ethical practice around harvesting, medicine making, and more
* Gain & generate experiential, folk, and medicinal knowledge about several plants
* Deepen relationship with our ancestors and ourselves
* Learn how to better connect to our own internal wisdom, intuition, and the cues of the natural & spiritual worlds to support our day-to-day lives and healing
* Contribute to strengthening the knowledge and practice of our SWANA plantcestral traditions, cosmologies, and ways of knowing
* Receive a package of SWANA plantcestral medicines to work, heal, and learn with at home
* Explore and revitalize traditional ways of healing ourselves and our communities
* Take a personal journey into the plantcestral realm with the support of a safe community


MORE INFO...
- This online class is a small group and is conducted via live video conference calling, and requires LIVE ATTENDANCE and participation each class (must have access to internet/camera or audio & google hangouts to participate- can download for free). Homework will be assigned each week and participants should be prepared to spend a little time (at least 10 mins, ideally 30 mins) each day with the medicines/material in between classes.

- A package of medicines will be sent to you via mail for you to work with through the course of our class.

- The foundation of this class is based on the cultivation of your own experiential personal relationship with the plantcestral allies we will be working with. This often opens up deeper healing processes. Participants must be willing and available to this process. The group and facilitator are here to support thru each step of the way. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to ask. 

- Class will meet for 5 sessions from mid-January - mid-March. Exact time and dates of the class will be determined based on the group's schedule. Answer registration form questions to include your own needs, timezone, and preferences so that we can determine this ASAP please.

FEE EXCHANGE: $333 (includes all teachings plus medicine package mailed to your home to work with through the course.)

Fill out this application to register: https://goo.gl/forms/rGKFQtYN7U95HJvy1
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: The application form is a confirmation of your intention to participate in the class and MUST be submitted by December 27, 2018 with an email to me informing me of your intent to register. Since it is holiday season, I am extending the paid non-refundable deposit of $111 to January 6. But PLEASE NOTE that submitting the application form and being accepted is a COMMITMENT to following through with complete payment and participation in the class. Space is limited and I am not able to give any refunds (please reach out to me personally if you need a payment plan or an alternative arrangement).
Send registration deposit to paypal.me/riverrose (friends and family option, please).

Help us find each other: PLEASE SHARE with SWANA friends and community who would enjoy or benefit from such a circle.

(**Please note: This class is reserved to persons who have native ancestry from the SWANA [aka Middle East and N. Africa] region- mixed ancestry included. Thank you for respecting this space.)

This extended ONLINE series is for SWANA* community to engage in embodied learning about our ancestral plants and their uses as medicinal and spiritual allies. Our ancestral plants carry the DNA of our homelands, of our ancestors, and resonate this memory with the truths that live deep inside our own bodies and hearts. We will work with this relationship to access deeply held wisdom, revitalize lost bodies of knowledge, and re-establish relationship to ourselves, our ancestors, and the resilience and medicine available through being in conscious relationship with our plantcestors. Each participant will receive a package of SWANA native plant medicines to work with through the course of our class together. Experiential relationship with the plantcestors will be emphasized and facilitated through the duration of the class.

In this class we will:
* Develop fundamental tools to work with plants as medicinal and spiritual allies
* Practice and learn tools to communicate with our medicines and our internal selves
* Engage in a process of personal healing through building relationship with plantcestral allies and witnessing each other
* Learn traditional principles and ethical practice around harvesting, medicine making, and more
* Gain & generate experiential, folk, and medicinal knowledge about several plants
* Deepen relationship with our ancestors and ourselves
* Learn how to better connect to our own internal wisdom, intuition, and the cues of the natural & spiritual worlds to support our day-to-day lives and healing
* Contribute to strengthening the knowledge and practice of our SWANA plantcestral traditions
* Receive a package of SWANA plantcestral medicines to work, heal, and learn with at home
* Explore and revitalize traditional ways of healing ourselves and our communities
* Take a personal journey into the plantcestral realm with the support of a safe community

This season will be focused on deepening resilience through our shared space together and with the plants, as well as on honoring and healing relationship to not only our SWANA ancestors, but to those of the diasporic places we live in and are nourished by daily. 

MORE INFO...
- This online class is a small group and is conducted via live video conference calling, and requires LIVE ATTENDANCE and participation each class (must have access to internet/camera or audio & google hangouts to participate- can download for free). Homework will be assigned each week and participants should be prepared to spend a little time (at least 10 mins, ideally 30 mins) each day with the medicines/material in between classes.

- A package of medicines will be sent to you via mail for you to work with through the course of our class.

- The foundation of this class is based on the cultivation of your own experiential personal relationship with the plantcestral allies we will be working with. This often opens up deeper healing processes. Participants must be willing and available to this process. The group and facilitator are their to support thru each step of the way. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to ask. 

- Class will meet for 6 Mondays from November 6 - December 11. Time of the class will be determined based on the group's schedule. Answer registration form questions to include your own needs, timezone, and preferences. Please also note if days other than Monday are preferable for you, as nothing is set in stone. 

FEE EXCHANGE: $333 (includes all teachings plus medicine package mailed to your home to work with through the course.)

Fill out this application to register: https://goo.gl/forms/204UL9BFManVgPjh1
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: October 26, 2017 Non-refundable deposit of $168 due by this date, as well as the application above. (please reach out to me personally if you need a payment plan or an alternative arrangment)
Send registration deposit to paypal.me/riverrose (friends and family option, please).

*Minimum of 7 participants, maximum of 18. No group will be larger than 9 people each.

(**Please note: This class is reserved to persons who have native ancestry from the SWANA [aka Middle East and N. Africa] region- mixed ancestry included. Thank you for respecting this space.)

This extended ONLINE series is for SWANA* community to engage in embodied learning about our ancestral plants and their uses as medicinal and spiritual allies.  Our ancestral plants carry the DNA of our homelands, of our ancestors, and resonate this memory with the truths that live deep inside our own bodies and hearts. We will work with this relationship to access deeply held wisdom, revitalize lost bodies of knowledge, and re-establish relationship to ourselves, our ancestors, and the resilience and medicine available through being in conscious relationship with our plantcestors.  Each participant will receive a package of SWANA native plant medicines to work with through the course of our class together. Experiential relationship with the plantcestors will be emphasized and facilitated through the duration of the class.

In this class we will:
* Develop the fundamental tools to work with plants as medicinal and spiritual allies
* Practice and learn tools to communicate with our medicines
* Learn traditional principles and ethical practice around harvesting, medicine making, and more
* Gain & generate experiential, folk, and medicinal knowledge about several plants native to the SWANA region
* Deepen relationship with our ancestors and ourselves
* Learn how to better connect to our own internal wisdom, intuition, and the cues of the natural & spiritual worlds to support our day-to-day lives and healing
* Learn to make medicine
* Contribute to strengthening the knowledge and practice of our SWANA plantcestral traditions
* Receive a package of SWANA plantcestral medicines to work, heal, and learn with at home
* Explore and revitalize traditional ways of healing ourselves and our communities
* Take a personal journey into the plantcestral realm with the support of a safe community

MORE INFO...
- This online class is a small group and is conducted via live video conference calling, and requires live attendance and participation each class (must have access to internet/camera or audio & google hangouts to participate- can download for free). Homework will be assigned each week and participants should be prepared to spend a little time (at least 10 mins, ideally 30 mins) each day with the medicines/material in between classes.

- A package of medicines will be sent to you via mail for you to work with through the course of our class.

- Class will meet every other Tuesday through March and on one SATURDAY in April (special timing for this class listed below). Time of Tuesday classes will be 5:30-8pm PST/ 8:30-11pm EST:
Tues, January 24
Tues, February 7
Tues, February 21
Tues, March 7
Tues, March 21
* During this 1 month break, participants will engage in an intensive relationship building process with 1 plant. I will offer guidance and support via short video and online teachings, as well as be available for 1-on-1 support on the assignment through this time. 
Saturday, April 22, 10:30am-1:30pm PST/ 1:30pm-4:30pm EST

FEE EXCHANGE: $333 (includes all teachings plus medicine package mailed to your home to work with through the course.)

Fill out this application to register.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: January 3, 2017 Non-refundable deposit of $168 due by this date, as well as the application above.
Send registration deposit to cash.me/$RiverRose.

*Minimum of 7 participants needed, maximum of 9 to make this class possible.

My big news and my FUN offerings to support fundraising to make this important journey possible. Please SHARE and please JOIN US!

Below, you will find details about 3 DONATION BASED ONLINE OFFERINGS this Spring to support my Embodied Research trip to the SWANA* (aka. Middle East & N. Africa) region to invest in #plantcestral and #ancestral re-membrance work which I have been cultivating for the past decade and sharing with you all through River Rose and the نجمع جذورنا -reGather our Ancestors project this past couple of years. 

Support me to fulfill my role and commitment to my communities in a time where restorative and healing practice is so greatly needed!This work reconnects us to the resilient, life-affirming wisdom and ancestral practices which have the power to restore, protect, and maintain the integrity of life and an order of justice in our region. The SWANA lands are increasingly under attack and our ancient traditions, sacred sites, and our indigenous ethnic communities are being especially targeted right now and need urgent attention. Please help me do my humble yet significant part in recovering, preserving, and uplifting these important cultural legacies of wisdom, especially in light of this critical time.

Through my research will be engaging and re-membering knowledge on SWANA:

1) Ethnobotany (the traditional knowledge and customs of a people concerning plants and their medical, sacred, folkloric, and other uses)

2) Cultural Preservation (including ecological and plant conservation, as well as historical & sacred sites)
3) Traditional Healing Practices (emphasis on spiritual and ceremonial healing traditions)
4) Indigenous History, Cosmologies, and Traditions 

I need to raise $9,999 to make this possible. (UPDATE: I managed to get the first $5,555 together in the spring, and the fundraiser is still open for more contributions!)

*SWANA means South West Asia and North Africa, a less colonial way to refer to the region usually called the Middle East and North Africa.

THE OFFERINGS:

1) AVAILABLE NOW! * "Love is in the Homeland: SWANA Plantcestors for Healing and Re-Membrance", a 20 page digital book featuring medicinal profiles, remedies, and recipes of 5 accessible and powerful SWANA plantcestors, as well as tips and reflections on how to do ancestral re-claimation and re-membrance work. It is full of photos and practical and spiritual info for supporting our health of body and soul in an every day way, all compiled and written by me and with a special SWANA flavor.

TO ORDER THIS BOOK: Send your donation to paypal (International participants can pay here instead) and then email river.rose.layla@gmail.com with the following information:
1) Your name
2) Specify if you would like an online or printed copy
3) Your address (if you want a printed copy)

SUGGESTED DONATION:
$22-$222, online version
$44-$444, printed version

2) AVAILABLE NOW!
* Love is in the Homeland: SWANA traditions of Coffee Cup Divination.  In this 1.5 hour online class, my Egyptian sister, Emanne Desouky and my Turkish sister, Emel Orhun join me to teach about the lovely plantcestor, coffee, share the ritual of preparation that our own families and traditions use, and then do a mini reading together where we teach some of the primary symbols and meanings in the cups per the tradition of our own family's and knowledge from the region, and offer tips and wisdom about how to read the cups and honor what it is telling you. It is a fun and informative class that will empower you to start preparing and interpreting the wisdom and symbols in your own coffee cup and path in general. There is also a recording of a q&a session that was live by me and Emel, and a comment/question board that is open to all registered participants for engagement and reflections indefinitely!

~ This class is open to ALL people, regardless of ancestry and location. ~

TO ENROLL: Send an email to river.rose.layla@gmail.com & send payment to Paypal. (International participants can pay here instead.)  
SUGGESTED DONATION: $33-$555

3) AVAILABLE NOW!
* Love is in the Homeland: Food is Medicine: Traditional Lebanese Recipes with common Medicinal "Weeds"
This 1 hr 20 minute long class features more SWANA medicine, including a special culinary practice with my very own family! It starts with a walk through my Maternal Teta's (grandmother's) garden to learn about her medicinal herbs, including many that commonly grow in North America and the SWANA region alike, and then a step-by-step recipe preparation with my grandma herself using very medicinal extremely common medicinal herbs that you can use for nutritious simple meal for your own family at home! Some other traditional Lebanese recipes with these common "weeds" and others will also be stated throughout the class teachings, as well as a comment/q&a board that is available for discussion for all registered participants indefinitely! One thing I LOVE about this class is that it offers ideas about how to work with common "invasive weeds" that we pull from our gardens all the time in a way that honors their medicine, blesses our tummies, and does the service of removing them so that more space can be claimed by our native plants that are so important to our local ecologies and ecosystems! It also offers the insight into a very uncommon extremely traditional recipe made by my grandma in her Southern Lebanese village throughout her childhood. 

~ This class is open to ALL people, regardless of ancestry and location. ~

TO ENROLL: Send an email to river.rose.layla@gmail.com & send payment to Paypal. (International participants can pay here instead.)  
SUGGESTED DONATION: $33-$555

---------------------------
SOME OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT me in fulfilling my call to my ancestral lands this Spring...
* Participate in the special offerings I am making this season (listed above) or simply donate to my funds at Paypal.
* SHARE MY OFFERINGS & NEWS! This would be a GREAT help to get the word out about my project and my fundraiser and to acquire more support and connect to more of my kin in this world. I would love for as many people as possible to attend my online offerings and experience my "Love is in the Homeland" book this season!
* Send me any info regarding grants, scholarships, private sponsors, or other funding sources that you think would align with my work. Some areas might be cultural preservation, traditional arts, traditional healing, or something else. Or private sponsors you know perhaps who are invested or interested in this topic. SHARE this work with any of these sources please, or people who you think are invested in this work and have funds to allocate towards it!
* Put me in touch with any ally you know in the SWANA region who you think may be able to host me or help me find a place to stay, help me navigate my trip in their country, take me on a visit somewhere special, has interest in herbs, sacred sites or traditional culture, knows their village or land really well, is an elder who practices their traditional culture or knows a lot about it, historians, mystics, fortune tellers, midwives, traditional healers, traditional dancers or musicians, dreamers, elders, plant lovers, kind people, or anyone you know in the SWANA region who you think would be interested in my project or might be a good friend or ally to me along the way, or wants to adopt me as a grandkid :). Especially if you know folks in: Jordan, Egypt, Oman, Iran, Armenia, Palestine, or Lebanon. THANK YOU!
* Transfer any abundance of frequent flier miles to me.
* Follow and share my work often while I am away and as I share my offerings and work on raising funds this season! Staying tuned while I'm away is going to be so important for me especially as I am sure I will have things to share with you all from my journey, and also will continue needing your support to fulfill it.

*SWANA means South West Asia and North Africa, a less colonial way to refer to the region usually called the Middle East and North Africa.

ALSO, **please SHARE this work if it moves you**. Tell us in your sharing post: why is the work of ancestral reclamation or plantcestral medicine important to you? Why invest in #intergenerationalhealing and #traditionalwisdoms of our earth-based ancestors? How has this work touched or inspired you? Or any other personal testimonials you may have to offer.

DON'T WANNA PARTICIPATE IN THESE OFFERINGS BUT WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE ANYWAYS? No problem. Donations can be made here. (But you might as well participate in one of the lovely offerings above! Consider it my thank you :) ):

These offerings come from my heart and are offered with a lot of love to share a bit of my magical SWANA world with you and welcome you along my journey of making this trip possible, and experiencing just a little personal piece of why it is so special and close to my heart. I hope to continue making such offerings from the SWANA region if the circumstances permit me to do so! Please share this work, accept my offerings, and contribute as much as your abundant heart feels compelled and able to support me in acquiring the funds needed for me to fulfill this profoundly important spiritual calling for myself and by extension, my family and community. Please invest in the survival and flourishment of the life-giving and sacred traditions of the SWANA region in an era of time and context where it is being so fiercely suppressed and attacked, and has been for generations now largely neglected and hidden. Please support me in playing my humble role in this process of ancestral reclamation, healing, and re-membrance in a sacred way that I hope will contribute to our collective liberation and justice as original people of this beautiful earth we are all co-habitating. Please support me in preserving and uplifting the traditions of life-affirming SWANA ways and the sacred origins that we all in fact come from. We are people made of resilience, love, and soul, and these traditions are at the very pulse of what has sustained us despite all circumstances even as they have laid underground for so many of us. Please support me in uplifting this beautiful truth and strengthening/resurrecting these ancient medicine ways that have great power to bless the lives, lands, and spirits of my SWANA kindred in the homeland and diaspora and beyond, inshallah towards ever-multiplying expressions of life, culture, and day-to-day realities based in self-determination and LOVE for not just us, but all the life-affirming people of this planet. Please support me to fulfill my sacred purpose. THANK YOU! Your support means the world to me. 

I am deeply grateful for all your generosity and love. ♥

If you are a Facebook user, feel free to "join" our event page for frequent updates about this workshop. 

*Please note: this class is a SWANA* community space. We ask that non-SWANA allies support by sharing it with SWANA friends and by donating to our scholarship fund if you feel called to! (*SWANA is a less Euro-centric term to identify the region commonly known as the Middle East and North Africa and its native people.*
 

DESCRIPTION:
This season, we will explore a handful of plants that are significant in our ancestor's cosmologies, folklore, and "magical" practice. Our ancestral plants carry the memory and wisdom of our ancestral homeland, resonating with the deepest essence of our own bodies and spirits. This series will be a journey to reconnect with our SWANA ancestral plants through experiential learning & collective sharing. It will offer a structure with guided activities and knowledge about how to deepen relationship with plants as medicine, a journey of relationship building with a small group of SWANA medicinal plants which carry significance in our ancestors cosmologies, folklore, and "magical" practice, hands on work with the plants on your own in between our meetings, shared knowledge about the medicinal values, some basic medicine making techniques, group plant meditations, dreaming with plants, and a group exploration of the relevant cosmological stories and folkloric oral wisdom associated with the plants we are exploring. Each participant will receive a package of plants to work with from home. 

Your participation in engaging the plantcestors and the stories together in class and in between meetings is truly what will make this circle most profound, so please come ready to be present and pro-active in co-creating this space. It is not normal "school" :) talking, feeling, sharing, will be as important as listening.

LOCATION:
ONLINE class (SWANA* only, please). We will be meeting via conference on Google+. 

*Your live attendance is required and expected for each class.* Classes will not be recorded. There is also homework that will require you to spend at least 5 minutes per day (the more time the better) with each plant we are working with and other suggested activities.

* SWANA is a less Euro-centric term to identify the region commonly known as the Middle East and North Africa and its native people. 

DATES & TIMES:
We will meet on 4 Monday evenings from Jan-Feb
from 5:20-8:20 PM PST/ 8:20-11:20 PM EST
Jan 11
Jan 18 (note that there is a 2 week break between these 2 classes only)
Feb 1
Feb 8

REGISTRATION:
Must register & complete payment by Mon, Dec 28. 

Fill out this application to register for this class: http://goo.gl/forms/IFmFUuncK7

Once your application is accepted, you will be sent an email with instructions on how to complete payment. All these steps must be complete before Dec 28 in order to participate. Please apply as early as possible to ensure this can happen smoothly. 

*There are only 9 spaces for this class, and a 5 person minimum to ensure it can happen.

TUITION:
$195 - $222 sliding scale** ($36-$43/live class + $50 for herbal package and shipping) {read below re: scholarship. please contact me directly for more info.}

**A note on sliding scale: I do this to make it as accessible as possible to as much community as possible. However, please consider that in order for me to dedicate myself to this work, I rely on community support. If you are able to pay the top of the sliding scale without creating a hardship in your day-to-day life, please do so. This will allow me to create possibility for those in our community who cannot afford the bottom of the sliding scale, making it a richer experience for us all. 

For each 3 people who sign up within the sliding-scale rate, I will be offering a greatly reduced scholarship fee to 1 community member who needs assistance financially to participate. This will allow for 3 scholarship positions in a full class, thanks to your help!

WANNA SUPPORT US?
- Share with your SWANA communities, networks and friends!
- Donate to our scholarship fund! Send donations via PayPal to river.rose.layla@gmail.com with a note saying "SWANA love scholarship fund" ♥.

This 5 class ONLINE series is for SWANA* community to engage in embodied learning about our ancestral plants and their uses as medicinal and spiritual allies.  Our ancestral plants carry the DNA of our homelands, of our ancestors, and resonate this memory with the truths that live deep inside our own bodies and hearts. We will work with this relationship to access deeply held wisdom, revitalize lost bodies of knowledge, and re-establish relationship to ourselves, our ancestors, and the resilience and medicine available through being in conscious relationship with the natural and spiritual worlds.  Each participant will receive a package of SWANA native plant medicines to work with through the course of our class.

To all the diasporic folk who wished to be in our Bay Area class a few months ago, THIS ONLINE SERIES WAS CREATED FOR YOU!

 WHAT:

In this class we will:

* Develop the fundamental tools to work with plants as medicinal and spiritual allies

* Gain & generate knowledge about medicinal plants native to the SWANA region

* Deepen relationship with our ancestors

* Connect to our own internal wisdom, intuition, and the cues of the natural world to support our day-to-day lives and healing

* Connect to and honor our ancestral lands (even from the diaspora!)

* Receive a package of SWANA plantcestral medicines to work, heal, and learn with at home

* Explore and revitalize traditional ways of healing ourselves and our communities

* Take a personal journey into the plantcestral and ancestral realms with the support of a safe community

WHO:

**Please note- this class is for people with *native ancestry* from the SWANA (aka. Middle East and North Africa) region only.** Other classes dedicated to similar themes are offered by River Rose throughout the year to broader audiences. Thank you for respecting this space.

WHEN:

Every other Thursday for the Fall season. Times will be determined based on the group’s needs and time zones (fill out the registration to apply).

Days of meeting:

October 8, October 22, November 5, November 19, December 3

These are NOT pre-recorded classes. Please plan to be present via video conference call on Google video for all of the sessions. The class will accommodate a maximum of 13 people.

We will also have a private email list/forum in which we will correspond, support one another, and share in between classes in order to deepen our education through these 10 weeks, and Layla will be available for personal support throughout.
  
REGISTRATION & PAYMENT:

$333 Total + Cost of Shipping
(TBD based on your location):
$225 for 5 classes ($45/ 3hr class)+
$108 for SWANA plantcestral medicine package

Register by filling out this brief application form and emailing it back to river.rose.layla@gmail.com with a $158 deposit (plus shipping cost TBD at registration) by Sept. 28th. This is the LAST day possible for me to send your herbal package to you in time for you to participate in the class. Instructions for payment will be exchanged via email upon receipt of your registration form. Remainder of fees ($175) must be paid by Oct 20th unless otherwise arranged. *If you are outside the US or Canada, please register before Sept 20 to ensure the package arrives to you on time.*

* An early bird special of $300 + Shipping if you register and pay in full by Sept 21st. *

Please speak to me directly for alternative payment arrangements if necessary, at river.rose.layla@gmail.com.

*Please note: The value of this class + herbs easily exceeds $400. It is being offered as a discounted community price in the hopes that it can be more accessible to those who would like to participate. If funds are still an issue, please talk to me directly and I will do my BEST to work something out with you!*

This is an ongoing circle. For general background, open this event and read the info below.

Next Circle: Dream circle, Monday, May 18, 5:30-7:30 pm.

For more details about the specific theme and location of each month's meeting, please contact river.rose.layla@gmail.com and request to be on our private group mailing list or join our private facebook group to stay posted.  

WHO:  Women identified folks who have SWANA ancestral roots (mixed folks are welcome, masculine of center and trans* women are welcome). 

** SWANA means South West Asia and North Africa, a less colonial term to describe the region known as the "Middle East and North Africa". If you are a woman who has native ancestry from this region, this circle is specifically for you.**

COST:  To respect the ceremonial nature of this circle, it is offered by donation. Reciprocity of any and all heart-felt kinds is customary and encouraged in our culture and in all ceremonial spaces to maintain balance of energies and sustain the offerings made to keep it healthy and present. Contribution of materials, medicine, space, heart-felt gifts, help setting up and cleaning up, and other preparations are also always welcome. Please consider making donations in multiples of 9, a number which honors the ancestors. 

WHAT: This is a ceremonial circle dedicated to the healing of the feminine in the SWANA community.  We started it officially with a sacred fire ceremony on October 23, 2014 and a dream incubation to close the evening with. Self-healing is an ongoing process which greatly benefits from community support.  Without engaging in a level of our own healing, connecting consciously to the wisdom and medicine of our ancestors and our own intuition becomes clouded, difficult, and stagnated. The work of ancestral re-membrance is intimately tied into the work of our own healing and healing the more intuitive and indigenous ways of knowing that are often associated with the "feminine" side of our own human nature.  This healing circle will run monthly in alignment with the New and/or Full moon, and is dedicated to healing feminine ways of knowing. The full moon sessions will be dedicated to an evening ceremonial circle around the fire, supported by the elemental spirits, the moon, and the transformative nature of the fire to support us as we share our truths and prayers with one another. The New moon sessions will be an afternoon session dedicated to working with our dreams for healing.  Dreams and the wisdom of the night and moon times are associated throughout the world with feminine forms of knowledge and the mysteries of the sacred feminine. In this circle, we will collectively explore and honor the wisdom offered thru this realm (including waking dreams & visions), learning about and reclaiming attention to our own inherent wisdom, as well as the messages of our ancestors.  There will be opportunities to share and receive reflection on both personal dreams, as well as to participate in group incubations (calling upon dreams collectively- teachings on how to do this will be offered) towards addressing specific questions, healing needs, and concerns as identified by the group. Regional dream rituals and medicines will be explored and utilized, including those wisdom passed on by the grandmothers, mothers and elders of those present in the group. There will be opportunities to utilize plants, stones, creative expression, and other medicines to support the dreaming processes.