Wyrtcræft | The Ways of Wortcunning Course
I am so thrilled to announce the Wyrtcræft course for 2025! This unique offering is a three-level program rooted in ancestral ways of herbal medicine and magic made relevant for the modern world. Our adventure will begin with Level One starting September 17, 2025; all classes are presented live online so you can circle up with us and watch replays as often as you like and at your own convenience for a full year.
My goal with the Wyrtcræft program is to offer you an immersive, authentic, and empowering education inspired by plants, ancestors, and practices. I’ve carefully crafted each lesson and session to build a solid framework upon which you can hang your own Wortcunning practice. Every topic, slide, note, and demo covers things I am so excited about- and I know you’ll enjoy learning with some truly incredible people from around the world.
LEVEL ONE explores the foundations of Wortcunning from historical and modern perspectives. Even though this is where we begin, the level is by no means basic! We’ll be delving into some of the most fascinating topics about what Wortcunning is, who practiced the green artes, and how their wisdom and blessings can be caught and embodied in the modern world. This level creates a fertile soil on which the more intensive studies of Level Two and Level Three can be planted.
Below I’ll also post a video where I walk you through the program and look at the syllabi for all three levels- and share about my perspectives of closed and open practices within Anglo-Saxon Paganism, inclusivity, and accessibility.
You can find a complete syllabus for Level One below, but I’d like to share a few key things we’ll be covering here:
What is Wortcunning?
We’ll begin with a truly fascinating look at the name, the history, and the evolution of cunning practices. The etymology of this name alone contains so much wisdom and mystery- and when we get into how it sprouted, the story gets even better!
The Læce
We like to say wortcunner because it makes sense in Modern English, but actual practitioners of the green cunning artes were often known as Læce, healers. While this word sounds like the blood-sucking nightmare of ponds and lakes, there is no direct relation. We will look at who these people were, how they learned their craft and refined it over the years, who they learned from, what books they leaned into, and how they showed up for their communities.
We will also compare the Leech to other types of folk and community plant-wise people including sorcerers, witches, folk healers, midwives, and more.
Wortcunning as Path
Herbalism is a vocation for certain- but it can also be a powerful spiritual path. I want to focus on what this practice can look like when rooted in the perspectives and rituals of animist Paganism / Heathenry and how it can show up as a radical act of social justice, community service, mutual aid, self-care, and personal journey. I have never been a big fan of having to compartmentalize aspects of myself- so the process of seeing how my Paganism overlaps with my Herbalism has been incredibly enlightening and has added depth and power to both things respectively.
The Heathen Experience
If the term heathen is new to you, don’t let commercial hype mislead you! Heathen simply refers to the animist pagan folk who resided on the heaths in the same way that Pagan refers to the paganus, the people who reside in the country and are not civilized and educated like city dwellers- a once pejorative term that has now been reclaimed with pride. These are the people who worked hard to maintain and preserve ancestral wisdom since they were not participating in the elitist medical an education complexes of the time. They are storytellers, wisdom keepers, and lore spinners and it is through their fortitude that we have any remnants of cunning knowledge to work with now.
We’ll be exploring who these people were and how they experienced the wild world and the many different beings who inhabit it. Our conversations will touch on gods and goddesses of the artes along with nature spirits, parts of the soul, virtues, and so much more!
Hælu & Unhælu
The Old English words for health and un-health. These perspectives offer a profound, visionary, and deeply spiritual approach to what wellness is, why we get sick, and what we should do when it happens. The nuances of this wisdom run deep and we will be digging in! There are three specific aspects to unhælu that I want to focus on: things being that should not be, things not being that should be, and things being in a state of disharmony. Fascinating!
Cleansing & Protection
Before doing the work, we should learn simple ways of purifying our bodies and minds through simple daily ritual, prayer, and mindset. Approaching the work with clear intent and a harmonious energy field changes everything! We will also discuss traditional ways of protection including charms, amulets, herbal allies, and actions.
The Old English Materia Medica
We will meet and connect with nine different plants throughout this level-each one teaching us something about unhælu, hælu, remedy, charm, lore, story, and power. As we connect with these nine plants, I’ll also guide you into powerful visionary and meditative experiences each week that build upon our plant spirit path work. Why just nine? Because our goal here is not to memorize facts about plants- rather it is to learn how to learn from the plants themselves and their wisdom keepers.
Medicine Ritual
Our real deep dig into crafting traditional remedies and medicines happens in Level Two, but in Level One we will discuss water infusions, organoleptic tea rituals, and amulet work. We will build on that as we move into further lessons.
Tools of the Læce
What tools did practitioners of Wortcunning have? What do you really need to be an effective magico-medicinal herbalist? I’ll show you my own working tools, talk about the symbolism and sacred power of each, and share ideas on how you can craft and procure your own working ritual tools.
Amuletic Work : Leek, Flax, and Alu
Who said you have to ingest herbs to get their blessings? Not me! I love working with plants as amulets and find that engaging with them through the hama and fæcce brings a special kind of powerful magic and healing. We will spend some time exploring this through existing ancient charms and remedies that employ amulets and sachets.
Sacred Trees
Trees have always played an important role in plant lore, herbal healing, and mythology. We will look at many trees throughout this course and learn from them through their stories and legends.
Galdor and the Ways of Charming in Wortcunning
In my practice, galdor cannot be separated from plant spirit work. I will introduce you to this powerful practice and give you practical inspiration for how you can begin exploring galdor on your own. Our real exploration of this arte will happen in Level Two, but I’ll give you a lot to think about and experience in this level! We’ll be using the bone to bone charm of Merseburg Charm II and a clinical case study to see what Galdor looks like in action.
Rituals of Harvest
There are many ‘should’ and ‘should not’ when it comes to harvesting plants in the Old English herbals- and those from surrounding areas including the Eastern, Mediterranean, and Scandinavian. These rituals are so important and they can literally change the kind of medicine we’re able to craft with the plants we harvest. IN Level One I’ll cover the full spectrum of harvesting rituals, taboos, and charms so that you can put them to work as you gather in your herbs each season.
Wortcunning in Practice
I want to offer you a small look at what the cunning artes can look like in a more formal, community practice. So, we’ll take a peek at assessments, crafting protocols, working with clients, formulating remedies, and more. We cover this as part of the advanced training in Level Two and Level Three, but it’s far too amazing a topic not to at least begin covering here!
Old Ways in New Ways
The last thing from our expansive list of topics covered in Level One of the Wyrtcræft Program that I’ll mention here is The Green Arte Tradition of Wortcunning. I have spend over 25 years exploring the plants, learning their stories, and working with them heart-to-heart. Over that time they have inspired me with practical ways to show up for them and with them in the world we all live now. Our tradition is a living, breathing, stream of wisdom that I hope you’ll find joy in drinking from. I’ll give you an overview of what tradition means, why being part of a living stream is so powerful and quickening, and how you can progress in your learning with me and with other teachers and programs.
Whew. That’s a lot, right? While we cover a lot of ground, rest assured that one thing builds upon another, we have a good time while we learn, and everything weaves together to create a tapestry of wisdom that you can do something with after each class. In fact, I will give you guided experiences, prompts (a less scary way of saying ‘homework’), and rituals that will get this information into your bones where your own herbwise ancestors live!
I invite you to check out the full program details below, and from that page you can explore each of the three levels. Enrollment for Level One is open now and will close as soon as we’re at capacity. I hope to see you there!
