The Elemental Journey Around the Sun
Herbalist Certificate Program
A 9-Month Weekend Intensive Program
from a Taoist & Western Herbalism Lens
April – December 2026 | Ashland, Oregon
An initiatory journey into herbal medicine, lived season by season, in relationship with land, plants, and community.
200+ hours of transformational education · Intimate cohort · Farm-to-table meals · Land & apothecary immersion
Early Bird through March 21 (Spring Equinox)
Single weekend and Multi-Weekend Packages available as well
Graduates of the Full Program receive an Artemisia Institute Certified Diploma in Herbal Medicine
What This Program Is
The Elemental Journey Around the Sun is a 9-month herbalist certification program designed for those who want to deepen their competence, confidence, and relationship with healing plants through lived, embodied experience.
This is not a casual workshop series.
It is an initiatory arc — a before-and-after moment — where learning is imprinted through seasons, story, practice, and presence.
Rooted in Taoist philosophy and Western energetic herbalism, the program bridges East and West to help students understand not just what herbs do, but how healing unfolds through nature’s patterns, cycles, and elements.
Who This Is For
This program welcomes those who feel called into a deeper relationship with herbal medicine, including:
Beginners seeking a strong, embodied foundation
Practicing herbalists wanting a deeper, elemental lens
Healers, bodyworkers, and facilitators expanding their tools
Spiritually oriented seekers drawn to land-based learning
You may be seeking:
Greater confidence working with plant allies
A felt understanding of herbal energetics and seasonal medicine
A supportive community to learn and grow alongside
Clarity on your next step — home herbalism, community care, or clinical practice
This May Not Be the Right Fit If:
You prefer strictly linear, textbook-driven learning
You want everything predefined in a rigid syllabus
You are seeking a purely online or minimal-time commitment
This journey unfolds as a spiral — returning to teachings from new angles as the seasons turn.
The Arc of the Journey
From Spring to Winter, we walk the Medicine Wheel around the sun, aligning each module with the natural rhythms of the land and the Tao.
Learning is layered through:
Seasonal immersion
Storytelling and oral tradition
Hands-on practice with plants
Community ritual and shared meals
Each weekend stands alone — and together they form a coherent, living whole.
Core Teachings & Skills
Key Frameworks
The Tao & elemental philosophy
Herbal Energetics (3-, 4-, and 5-element systems)
The Five Shens (Spirits / aspects of consciousness)
The Wheel of the Year & seasonal medicine
Doctrine of Signatures
Plant Spirit Medicine & ancestral knowledge
Herbal Foundations
Plant identification, growing, and ethical foraging
Harvesting & processing
Herbal actions, flavors, and organ systems
Medicine making: teas, tinctures, oils, salves, decoctions, extracts, capsules, flower essences, hydrosols
Materia medica & key plant allies
Herbal Practice
Diagnostics through elemental and energetic patterns
Formulation & protocol design
Working with self, family, and community
Integrating herbal medicine into daily life
The Experience
This program is intentionally designed as a healing container, much like a ceremony.
You will receive:
216 hours of in-person herbal education
Small, intimate cohort (connection matters here)
Direct relationship with seasonal plants
Scratch-made farm-to-table lunches
Land, garden, and apothecary immersion
Digital notes after each session
Online forum for continued connection
Artemisia Institute Certified Diploma in Herbal Medicine upon completion of 85% of hours
Graduation Project
Each student will develop a deep relationship with one plant ally over the course of the program.
You will:
Create a written plant story & materia medica
Explore physical, energetic, and spiritual aspects
Present your work during the final graduation weekend
This project helps anchor learning into lived relationship and practice.
2026 Weekend Intensives
All sessions run Saturday & Sunday, 9AM–9PM
April 25–26 — Wood / Spring
Introduction to healing traditions, elemental theory, cleansing & renewalMay 16–17 — Herbal Foundations
Botany, energetics, herbal actionsJune 20–21 — Fire / Summer Solstice
Heart, vitality, midsummer plant magicJuly 18–19 — Land & Wildcrafting
Plant ID, ecological awareness, earth skillsAugust 22–23 — Harvest & Medicine Making
Processing, preservation, formulationSeptember 19–20 — Earth
Digestion, nourishment, breaking bread celebrationOctober 17–18 — Trauma Care & Plant Arts
First aid, dyeing, primitive skillsNovember 14–15 — Metal
Letting go, grief, respiratory & skin careDecember 19–20 — Water / Winter Solstice
Mysticism, plant spirit medicine, graduation
Teachers & Guides
This program is guided by a collective of experienced teachers, with Anya Tyutyunik as a central steward of the journey.
Each teacher brings a unique expression of the plant path — balancing masculine and feminine, structure and flow, skill and spirit — while holding a unified container.
Anya Tyutyunik, co-founder of Artemisia Institute, is a lifelong herbalist, healer, mama, and dancer of the wild. Born in Ukraine and now rooted in Southern Oregon, she tends a vibrant herbal farm and healing retreat La Medicina Farm with her three sons and a joyful crew of 77 animals. Anya is the founder of the Women’s Healing Conference and shares earth wisdom, oriental medicine practices, and deep feminine healing through Mayan uterine massage, family constellation, through acupuncture practice, and always love.
Robin Bliss-Wagner has dedicated his career to teaching and mentoring children, teens, and adults in deep nature connection, survival skills, bird language, and tracking since 2004. His favorite thing to do has always been to be in nature. His love of the wilderness has led him on many adventures. From the Kalahari Desert to the UC Santa Cruz campus, he has studied nature and mentoring in many contexts, both academic and experiential. He has even lived for a summer in the stone age. Stories, earth skills, and nature’s wisdom from these experiences are the foundation of his work. Robin is a Waldorf graduate, and received his BA in Bioregional Studies with highest honors from UC Santa Cruz. Also a blacksmith and fiddler, he lives in Southern Oregon with his wife and their three sons.
Liam McDermott is dedicated to passionately exploring how humans can create regenerative communities while honoring the ecosystems in which they exist. He received his Master's degree in Integrative EcoSocial Design at Gaia University, where his thesis focused on relocalizing energy, economies, land stewardship, farming, and medicines. He utilizes many techniques to live in greater harmony with all people and the earth: Herbalism, Yoga, Massage, Permaculture, and Farm to Table Cooking. Nourishing and nurturing people has been his life's work for over 20 years as a permaculture teacher, farm to table chef and a massage therapist/hands on healer.
Gabby Levet, Program Director of Artemisia Institute’s Herbal Education School, has been transformed by the plant path and is mesmerized by the power of Mother Earth. After years of community organizing in Virginia, Gabby found her calling in the herbalism world. She studied with beloved Herbalist Kat Maier, author of Energetic Herbalism as well as folk medicine makers Ed & Maya Skopal of Ital Acres Farm. She grew gardens, crafted remedies and vended at local farmers markets/events alongside her partner in central Virginia for numerous seasons. Last fall, Gabby roadtripped from Virginia to southern Oregon to start a new chapter in the Rogue Valley, drawn in by the beautiful community, land and people. She is incredibly grateful to collaborate with Anya to launch The Elemental Journey Around the Sun program!
Program Options & Pricing
Full 9-Month Program
Early Bird (through March 21): $2,500
Regular Rate (through April 19): $3,000
Payment plans available
$500 non-refundable deposit required
Weekend Passes
Single Weekend: $400
Multi-Weekend Pass (3 weekends): $1,050
Optional Add-Ons
Self-Study Track + feedback: $200
On-farm lodging options
Farm-to-table dinner add-ons
How to Join
We encourage prospective students to connect with us before enrolling, especially if you have questions about fit, time commitment, or learning style.
Or if you prefer, reach out directly to:
A Final Note
This program is for those who feel the quiet pull —
who sense that herbal medicine is not just knowledge to acquire,
but a relationship to remember.
If you feel called, we invite you to step into the spiral.