Rooted in Tradition, Guided by Nature: Welcome to Amel Botanica: The Guild
After 20 years of walking alongside the plant world as a folk herbalist and now as a doctoral candidate in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine, I am shifting how I share this medicine with the world.
Welcome to Amel Botanica, the educational hub, botanical library, and story school designed to bring the deep, foundational wisdom of ancestral plants right to your living room. Starting in November, I will be offering weekly and monthly herbal study classes.
The Weekly Single-Herb Classes ($25 a class): Every week, I will host a standalone live virtual class studying a single seasonal plant: its folklore, magic, medicine, and practical recipes. Anyone can drop into these for $25 a class. If you cannot attend, no worries! The following day, on-demand replays of the class and the downloadable PDF that went with the class.
The Premium Educational Guild ($100/month): For those ready to step past beginner herbalism into true clinical and energetic depth, my monthly membership is opening. Members receive access to all weekly live classes and replays, plus two exclusive monthly formulas classes. In these deep dives, I will break down the brilliant, classical Chinese herbal formula architectures, formula modifications for constitutional patterns, and how this medicine supports.
Borage & Berries: Coming very soon, our dedicated children's branch will offer whimsical, pre-made seasonal downloadable courses for families and homeschoolers, blending nature science, traditional storytelling, and hands-on art projects.
Amel means hope. This space is my heart’s mission to help rebuild core reserves and remember the medicine of the soil.
Keep an eye out for our upcoming podcast episodes where I'll be sharing solo storytelling and interviewing deeply aligned creators. Thank you for walking this path with me; the garden table is officially open.
Individual Class
Standalone Botanical Classes If you are not ready for the full commitment of the Guild, you are always welcome to pull up a chair at our table for any of our live weekly single-herb sessions on a drop-in basis.
Tuition: $25 per class.
What Is Included:
Access to that week's live 90-minute seasonal study and our quiet 30-minute individual question circle.
Your own hand-crafted, beautifully illustrated Canva PDF workbook containing historical folklore and practical recipes to download and print.
A private, unlisted YouTube replay link delivered straight to your inbox the following morning.
A Lifelong Library: Both the comprehensive PDF monograph and the private video replay link are yours to keep forever, allowing you to return to the medicine of the plant year after year, at your own pace.
Our next study opens Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at 8:00 PM EST, featuring Goldenrod: The Autumn Gatekeeper.
monthly membership
The Guild Membership
Our Guild operates on a structured Monthly Bundle system aligned with the current seasons. When you purchase a specific calendar month, you immediately unlock that month’s entire collection of wisdom, text, and clinical architecture:
Tuition: $100 a month
Weekly Live Botanical Studies
A 60-minute living room study tracking seasonal plants, traditional folkways, and ancestral medicine, followed by a quiet 30-minute circle for your individual questions.
Two Monthly Advanced Formula Classes
Deep-dives into classical Chinese medicine blueprints, formula architecture, and pattern modifications.
Comprehensive Digital Monographs & Keepsakes
Beautifully illustrated Canva PDF workbooks, historical lore, and practical recipes delivered weekly.
Permanent Access to the Archive
On-demand replays of every single standalone class and advanced formula session via private links to study at your own pace.
How the Calendar Month Works:
If you join at the beginning of the month, you receive the links live week by week. If you join midway through or at the end of the month, you will instantly receive the complete month’s bundle of past video links and PDFs in one single delivery. If you wish to purchase a past month's complete bundle to catch up, you can select it from our archive schedule below.
A Note from My Hearth to Yours
Amel means hope.
This project is born from a deep, quiet necessity. For 20 years, I have walked alongside the plant world as a folk herbalist. Right now, I am in the home stretch; 7 months away from graduating with my Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. As a single mother solo-parenting and homeschooling my youngest two children with no outside community help, finding work that honors my family's needs and my health has been an uphill battle.
Amel Botanica is my answer.
It is my path to building a sovereign, remote business that allows me to sustain my children while completing my medical training. Because I am building this from the soil up with zero outside funding, our current classroom format is beautifully simple and grassroots.
We will meet live on Zoom, and your weekly replays will be delivered via private YouTube links alongside your hand-crafted PDFs. As our Guild grows over the coming months, these funds will directly build our formal LLC, our private automated viewing platform, and eventually, our physical botanical apothecary where I will create herbal products based on my wisdom and recipes for you to purchase.
When you buy a ticket or join the Guild, you aren't just buying an education. You are directly supporting a matriarchal household, investing in ancestral lineage, and helping me bring this medicine across the graduation finish line.
Thank you for sitting at my table.
LoLo
“I’m committed to preserving and reactivating ancestral knowledge, especially that of rural women and mothers, often left out of clinical and institutional conversations.”
-LoLo Schaffer
November
November 4, 2026
8 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. EST
Virtual Zoom
(60-minute study followed by a 30-minute quiet question circle)
Goldenrod (Solidago): The Autumn Gatekeeper
The Ethnobotany:
As the final burst of late-summer and early-autumn gold fades from our fields, nature leaves us with the exact medicine we need to cross the threshold into winter. In this opening study, we will explore Goldenrod's rich folk history, its traditional European heritage as a deeply clearing kidney and bladder tonic, and its ancestral use as a protective gatekeeper across Gaelic and Appennine traditions.
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Bridge:
We will look closely at the energetic architecture of this plant, examining its cool, bitter, and acrid properties. You will learn how it functions to clear lingering late-season dampness, dispel wind-heat, and firmly secure the lower Jiao, perfectly preparing the body’s channels for deep winter containment.
November 11, 2026
8 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. EST
Virtual Zoom
(60-minute study followed by a 30-minute quiet question circle)
Mugwort (Ai Ye): The Ancestral Warmth
The Ethnobotany:
Long celebrated across Gaelic and Italian folk lineages as a premier “woman’s herb,” Mugwort is a legendary plant of deep protection, lucid dreamwork, and traditional elemental folk magic. We will explore its historical role as a boundary keeper, its traditional use in ancestral bedtime rituals, and how its silver-bottomed leaves have woven themselves into the folklore of midsummer and seasonal protection.
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Bridge:
Known as Ai Ye in the classical tradition, Mugwort is one of the most foundational and revered plants in Chinese medicine, most famously utilized in its aged, wool-like form as moxa. We will study its bitter, acrid, and profoundly warming energetics, examining how it moves through the Liver, Spleen, and Kidney meridians to dispel deep cold, warm the uterus, unblock stagnation, and restore the vital fire to the lower Jiao.
November 18, 2026
8 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. EST
Virtual Zoom
(60-minute study followed by a 30-minute quiet question circle)
Cinnamon Bark (Rou Gui):
The Fire of the Gate of Life
The Ethnobotany:
While familiar to many as a deeply comforting and warming kitchen spice, Cinnamon Bark holds ancient ritual roots that span centuries of trade, folklore, and traditional elemental craft. We will unearth its history as a precious ancestral commodity, its role in traditional winter warming remedies, and the protective, hearth-centered folklore that makes this plant a vital ally as the dark of winter approaches.
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Bridge:
In the classical medical lineage, this dense inner bark is known as Rou Gui. We will dive deep into its extraordinarily hot and sweet energetics. You will learn the profound clinical mechanism of how Rou Gui warms the Kidney Yang, unblocks the deepest channels, and gently coaxes floating, erratic Yang heat back down to its true home, leading the fire back to its source in the lower Jiao.
November 25, 2026
8 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. EST
Virtual Zoom
(60-minute study followed by a 30-minute quiet question circle)
Aged Tangerine Peel (Citrus reticulata / Chen Pi): The Aromatic Alchemist
The Ethnobotany:
Across traditional Mediterranean and Eastern Asian folkways, the simple peel of the orange family has long been transformed from a piece of kitchen waste into a prized alchemical treasure. We will explore the ancient folk art of curing and aging citrus peels over years and decades, the traditional seasonal recipes that utilize its bright, uplifting oils to ward off winter melancholy, and the protective culinary magic wrapped inside its fragrant rind.
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Bridge:
In the classical apothecary, this aged remedy is known as Chen Pi. We will examine its warm, acrid, and bitter energetics, focusing on its unique clinical ability to regulate the Spleen and Lung Qi. You will learn the exact mechanisms of how Chen Pi awakens a sluggish digestive system, moves stagnant food, dries up heavy accumulation, and prevents the formation of internal dampness, making it a crucial seasonal ally for the coming winter months.
November 6, 2026
Recorded Asynchronous Class
Exclusive to November Guild Members
Shi Quan Da Bu Tang
(All-Inclusive Great Tonifying Decoction)
The Architectural Breakdown:
To truly appreciate the genius of classical Chinese medicine, one must look at the blueprint of its master formulas. In this advanced session, we will break down the brilliant mathematics of Shi Quan Da Bu Tang. You will see how this formula seamlessly merges two legendary pillars: Si Jun Zi Tang (The Four Gentlemen Decoction to fortify the Qi) and Si Wu Tang (The Four Substance Decoction to nourish the Blood), and then supercharges the entire engine by adding Huang Qi (Astragalus) to lift the exterior and your Week 3 herb, Rou Gui (Cinnamon Bark), to ignite the lower Jiao.
The Clinical Value:
This is a profound, high-level study in navigating the major hormonal and energetic shifts of perimenopause and menopause. You will learn the exact clinical indications for this formula when deep exhaustion, cold, and depletion set in. Most importantly, we will study precise pattern modifications: how to adjust the herbal weights and ingredients when Yang deficiency dominates the landscape versus how to pivot when empty Yin Fire flares up into hot flashes and night sweats.
November 20, 2026
Recorded Asynchronous Class
Exclusive to November Guild Members
Gui Zhi Tang
(Cinnamon Twig Decoction)
The Architectural Breakdown:
Revered as the absolute "grandfather of formulas" from Zhang Zhongjing’s ancient text, the Shanghan Lun, Gui Zhi Tang is a masterpiece of clinical balance. In this advanced session, we will unpack its elegant, 5-herb blueprint. You will learn the profound medical genius behind pairing Gui Zhi (Cinnamon Twig) and Bai Shao (White Peony Root) in a strict 1:1 ratio, showing how one opens the exterior to drive out cold while the other astringes the interior to hold in the essence. We will examine how Sheng Jiang (Fresh Ginger), Da Zao (Jujube Dates), and Zhi Gan Cao (Honey-Fried Licorice) support this engine to protect the stomach Qi.
The Clinical Value:
As we hit the late November frost, understanding how to regulate the body's defensive perimeter is crucial. This class is a deep study in harmonizing the Wei (Protective) Qi and Ying (Nutritive) Qi. You will learn how to clinically utilize this formula not just for the initial stages of a seasonal wind-cold grip, but as a profound therapeutic tool for chronic constitutional sweating, low immunity, and postpartum or menopausal temperature dysregulation, where the body has lost its ability to regulate its own boundaries.
How To Register And Join Us
To secure your seat at the table, please complete our simple registration process below:
Submit the Student Registration Form: Click the link below to open our secure Google Form. Please read and sign our liability release and submit your contact details so I can add you to our permanent student email roster. This is a one-time registration. Once signed, your form remains permanently on file, allowing you to simply drop into future classes or months with a single Venmo payment.
Click Here to Complete the Student Registration FormSubmit Your Tuition via Venmo: Once your form is submitted, please send your tuition payment via Venmo.
For the Calendar Month Guild Membership: Send $100 and specify the Email Address + the Month you are purchasing (e.g., "jane.doe@email.com - NOVEMBER GUILD"). This unlocks all weekly studies and the 2 advanced formula sessions for that specific calendar month.
For a Current Live Weekly Class: Send $25 (Note: Specify the plant, e.g., "Goldenrod")
For an Archive Replay Class: Review the calendar schedule below. Send $25 for each past class you wish to unlock and specify the exact plant name(s) in your payment note (e.g., "Archive: Goldenrod").
⚠️ CRITICAL: You must include your Email Address in the Venmo payment note so I know exactly where to send your private YouTube links and hand-crafted PDF workbooks!