hi, i'm Jenna
My teachings come from the women before me.
This practice was not a clear or linear path. I stumbled into it, often feeling redirected every time I thought I knew what I was doing. Herbalism taught me to slow down and look to those who came before me, to listen for what had already been carried and survived. I am a fourth-generation descendant of ancestors from Southern Italy and Sicily, specifically Campania, Sciacca, and Abruzzo, and I come from a long line of women who walked through fire until it became part of their soul. I work closely with my maternal line, whose roots in Sciacca trace back through generations of women of the sea. Their endurance, intuition, and relational way of knowing continue to inform my practice. In some ways, this work is a seeking of belonging; in others, it is where I feel most whole, continuing what they began.
I came to herbalism through heartbreak. After losing someone very close to me to suicide, and emerging from an abusive relationship before that, I found myself searching for something—anything—that could hold the weight of my grief. I didn’t arrive at plant medicine with certainty or structure. I arrived instinctively, with shaking hands, guided only by the quiet pull of wanting to feel whole again. Herbs became a way back to myself. Through tending my nervous system and learning what could support me emotionally and spiritually, I discovered that plants offered a kind of care I didn’t know I was allowed to receive. As I followed that thread, it led me not only into deeper relationship with plant allies, but into the lives and wisdom of my ancestors.
Our Story
Over the past five years, my study of herbalism has been shaped by mentorship from teachers including Kim Geisler, Brooke Johnson, Jen Stovall, David Meeser, Janet Kent, Lupo Passero, and Ilana Sobo, alongside deep learning in Southern Italian and ancestral folk practices with Marybeth Bonfiglio and Lisa Fazio. My teaching blends folk, practical, and hands-on approaches, offering students tangible skills to take away while centering ritual and deep relationship with the plants. This work is both practical and reverent—grounded in plant energetics, lived experience, and real-world application. I also learn directly from the plants themselves, through relationship, observation, and time spent traveling and studying in Italy and Sicily.
Widow began as a place for me to process, create, connect, and try to make sense of everything I was experiencing. Five years later, it has grown into something much larger than I ever imagined, and I am deeply grateful to share it with others.
I am based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and my work is deeply shaped by the land I live and practice on, Lenape land, where Northern Appalachian plant traditions and the resilient flora of this region continue to teach me daily. My practice is informed by both ancestral memory and place-based learning, honoring where I come from and where I am rooted now. Widow exists at that intersection: grief and continuity, lineage and land, ritual and practice, offering herbal education and care for those moving through thresholds, seeking steadiness, and remembering what it means to belong.
Upcoming Workshops
September 29, 2026
Community & Protection: Italian Folk Magic Class
Join us on Michaelmas Sept 29th at 630pm to gather with the intention of deepening our relationship and the protection of Arch Angel Michael through a folk magic lens. In this online Michaelmas workshop, we’ll explore the symbols, charms, and practices of Southern Italian and Sicilian folk protection, with a focus on their meaning and how they can inspire our own practices of care and protection.
Register Now
October 3, 2026
Warding Veils: An Italian Protection Magick Workshop
In Southern Italy and Sicily, protection has never been an individual practice; it has always been relational, communal, and embedded in everyday life. From the malocchio (evil eye) to red thread, horns, saints, herbs, and whispered prayers. This workshop is an exploration of the visual and symbolic language of apotropaic protection in Southern Italian and Sicilian folk culture with a collective brevi bag making at the end.
Register Now
March 2027
Seasonal Sovereignty
“Seasonal Sovereignty” is an herbalism program rooted in the cycles of the Earth located in the heart of Philadelphia, designed to reconnect you with the land beneath your feet and the medicine that grows all around you. Whether you’re new to herbalism or returning to ancestral ways, it is a space to reclaim your connection to the Earth, your body, and the wisdom of collective care.
Register Now
