Urban Herbology Meetup

Garden with Locals in Amsterdam

Mon, Oct 26 · 10:00 AM CET

Restaurant Merkelbach, Middenweg 72, 1097 BS, Amsterdam, NL

Join Our Gardeners in Amsterdam!

Looking for a unique way to experience Amsterdam beyond the usual tourist trail?

Ticket Booking Link Here

Every Monday, 10:00 – 13:00, you’re warmly invited to step into the Stijltuin, a hidden formal garden tucked inside Park Frankendael, next to Restaurant Merkelbach.

Together with our international group of local volunteers, you’ll:

✨ Help restore this historic garden (light work only – weeding, planting, tidying).
✨ Learn about plants and gardening in a Regency style garden, with guidance from experienced community gardening leaders, Lynn and Tamara.
✨ Meet friendly Amsterdam locals and fellow travelers.
✨ Enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in good company.

No experience needed – tools, gloves, and guidance provided. Just bring curiosity and a love of nature.

Why join?
This is a community project – your contribution helps us maintain and restore the garden to its former beauty, while giving you a hands-on, meaningful way to connect with Amsterdam.

Practical info

• When: Mondays, 10:00 – 13:00 (year-round - except a couple of weeks December/January)
• Where: Stijltuin, Park Frankendael (adjacent to Restaurant Merkelbach)
• Group size: Very small – only 2 tourist / visitor spots available each week.
• Language: English and Dutch spoken by an international group.
• Contribution: €25 per person (includes tea/coffee and cookies)

Tickets are handled by TicketTailor:
Ticket Booking Link Here

For Amsterdam locals:
A group of local residents volunteers in the stijltuin every week. If you live in Amsterdam and would like to get involved regularly, or fancy dropping in to see what we do, please contact Lynn Shore.

Questions? Feel free to contact Lynn:
+31(0)627596930 or stijltuin@gmail.com

So, why not come as a visitor and leave as part of the garden’s story. We hope to see you for gardening soon!

Hildegard von Bingen's Garden of Joy

Thu, Oct 29 · 5:00 PM CET

Embassy of the Free Mind, Keizersgracht 123, 1015 CJ Amsterdam, Netherlands, Amsterdam, NH, NL

This event is hosted by the Embassy of the Free Mind. Tickets should be purchased via this link.
If you have a museum card the ticket is cheaper.

Workshop
Hildegard von Bingen's Garden of Joy

A multisensory workshop on medieval plant wisdom.

Join herbalist and author Lynn Shore for a two hour exploration into the world of Hildegard von Bingen, weaving together medieval plant knowledge, the Embassy of the Free Mind's collection, and the living plants of its Alchemical Garden.
Beginning in the 12th century, we will trace Hildegard's world and her understanding of plants, health, and the bond between body, mind, spirit, and the natural world. Lynn will draw connections between rare texts held in the Embassy's collection and the plants growing in the Garden and throughout Amsterdam.
Together, we will examine how these plants were understood and used in Hildegard's time, what she recorded of them, and how her observations meet contemporary herbal knowledge. We will consider the many paths people have taken toward understanding their kinship with the natural world, through observation, medicine, tradition, symbolism, and spiritual practice.
The workshop unfolds as a deeply sensory experience. Participants will smell, taste, and sit with herbal infusions, exploring the traditional idea of a plant's spirit or essence alongside their own embodied response to it.

From there, each participant will craft a bespoke herbal tea blend, selecting plants according to personal need, intention, and desire. Along the way, we will consider how Hildegard's relationship with the natural world might inform our own, and how plants become a meeting point between ancient knowledge, contemporary herbalism, and the search for connection and meaning.

This workshop welcomes anyone drawn to Hildegard von Bingen, herbalism, alchemy, witchcraft, plant wisdom, or simply the stories and qualities of the plants growing around us.

About the Facilitator
Lynn Shore is a medical herbalist, author, educator, and practising Green Witch. In 2010, she founded Urban Herbology in Amsterdam, and has since spent a lifetime exploring the practical, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of our relationship with the natural world. She serves as a trustee of The Herb Society, authored The Green City Witch: Weaving a Magical Life in Urban Spaces, and writes for pagan and nature centered publications. She speaks internationally on urban nature based spirituality.

Through Urban Herbology, Lynn has guided hundreds of city dwellers toward the nature on their doorstep, through foraging, herbal medicine, community gardening, outdoor ceremony, and other ways of meeting the land. Her work joins herbal medicine, folklore, ecology, historical tradition, and sensory experience, rooted in the belief that practical and spiritual knowledge need not be separated, and should belong to all.
Lynn is devoted to helping others build the confidence and curiosity to find their own meaningful relationship with the living landscape.

Format
Workshop | Herbal tea making | Garden

Come by before 17.00, and visit our museum, price included in admission.

Language
The workshop will be conducted in English.

Price & Admission
Workshop includes museum entrance before 17.00.
€60 - Adult ticket
€53,5 - Museumkaart, Stadspas, or iAmsterdam City Card or ICOM Card
€51,5 - Student ticket
€45 - EFM Members

Getting There

Address:
House with the Heads
Keizersgracht 123, 1015 CJ Amsterdam
Public Transport
A fifteen-minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. Prefer public transport? Take trams 13 or 17, or bus 170, 172, or 174 to the Westermarkt stop. From there, walk back a short distance, turn left onto Keizersgracht, and you will find us on your right after 300 meters.
Bike
Amsterdam is best explored on two wheels, and the EFM is no exception. Ample bike parking is available along the Keizersgracht.
Car
Parking in the area is paid (~ €8,05 per hour), and spaces can be difficult to find. The nearest parking garages are Q-park Nieuwendijk at Nieuwezijds Kolk 18 (650 meters), Q-park Bijenkorf at Beursstraat 15 (950 meters), and Q-park Europarking at Marnixstraat 250 (1,300 meters). You can also park at a P+R location and travel into the centre by public transport.

Witchcraft Academy

Sat, Oct 31 · 9:00 AM CET

Arminius Church, Rotterdam, Museumpark 3, Rotterdam, NL

I am so glad to share where I will be teaching Sustainable Herbology, on Hallowe'en this year. Quirine Brouwer is organising the first Witchcraft Academy at a beautiful venue in Rotterdam. I hope to see you there! Tickets are selling fast, so here is the information and link to book if this is something for you:

Discover the hidden arts, kindred spirits, and practical magic.

You are hereby invited to join us at the Witchcraft Academy.
For one day, step out of the ordinary and become a student of the craft. Study the hidden arts, learn practical spells and meet your fellow witches.

ENROLL AT THE ACADEMY · €235
31 October · Rotterdam · lunch, materials & goodie bag included

# Study the craft

Inside a beautiful old church in the heart of Rotterdam, beneath stained glass windows and over creaking wooden floors, you'll spend the day learning from experienced witches, experimenting with spells and practices, meeting kindred spirits and discovering new ways to bring the craft into your everyday life.
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There will be herbs and tarot cards, workbooks and spellcraft, a witch's lunch and a room full of fellow witches waiting for you.

## For one day only, the doors are opening.

One day at the Academy includes:

### 6.5 hours of classes

### All materials included

### A witch's lunch

Three in-depth workshops created especially for the Academy
Workbooks, workshop materials & creations to take home
Freshly prepared seasonal vegan lunch by local green witch Thirza

### A filled goodie bag

### An exclusive coven

### A magical setting

High-quality witchy products to continue your practice at home
Only 33 students, with time to meet your fellow witches
A full day inside a historic gothic church in Rotterdam

## About the classes

### Advancing Your Witchcraft Practice

So, you know your basic crystal properties and moon cycles, and now find yourself wondering… where do I go from here? Take the pressure off the craft and get inspired to find new ways to weave practices through your day-to-day life. Explore new ways of working with energy, including a playful collective energy-raising practice, and learn how to build a craft that feels intuitive, flexible and, most importantly, your own. Expect practical wisdom, experimentation and plenty of ideas to take home with you, whether you’ve been practising for a year or a lifetime.

### Green Magick: Local Sustainable Witchcraft

Green witchcraft begins with what grows around you. We’ll turn our attention back to the land beneath our feet and discover the magical plants, materials and traditions of the Netherlands and Northern Europe. Learn how local, sustainable alternatives can replace popular imported materials such as white sage, palo santo and mined crystals, and how to source, grow and even make magical tools yourself. Explore how to build a practice that is kinder to the earth, connected to place and rooted in the magical heritage of our own landscapes.

### Divination and Intuition: Beyond the Basics

Step into the strange and wonderful world of divination, from ancient practices to modern forms emerging today. Discover what different methods of divination have in common, which one might suit you, why tarot is such a powerful tool, and how you can begin strengthening and trusting your own intuition. Along the way, you’ll learn from professional tarot reader Avery, explore ways to deepen your own practice, and have the chance to ask all the questions you’ve always wanted to ask.

Meet your teachers
Avery
Avery Oldershaw (Witch Lantern) (they/them) is practicing chaos witch, practical tarot reader and resident reader at Black Moon Botanica. Their practices are grounded in British folkloric witchcraft and chaos magic, creating a balanced, sustainable approach to the work and play of witchcraft.

Lynn
Lynn Shore (The Green City Witch) (she/her) is a practising witch, herbalist, and author of book The Green City Witch, she explores urban nature, casts spells, brews potions, and guides others on magical walks and workshops, helping city-dwellers connect with the magic and rhythm of their surroundings.

For you, if..
✦ you're interested in witchcraft but are sometimes overwhelmed or intimidated by it
✦ you already practice and want fresh ideas and deeper knowledge
✦ you're between the ages of 18 and 35
✦ you love tarot, herbalism, folklore, spellcraft or practical magic
✦ you're craving a day with people who get it

Full details and booking through this link.

Samhain Green City Witch Walk

Sun, Nov 1 · 2:00 PM CET

Black Moon Botanica Amsterdam, Spiegelgracht 30-H, Amsterdam, NL

1st November 2026
This is a witch walk, in the centre of Amsterdam. Looking at hidden aspects of city nature.

When: 2–4pm | November 1st 2026
Where: Starts & ends at Black Moon Botanica – Magical Apothecary & Occult Bookshop, Spiegelgracht 30-H, Amsterdam, 1017 JS.
Price: €30 per person | Limited spaces
Tickets: can only be booked via this link

***

Join Lynn Shore for the 2026 version of her spellbinding walk through Amsterdam’s hidden green corners, enchanted architecture, and find streetwise plant allies.
These walks are not just strolls through the canal streets looking for herbs. We look at ways to create local sensory spells, taking in natural history woven with folklore, and ritual – The art of seeing the city like a witch.

What to expect

• Discover the magical properties of common city trees and weeds (you’ll never see them the same way again)
• Hear tales of architectural superstition and natural symbolism in the city’s design
• Learn how to craft simple protective charms and green spells using locally growing herbs
• Tap into seasonal energies and leave with practical witchy wisdom
• Option to browse ritual herbs, blends, and occult goods at Black Moon Botanica after the walk

Your guide, Lynn Shore, is a practicing green witch and medical herbalist, with decades of magical and botanical experience. She loves introducing deep plant and esoteric knowledge, and is the published author of The Green City Witch . Lynn runs a year-long online course about Green Urban Witchcraft and holds public seasonal gatherings for Druids, Witches, and Friends, in Amsterdam.