Lupo Passero Community Herbalist, Flower Essence Practitioner :: Founder and Director of Twin Star herbal education & community apothecary

Intimately connected with the plant world from an early age, Lupo Passero has studied botanical medicine from a variety of perspectives. A mother twice blessed, Lupo has a first hand passion for helping the family enjoy healthy and holistic experiences with pregnancy, childbirth, children and teenagers! Her humble beginning with herbs and flower essences as a young mother in the 90's inspired her to learn and go on to teach others. Lupo spent over a decade developing an intimate relationship to the diverse medicinal plants of the Appalachians Mountains of North Carolina, where she lived for many years and studied herbalism at the North Carolina School of Natural Healing. It was in the healing community of Asheville where Lupo began her career as an herbalist, offering classes and workshops on traditional herbalism and flower essences at various institutions (including The Appalachian School of Holistic Herbalism, The Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine and The One World Healing Institute). Her classes have since evolved to cover a variety of topics including folk herbalism, plant spirit healing, plant identification/communication, the medicine woman way, herb justice programs and a variety of spiritual and indigenous healing traditions from around the globe.   

In 2009, shortly after moving back to her home state of Connecticut,  Lupo launched Twin Star Herbal Education and Community Apothecary in New Milford, where she continued to share her passion for the natural world. She has been invited to teach at various institutions around New England including, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Western Connecticut State University, Yale University and The Graduate Institute. Lupo’s immense love for travel has lead her to teach numerous herbal trainings and retreats throughout the country as well as Central America, Europe and the United Kingdom.  She has had the privilege of studying under the tutelage of many great teachers including Himani Ellis, Rosemary Gladstar, Pam Montgomery and a host of traditional and indigenous Medicine People from across the globe.  Lupo is a retired two-term Secretary and board member of the American Herbalist Guild, an organization pioneering professional modern herbalism. Having grown up in Newtown, Connecticut Lupo has worked extensively promoting the concept of Herbalism in Action, using herbalism to help support communities after tragedy, after closely using the wisdom of the plants to help support her community of Sandy Hook.

Lupo recently returned to the “home of her heart” in Asheville, NC where she splits her time between Connecticut, Costa Rica and Mexico. She and her two grown children currently reside in the Southeast, but will always have a home in New England. When she is not traveling or teaching she can be found foraging the mountains of Appalachia, or harvesting in her medicine wheel garden in the hills of Connecticut, or traipsing through the jungle, usually with her camera in hand and always with ceremony and ritual in her heart. 

“What a privilege it's been for me to have the opportunity to walk this joyful herbal path with Lupo. A passionate herbalist and teacher, she is one of the most dedicated and generous individuals I know. Always growing personally and sharing her wisdom.” -B. Lewis 2012 graduate.

Lupo can be contacted at twinstarherbs@gmail.com

TWIN STAR FACULTY & Friends

Zaac Chaves, Fungi Expert

Often turned to for field expertise regarding fungi, Zaac guides people through realms in which the details matter immensely. Zaac's greater research compassionately seeks out least-harm approaches to bioregional livelihood. As an extension of this approach Zaac rides his bicycle to work, practices a vegan diet, and maintains a waste vegetable oil fueled car. Employed as a detail-focused naturalist, Zaac performs botanical field work, writes, and interprets historic research. Zaac currently serves as an administrator on the board of the Connecticut-Westchester Mycological Association and has been honored by the Explorer’s Club regarding his epic Transtaïga bicycle journey. Zaac’s skills are requested by Harvard University, the National Parks Service, and the New York Botanical Gardens for rare and disappearing species’ surveys. Zaac serves as the chief editor of the renowned Boston Mycological Club Bulletin (1897).

 Zach Fisher, Primitive Skills Instructor

Zack grew up in the woods and on the beaches of Northern California.  The pursuit of art and music brought him to the East Coast and consequently to Tom Brown Jr's Tracker School which he considers to be the beginning of the education he was always looking for.  He began teaching in 2011 and has since co-founded Earth Living Skills.  He teaches and leads guided adventures for Discover Outdoors as well as several other earth skills based programs.  His goal as a teacher and a student is to foster a deeper connection with natural world in the spirit of discovery and the maximizing of our human potential. Zach is a guest teacher (and graduate) in Twin Star’s Foundations of Herbalism course and helps co-lead Earth Spirit: Plant Spirit Healing and Nature Connection. He also offers various monthly classes and workshops on primitive skills as well as ancestral healing and runs one of Twin Star’s newest programs Survival Sundays.

Chris (Painted Turtle) Harris, Herbalist & Spiritual Guide

Turtle comes to us with the wisdom of Native Ceremony and is willing to share the teachings as he lives them in his spiritual life. He is a Counsel Elder of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians and although he spent time at Indian ceremonies as a young boy, he started paying attention to the lessons of the Red Road 25 years ago. He has a strong belief in our connection to Mother Earth and simply shares what he lives. Chris (Painted Turtle) brings his years of experience and Native wisdom to Twin Star for a variety of classes and events throughout the year.  Earth Spirit - An Introduction to Plant Spirit Healing, Nature Connection & and Native Healing is offered each year in June where he shares ceremony, lodge and sacred teachings.  Turtle also teaches 'Honoring the Four directions' in the Foundations in Herbalism class each spring. 

Arvolyn Hill, Community Herbalist, Flower Essence Practitioner and Educator

Arvolyn grew up in the small rural town of Kent, Connecticut on Schaghticoke land. She was raised with a never-ending curiosity about plants and the natural world. Arvolyn became passionate about Herbalism after several members of her family passed away due to illness developed after living among environmental pollution.

Arvolyn enrolled at Twin Star Connecticut's School of Herbalism and Energetic Studies. In 2016 Arvolyn opened an online apothecary called Gold Feather where she sells herbal tinctures, pressed flower phone cases and sustainable reusable cloth face masks. Arvolyn is passionate about reclaiming herbalism for BIPOC communities and using herbalism for ancestral connections. Arvolyn also works as the Coordinator of Family Programs at Everett's Children’s Adventure Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens where she creates Nature and Science exploration activities for kids. 

Farmer Melody, RN, Herbalist & Instructor

Melody Wright is the founder of Pleasant Valley Botanicals, a "farmlet" in Northwest CT committed to growing vibrant medicinal and culinary herbs for the local community. Melody is committed to growing and sharing fresh medicinal herbs because of her belief in medicinal herbs as an integral part of an affordable and holistic health care system. She also works as a Community Health Nurse, and has a passion for canoeing and kayaking. Melody is currently working on a USDA-funded research grant looking at crop yield and disease resistance of crops planted with soil fungal inoculants. Melody is honored to be a part of the Twin Star Tribe and is a regular teacher in our Foundations of Herbalism program. In addition, she host an annual medicinal plant sale at Twin Star putting the plants in the hands of the people. She is prone to hooting like a Short-Eared Owl while on woodland tromps in Connecticut.

  Find out more at:  http://pleasantvalleybotanicals.weebly.com

Deana Paqua, MA, LMT

Deana is a teacher and practitioner of cross-cultural energy medicine and contemporary shamanism and has worked as a holistic health practitioner for over 20 years. She has worked with traditional healers, shaman and medicine people from Tibet, North and South America, with an emphasis on the healing traditions of the Andes, for over a dozen years. She is also an adjunct professor at Western CT State University, in Danbury, CT. In her healing work and classes, Deana incorporates traditional and contemporary spiritual, energetic and holistic health practices to support the self-healing and self-empowerment of her students and clients. At Twin Star, Deana is honored to provide classes and offerings in Shamanic Journeying, the Rites of the Munay Ki, Despacho Ceremonies, traditional teachings from the Andes, and the Rite of the Womb. She offers classes, training programs, healing sessions and more. For additional information, please visit www.embodythesacred.net.

Cassandra Purdy, Local Chef & Cannabis Expert

Cass has a degree in Anthropology from Vassar College and another in Tibetan Studies. She has always been interested in sacred plants and ethnobotony, pursuing her education in these subjects through shamanism, travel, workshops with masters and research. She translated activist/writer Michka Seeliger-Chatelain's seminal “Medical Cannabis” and “Healing with Cannabis” into English, as well as (for another publisher) “Homegrown Harvest.”  She worked at her first High Times Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam in 1995 and has been a judge at many since, both for flower and edibles categories. In the intervening 23 years she has attended hundreds of trade shows, conventions and conferences all over the world in the cannabis space. She has also made almost a dozen trips to India starting in 1994 with a deep interest in the continent’s relationship with psychoactive plants and in particular the traditional uses of cannabis as sacrament and medicine. Since 2014 she has been working in the new world of legal and medical marijuana consulting on edibles and creating product-lines for companies in CT and Oregon, drawing on her more than 25 years of experience collaborating with this powerful plant ally. Cassandra offers Cannabis classes for herbalists throughout the year.

Jenna Faccenda, Marketing Corindinator

Jenna Faccenda is an Italian American folk herbalist, witch and writer. When she isn’t tending to her son, puppy, or cats, she is working with her herbal ancestors through the Sacred Path Collective and Widow Apothecary. Her teachings and practices come from her findings through her southern Italian roots of Sicily and Campania, her teachers on the plant path (Kimberly Geisler, Janet Kent, Dave Meesters, and Jen Stovall), and her former life as a book publicist. She is the marketing creatrix of the Twin Star team and can be reached at twinstaroutreach@gmail.com. 

Ilana Sobo, Herbalist, Aromatherapist & Ayurvedic Practitioner

Ilana Sobo – Ilana is a community herbalist, Ayurvedic Practitioner and Yoga Instructor and offers courses, classes and consultations in Connecticut and Vermont. She has spent over 22 years in the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga and Herbalism and has work with & apprenticed for several of the pioneers in Botanical Medicine & Ayurveda in the US.  Her time at the Ayurvedic Institute studying and working in the clinic was greatly formative. Ayurveda is the thread of continuity in all Ilana’s work and she is honored to help pass down the ancient wisdom shared by her teacher Dr. Vasant Lad. Ilana also has unique apothecary training spanning over 20 years and regularly compounds tinctures, salves, essential oil blends, teas and flower essences for her local community.  She is co-teacher of Twin Star’s The Practicing Herbalist Practitioner Training program and co-creator of the course The Botanical Bartender. She is available for consultations and classes on Ayurveda, Yoga and herbology by appointment. You can visit her at www.shaktibotanica.com 

Jason Scott, Mycologist, Ethnobotanist & Spagyricist

Jason Scott has studied traditional Hermetic Alchemy, from history and philosophy to practice, for the past 5 years. He has a background in Ethnobotany and Plant Medicine that started on the Big Island of Hawaii, and has carried back with him into his home: the Pacific North West. Born and raised in Oregon, Jason has an intrinsic interest in the Fungal Queendom and all of its aspects: from cultivation and mycoremediation, to historical and cultural relationships. Most specifically their medicinal application. Jason has studied various different healing modalities including Ayurveda in Nepal and Western Herbalism all over Oregon and Washington. He is on an ever-deepening journey of education to understand the practical applications of his interests, and the golden threads that connect them. You can learn more about his work and products at FeralFungi.com

Laura Watkins, Astrological Counselor, Educator & Personalized Jewelry Designer

Laura has been studying astrology for over thirty years and has over 20 years of experience as an Astrological Counselor. Laura has been making jewelry since 1986. Inspired by natal charts and crystals she began designing personalized jewelry that can enhance Sun Signs and balance energies. Laura is a member of the Organization of Professional Astrologers, The Astrological Society of Connecticut, and the International Association of Reiki Professionals. Laura loves to combine energetic healing modalities to heal herself and others using Shamanic techniques, Reiki, crystals, and plant medicine. Laura offers her services in many ways at Twin Star including a variety of astro-classes, including monthly astological Star Circle as well as her her annual Introduction to Astrology 6 week immersion class and monthly natal chart readings in the apothecary. Twin Star Community Apothecary also carries a large variety of her incredible healing jewelry.

Sunflower Sarah (aka Sarah Tracy) Herbalist, Farmer & Instructor

Sunflower Sarah was born in Maine and raised in Connecticut: a true New Englander through and through. She has worked all sorts of jobs over the years, including selling wine, babysitting, annuities, scooping ice cream, and her favorite job of all: growing veggies and herbs for her community.  At Twin Star she teaches Cultivating Resilience, a 7-month hand-on medicinal plant gardening program. Sarah has completed Levels 1-3 of Twin Star Herbal Programs, Rosemary Gladstar’s Science & Art of Herbalism, Tropical Flower Essence Practitioner Training, and many of the shorter Twin Star classes as well.  Sarah opened her online business, Little Dove Botanicals LLC in November 2020 (despite the COVID pandemic!), selling medicines and herbal products grown in her garden. You can see some of Sunflower Sarah’s products here: www.littledovebotanicals.com. Sarah’s wanderlust is evident: when she’s not in her garden you are likely to find her either planning her next trip or traveling to a new place she hasn’t explored yet. Different cultures and traditions are her jam. She lives and gardens in Torrington, CT with her husband Trevor (aka the English Cowboy). 

Jessica Rose, Herbalist

Jessica Rose is a budding herbalist living in the valley of Amenia, NY. She joined the Twin Star community in early 2020 and worked as an Apprentice in 2021. Five years ago, she acquired land in which she is now tending by bringing native species back home, and by creating sanctuary gardens and a greenhouse for her community to enjoy. She is in the process of completing Level 2 Practices and Protocols of Herbalism as well as Level 3 Seed to Market trainings at Twin Star. For the past few years, she has worked on lots of medicinal seed starting and turned those plants into small batch medicines for friends and family. Jess Rose has her certification in Permaculture design and continues to study and puts the practice into use in her home gardens. She will continue her Herbalism studies in the future and plans on taking the Practicing Herbalist course next year with the goal of becoming a Clinical Herbalist. She really enjoys wild food foraging and will be working on developing wild food recipes for the Twin Star community to check out! She is an established jewelry designer, green witch, lover of everything mushroom related, and a devoted dog and foster Mother. Rose shares classes as an instructor based upon her passion for wild food and some of her favorite medicinal and ceremonial plants.