Episode 07: Flower Power: Modern Herbalism & The Return of Plant Wisdom with special guest Ilana Sobo
Welcome back to Ritual Herbalism—a podcast exploring the sacred threads of plant medicine, ancestral memory, and the ways we return to ourselves through earth-centered ritual.
In this episode, “Flower Power: Modern Herbalism & The Return of Plant Wisdom,” we’re joined by special guest Ilana Sobo, herbalist and founder of the Flower Power Project. Together, we travel through time, back to the revolutionary bloom of the 1960s and forward into the present moment, where the spirit of Flower Power is rising again with renewed force.
This is a conversation about plants as teachers, ritual as remembrance, and the cycles, astrological and earthly, that return us to the wisdom of the living world.
Brew your tea. Open your heart. Let the plants speak.
Episode Themes: Flower Power, cultural cycles & the rising herbal renaissance
We begin by returning to the roots of the 1960s Flower Power movement, a time when beauty became activism, when flowers were symbols of peace, and when gardens became places of community, imagination, and ecological hope.
This was not simply an aesthetic.
It was a cultural remembering.
A remembering of earth.
A remembering of relational living.
A remembering that plants hold intelligence, magic, and medicine beyond the clinical.
Today, that remembering is resurfacing. And Ilana’s work with the Flower Power Project carries this lineage forward—bridging ritual herbalism with contemporary needs for connection, healing, and collective transformation.
Astrology & The Cycles That Return
The cultural revolutions of the 1960s emerged during the Uranus–Pluto conjunction, a time of rupture, awakening, and deep transformation.
Uranus disrupts. Pluto reforms. Together, they catalyze.
We now live through the square of that same cycle:a moment of pressure, friction, and evolutionary demand. The resurgence of herbalism, ritual work, ecological awareness, and collective questioning mirrors this astrological climate. These are not isolated trends. They are expressions of a cycle returning, a call to re-root into the living world.
Ritual Invitation
A grounding ritual shared in this episode:
Take a slow walk and allow your body to move without destination. Notice which tree draws your attention. Stand with it. Place your hands against its trunk and feel the steadiness held there. Root your feet into the earth beneath you. Offer the tree what you are holding. Receive the quiet strength that rises through its roots. Let this moment serve as a reminder to turn inward and listen to what is deep and true within you.
Learn with Us
For those who feel called to understand plants through the lens of astrology, the full Astro Herbalism Course is now available as a self-paced online program. This offering brings together planetary correspondences, energetic patterns, and the larger cosmic cycles that shape our work with the green world. The course allows students to explore how astrology can illuminate the emotional, spiritual, and medicinal dimensions of plant practice.
Listeners of this episode receive twenty-five percent off the course using the code ASTRO2025. The program can be accessed through twinstartribe.com/astro-herbalism-immersionor by DMing us “Astro” on Instagram @twinstartribe.
This course extends the themes of this episode by inviting practitioners into a deeper dialogue with the plants, the planets, and the cycles that weave them together.
Ilana Sobo is a community herbalist, Ayurvedic Practitioner and Yoga Instructor and offers courses, classes and consultations in Connecticut and Vermont. She has spent over 28 years in the fields of Ayurveda, Yoga and Herbalism and has worked with & apprenticed for several of the pioneers in Botanical Medicine & Ayurveda in the US. You can visit her at flowerpowerproject.com.
Together, we teach the Practicing Herbalist, a 9-month immersion course designed to guide participants in taking the next steps toward becoming confident and compassionate Herbal Practitioners. Learn more at https://www.twinstartribe.com/level-3-the-practicing-herbalist.
Want to go deeper?
Join us at Twin Star Tribe to explore the art of ritual herbalism, energetic plant medicine, and ancestral healing. Our online and in-person offerings are here to support your journey—whether you're just beginning or deepening your path with the plants.
Come be part of a growing community rooted in Earth wisdom, sacred remembrance, and collective transformation. Visit our website and step into the circle. We’d be honored to welcome you.
Please remember that not every herb is right for every person. Know your medicine and consult a trusted herbal practitioner before beginning new remedies.