Hiya! I’m Alexis J. Cunningfolk & I love helping folks reconnect with their magick.
Here’s what I know:
You're meant to live a magickal life. Not because you’re good enough or have suffered enough or read your favorite novel on witches a thousand times. You deserve a magickal life because you are magick.
But who am I to say this?
I’m an intersectional herbalist, witch, and weaver of remedies.
My life began as a young witchling in the urban wilds of traditional Tongva lands (aka Los Angeles) with part of my childhood spent in Tokyo. My experiences as a third culture kid shaped my early understanding of the world. And, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been interested in the worlds between worlds where magick is abundant and everything is enchanted.
Currently, I live with traditional Nisenan and Miwok / Miwkoʔ Waaliʔ lands, also known as Sacramento, CA (join me in Land Acknowledgement), within the diasporic dreams of Romanistan, and in a network of inherited and chosen friends and family.
My herbalism and magickal practice is centered on the values of embodiment, kinship, and a curiosity that liberates. My intersectionality, and the reason I do the work that I do, arises from my lived experience as a nonbinary queer (she/they), a mixed womxn, and a practicing witch. I was lucky enough to have herbalism and magick come into my life at the same time - and I quickly realized the transformative powers of both to help me navigate my world with a steady compass.
You might have found me through my plant profiles, my writings on all things lunar, my seasonal explorations, studies in traditional western herbalism, or my work on the sliding scale. Oh and tarot - lots of tarot. However you’ve arrived to this space, I’m glad you’re here.
I started making herbal body care products when I was 12 (I made labels in MS Paint and mostly sold or gifted items to friends and family) and began teaching magickal arts when I was 19. I’ve presented at various herbal and magickal gatherings, even presenting an original paper at a Harvard conference on Paganism alongside speakers such as Ronald Hutton, R. J. Stewart, and Byron Ballard.
After college, with high hopes and a pair of glasses I thought made me look professional, I made an attempt to try and fit myself into the non-profit world (long story short: it didn't work). Soon I was frustrated with the bureaucracy that prevented real sustainable change and I started searching for something that would feed my soul. While working and traveling all over the country, I began my official training as a certified professional herbalist in 2007. I've studied with the likes of Dori Midnight, Julie James, Rosemary Gladstar, Margi Flint, Demetria Clark, Judith Hill, and many more.
Fast forward a few years later and in 2010 I officially opened Worts & Cunning Apothecary. Since then I've created and sold popular herbal products, taught at herbal and magickal conferences, created the online courses I wanted as a student, and written for a variety of print publications on herbal and magickal traditions. Through it all, my business and drive to teach have been led by my calling to be of service to others as they find their way home again to their magick.
As an herbalist I believe that plants are some of our most profound teachers, our ancestors before we even evolved on this planet, and a way to re-member ourselves home to community. Within herbal practice, an herbalist is only one part of a multifaceted exchange of wisdom helping to remind us throughout our journey of healing and reconciliation that we are all deeply interconnected - none of us were ever meant to heal alone.
In serving you on your journey, I truly believe that we make the world a more kind and just place - starting with your own life.
My magickal training is as a Weaver (think Priest/ess) where I learned how to help folks like you discover your magick and to recognize every part of who are you as inherently sacred. When our sacredness is denied by the culture at large or the folks around us it's hard not to believe it after a while - this holds too many folks like you back from thriving as magickal beings.
You deserve to be seen as sacred and I create resources to help you to do just that.
I call my herbalism intersectional because it is rooted in social justice, collective liberation, and inclusivity. And so is my magick. With these tools I believe that you can learn how to re-enchant your life so that you can live with clarity and purpose, peace and presence. Supporting my work helps to support the work of other radical changemakers as I donate around 5% of my annual earnings to organizations like RAICES and fellow herbal spaces like The People’s Medicine School. I share more about my work and the organizations I support each month in my patreon community.
Let's be real.
I'm not here to heal you. You won't find any gimmicks or cure-alls in what I do. I offer something more powerful. I'm here to help you re-member (to literally put back together) your own healing powers, gifts of magick, and sense of self amongst our beloved planet community. My work is as a facilitator and my promise to you is that I only offer what I feel is useful and profoundly healing.
From tarot to astroherbology to moon magick and remedy sessions to assist you in realigning with your mystical flow, I'll help you connect to the full spectrum that traditional western herbalism and esoteric tradition has to offer. Better yet, I’ll guide you on how to know the ancestral wisdom that runs through your veins (because, the truth is, we’re already practicing to be ancestors ourselves).
The best way to stay connected with me plus get access to some exclusive free resources, is to become one of my Magick Mail subscribers - it's simple and free to do. Plus you'll get news about my latest offerings, special deals, and insider's access to the life of a working herbalist and witch. If you’re interested in learning more about if I take apprentices, if I offer sales on my courses or just really like a robust FAQ, come this way. Ready to learn with me? Check out my offerings.
I'm so happy you've taken the time to visit me and I'm excited to keep connected with you on the adventure ahead.
And in honoring the magick of the moment, here’s a gentle invitation to step away from your screen, take some time to breath, get some water and do whatever simple thing that needs doing to support the temple of your body, the song of your spirit.
My work is supported by my incredible patreon community who have access to exclusive content and community space.
Magick Mail is my free gift of love to you! When you sign up for free you get access to exclusive recipes, tutorials, and other inspiring content.
I facilitate an ever-expanding circle of herbal medicine and magick called The Lunar Apothecary. The Lunar Apothecary is a self-guided course to learn about sacred herbalism with a lunar and astrological focus. The course covers remedy-making techniques, ritual creation, devotional arts, astroherbology basics, and much, much more. Is your heart fluttering with excitement? Come this way to learn more.
I'm a tarot and oracle reader with over 25 years of experience. I write about inventive ways to work with tarot from seasonal check-ins to time travel. If you want to discover the connections between herbalism and the tarot magick check out my course, The Tarot Apothecary.
My newest course is Solace: Herbs & Essences for Highly Sensitive People - created to help folks move from coping to thriving with the help of healing practices and plant allies.
I’ve curated a collection of breathwork meditations geared towards magickal folk - all offered on a generous sliding scale. These meditations are ones that I’ve taught and talked about in my classes for years and I’m happy to finally be able to share them with all of you.
I teach in-person classes and host gatherings in Sacramento, CA known also as the lands of the Nisenan and Miwkoʔ Waaliʔ.
My community blog features articles and resources on traditional western herbalism and living a magickal life. I write regularly on the following topics:
🪐 Astroherbology is all about the celebrating and exploring the heritage of medical astrology and astrological wisdom infused in ancient and modern traditional western herbalism.
🌙 Moon Studies focuses on lunar cycles and wisdom of the phases from tea-making to simple rituals and in-depth explorations of the hidden magick of the Moon in your birth chart.
🌿 Plant Allies features materia medica about our beloved allies of the plant kingdom who teach help us re-member our wholeness and their unique gifts, personalities, and stories.
🕯️ Magickal Arts features some of my most favorite and useful rituals, spells, and conjurations as well as ways to infuse your herbal remedies with magick.
🫖 Recipes & Tutorials are for those of you who are ready to make your own healing remedies!
🌲 Tarot & Divination is as it implies - time for tarot and divination! I've had a long-standing romance with the tarot cards since I picked them up nearly two decades ago and love making connections between magick, herbal medicine, and divinatory arts.
Podcasts I’ve Appeared On…
“In taking care of ourselves, the ultimate goal is to get us back into community.”
Intersectional Herbalism for Difficult Times on Daydreaming Wolves
“Instead of denying myself, I’m going to desire myself.”
Radical Intersectional Herbalism & Stepping into Personal Power on Dream Freedom Beauty
“Continue to write the stories. Write yourself into these stories. Make sure that you’re being seen in your own practice and your own life.”
Astroherbology, Herbal Medicine in the Tarot, and Taking Up Space in Your Own Life on Living Open
“We deserve to be taken care of, and loved, and held for the long haul.”
Astroherbalism, Intersectionality, and Consistency on Free Her Spirit
"We have these stories - oh my ancestors came to me, my guides… I met a koala! At a sketchy zoo!”
Intersectional Herbalist + Witch on Branch & Bone Medicine Show
“Hawthorn is a guardian of the hinge.”
Hawthorn on Listen
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