Sacred Plant Medicine
Apprenticeship
Year One Course
Registration Open for Spring 2026
Westminster, Vermont
9 Month Apprenticeship in Traditional Herbalism, Sacred Plant Medicine, Spiritual Ecology, & Holistic Healing.
Courses also available in Toronto, Canada and Colombia
Begins April 2026
Join us this spring in Westminster, Vermont for our first year herbalism course running from April 2026 until May 2027 (with a winter break). Class will be held on our 10 acre property filled with herbal gardens students can harvest from every class! Our Year One training gathers in person one weekend a month for 9 full months. Students will also receive full unlimited access to our online version of this course A Year of Gaia including monthly live zoom classes and recorded modules.
Our First Year Plant Medicine Apprenticeship is an immersive course in traditional herbalism and sacred plant medicine we have been offering for over 23 years. This course creates a strong foundation in herbalism and building personal relationships with our healing plants. Classes include harvesting & medicine making, herbalism lectures, tea meditations, guided journeys, plant walks and identification, herbal gardening, plant communication, nature connection, and healing ritual. In each class we seek to unite Western modes of learning with ancient traditions of learning directly from the plants, ourselves, and the earth. We explore the systems of the body in depth through the lens of herbalism and holistic anatomy and physiology. Students will learn to identify, grow, and harvest plants for medicine year round.
This apprenticeship is both a course in ancestral herbalism and Western sciences, with a strong focus on our own personal relationships with the plants themselves. In the first year course we get to know the plants in our own body, through experiential hands on learning in the garden, plant communication, medicine making, and journeying. Classes in our first year course focus on self healing, as well as building a strong foundation in the practice of community herbalism. In year two students focus on bringing what they receive from the plants in year one to their communities.
Our courses at Gaia are healing journeys that bring students into close connection with the medicine plants that surround us. Doorways that are opened and the wisdom gained during class will seep into each apprentice's home and everyday life. The plants that each student forms relationships with changes their lives on deep levels, and becomes health care that lasts a lifetime.
Reserve Your Space
for Spring
Deposit for Vermont Weekend Apprenticeship. Courses fill every year with a waitlist. Please note your deposit is non-refundable. View the course syllabus here.
SCROLL DOWN FOR 2026 DATES
Join us as we journey with the healing plants of Gaia...
Our Sacred Plant Medicine Apprenticeships focus on working with plants as medicine for the body and soul, remembering the ancient traditions of our ancestors. We work with local Northeastern American plants as well as many plants that have long traditions of use globally. Plants of Europe, Central and South America, Polynesia, Ayurveda, and Chinese herbal medicine are explored throughout the course, with a strong focus on sustainability, protection of native plants, and respect to communities. Students are able to harvest an abundance of medicinal plants, herb seeds, and wild foods from the Gaia School gardens.
Certification for the 150 hour course in sacred plant medicine and holistic healing will be given upon completion of the apprenticeship. Students combine herbal medicine with many other healing modalities and often go on to incorporate plant medicine into their careers in many different ways - growing plants, medicine making, teaching, opening a healing practice, working with friends and family, and using plant medicine to benefit social, environmental, and collective change. Please take a look at our apprenticeship syllabus for a closer look at what this course offers.
Year One Apprenticeship classes focus on:
Folk & Traditional Herbal Healing
Growing & Wildcrafting Healing Plants
Healing Plants of North America & Tropical Plant Medicine
Plant Spirit Medicine
Spiritual Ecology & Earth-centered Ceremony
Wild Foods & Plant Identification
Meditation with Plants
Restorative Medicine & Nourishing Traditions
Systems of the Body & Herbal Energetics
Medicine Making - (tinctures, infusions, salves, etc.)
Sustainable Herbalism
Plant Medicine Walks & ID
Ethnobotany & Ecology
Chakra Healing with Plants
Energy Healing & Bodywork
Magical Herbalism & Folklore
Communication with plants
Herbalism & Social/Environmental Justice
Body-centered & Heart based Learning
Nourishing Herbal Self Care
At the end of the 9 month program, each student will be certified from the school for 130 hours of training in traditional herbalism, holistic healing, and sacred plant medicine. Students will also receive full unlimited access to our online course A Year of Gaia. Please note ~ There is no legal licensing or certification required for herbalists to practice in the US. Herbalists are not legally allowed to practice medicine or "treat" patients, instead we recommend plants from our own personal experience, helping to support each person's own healing path. This course offers certification in 160 hours of training.
Educational and plant materials will be provided to you in class as well as audio recordings of classes. All students will receive the full online version of this course for free as a course supplement full of videos and audio recordings each month. Students can harvest fresh plants for their own use and medicine making from our herbal gardens every class weekend. Please feel free to contact us with any questions at thegaiaschool@gmail.com and we'll arrange a time to speak with you!
Course taught by Sage L. Maurer ~ Director of The Gaia School of Healing.
In 2001, Sage founded The Gaia School of Healing in New England and has trained over 50 rounds of apprentices over the past 24 years. She practices a blend of traditional folk herbalism and plant spirit medicine, partnering with the plant kingdoms as her main teachers. In Southern Vermont Sage teaches in partnership with ten acres of land covered in abundant healing plants. Sheoffers courses in sacred plant medicine, ethnobotany, ancestral herbalism, deep ecology, and eco-spirituality year round. To learn more about Sage visit our About Us page.
2026 Class Dates
View our Course Syllabus
Weekend Apprenticeship Group 2
May 16th & 17th
June 20th & 21st
July 18th & 19th
August 15th & 16th
September 12th & 13th
October 3rd & 4th
November 7th & 8th
December 5th & 6th
Winter Break & Spring Final Gathering
April 23rd - 25th
Weekend Apprenticeship Group 1
May 2nd & 3rd
May 30th & 31st
June 27th $ 28th
July 25th & 26th
August 22nd & 23rd
September 19th & 20th
October 17th & 18th
November 14th & 15th
Winter Break & Spring Final Gathering
April 30th, May 1st & 2nd
Tuition & Payment Plans
The tuition for our Year One 2026 Apprenticeship is $2,200 - $2,500 sliding scale for 19 seven hour classes. We also offer BIPOC tuition rates ($1600 - 1800). If needed, BIPOC scholarships are available for additional support.
Class will meet for 9 weekends total, for a total of 130 hours of class time. Students will also receive full unlimited access to our online version of this course, A Year of Gaia, including monthly zoom classes.
We offer payment plans and a sliding scale based on income level. We ask that each student choose what they can afford, understanding that those who pay the higher end of the sliding scale are providing support for lower income students to attend as well. Payment plans are available for low income students, as well as VSAC grants for Vermont residents.
Payment plans after initial class deposit are available for low income students. A $350 deposit (non-refundable) is required to register for the apprenticeship and is subtracted from the total tuition. Full payment is due by the first apprenticeship class meeting unless a payment plan has been arranged in advance.
Before the start of the course you will receive a welcome packet with your course syllabus, booklist, course information, and beginning readings. Solitary study, practice, and assignments for the course are optional, (with occasional required assignments) and home practice is highly encouraged! Students should plan to devote 2 hours a week to their class home practice. Students will also receive full unlimited access to our online course A Year of Gaia based on this first year training.
This apprenticeship is open to anyone interested, regardless of their gender, belief system, past experience, or knowledge of plants. We believe strongly in creating a safer spaces that honour diversity, difference, and many voices. We continue to work on creating safer spaces for all people who have experienced marginalization. We strongly value creating safer space for BIPOC, queer, and gender non-conforming people.
Join us this spring as we journey together with the plants…
All in person Vermont courses are located in Westminster, VT.
Students can camp or stay with us in rustic lodging. Many excellent B&Bs and hotels are also located in the area for accommodation.
Please contact us with any questions at thegaiaschool@gmail.com.
