Sacred Plant Medicine Apprenticeship
Year One
The Vermont in person course is full for spring 2023
Our foundational 9 Month Apprenticeship in Traditional Herbalism, Sacred Plant Medicine, Spiritual Ecology, & Holistic Healing.
In Westminster, Vermont our first year training runs from May 2023 until December. Class will be held on our 10 acre property filled with herbal gardens students can harvest from! Our Year One training will gather 1 weekend a month in person. Students will also receive full unlimited access to our online version of this course A Year of Gaia.
Our First Year Plant Medicine Apprenticeship is an immersive 160 hour course in traditional herbalism and sacred plant medicine. 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, and simple rituals. 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. In each class we seek to unite Western modes of learning with ancient traditions of learning directly from the plants, ourselves, and the earth.
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 learning, plant communication, and journeying. Classes in our first year course focus on self healing, as well as building a strong foundation in herbalism. In year two students focus on bringing all they have received from the plants in year one to their communities.
The course is intended to be a healing journey into your own connection with the medicine plants that surround you. 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.
The Vermont in person course is full for spring 2023,
Check out our online version of this course!
Spring 2024 Year One Online
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. In our courses we partner with plants as conscious beings, learning from them directly. 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 Self Care
At the end of the 9 month program, each student will be certified from the school for 160 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. 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!
Dates for 2023 in Vermont
Year One Sacred Plant Medicine Apprenticeship
Group 1 - with Sage Maurer
2023 Class Dates ~ 9 Weekend Sessions
Saturday & Sunday 10:30am - 6pm
May 13th - 15th (3 days)
June 3rd & 4th
July 1st & 2nd
July 29th & 30th
August 26th & 27th
September 16th & 17th
October 14th & 15th
November 4th & 5th
December 2nd - 4th (3 days)
20 class days - 150 hours
Bonus full unlimited access to our online course A Year of Gaia.
Year One Apprenticeship deposit is non-refundable and only for Vermont in person courses. $350 holds your place in the course as space is limited!
Courses fill with a waitlist each year.
Please note ~ For anyone who had already put down a deposit for a course that had to be cancelled due to COVID-19, please email us if you would like to join us for our 2023 course! thegaiaschool@gmail.com
Tuition & Payment Plans ~
The cost for the 9 month May, 2023 Year One Apprenticeship is $2,200 - $2,500 sliding scale ($1,600-1,800 BIPOC rate) for 20 seven hour classes. Class will meet for 9 weekends total, for a total of 150 hours of class time. Students will also receive full unlimited access to our online course A Year of Gaia. We offer payment plans and a sliding scale based on income level. BIPOC scholarships are available. 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 starting at $200 per month (after initial class deposit) are available. 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.
This course is also offered in Colombia and in Sweden!
Join us this spring as we journey together with the plants…
