The Gaia School of Healing & Earth Education
Come journey with the sacred healing plants…
Join us for an 8 Month Apprenticeship in Herbal Healing, Shamanic Herbalism, Plant Spirit Medicine, Spiritual Ecology, Holistic Healing, and Journeying with Plant Devas and Earth Spirits.
The Cambridge/Boston Course begins March 5th – 6th and runs until the end of October, 2011, meeting one weekend every three weeks (for a total of 12 weekends, 24 six hour classes in total) with a couple additional field trips. Classes will be held indoors during the winter, and outdoors in the spring and summer. Our primary field sites will be The Garden in the Woods, and the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.
The Plant Medicine Apprenticeship will focus on working with plants as medicine for the body and spirit, remembering the ancient traditions of plant medicine used by village healers around the world. We will focus mostly on local Northeastern American plants as well as some plants used in Hawaiian La’au Lapa’au (Hawaiian herbal medicine), Ayurveda, and Chinese herbal medicine.
Certification for the 140-60 hour course will be given upon completion of the apprenticeship. Classes will be held outside when the weather permits and locations will be given upon registration. Please take a look at our apprenticeship syllabus for a closer look at what this course offers.
Apprenticeship classes focus on:
Medicinal Herbal Healing
Healing Plants of North America, Hawaii, & Asia
Plant Spirit Medicine
Wise Woman Tradition of Healing
Herbal Actions, Tastes, & Safety Levels
Systems of the Body & Herbal Energetics
Medicine Making – (tinctures, infusions, salves, and oils…)
Shamanic Herbalism
Guided Meditation & Journeying
Harvesting & Wildcrafting Plants
Magical Herbalism & Folklore
Plant Identification of North American Plants
Spiritual Ecology & Earth Spirituality
Communication with plant and nature devas
Plant Medicine Walks
Chakra healing with plants
Rituals with nature
Our Plant Medicine Apprenticeship is an intensive journey into green medicine and traditional plant knowledge. The apprenticeship is intended to be a spiritual journey as well as a course in medicinal herbalism. Classes include lecture, ritual, guided journeying, hands-on work with plants, medicine making, journeying with plant spirits, tasting plant infusions and extracts, meditations with nature, earth and body awareness, journal writing, and deep exploration with the spirit of the earth. Students learn to identify and use plants for medicine, form plant allies, and prepare medicinal teas, tinctures, essences, infusions, oils, incenses, and salves with plants from around the world. Students will learn to use the energies of the moon, sun, earth and the elements in their practice and treat imbalances in the body.
This apprenticeship is both a course in Western herbalism and in Shamanic plant spirit medicine. In each class spirit is blended with science, through meditation, lecture, plant walks, and hands-on learning. We seek to unite Western modes of learning and healing with ancient traditions of learning from the earth and from spirit.
The apprenticeship is intended to be a healing journey for each person and towards a deeper connection to the earth. The doorways that are opened and the wisdom gained during class will seep into each apprentices home and everyday life. The plants that each student forms relationships with changes their lives deeply, helping to guide and support them through life- body, mind, and spirit.
At the end of the 8 month program, each student will be brought into the inter-connected web of world healers through ritual and celebration, given gifts of initiation, and will be certified from the school in herbal healing and plant spirit medicine. Educational and plant materials as well as tea or snacks will be provided to you in class. We welcome you to join us in a journey back to the earth, with Sage and the plants! Please feel free to contact us with any questions and we’ll arrange a time to speak or meet with you.
“Healing with plants is probably the most ancient form of wisdom emerging right from the core of Mother Earth. It manifests our deepest connection to our past and to nature. All healing is free and open to us. By preserving this sacred wisdom and teaching others we are again re-establishing our relationship with the Earth.” – Andrea Nandoskar, Apprenticeship 2006
The cost for the 8 month March, 2011 Apprenticeship is $1,500 – $1,700 (sliding scale) for 24 six hour classes. Class will meet one weekend every 3 weeks, with a couple of additional optional field trips. A $100 discount is given to those who pay in full. Payment plans starting at $118 per class weekend (after initial class deposit) are available. A $200 deposit ($100 is non-refundable) is required to register for the apprenticeship and is subtracted from the total tuition. Grants are available for Vermont students through VSAC. Full payment is due by the first apprenticeship class meeting unless a payment plan has been arranged in advance.
To register, fill out the registration form listed on our web site and send it to the address provided. Each student should only miss 2-3 classes during the course, as it can disrupt the circle if people can not make classes regularly. The course will be limited to 14 people. Please feel free to contact Sage with any questions, atthegaiaschool@gmail.com, or call (617)-838-8094.
Before the start of the course you will receive a welcome packet in the mail with your course syllabus, booklist, course information, and beginning readings. Solitary study, practice, and assigments for the course are optional (with occasional exceptions) and highly encouraged.
This Apprenticeship is open to anyone interested, regardless of their gender, belief system, past experience, or knowledge of plants. We have had both advanced students and beginners as apprentices, and both men and women. Though the course does often stress the energy of the Mother present in the earth, both yin and yang energies present in all things is honored. Women tend to be the majority in our apprenticeships but green men are welcome and greatly appreciated in our circle.
