Year One- Folk Herbalism Mentorship
Markdale, Ontario, in the forest
One weekend a month over 5 months April- August 2025
Meet soul family & study with Julie Gaia.
-Are you seeking a mentor?
-Do you want to learn how to weave a willow basket?
- You will collect wild medicines, deepen your relationship
with the land and make friends with plants.
-Create your own apothecary or enhance your own.
-Fulfil your desire to practice herbalism in a slow and nourishing way.
-Do you seek an outdoor classroom by the fire?
Then this mentorship is for you.
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2025 celebrates 8 years of the Gaia Hive!
Rainbow Serpent
Folk Herbalism Mentorship
Markdale, Ontario, Canada
This mentorship is for personal healing and connection
to plant spirits & elemental beings.
2025 Schedule Dates
April 26 & 27
May 17 & 18
June 14 &15
July 19 & 20
August 16 & 17
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Each day will start with an opening circle and land acknowledgment.
All voices will be heard.
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Every day you will have time in the forest, experience guided
plant spirit journeys, and have time with the living plants.
Commitment: 5 nourishing weekends from April until August
Saturday & Sunday 9-5 p.m.
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What will you do each weekend?​
*Feel confident making medicines with fresh living plants.
* Weave your own willow basket in June.
*Make tinctures, salves, herbal oil & smokes, teas, and so much more.
​*Meet new friends, camp under the stars, and enjoy evening fires.
* Become a little more wild and free. Sing together. Make music.
* Spend your weekends in an outside classroom with mature forests,
swamps, and meadows​​
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We meet 5 for weekends over 5 months. This helps you deepen your relationship & confidence with the plants throughout the seasons.
April
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Land acknowledgement & group sharing
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Local plants to clear and cleanse
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Plant Communication & elemental medicine
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Ethical harvest & reciprocity
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Root & bark harvest
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Honey ceremony for the Ancestors
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May
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Smoke bath bundles
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Spring plant medicine harvest
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Herbal wild vinegar
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Herbal smokes
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Spring Tree Medicines
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June​
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Willow basket making!
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Learn how to weave a beautiful willow basket
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Journey with the spirit of willow
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​​​​​July​
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Summer plant harvest & medicine making
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Group gifting
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Flower essences
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Heart opening River ceremony
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Herbal oils
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August
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Summer Tree Medicines
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Stone Communication
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Salve making
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Honey ceremony for the ancestors
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Plant monologues
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What is included?
10 full day classes - 9 am - 5 pm for 5 weekends.
All plant medicine & herbal teas are included.
One full weekend of willow basket weaving & teachings.
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10 Meals: A nourishing vegetarian lunch made by Julie Gaia
is provided every Saturday & Sunday.
A simple outdoor kitchen is available to cook your dinners and breakfast.
Accommodation:*Camping is on site Saturday nights/Outhouse/Rustic paradise.
Bring your own tent and gear.
*You can book a local Airbnb near Markdale/ Durham or drive home at night if you live nearby.
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No tent? Or do you want a tent set up for you when you arrive?
3 tent spaces are available with a bed & linens. 1 is private and the other is for 2 people
with a dividing wall and separate entrances.
This is available for additional fee of $750 for the year.
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​Location: Markdale, Ontario at a private residence. 45 minutes south of Owen sound.
10 minutes west of Markdale. 2 hours north of Toronto and Hamilton.
2.5 hours from Peterborough.
​​​Pricing tier:
$2700 -Low income price
$3700 -Regular price
$4700 -Benefactor price. This price help lower income students and assists scholarships.
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A $700 deposit will secure your space.
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I want to acknowledge that the Gaia Hive is on the Traditional Territory of the Anishinabek Nation:
The People of the Three Fires known as Ojibway, Odawa, and Pottawatomie Nations.
And further give thanks to the Chippewas of Saugeen, and the Chippewas of Nawash,
now known as the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, as the traditional keepers of this land.
May the work of the Gaia Hive be of service
and a prayer to the next 7 generations.
Mentorships are open to all genders. It is a safe place for LGBTQIA folks. We will work together to co-create a loving and healing space for everyone. Plants are amazing non-binary teachers. The learning area is unfortunately not wheelchair accessible.
Mosquitoes, deer flies, & wasps are present. These insects are our teachers. May Gaia bless them and teach us how to love them.
We will be walking on uneven terrain.
