Welcome home
Join the Year One / Herbalism mentorship 2027
5 In person weekends - No screens!
Book a cozy Airbnb or camp on site.
Markdale, Ontario
🌿 Welcome dear soul.
If you’re tired of learning about plants alone through books, online courses, and endless screen time—and longing for something real—you may have found your place.
The Gaia Hive Mentorship is a five-weekend, hands-on immersion for those who know that plants are more
than pills or phytochemicals.
They are living beings. Teachers. Kin.
Step away from the screen and onto the land.
Camp on site or book local accommodation.
This is not another online course.
This is hands in the soil. Plants in your hands.
Stories around the circle.
Plant spirit journeys. Shared meals. Fire. Community.
You don't have to walk this path alone.
Come learn in a way that engages your hands,
heart, senses, and spirit.
If your soul knows that plants are people too…
welcome home. Come find your people.
We walk this path together.
What You Will Take Away
• Confidence identifying local medicinal plants
• Hands-on experience with ethical harvesting
and plant preparation
• Practical skills for making tinctures, teas, oils, salves,
flower essences, and ceremonial blends
• A deeper understanding of how to work with fresh plants
• Your own handmade herbal medicines to take home
• A stronger relationship with the plants and the land
• Experience with plant spirit journeys and plant
attunement practices
• A foundation for bringing herbalism into your everyday
life or future healing practice
• Greater confidence trusting your senses, intuition,
and relationship with the plants
• A deeper understanding of herbalism through
direct experience and practice
• A supportive community of people who share your love
and respect for the plants.
 Mulleingarden |  Grouphike |  scarletrunnerbeansScarlet runner bean seeds |
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 dandeliondandelion Harvest |  reishi |  calendula |
 peach leaf harvest |  basket and cat love |  water ceremony |
 yarrow harvestgarden yarrow |  honey ceremony |  medicine bundles |
 chicken of the woods |  sumac |  water ceremony |
 manitoulin island |  altars magnoliaheart love |  honey ceremony |
2027 celebrates 10 years of the Gaia Hive!
Herbalism Mentorship
Markdale, Ontario, Canada
The Living Herbalism Animism School
More Than Knowledge. Real Experience.
You can read every herbal book and take every online course—
but there is nothing like learning by doing.
This is where confidence in medicine making grows.
You’ll work directly with fresh plants, learn the processes,
and make medicine with your own hands.
Harvesting. Preparing. Creating.
Tinctures, oils, salves, teas, flower essences, and more.
But the work goes deeper than making remedies.
You’ll also be invited into plant spirit work—learning to slow down, listen, observe, and develop a personal relationship with the plants beyond their physical properties.
Through plant spirit journeys, ceremony, and time on the land,
you’ll explore the plants as teachers and allies.
With guidance, practice, and a supportive circle around you, you’ll build confidence in your medicine making while deepening your relationship with the living world.
Less theory. More practice.
More confidence. More connection. More relationship.
Learn With an Experienced Guide
Julie Gaia brings over 20 years of experience working with herbs and plant medicine.
For nearly a decade, she has been guiding students back into relationship with the plants, the land, and the ancient practice of making medicine by hand.
This isn't simply information gathered from books.
It is lived experience, years of practice, medicine making, harvesting, teaching, and walking alongside the plants.
2027 marks 10 years of mentorship at the Gaia Hive.
Come learn from someone who has devoted her life to this path.
Join solo or with a friend.
What You'll Walk Away With
🌱 Practical skills you can use for years to come
🌱 Confidence in making your own herbal preparations
🌱 A deeper relationship with the plants you work with
🌱 A supportive community that understands why this path matters
Less collecting information. More lived experience.
This is learning you carry in your hands, your heart, and into your everyday life.
2027 Schedule
5 Weekends | April–September/July is OFF
April 24 & 25
Meet the plants face-to-face and let the land become your teacher.
-
Ethical wild harvesting & tree bark medicine
-
Plants for clearing, cleansing, and blessing
-
Honey Ceremony honoring your Ancestors
-
Spring herbal medicines and preparations
-
History of Herbalism & Intro to Botany
May 29 & 30
Deepen your relationship with the trees and the medicines of spring.
-
Cedar bundle making & journey with Grandmother Cedar
-
Spring plant and tree medicine harvest
-
Herbal vinegar creation
-
Digestive and respiratory health
-
Tobacco teachings
-
Medicine harvest
-
Plant Spirit Journeys
June 26 & 27
Celebrate the abundance and beauty of midsummer.
-
Flower essence creation
-
Herbal oils and infused medicines
-
Summer medicine harvest
-
Ancestral Foods Dinner
-
Living altar creation
-
River-time- Water & Strawberry Moon Ceremony
-
Plant Spirit Journeys
July /Off/ Have a holiday!
August 7 & 8
Listen deeply to the wisdom carried by plants, stones, and water.
-
Women's herbal medicines
-
Stone communication
-
Summer medicine harvest
-
Salve and balm making
-
Herbal smokes
-
Group gifting ceremony
-
Plant Spirit Journeys
September 11 & 12
Prepare for the colder months with confidence and community.
-
Herbal first aid
-
Cold and flu remedies
-
Honey Ceremony & Corn Medicines
-
Late summer medicine harvest
-
Plant Spirit Journeys
-
Final Herbal presentations
-
Certificate of Completion & Graduation Ceremony
A Year of Remembering
Walk alongside the plants through the seasons, learning traditional herbalism, medicine making, ceremony, and deep relationship with the land. This immersive program blends practical skills, ancestral wisdom, and forest connection to help you cultivate confidence in caring for yourself, your family, and your community.
What’s Included in Your Herbal Immersion
10 In-Person Teaching Days
Saturdays & Sundays | 9:00 AM–4:30 PM
If you’ve been craving real learning—not another online course—this is it.
Step into the forest, gather by the fire, and learn the
way herbal wisdom has always been passed: in community,
on the land, through lived experience.
All Medicine Included
Work with freshly harvested plants and leave with medicine
made by your own hands—
and the confidence to keep making it long after the program ends.
This is a skill set you carry for life.
Lunches Included
Homemade vegetarian lunches each Saturday & Sunday.
*(You make your own other meals in the outdoor kitchen or go to town.)
Overnight Options (Optional)
Camping with private sites available.
Book an Airbnb or Hotel, or rest at home.
Communal yurt sleeping space is now full.
Not into Camping? Book local accommodation.
Join with a friend.
Gaia Hive Location
A private forest sanctuary near Markdale, Ontario—
cedar woods, meadow paths,
and open-air ceremonial spaces.
Bird song haven.
🌿 Your Investment
This is a ceremonial mentorship shaped by
20+ years of plant relationship and 9 years of teaching.
Lineage, mentorship, and transformation.
Pay all at once to make it simple!
Pay in full: $4100 + tax
Payment plan option: $4400 + tax (This includes $300 to cover the
extended payment arrangement)
Early bird is now closed and all scholarships have been filled.
Ready to Step In?
Your application begins with an intake form. Click the link below.
Once received we will book a 10-15 minute phone call.
May your life be a prayer for the next seven generations.
Testimonials
"Julie’s Gaia Hive mentorship and extended programs have filled me with knowledge, confidence and connection not only to the plants but the people you learn along side. She curates a delicious container to hold our experience and nurture our learning and curiosity." R.B
"This mentorship changed my life in immeasurable ways. I felt truly seen and heard in a group setting. Every day I met new plants and was surrounded by the most delightful wild woman. The plant spirit journeys and delicious lunches were a highlight." Anonymous.
"What a magical way to reconnect with the child in you who was fascinated by the plants and knew their healing power. Julie is the kind of mentor I've always dreamed of working alongside, from day one our group felt like a little family. This mentorship was nurturing, restorative, and so special. Truly something I would love to experience year after year. Thank you Julie for everything you do. "Syd
 seeds |  nettles |
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 LiatAharoni-Julie-72 |  cattail-flower-with-pollen |
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 20201025_151213 |  Screen Shot 2021-12-14 at 11.44_edited |
"What holistic medicine the journey with Gaia Hive is. With the medicine of plants, community, Julie, the elements, the circles and beyond. Starting each weekend together honouring + welcoming the directions, spending each day in presence and connection with each other and the plants, learning and meditating, singing & laughing. A weekend may not seem like such a long time, but the days are so enriched and it always amazed me how much we would do + explore ." J.R
" Julie shows up as her radiant self, sharing teachings that are simple, profound, and wild. You know someone is good at something when they make it look easy; and sometimes you need someone to take your hand, invite you in, and say, “here, try it like this; let’s do it together.” Julie does this with grace, ease, and love. It is a blessing to know her and learn from her." C.B
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 gives 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.
We will be walking on uneven terrain.
