"Be forewarned: no matter what you want to get out of the herbal apprenticeship, you will get more than you expect. It is a transforming experience. I came into the apprenticeship wanting to learn about herbs and plants, not expecting a total change in the daily patterns of my life. The herbs are sneaky, Sage introduces you to them, and they find ways to hide in the corners of your life and work their way in. Going through the apprenticeship has allowed me to integrate the changes and new ideas slowly, so gradually I didn't even know I was changing until I looked around my house at the end of it and realized that my bookshelves and cabinets were filled with dried herbs, my first thought at any friend's complaint of unhappiness or ill health was a list of herbs running through my mind, I was making teas and cordials as holiday presents, my chemical cleaners were gone, my food was all organic, my paper products all recycled and that I was so much happier with my new green allies.

        The apprenticeship is a powerful journey into herbs, green allies, healing, responsibility, spiritual awakening, respect, and, most importantly, into yourself. Sage is an excellent guardian and guide along the way, and part of the power of the journey for me was the deep bonds I formed with the women so very different from myself who shared the experience with me and enriched it with their multiple perspectives. Ultimately, however, your path is your own; the apprenticeship is just a formal beginning of a relationship with the green world that will continue the rest of your lifetime."

-Michael (Butterfly Woman, Shrine Digger) Haynie, Apprenticeship '01-'02

"It's about relationships.... to me that's what the apprenticeship with Sage was about. I deepened my relationship with 'The Green', with myself, and with the other women in the class. I walked into the first class naively thinking that everyone was going to have their heads in the clouds and only be able to talk about herbs and nothing else. I walked out having a spiritual/herbal connection with a group of smart, centered, helpful, loving Wise Women, including the Wise Woman Gaia Earth. As we explored the magical meaning and medicine of plants, we went through changes that mirrored the energy of the plants. My mind and heart got soaked in the dark, moist roots of Burdock, I matured due to the stings of Nettles, and I blossomed with Jasmine flowers. In this apprenticeship, I learned an abundance of practical knowledge about herbs, and I learned how to meet the world face to face, petal to petal.

As a nurse, I am now more able to utilize the medicine of herbs in my practice. As a Buddhist, I opened to a sacred green world. As an intuitive healer, I carry the plants with me in order to heal others. The class was bittersweet, like the taste of a honeyed blue vervain tea, because by the time it was over, I had learned things I wish I had known from birth. All the plants, the dark ones, the wild ones, the tame ones, the stinging ones, the blossoming ones, are waiting for us to touch them. Each person in the class did that in a special way. We touched the plants and were touched by them. This kind of relationship with the green world, a mysterious, wild, earthy, passionate, blissful, bittersweet relationship is there for anyone brave enough and tender enough to enter. Sage's classes are a way to enter."

Copal smoke billowing from our camp site.
Offering the ocean jasmine, lavender, and our skin, lit up by firelight.
Speaking with the city weeds, learning their medicine.
Papaya hand rubs, Seaweed goddess bodies, Jasmine hair soaks.
Casting spells on the top of a mountain.
Tasting Nettles, Red Clover, and Oatstraw infusions for the first time.
Collecting sap for drying from evergreens in the Arboretum, our hands and feet covered.
Circle of women and jars of herbs, in a field with only the moon to light up each other's eyes.
Journeying into the medicine wheel in the middle of the city.
Smoking Elder, Motherwort, and Lemon Balm in Melissa's tent.
Keeping the cauldron lit in the rain.
Eating our magical cooking creations, finding the stones in our food.
Rocking with Blue Vervain, giggling with Kava, dreaming with Mugwort.
Dancing in the Nettles fields.
Cleanses with Burdock, Banishing with Wormwood, Finding peace with Oatstraw.
Sage's stones weaving their way through each woman's life, getting lost and found.
Hibiscus and Jasmine glycerites dripping from our mouths.
Beautiful women covered in raspberry, honey, and amaranth.
Spirit journeying with our plant allies.
Wolves, Ravens, Ground hogs, Hawks, Snakes, and Jaguars, following us around.
Covering each other in flowers and leaves as our essences steep.
Sharing pain and tears, birthing each other, journeying deeper into self
Touching each other's hearts and soft green centers.
Crying at the site of our beauty
Power, magic, and love, spilling forth
from each other's smiles, laughter, and red hands.