‘The Way of the Wise Healer’
NEW 'Hybrid' Apprenticeship in Sacred Plant Medicine
May 2026– September 2029
PLEASE NOTE: The one-year online mentorship program is a pre-requisite for entry into full apprenticeship. Next one-year program starts Oct 2024. See details here.
I am delighted to announce my new apprenticeship program in Sacred Plant Medicine!
This is an apprenticeship program for those wishing to walk a sacred and magical path with the plant world. It can transform your relationship with plants and Nature, provide an in-depth training as a plant healer and ceremonialist, help you remember who you truly are and embody your soul’s dream in service to the Earth and all Her realms.
The apprenticeship intends to foster an understanding of the sacredness of plants and all of life, offering an opportunity for profound personal development and building a bridge between inner and outer worlds. This is a way of prayer and sacred ceremony, of deep dreaming and connection with the magic of the plant world. We remember the unity of all beings, questing our life purpose and how we can best be of service in the world. We seek to embody the wisdom of the plants and to fulfill our destiny, to learn about and embody the power of unconditional love and to live in harmony with Nature.
From April 2026, I am offering a new ‘hybrid’ Way of the Wise Healer apprenticeship (part in-person, part online), replacing the previous training offered since 2010. The new apprenticeship covers all the teachings from the previous course, as well as much that is new! It now entails fewer visits to Derrynagittah, thereby reducing travel costs both to the environment and for students.
The training comprises a minimum of two sessions at Derrynagittah per year, a new 13-Moon online program, plus additional online sessions. This is spread over four years, with an additional optional year for those wishing to deepen their relationship with the Goddess/the Divine Feminine.
My one-year online mentorship program in Sacred Plant Medicine is a pre-requisite for the four-year apprenticeship. To apply for the 2026 apprenticeship, you will need to have completed the one-year program starting in October 2024 (or a previous year). See details here.
Sacred Plant Medicine is holistic plant medicine addressing imbalances on all levels: body, mind, spirit and emotions, whether personal, collective or planetary. Apprentices learn how to work with plant spirits as well as gaining hands-on experience of making simple plant remedies. They learn the ways of the plant priestess or priest and how to hold ceremony for others.
Each apprentice quests his or her own Medicine Wheel of plant allies and creates plant profiles which go to form a Herbarium of their personal Medicine Wheel.
As the course progresses, we delve ever more deeply into the multidimensional world of plants and the ancient ways of the Wise Healer. Apprentices undertake personal ceremony to anchor the teachings from the plants and to facilitate self-knowledge and personal transformation. Each student makes a wand or staff as a personal magical item. In the final year, apprentices make a personal Medicine Shield, representing the beauty of their Soul and the medicine they carry in the world.
My dream is to be in service to the plants and the Earth, and to assist the awakening of humanity at this time of major transition. The apprenticeship reflects my work and experience as a healer and ceremonialist over more than 40 years and is drawn from a mix of traditions. It offers a way to develop a deep relationship with the plant world, encouraging self-discovery and providing an opportunity for profound personal development and self-empowerment.
My aim is to unlock each student's potential, and help each apprentice find and develop their own personal ‘medicine’ or the gifts they bring to the world. The apprenticeship offers knowledge and skills with which to support and assist others as they move through the many transitions of life. Successful completion of the apprenticeship provides the training necessary to become a practitioner of sacred plant medicine, as healer and/or ceremonialist (priestess or priest). Where appropriate, apprentices may continue for further training in advanced healing/ceremonial practices and/or receive personal supervision to assist them in the expression of their own healing gifts. The course is suitable both for beginners and professional herbalists/healers alike. Essential requirements include a love of plants, the desire to be of service in the world, a willingness to look honestly at oneself and a commitment to personal growth.
During the course, apprentices pass through several Gateways or stages of initiation. These are as follows:
- Primrose Gateway
HERO archetype – questing, setting off on a spiritual journey, learning to make decisions.
- Vervain Gateway
MAGICIAN archetype – mediating between physical & spiritual worlds, stimulating creativity & imagination, manifesting one’s intentions, co-creating with the Cosmos
- Datura Gateway
WARRIOR archetype – facing oneself & making commitment, being of service, transforming one’s inner enemies
- Blackthorn Gateway
WISE ONE archetype – knowing & claiming one’s own medicine, having the wisdom to apply knowledge and understanding successfully
Apprentices undertake a series of personal overnight outdoor ceremonies which promote movement through these Gateways. Please note: these are potent Initiatory Gateways and sometimes require more than one attempt to navigate successfully.
Students are expected to do work at home inbetween sessions. During the program, apprentices are taught how to undertake one-to-one sacred plant healings. Those who wish to practice Sacred Plant Medicine (this is optional) are asked to submit case studies and will be tested on their ability to perform healings. Practitioner level certificates are awarded to successful candidates.
ADVANCED ADDITIONAL TRAINING
OPTIONAL Year 5: Elder Gateway
GODDESS archetype – honouring and embodying the Divine Feminine energy. Walking in the world as the hands and feet of the Goddess.
After graduation, the Elder Gateway is an option for those seeking to deepen their relationship with the Goddess and make a commitment as priest or priestess of the plants. This includes undertaking the 13-Moon Goddess immersion and personal overnight ceremony.
Successful graduation from the Wise Healer Apprenticeship confers eligibility to apply for full membership of the Foundation for Sacred Plant Medicine (FSPM). Sacred Plant Medicine honours the sacredness of plants and all of life. The medicine of the plant world is expressed in a multitude of ways around the Earth. At Derrynagittah, through the Way of the Wise Healer Apprenticeship, I am sharing my personal expression of Sacred Plant Medicine and aiming to facilitate each student in embodying their soul’s dream and finding their own way of being in service to the plants, whether as a healing practitioner, a priestess or priest, a maker or grower, an artist or in some other way.
Testimonials. Some words from past apprentices:
I am forever thankful for having had the opportunity to apprentice with Carole, whose wisdom, experience, heart and teachings are so vast and she shares them all with utmost integrity. I am touched to see and recognise the extent to which the experience has shaped my life, and the life of my family and loved ones. I can wholeheartedly recommend the Way of the Wise Healer Apprenticeship to anyone who wishes to get to know themselves, the plants, and their soul’s dream better. It can take courage to commit but the potential for growth and healing is limitless and the guidance and encouragement from Carole to find your way is a beacon of light you can trust. JulieAnn, Ireland
This apprenticeship is unique in that it brings together so many aspects of healing and working with plants as well as magic. The personal ceremonies are life-changing and I'm so grateful to have been able to work with such a proficient and generous teacher. Heather, US
I feel honoured to write a testimonial for the Way of the Wise Healer Apprenticeship offered by Carole Guyett and the beautiful land of Derrynagittah in East Clare. This apprenticeship has offered much more than I ever expected. From the very first moment I arrived at Derrynagittah and met Carole I knew that I had arrived to a safe container of truth, deep connection and community, a place of reconnecting and remembering my own nature.
This course has brought simplicity and power of folk medicine, reminded me of my connection to Mother Earth, empowered me to share plant medicine with the community. I am so deeply touched and humbled by this experience that will be forever unfolding.
There is no end to the depth of what you will experience here. This will bring you on a path of living the unknown with an open ear, heart, eye, taste, touch, a sensual relationship with life in a very ordinary and beautiful way. A soulful journey back home.
In reverence and gratitude. Marta, Ireland
THE NEXT APPRENTICESHIP STARTS APRIL 2026For further information, please email Marion at info@derrynagittah.ie 
