Windwalker Dragonfly Guiding Apprenticeship

The Windwalker Dragonfly Guide Apprenticeship (WDGA) is for you who deeply desire to create a personal connection with Self, Community, Nature, and Spirit as you prepare yourself to become a true gift-bearer for your people.

Through personal study, focused experience, and mentoring by knowledgeable and loving guides and elders, you will cultivate your unique personal gifts and develop a strong foundation to pursue your personal vision and purpose.

Your guide/mentors will support you in your journey as you explore and deepen your understanding and appreciation of your own gifts and contributions to the world.  

Objectives of the WDGA

1.         To support people whose vision is to contribute to a regenerative future by teaching, mentoring, and guiding them toward an ecological identity that includes connection with Self, Community, Nature, and Spirit.

2.         To provide advanced and deeply rooted knowledge, skills, and practices that will prepare the Apprentice to take on role(s) as one or more of the following:

• Guide of wilderness rites of passage and other initiatory processes
• Mentor
• Leader of ceremony
• Facilitator of learning

3.         To support and guide Apprentices on their unique personal path and continued growth.

The WDGA is designed to be completed in three to six years.Your teachers/mentors will support you in your journey as you explore and deepen your understanding and appreciation of your own gifts and contributions to the world.  

Structure of the WDGA

• The WDGA is designed to be completed in three to six years, allowing participants to continue with their livelihoods and life activities.  Participation will require commitment on your part, without excessive burden on your time or your finances.

• The overall program combines eleven Core courses and experiences with the flexibility to pursue your own interests through four or more Electives.

• Six of the Core courses are offered on-line and can therefore be completed from anywhere in the world.  You should expect to devote one to two hours per week to the on-line courses.         

• The remaining four Core courses are available on-site at Ravenwood or in the Comox Valley, in British Columbia.  There may also be an opportunity to support a Vision Quest in Quebec in 2016.

• As an Apprentice, you work with a cohort of other Apprentices to create and explore community in a uniquely understanding and supportive framework. 

• We hold periodic group conversations and individual conversations with Apprentices.  Some of these conversations will be specifically relevant to courses, others will be related to your own progress or the program in general.  When it is not feasible to meet in person, we will meet on-line.

• The WDGA combines models, practices and concepts drawn from the modern academic realm with traditional models, protocols, understandings and ceremonies.

• In order to maintain good standing in the program, Apprentices are required to pay the semiannual fee and to take at least two courses (residential, on-line, or elective) per year. Exceptions to the course requirement may be made in extenuating circumstances.

• Participants must be able to use Google Hangouts for on-line meetings.

Eligibility Requirements

You must have completed at least one Vision Quest, Vision Fast, or similar initiatory ceremony in order to be accepted into the Windwalker Dragonfly Guide Apprenticeship.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Core Courses

During your apprenticeship you will be mentored, trained, and/or coached in developing essential skills and practices, as well as an understanding of the historical and cultural background of each element. The following eleven Core courses are required to be completed by all participants.

• Mindfulness and Awareness (on-line).  This six-module course is the first activity for new Apprentices. Available in 2016
• Principles of Ecology, Part I (on-line). 
• Principles of Ecology, Part II (on-line). 
• The Way of Council and the Peacemaker Principles (residential).
• The Human Journey and Rites of Passage (on-line). .
•  All Are My Relations: The Work That Reconnects (residential). 
•  Authentic Service (on-line).
• Creating Nature-Based Ritual (on-line). 
• Awareness and Power, Levels 1 to 3 (three two-day residential meetings). 
• Nature as a Mirror (residential).
•  Supporting a Vision Quest (residential).  

Elective Areas and Independent Study

In addition to the Core Intensives, you will choose four or more Electives from the list below. At times, Windwalker and/or Dragonfly will offer programs on one or more of these topics; you may also study on your own under the guidance of Windwalker and Dragonfly.

• Kamana Naturalist Studies (Levels 1 & 2).  This is a self-study program offered by Wilderness Awareness School.
• Ancient Skills and Tracking
• The Art of Mentoring
• Protocols and Practices of the Sweat Lodge.  This elective requires attending a considerable number of sweatlodge ceremonies.  The teaching will be done in a traditional manner, before, during, and after the ceremony as you assist the sweat ceremony leader.
• Story Telling and Personal Mythology
• Awareness and Power classes (Levels 4 and up)
• Journal Work
• Developing a Personal Relationship with Spirit
• Shadow Work
• The 7th Gift: Claiming Authentic Elderhood
• A Self-Designed Elective (with approval)
• Other Windwalker and/or Dragonfly programs that are approved for apprenticeship credit.
• Any non-Windwalker/Dragonfly programs that are approved (this can be any program that will significantly enhance your skill as a guide and that addresses skills not covered in current Windwalker Dragonfly programs).

The Windwalker Dragonfly Guide Apprenticeship concludes with a celebratory and confirmational Vision Quest on one of the regularly scheduled Windwalker Dragonfly Vision Quests OR on a special WDGA Quest.

Methods of Instruction

Core courses and electives offered by Windwalker Dragonfly may be delivered in person, or through the use of video, audio, or written lectures.

Independent study assignments, experiential exercises to explore the material more deeply and personally, and discussion to facilitate critical and creative thinking, contemplation, and integration will be assigned.

When it is not possible for us to be together in person, we will meet in on-line discussion and video conferences using Google Hangouts.

FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF THE PROGRAM

Fees

• Semi-annual WDGA Program Fee: $200, due March 21 and September 21. This fee includes:

  Ø  Up to 3 private mentoring conversations per year

  Ø  The Annual WDGA Retreat (includes a 24 hrs. optional maintenance solo)

  Ø The Summer Solstice Gathering 

  Ø 2 whole group Google Hangouts per year

  Ø Access to the Private Facebook group page

• Residential Core courses: These courses are offered on a sliding scale. Fees range from $200-$250 to $500-$630, depending on the area of study and the length of the course.
• On-line Core and elective courses: The course fee depends on the length of the course. Fees range from $160 to $360.
• Discounts: after four Windwalker Dragonfly Guide Apprenticeship programs have been completed, Apprentices are entitled to a 15% discount. Please claim this discount when registering for a course.
• Sliding scales of fees will be offered to WDGA participants on the same basis as to others when classes are open to the public as well as to Apprentices.
• Elective Independent Studies: Costs for these will vary depending on the area of study.
• The Celebratory Vision Quest: The fee will be reduced to $800 including GST.

• Transportation: Apprentices are responsible for their own transportation to and from meetings and programs.
•  Accommodation and food for residential courses at Ravenwood: At Ravenwood there is plenty of space to pitch a tent. Rustic indoor shared accommodation options are also available. For those who prefer less rustic accommodation, there are other possibilities in the area. Our days start early and finish late; if you are choosing offsite accommodation we strongly recommend staying nearby.