In the Tree of Life Initiation we examine what it takes to stand upright on this earth—

as humans and co-creators with life.

Some of the elements we work with in this initiatory process are examining what it takes to stand upright on this earth.  We value conscious living and tending to our relationships with gratitude, humility, and an understanding of the give and take of life.  We spend time interfacing with our human and non-human relations, from present and past times.

One of the main templates that we use is the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, starting with Our Roots (Malchut) and working our way up to Our Crown (Keter).  Spending one moon cycle on each Station (Sefira), as it maps onto the body, our objective is to get to know our own terrain, and through knowing, to "clean" it out as much as we can, so that, eventually, as we draw upon the Shekina/the Divine Feminine, we may draw her up in to us, personalizing this energy into our own Queen Self.  We are interested in helping young women acknowledge their maiden/adolescent self and then hold them in the process of courting and claiming their queen/adult selves.

We gather one weekend per month in ceremony, and meet once per month between the ceremony weekends in a council format.  As we move through the Sefirot journey, we work with the material that shows up in each aspect of ourselves, while honing practices that bring balance, harmony, connection, and clear decision making.  We take responsibility for our own lives and in the ownership, become authors of this ever-expanding journey of life. In understanding respectful exchange, we open to healthy relationships with the earth, self, community, and the Spirit all around.

We spend focused time and attention on these questions:

Who am I?  

What are my roots?  Who are my ancestors and what did they hand me -- both wounding and gifts?

How do I stand up-right in my life?  What is Peacemaking? How do I tend to and upright my human relations?

What is sacred reciprocity and how do I align my life with it?

What is my relationship to this earth?  How do I understand myself as one who is in service to and responsible for it?

What is my relationship to Spirit and to prayer?  How do I access ceremony for my own needs?

How do I take care of my body?  What are my needs in this woman's body?

How do I tend to my own cycle?  What is available when I tend to my moon/bleeding time?

Initiation comes from the root word initial. It is a beginning.

Starting out on this knew precipice of adulthood by walking through the portal of adulthood initiation, the young adult initiate now is putting into practice what it means to show up in the world as an adult. We ask the women who go through this process to be aware that the year afterward is still a time of incorporation, of testing out those new wings.

Adulthood is a station in life.  

One of the signs and symptoms of adulthood is being able and ready to be in service to something larger than oneself. For many, this initiation comes through having a child. Ready or not, we are stretched and grown to meet the challenge of care-tending the life and well-being of another.  The Tree of Life Initiation prepares a young woman for adulthood without having to birth a child. When she/they walk through this portal, it does not mean that she/they automatically have every aspect of being an adult mastered, rather that she/they have let go of the last stage, that of adolescence; of acting unconsciously upon her/their surroundings, and has been prepared to claim her/their new station in life: a conscious, empowered, aligned, co-creator.  

By 'truly' we are also referring to a second aspect of being an adult.  This is about knowing oneself and feeling connected to Self, Spirit, & the Earth.  These connections are practices that need to be tended to. We create the container and support the process that establishes and maintains these connections.  

“During this formative time, I met monthly in a circle of women for council and ceremony, received mentoring from older women who I perceive to be incredible change-makers in the world, and learned beautiful and powerful new prayer modalities. Through this work, I have come into myself as a spiritual leader and understand that I walk in the world in an essentially prayerful way; my connection to Spirit is central to who I am. It has been deeply enriching to delve into a ceremonial prayer form that draws strongly from the Kabbalistic Tree of Life while also incorporating more universal and ancient women's ways, modern eco/psycho-spiritual teachings on life cycles and rites-of-passage, and relevant and useful teachings from global spiritual traditions, while also honoring and including what is sacred to indigenous peoples that lived on this land long before we got here.”

~Rebecca Schisler, 2014-15 Initiate, Visual Artist, Writer and Educator

“I left the country and the culture I knew to pursue an alternative and healthier lifestyle in the United States. Although I found a home in the work of environmental education and social justice, the effects of depression and residual childhood trauma still hindered my progress and self confidence and prevented my career success. Through my experience in Tree of Life, I was able to process and move through what was holding me stuck in unhealthy patterning in relationships with people, food, myself and almost immediately after completing my Creation Rites ceremony, I began a path as a Horticultural Therapist working with teens and women in Eating Disorder Recovery. Every day is still a choice and a journey but I now have the tools and a greater understanding to walk into each moment with a clear knowing of myself and curiosity for mending.”

~previous Tree of Life Initiate

What We Provide

What We Ask in Return

PLEASE NOTE: TREE OF LIFE LEADERSHIP IS CURRENTLY IN AN IMPORTANT REST AND RE-ENVISIONING PROCESS OF THESE OFFERINGS. WE DO NOT PLAN TO BEGIN A NEW COHORT IN 2022.

PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING ABOUT FUTURE OFFERINGS.