10 day Women’s Initiation & Rites of Passage Guide Training
A Call to the Loving Tenders and Fiercely Graceful Protectors of the Sacred
There is a deep stirring across the world — a remembering, a need.
We are calling the village aunties, the mothers, the guardians of the feminine mysteries —
to rise,
to remember,
and to reclaim the ancient ways of Initiation.
This 10-Day Women’s Initiation and Rites of Passage Guide Training is a sacred convergence of two journeys:
A personal rite of passage into your next becoming
An awakening of your gifts to guide others across sacred thresholds
Through your own deep work, you will gain the embodied wisdom and practical skills to hold Initiatory spaces for girls, young women, and women of all ages and stages.
Who this is for
Women feeling called to their own initiation & deepening in their relationship with Earth, Spirit, and ancestral ways
Women who wish to facilitate meaningful rites of passage for women, girls and young women.
Educators, mentors, village aunties, healers, and community leaders who desire to bring Rites of Passage into their lives and communities.
What you will experience
Your Own Initiation: Step into ceremony and emerge with clarity, confidence, and a deepened connection to your purpose.
Ritual & Earth-Based Wisdom: Experience and Learn to carry time-honored rites of passage
Facilitation Training: Develop the skills to lead rites of passage with integrity, cultural awareness, and your own intuition
4 Day Vision Quest Experience a profound encounter with nature as you prepare to guide others in this sacred journey.
The Journey Structure: Two Sacred Arcs
We believe that to hold Rites of Passage for others, a woman must first walk the path herself.
A true guide is not made through study alone — she is forged through experience, humility, and devotion.
This 10-day journey is designed in two sacred arcs:
First, you will step into the ancient role of the Village Auntie — learning to hold space, tend ceremony, and guide others across thresholds.
Then, you will walk your own ceremonial Initiation — meeting the edges of your becoming and emerging with the embodied wisdom needed to serve.
Curriculum Overview
Days 1–4: Rites of Passage Guide Training
Day 1: Activating Your Village Auntie
Anchor into your sacred role as a Village Auntie — protector and nurturer of the sacred feminine.
Reconnect with your inner teen and envision the mentor you needed.
Begin crafting your personal Village Auntie Vision.
Day 2: Red Tent Training — Holding Sacred Conversations
Learn to create and tend Red Tent spaces where deep truths of womanhood — body, cycle, pleasure, and power — are spoken and honored.
Practice guiding authentic conversations that offer orientation, healing, and connection.
Day 3: Grief Tending — Creating Spaces to Lay Down the Burdens
Inspired by one of our beloved teachers (now ancestor) from the Dagara tradition:Sobonfu Somé’s teachings to hold communal grief spaces.
Honor grief as an essential part of the Rites of Passage journey, helping young women and women release the weights they carry.
Day 4: Building Your Guide’s Toolkit
Learn the Way of Council, sacred mirroring, deep witnessing, and ceremonial container tending.
Be initiated into the Arrow Break Ceremony.
Receive and practice the foundational teaching of Sacred Yes and Sacred No — cultivating embodied consent, boundaries, and authentic leadership.
Days 5–8: Sacred Solo Fast and Prayer Vigil
(Vision Quest)
Beginning on Day 5, you will enter a sacred four-day period of fasting, solitude, prayer, and deep connection with the Earth.
This portion of the training is held in the lineage of the Sun Bear Ojibwe tradition, guided by an experienced Grandmothers’ Council including Carol FireHeart, Cyndy Snake Dancer and Iya Sangoma, — women who have collectively tended this ceremony with devotion for decades.
During this sacred solo vigil, you will:
Fast from food and human company (with constant safety and prayerful support)
Pray, dream, and receive visions from Spirit and Earth
Cross the threshold into the next unfolding of your life’s calling
Non-Indigenous supporters and other guides, such as Lena Eastes, assist in fire tending, wood gathering, and wellness checks, the “youngers” supporting our elders holding the Quest for a fully supported ceremonial container.
We honor and give thanks to the Indigenous peoples and traditions that have carried the sacred ceremony of Vision Quest through time. We walk this path with humility, gratitude, and respect, guided by elders who have tended these teachings with care.
Days 9–10: Integration, Honoring, and Emergence
Day 9: Return and Integration
As the four-day sacred fast concludes, you will be welcomed back into the arms of the village — nourished by fire, food, song, and loving presence.
You will sit one-on-one with the Grandmothers’ Council and ceremonial elders to reflect, integrate, and begin weaving your vision into the fabric of your life.
Day 10: Emergence and Closing Ceremony
Through ritual, council, and deep witnessing, we will honor the transformations that have taken place — not only individually, but as a village.
You will share your story (the parts wanting to be spoken to and witnessed), receive blessings, and be ceremonially welcomed into the lineage of women who protect, guide, and midwife the sacred through every stage of life.
We close with an Emergence Ceremony, blessing your path ahead.
Certification Pathway:
Becoming a Certified Rites of Passage Guide
For those called to step forward as Certified Rites of Passage Guides through Earth Path Education, the pathway includes….
Attend the 5-Day Women’s Initiation & Rites of Passage Guide Training
Attend the 10-Day Women’s Initiation & Advanced Guide Training
Apprentice at a Growing Goddess 5-Day Summer Gathering
Complete a brief Reflection and participate in a private Integration Call with Lena Castes
Upon completion, you will receive:
A Certificate of Completion as a Certified Rites of Passage Guide
A personal blessing from the Grandmothers’ Council and Earth Path mentors
Access to the Earth Path Guide Network and future resources
Meet Your Guides
Iya Sangoma Oludoye
Elder & Spiritual Midwife
A traditional Yoruba priest, sacred activist, and founder of the Kindred of Sangoma, Iya Sangoma is a beloved elder, mother of three, grandmother of twelve, and great-grandmother of one. She has served as a ceremonial guide in our Young Women’s Rites of Passage for nine years and in 2024 led our Earth-Shaking, World-Changing Woman Ceremony. Her presence roots us in ancestral wisdom, fierce compassion, and the call to cultural healing.
Cyndy “Snake Dancer” Paige
Wise Guide, Drum Weaver & Sound Keeper
I love my drums. I love circles of women with drums. I am a lover of Spirit and I sing and dance reverently and lightly on the face of our mother, the Earth. I am happiest when I drop into that precious moment of profound connection with … all. That moment when tears stream down my cheeks in heart expansive gratitude for my life and my place in it.
Many years ago, I made a promise to create a container for women to feel safe enough to wildly explore their power and their soul’s purpose. We do this by sitting in the highest vibration of love and sharing our hearts, our original drums. I invite you to come circle with me. To create a drum with me. To share sacred sound and breath with me. And to hold hands and dance with me around the medicine wheel of life.
I honor the amazing teachers, medicine people, and shamans, seen and unseen, who have taught me their ways. I will do my very best to carry them with honor and respect.
My spiritual mission is to sing, dance, drum, and play in the highest vibration of love with all beings. In my humble opinion, as we open our hearts in gratitude and a belief in the oneness of all, we create an opening for Spirit to flow through us. In that space, boundless creation is possible. It is a lifelong dance
Lena Eastes
Facilitator & Vision Tender
Founder of Earth Path Education and Weaving Rainbows, Lena has guided women and youth through initiatory journeys for 16 years. Her work blends earth-based spirituality, expressive arts, cultural healing, and feminine leadership. She is devoted to awakening the village and returning rites of passage to our communities.
“When I was 20 years old, sitting up on a mountain in the verdant “Valley of the Gods”, in Kalalau, Kauai, HI for four days on a Vision Quest, I was clearly given a vision for my life: hold young women’s Rites of Passage. The directive was further shared, keep walking forward; all the support needed will be there. Now I am here, with you.”
Location & Getting There
We will be hosted in the amazing forested land where the two rivers meet at the gorgeous Sacred Mountain Waters Wellness and Wilderness Center in Marshall NC, near Asheville NC.
Best airports to fly into Asheville and Greenville (pick up and drop off available no need to rent a car)
Other possible airports to fly into: Charlotte NC or Knoxville, TN (car rentals or shuttles will need to be arranged)
*Please confirm acceptance to the program and organize a ride with us before committing to a flight. Please text Lena at 828-775-7174 to coordinate your pick up.
Sacred Exchange
Sacred Exchange
the cost for the 10-day training is $2,400 until May 15,
then it will go up to $2,800.
This includes lodging, nourishing meals, all ceremonies, teachings, and materials.
FAQs
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No. You are warmly welcome to attend for your own personal growth, healing, and empowerment. Certification is optional.
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For some women during this Initiation is the first time they’ve ceremonially fasted. You will be fully prepared, deeply supported, and lovingly watched over throughout the sacred solo vigil.
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You will be solo in nature, but never spiritually or communally alone. Our tending team provides regular checks, prayerful support, and ceremonial holding.
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Yes. This training welcomes beginners and seasoned seekers alike. All that is required is readiness to step fully into the work.
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This training is open to adult women, ages 21 and older. We welcome women at all stages of adult life.
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Certified Guides are welcomed into the Earth Path Guide Network, with ongoing opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, and continued learning.
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The ceremony is held by an experienced Grandmothers’ Council carrying the Sun Bear Ojibwa lineage Carol Fireheart and Cyndy Snakedancer, with additional support from trained ceremonial tenders like Iya Sangoma.
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You are welcome to reach out with questions to Lena 828-775-7174. Or if you are ready to apply we can go over your questions in your interview.