Growing Goddess Rites of Passage ages 11-14

Growing Goddesses Rites of Passage (Ages 11–14)

🌸 Water Protectress Initiation

July 13–17, 2026

Sacred Mountain Waters · Marshall, North Carolina

Hosted among lush rivers, springs, waterfalls, and forests near Asheville, NC

Dear Beloved Earth Path Families and Young Women,

This summer, the wild wisdom of Water beckons us home.

The Way of the Water Protectress is a 5-day rites-of-passage immersion crafted to empower young women at a pivotal threshold of becoming. It’s an invitation to dive deeply into emotional resilience, sacred sisterhood, intuitive knowing, and Earth stewardship—all held in the glorious mountain setting of Sacred Mountain Waters.

This is a ceremonial container where young women are witnessed, guided, and celebrated as they step more fully into themselves.

Why This Experience Matters

💧 Water as Medicine & Teacher

Through daily energetic practices, offerings, river and pond swims, waterfall rituals, hot-tub soaking, and—most importantly—deep listening to Water and the waters within, each initiate is supported in an emotional and energetic cleansing and self-reclamation journey.

Water teaches flow, boundaries, adaptability, and strength. As the young women learn to listen to the land, they also learn to listen to themselves.

🌸 Ceremony & Creativity

Creativity is woven into our days as prayer and medicine. Together we will:

• Craft flower + gem essences

• Court Clay to make a Ceremonial Drinking Vessel

• Make Aqua Florida—potent heart medicine for personal and communal ritual

• Explore expressive art practices that strengthen intuition, voice, and confidence

  
  

🔥 Heart-Centered Rites

We tend the Sacred Fire for all five days, creating continuity, devotion, and grounding. Water rituals, the Red Tent, and Moon Lodge offer gentle and honest space for conversations around womanhood—held through ritual, song, prayer, story, elder support, and peer-led wisdom.

Honoring the Threshold of Becoming

We honor this sacred transition from girlhood into womanhood and commit to a time in which each young woman is uplifted, celebrated, witnessed, and honored.

Since 2010, Earth Path Education has devoted itself to holding thresholds for girls and young women—spaces where they feel supported by mentors and elders, the strength of the circle, and the living reflection of the natural world during their Rites of Passage.

Again and again, we witness young women step into their true nature—into authenticity, clarity, and embodied power—during this time of blossoming womanhood. We see them claim their truth, their path, and who they are becoming in this world.

Because our culture at large often lacks meaningful Rites of Passage, we believe it is essential to provide a space where deep questioning, healing, integration, reflection, and transformation can surface for a young woman. Our work draws upon rites-of-passage elements present cross-culturally and throughout history, alongside teachings from our elders and teachers, our own initiation experiences, and—most importantly—what is alive and authentic in the circle, the present moment, and the land where we gather.

There is a grace that follows these Rites of Passage.

I’ve felt it permeate every initiation I have facilitated over the past 16 years—support that rises from the Earth like a fresh spring. The natural world seems to meet us: eagles and herons fly overhead at just the right moment, the coals of the fire spark when truth is spoken, and the waters respond: listening. It becomes easy to remember we belong to life—part of a great weaving—fed and feeding something ancient, mysterious, and profoundly alive.

Why Rites of Passage Matter

Rites of Passage are ancient and time-honored traditions that mark the transition from one stage of life to another. They remind us of the significance of growth, self-discovery, the activation of our most aligned service, and the beauty of embracing our true selves.

Our camp is designed to provide a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment for your daughter as she embarks on her own unique journey of self-discovery and service to the world.

Here’s why our Rites of Passage camp is so important:

Empowerment: Young women are supported to embrace their individuality, build self-confidence, and discover their inner strength. This is a journey of self-love and self-trust that serves them for life.

Community & Sisterhood:We cultivate a strong sense of sisterhood—where participants form meaningful connections and learn the value of supporting and uplifting one another.

Life Skills for a LifetimeThrough workshops, mentorship, ceremony, and experiential learning, your daughter gains essential life skills—simple skills some wish we would have practiced earlier—like developing an authentic, embodied YES and a clear, confident NO.

Cultural Awareness & Respect: Our camp integrates diverse perspectives and cultural traditions to broaden your daughter’s worldview and deepen her appreciation for differences.

Thank you for choosing our Nature-Based Young Women’s Rites of Passage Camp. We believe every young woman deserves the chance to discover her inner strength and embrace her unique path in life. We’re honored to welcome you and your daughter into this empowering journey.

Meet the Guides

This initiation is held by a circle of wise women devoted to the care of young people and the Earth:

• Lena Eastes – Founding circle-holder whose deep intuitive guidance and visionary leadership have shaped this offering for 16 years.

• Evie Irving is a devoted mentor and guide with many years of experience supporting young people through nature-based learning and rites-of-passage work. She is also our beloved Chef Queen, modeling food as healing and self-care while teaching participants how to prepare nourishing dishes that support the body, emotions, and spirit.

• Vox Lumina – Bringing over 20 years of Water Priestess devotion through ceremony and song.

• Iya Sangoma – A Yoruba Priestess and master ceremonialist, guiding ancestral medicine and ritual.

• Black Crow – A proud First Nations woman and enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe (Southeastern NC). Sharon has studied with Native and Indigenous teachers for over 30 years and founded the nonprofit community organization Medicine Wheel Way (2019).

• Mariah Nolan – For over a decade, Mariah has walked alongside children and youth in schools, daycares, camps, wilderness therapy, nonprofits, and rites-of-passage spaces. She has witnessed a profound truth: children awaken more deeply to who they are when they feel held by the natural world.

  
  

Together, we hold a powerful container for transformation through Water medicine.

What Participants Will Receive

• A sacred launching point into self-awareness, confidence, emotional fluency, and sisterhood

• New friendships rooted in shared ritual, care, and belonging

• Tools for lifelong ritual: flower essences, relationship with sacred water, and embodied prayer

• Land and nature wisdom embodied through ritual, storytelling, and elemental play

• A Village Send-Off Ceremony and Welcome-Back Ceremony where families are invited to witness and bless their daughters’ initiation—held by community every step of the way

  
  

A Word from the Founder

My name is Lena Eastes, and facilitating Rites of Passage and serving as a cultural regeneration guide is the work I devote my life to. In my first Vision Quest at age 20, I was clearly called to hold and facilitate Rites of Passage for girls and young women. This is my dharma, and I co-tend this prayer with many devoted priestesses and guides who share this calling.

It is my belief that healthy Rites of Passage hold the power to transform individuals, community, and culture—and awaken us to our connection with the Earth and our responsibility to live in right relationship with all of Earth’s relatives.

Help Her Rise

Do you feel the calling? Reserve her place today. Know a family who needs this? Forward the love. Want to make it possible? Gifting a space to a young woman in need via our donate page.

Let’s tend the waters of our Earth—and the emotional waters of our daughters—together.

Come Cross the Threshold and Awaken to Who you Truly Are