Woman Shaman Priestess:
Training in the ways of Natural Female Power

Next program begins January 2025.
To apply, please join the Goddess Temple as a Mandala Member,
then fill out the application at the bottom of this page to join the training.

Woman Shaman Priestess, the Mount Shasta Goddess Temple’s signature two-year Training Program, invites you to a powerful course of study designed for women who seek to awaken or further develop their Priestess capabilities and embrace their spiritual calling. Are you ready to transform your life and connect deeply with your ancestral roots and the ancient lineages of Goddess spirituality?

Discover the Power of Devotion

In a world full of distractions, many of us feel a deep yearning for something more authentic. This program offers you the opportunity to reconnect with nature, your lineage, and your innate spiritual talents. Learn to stand firmly in your power, guided by timeless practices and the wisdom of your ancestors, guardians, and guides.

What You Will Experience

• Deep Connection with Ancestral Traditions: Explore the traditions of world cultures and ancient Goddess religions. Unearth the common threads that bind us all and honor the unique traditions of your own heritage.

• Cultivation of Spiritual Talents: Identify and develop your unique spiritual gifts through meditations, visionary journeys, and sacred ceremonies. This journey is about discovering and embracing your sacred role as Priestess.

• Intellectual and Spiritual Growth: Cultivate curiosity and hone your research skills. Engage with sacred texts, prayers, historical information, and teachings that will deepen your understanding of the Goddesses through time and enhance your spiritual practice.

• Leadership Development: Strategize and implement projects that reflect your spiritual journey and serve your community. Develop the confidence and skills to lead and serve with integrity and wisdom.

Why Choose This Program?

• Authenticity Over Performance: This program focuses on genuine spiritual growth rather than outward appearances. It's not about building an audience but about nurturing your true self and offering your gifts in the spirit of generosity.

• Supportive Community: Join a sisterhood of like-minded women who are also on this transformative path. Share your experiences, support each other, and grow together. We are #smartwomendoingwonderfulthings!

• Holistic Approach: Embrace practices that balance mind, body, and spirit. Learn to live harmoniously with the Earth and attune to its rhythms and cycles.

Are You Ready to Answer the Call?
If you feel a calling to make a significant change in your life, to connect with your natural female life force, and to devote yourself to your spiritual wholeness for the benefit of all beings, this program is for you. The Woman Shaman Priestess Training Program is not just an educational experience; it's a life-changing journey that will empower you to create real magic in your life and in the world.

Take the First Step Today
Join us and become part of a lineage of powerful women who honor the Goddess and embrace their sacred path. Enroll in the Woman Shaman Priestess Training Program and begin your journey toward spiritual empowerment and authentic sacred living.

You are invited to this lastingly transformative work, if your spirit is calling for the kind of wisdom that only the Earth and women’s mysteries can offer. This is a path for the woman who has seen the bottom of her own heart, who is ready to be reunited with parts of her soul that have gone missing, to discover her courage, and to empower her intuitive, mystic vision. You have the power to transform your life. Are you ready to embark on this sacred journey?

Connect with Tools & Practices

Yes, there is a Spirit in the body of the drum carved out of the trunk of a tree; there is a Spirit in the skin of the drum itself. All this, plus the Spirit of the person playing the drum, becomes an irresistible force against any immovable object.

– Babatunde Olatunj, Nigerian drummer, educator, and social activist (1927-2003)

Priestesses in this program develop strong relationships and skills with a series of tools to help them connect with their own power: the drum, the rattle, the burning pot, the offering cup, and more.

Connect with Lineage

The first sound we hear in the womb is our mother's heartbeat…And this pulse is the thread of blood that runs all the way back through the grandmothers to the first mother. We all share the blood of the first mother - we are truly children of one blood.

– Layne Redmond, American drummer, writer, and mythologist (1952-2013)

Priestess Yeshe Matthews has spent time studying with experienced, compassionate teachers worldwide to develop her training program. She can tell you when, where, and how she learned these techniques.

Connect with Yourself

Confess your hidden faults.
Approach what you find repulsive.
Help those you think you cannot help.
Anything you are attached to, give that.
Go to the places that scare you.

- Machig Labdrön, Tibetan female mystic, teacher, and tantrika (1055-1149)

Magic is real. Your magic is real. Over the course of your 2-year study, you will develop confidence and competence in using your power for the greater good, and discover gifts you did not know you had.

What to Expect in Woman Shaman Priestess

Who is this training designed for?
The ideal candidate for Woman Shaman Priestess is a woman with diverse spiritual interests and experiences. You’ve read books, taken some classes, watched videos, or otherwise connected with various spiritual practices and traditions, but you feel the call to cohere your practice and take it to a new level. You don’t want to join a religion; you want to create your own path. You aren’t interested in a lot of rules and regulations, but you want to approach your practices honorably. You take issues such as cultural appropriation seriously, and you want to delve into working with the deities and practices that will be meaningful and fulfilling in your life and your sacred work. You are a lifelong learned who is always adjusting and adapting based on new information. You aren’t afraid to mine your shadow and your past to find your hidden superpowers and actualize a path of service that feels aligned, yields positive results, and helps you continue to grow over time.

 Woman Shaman Priestess training features both written lessons and individual experiences, as well as group conferences and gatherings:

• a global overview of spiritual tools and techniques

• historical information about women’s practices and shamanistic cultures

• specific focus on past and living lineages of female practitioners and leaders

• guided and independent opportunities to practice your skills

• path workings and online ceremonies

• communion with animal, stone, and tree energies

• connection with goddesses from many different world cultures

• herbal preparations and purification techniques

• sacred songs

• monthly video conferences with the group

• text support from Yeshe

• sessions and divinations with Yeshe

• optional retreats in Mt. Shasta, CA (separate fee)

During the course of this Priestess training, you will study Goddesses of the world, connect with your ancestors, create habits of reverence for your own sacred body and the Earth, learn to listen to your animal knowing, develop a path and body of work for the expression of your sacred gifts, and cultivate life force to benefit yourself and other beings in both the visible and unseen realms.

The next Woman Shaman Priestess journey begins January 2025.
Please join the Temple and complete the application linked below to apply for the training. 

Woman Shaman Priestess features monthly Lessons, Full and Dark Moon ceremonies, Practical Priestessing techniques, monthly video lectures and discussions, monthly one-on-one meetings with the Instructor, optional retreats, and ceremonial practices that serve a lifetime of spiritual growth.

Please prepare to set aside time each week to read and digest the Lessons and try the practices offered in this course. You will move slowly and sustainably through subtle and effective techniques, building capacity, relationships with your guides, and respect for the practices and spirits. This course helps introduce you to new ways of thinking about reality and your power to commune with it, influence it, and shape it with benevolence toward all beings (including yourself).

Join the Woman Shaman Priestess Training Program:

If you'd like to sign on for Woman Shaman Priestess 2025, please join the Goddess Temple as a Mandala Member ($99).

After that, please fill out the Training Application linked below.

Then, schedule your Beeswax Divination ($165) with Priestess Yeshe.

Starting in August 2025, Yeshe will contact those interested in joining the program with details and next steps.

If you give yourself one gift in 2025, give yourself this journey. It will equip you with skills, tools, and perspectives to help you achieve your goals. Graduates of this program have published books, started Temples, organizations, and women’s circles, improved their health, attracted positive relationships, and identified their gifts of healing with greater precision than ever before. This program is all about your magic, power, and ability to live a life of your own design as a unique embodiment of the Goddess on Earth. If it's time for you to claim your seat at the table of ancient future wisdom, sister, please join us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be a woman to take this training?
Yes. Our Temple’s mission includes creating a specific type of learning environment, rooted in longstanding practices of women’s wisdom-sharing, designed around the female body and the history of women practitioners.

Do you focus mainly on Native American practices and shamans?
No. This course is designed to help women from all backgrounds learn about the shamans, holy women, priestesses and female medicine practitioners of the world, from East to West, past to the present. We include articles, videos, and teachings given by indigenous women of the Americas, but we also study the voices of many magical women from all around the globe. Most women healers and seers don’t describe themselves as “shamans,” and we will learn about them in their own words.

That said, our Temple honors the Winnemem Wintu, Yurok, Karuk, Shasta, Okwanuchu, and other Indigenous tribes that have tended this land in Siskiyou County for many generations before colonizers arrived and are integral to the health and sustainability of this region. We encourage all of our students to know, support, and honor the First Nations people of the land where they now live.

How much does the program cost?
To apply for Woman Shaman Priestess, one must be a member of the Temple, which requires an initial commitment of $99.00 for a Lifetime membership. You are encouraged to join the Temple and participate in activities and programs for a few months to a year in advance of applying for Priestess Training with us to ensure that you are familiar with our Temple protocols. Once you have submitted your Application, please schedule your Slavic Beeswax Divination session (a $165 fee) with Yeshe to launch your path.

Monthly dues for the program are $150, which includes

• daily practice and divinations

• monthly Lessons around personal skills, tools, spiritual development and leadership

• working with Goddesses and allies

• practical Lessons on the process of becoming a Priestess

• one live video class per month, available afterwards via recording

• a monthly one-on-one check-in with Priestess Yeshe

Are there refunds?
There is no refund for the Temple membership or the initial Beeswax Divination session. After that, each student pays month by month. You may stop at any time if the program doesn’t suit you.

Are the Classes and Retreats accessible?
Yes, in most cases, our retreats are accessible to those who are blind, deaf, or have mobility issues. There may be particular activities that require modification. Alternate activities can also be arranged. The Temple will work with students to address individual needs to the best of our capacity.

If I take this training, will I be a shaman?
No. If you complete this training, at the end of the first year you will make your commitments as a Priestess and begin to walk your path of service. If you complete the second year, Flight of the Skydancer, you will be consecrated and recognized as one of the Priestesses of the Temple. If you complete additional years on the Temple’s Council of Wisewomen and create beneficial work in the world, you will qualify to be acknowledged as a High Priestess in our Temple’s lineage.

The word shaman comes from a complex of linguistically-related tribes in what is now known as Siberia. To become a shaman in the cultures where this word originates can take 9 years or more of intensive training. However, magical healing women exist all over the planet. Each culture has its own name for these types of women. During this course, you will learn about historical and contemporary women practicing their traditions, and you will be supported to make connections with the traditions of your own background.

Is Priestess Yeshe a shaman?
No. Yeshe is an ordained High Priestess who has studied numerous shamanic traditions. She has worked with many different teachers and organizations, including classical shamans and holy women. As we go through the year, Priestess Yeshe will share with you what she has studied, where she studied it, and with whom. Our Temple belongs to spiritual lineages that extend back over 1,000 years.

Is this course appropriating from any culture?
No. This course is designed to introduce you to the practices and practitioners of many cultures and to help you find your personal path. In this course, we acknowledge the difficult questions of lineage, de-colonizing the mind, and appreciation vs. appropriation. All spiritual methods shared in this class are from Priestess Yeshe’s experience or are self-guided according to your personal path.

I’m pretty shy. Will I have to talk a lot in the group, or will I be expected to share personal information with others?
You can communicate as much or as little as you feel comfortable. This is not a course about putting ourselves on display. It’s a course about becoming more magical and empowered in who we are. If you’re quiet and shy, you will likely find resonance in certain practices we do that are designed to cultivate introspection and gentleness. If you are introverted, extroverted, or a combination of both, you will likely find relief in the warm, supportive, non-performative community we’ve created in the Temple.

Testimonials

I have done Woman Shaman Priestess and Flight of the Skydancer classes with Yeshe. Her classes are full of information, traditions, and lessons. After the first year, I felt a change in who I was and what my purpose was. In the second year, I have taken the knowledge within and begun spreading it and finding my/strengthening my bonds with spirit. The women in the group are supportive and I've enjoyed sharing my journey with open minds and hearts. I look forward to other classes Yeshe offers in the future. - Crissi

Conocí a Yeshe hace tres años en la Conferencia de la Diosa y ahora solo puedo decir cosas bonitas sobre ella: sacerdotisa apasionada, dedicada, respetuosa, compartida y muy compasiva. Es maravilloso que todos tengamos la oportunidad de acercarnos a la Diosa con la devoción a Kuan Yin que Yeshe comparte a diario; Todo su trabajo como sacerdotisa lo hace desde el alma y con el propósito de llegar a cualquiera que lo necesite. ella es para mí, es una gran hermana sacerdotisa pero, sobre todo, es un gran modelo a seguir.
Translation: I met Yeshe three years ago at the Goddess Conference and now I can only say beautiful things about her: Passionate priestess, dedicated, respectful, generous, and very compassionate. It is wonderful that we all have the opportunity to approach to the Goddess with the devotion to Kuan Yin that Yeshe shares daily; All her work as a Priestess she does from the soul and with the purpose to reach anyone who needs it. For me she is a great Priestess sister but above all she is a great role model. - Eréndira

Yeshe’s strength and dedication inspire me. My daily practice can suffer when life gets in the way and that doesn’t serve my work as a Priestess. She always reminds me to come back to Center. She is an inspiration to stand in my truth. - Erika

Yeshe is a life-long learner, creative contemplative, and inspired teacher. Her devotion to Goddess, in all Her manifestations, is apparent in her powerful rituals, introspective and scholarly writings, social justice work, and visionary aspirations for the Mount Shasta Goddess Temple. I personally have deepened my connection with Goddess, through my study with Yeshe, especially how to integrate the sacred and mundane aspects of my life. Her intuitive wise counsel and divinations are spot-on, and she seeks to empower her students, and those she reads for, to reach their highest potential. My practice with the SkyDancer Sangha, and the year-long Deer Mother Priestess Training, have been life-changing. I would highly recommend them to anyone seeking sacred space for their personal growth in a nurturing, compassionate environment. — Heather

I have known Yeshe for almost a decade and deeply appreciate her work, dedication, and wisdom. I’ve consulted her for intuitive readings and personal path working over the years, and in 2018 I joined her Woman Shaman Priestess training. This program has been life altering and profoundly meaningful for me, helping me connect with my own lineage and the threads of priestesshood throughout the ages. WSP has guided me through the historical lineage of spiritwork, given me lessons and rituals for protection, healing and transformation, and helped me to develop my own sacred path of service. Yeshe herself is a model of priestesshood: leading with her dedication to the Goddess and willingness to share her own experiences (both magical and mundane) in order to support her students and those who come to her for guidance. She has created a true sisterhood of the Spirit, and I’m honored to share this work with her. - Devanna

“I am, and have consistently been, deeply moved by the level of personal growth, magical development, and worldly knowledge that I have gained with the carefully crafted curriculum and Yeshe’s firm and loving guidance. The work runs very deep. It will bring you into fathomless realms of your Spirit, the Soul of the Worlds, and to use a term from Yeshe herself, a profound connection with the Oneness Light. Be prepared to be inspired, turned inside out, and welcome in your dreams.” - Jamie

Yeshe’s work is amazing. I highly recommend working with her. Not only is she supportive and compassionate, she is fun, relatable, and deeply honoring of each woman’s personal and unique journey. There are other priestess trainings out there that seek to mold you into what they think you should be. This is not the case here. This is about discovering and expressing you and your own divine walk. - Raveina

I am a student of Woman Shaman Priestess class 2018 and 2019 and have attended monthly Mt Shasta Goddess Temple Full Moon Ceremonies on occasion. Yeshe is a gifted facilitator; one of the first things I noticed in her circles is that she has a beautiful way of making the women feel comfortable and acknowledged. Her WSP course is well organized, presents a wealth of wisdom from traditional pathways combined with teachings from her personal path and practice. WSP offers women a safe haven to learn and grow personally and spiritually. - Rhiannon

Yeshe was my mentor for one year when I was a student in her priestess program. I was highly impressed by her immense wisdom on so many spiritual topics. It’s amazing actually to receive from her fountain of knowledge. She was always very professional and personable. I could feel that she genuinely cared about me and my progress. Even more important to me was that I knew I could trust her. I could trust her as a person, as my teacher and trust her oracular talents. I highly recommend working with Yeshe Matthews! - Sonia