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 class.
The river of life is always changing.
Mud on the banks gives way, pools deepen and swirl, stones tumble.
A bend is worn away, and the water flows faster.
A boulder moves one inch, resulting in a new splash pattern.
A tree trunk falls across the span, creating a natural dam.
Some change is spontaneous, some change is volitional.
Our planet is calling for change. Our hearts are yearning for change.
We hear the call to become agents of change.
And the most important change begins within.
Our ancestors developed technologies for working with change:
meditations, visionary journeys, purifications, and ceremonies.
When there is unrest in our lives and world, there is unrest in the numinous realms.
When our spirits are ill at ease, we suffer.
When our guardians and guides are not receiving proper attention, we get lost.
When we fail to practice, we miss an opportunity to cultivate life force.
When peace is possible in one world, peace is possible in all worlds.
As above, so below.
How often do we turn away from the simplicity and honesty of ancient and time-tested ways,
abandoning ourselves to fear and doubt in this convoluted and vexing world?
How often do we chase fantasy and myth when we actually crave the substance of authentic spiritual practice?
Today, many of us hunger for greater intimacy with nature and the spirits as a balm to our turbulent inner dialogue.
We reach out for a variety of things to quell the desire: food, sex, TV, the phone, alcohol...
None of these things will satisfy the yearning that can only be fulfilled
when we can stand quietly, humbly, barefoot, and skin-to-skin with Mother Earth in the witness of our ancestors.
The Woman Shaman Priestess Training Program is about coming home to yourself.
Many of us know what it feels like to be a "hungry ghost" searching for hollow comforts amidst the chaos, finding that nothing helps except spaciousness, spiritual practice, the wildness of nature, and freedom of the soul.
Have you been there? Are you fed up with feeling anxious, exhausted, and hungry for peace?
This program builds Priestesses, not performers.
This program is about spiritual integrity, not social media.
This program is for developing authenticity, not an audience.
If you do the work, you will experience profound transformation and a calling to your unique form of service in the world.
Are you ready to work with your female power, the spirit world, your lineage, and your relationship to the Earth in a deeper way?
Woman Shaman Priestess is a program for women who are ready to make a significant change in their lives, to listen to their bodies, to connect with their natural female life force, and to give 100% of their magic to their spiritual wholeness for the benefit of all beings.
The Woman Shaman Priestess journey can help you flow like a river and change your own life dramatically
by deeply attuning to nature, healing practices, Goddess, innate wisdom, and magic.
You can do this.
Healing ourselves and the Earth won’t happen overnight, nor will they happen if we keep doing the same things we have always done.
Healing requires time, energy, and dedication. It takes a willingness to really do the work.
This 2-year program is designed to help you make lasting changes and real magic in real-time.
It's potent and demanding, and you won't regret it.
Sarangerel Odigan, 1963-2006
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.
Ai-Churek Shiizhekovna Oyun, 1963-2010
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.
Who are you when no one is watching?
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.
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.
Is now the time for this work in your life?
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
a private social network for inspirational shares
monthly video conferences with the group
text support from Yeshe
optional sessions and divinations with Yeshe (separate fee)
optional retreats in Mt. Shasta, CA (separate fee)
During the course of this Priestess training, you will come into awareness of your lineage, connect with your ancestors, create habits of reverence for your own sacred body and the Earth, learn to listen to your animal knowing, and cultivate life force to benefit yourself and other beings in the visible and unseen realms.
With a Master's degree in Women's History, a spiritual focus on shamanic practices, and a deep connection to the natural world, Priestess Yeshe Matthews brings 20 years of experience as a Priestess, professional diviner, and ritual facilitator to her teaching. Yeshe trains Priestesses to access their magical potential and personal empowerment via ancient and modern methods of inquiry, spiritual exercises, and ecstatic devotion. Dedicated, practical, and discerning, Yeshe helps female agents of change activate and focus their energy for the benefit of all beings.
The next Woman Shaman Priestess journey begins January 2025.
Please complete the application linked below.
Woman Shaman Priestess features monthly Lessons, Full and Dark Moon ceremonies, daily practice, Practical Priestessing techniques, monthly video lectures and discussions, optional seasonal retreats, and ceremonial practices that will serve a lifetime of spiritual growth.
Please prepare to set aside time each week to read and digest the Lessons, and to try the practices that are offered as part of this course. You will find yourself moving 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 2023, please join the Goddess Temple as a Mandala Member.
After that, please fill out the Training Application linked below.
Starting in late November 2024, Yeshe will begin contacting those who have expressed an interest in joining the program with program details and next steps.
If you give yourself one gift in 2025, give yourself this journey. It will equip you with a set of skills, tools, and perspectives that can 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 personal gifts of healing with greater precision than ever before. This program is all about your magic, your power, and your ability to live a life of your own design as a unique embodiment of Goddess on Earth. If it's time for you to claim your seat at the table of ancient future wisdom, sister, please come join us.
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
I’m proud and honored to know and work with Yeshe, to have had the opportunity to move through layers of relationship with her, from client to student to friend to sister and fellow priestesses for going on ten years now. I’ve learned so much with her guidance and mentorship: I’ve learned about gods and goddesses and the role of Deity in the natural world around me; I’ve learned how to create ritual and be a good ritual attendee/participant; I’ve learned to honor both the rhythms of the earth around me and to recognize those within my own body and mind. Most importantly perhaps is that Yeshe has helped me learn to trust myself, my vision, my connection with Spirit and the Divine. Her joy and happiness both in sacred and secular communities, and in learning as we have done, each of us, that there is little difference between the sacred and secular, really, has been infectious in the best sense. Her intelligence is inspiring, her compassion comforting, and her dedication to serving community at all levels a reaffirmation of hope and faith. She’s a wonderful teacher, a great priestess, and a great voice for the Goddess in the world today. - Karen
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
Though I am in Missouri and Yeshe is in California, she makes me feel like she is in the room…Even when lots of people are participating in the videos for Kuan Yin practice or the Mt. Shasta Goddess Temple class everyone is treated as a unique being. She isn't so much a teacher as a curator who gives one of the best walk-throughs to help each person remember who they were and could be. - Tara
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 who have tended this land in Siskiyou County for many generations before colonizers arrived, and who 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?
In order 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 have familiarity with our Temple protocols.
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. However, she has studied with many different teachers and organizations, including 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 own 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 or extroverted, or a combination of both, you will likely find relief in the warm and supportive but non-performative community we’ve created in the Temple.