The Creative Flame
Striving to live with a courageous heart and a compassionate mind
The Priestess Path - Training
The path of the priestess reaches back through thousands of years of women who tended hearth, altar, community, and mystery. Perhaps those first steps were taken beside the clan fire, around the community hearth, and eventually at temple altars.
In the beginning, there was a woman and womb. Life, care, birth, death, memory, and mystery all gathered there. From there, the story unfolded across landscapes and cultures, first carried in memory and spoken tradition, and later in written language.
Today the word “priestess” carries many meanings. It has been shaped by history, modern spirituality, and popular culture, each adding something to how we understand the path.
Yet through it all, the path continues into our homes, communities, and temples.
The Temple of the Creative Flame is one of many Goddess communities that offer support and instruction in alignment with the Path of the Priestess. These are the three layers and a brief description of each through our temple.
Priestess of the Hearth - 6-month process
The hearth is found within and without. Focused on the history of Goddess, honoring the body as sacred, and our elemental correspondences, Ancestral work, and the work we do with our own hands.
A focus word is EMBODIMENT.
The ceremonial completion is marked by consecration as Priestess of the Hearth.
Priestess of the Land - 12-month process
(in addition to 6-month Hearth instruction)
Taking our inner altar to the community we continue the focus on the History of Goddess and add working with Sabbats (Wheel of the Year and 8 Holy Days) and Esbats (Full Moon and other Lunar Phases).We study group dynamics, tending the spiritual life of community, and ritual etiquette and guidelines.
A focus word is INTERCONNECTION.
The ceremonial completion includes a statement of Called to Service and is marked by consecration as Priestess of the Land.
Priestess of the Temple - 18 month process (in addition to 18-month Hearth and land instruction)
This is a vocational path with a ceremonial beginning and completion which may include Ordination.
Deepening the Hearth and Land work we focus on the individual Call to Service, ritual creation and facilitation, leadership development, sacred rites of passage, and ministry beyond the Temple or serving the wider community.
A focus word is PRESENCE. The ceremonial completion is marked by a Personal Statement of Purpose and ordination as Temple Priestess. Should Ordination be desired, additional work will be required within this timeframe.
