Programs & Offerings
The Church of the Essence offers both public programs open to all sincere seekers, as well as prepared programs that require prior relationship, training, or specific preparation. This distinction reflects our commitment to safety, tradition, and the integrity of ceremonial work. Certain rites and teachings are meant to be approached gradually and within proper context to ensure respect, readiness, and benefit.
For those new to our community, we encourage beginning with our public offerings, seasonal ceremonies, introductory classes, or attending one of our Vision Quest experiences. We also offer foundational teachings through the Academy of Oracle Arts for those wishing to deepen their understanding in a structured way. We welcome you to reach out to discuss your interests and explore the pathway that is most aligned for you.
Understanding Our Offerings
These programs are created to be experienced slowly and held with care. Each offering is shaped by the facilitator, the season, and the people who gather, with an emphasis on presence, integrity, and meaningful engagement rather than consumption.
Public Programs
These offerings are open to all who approach with respect, sincerity, and genuine interest. Participants are invited to engage thoughtfully, honor the ceremonial space and its purpose, and take part with care and consideration for the teachings, facilitators, and the wider community.
-
Each New Moon marks the sacred threshold of renewal, a moment when the veils thin and the Spirit of Becoming opens. At the Church of the Essence, our New Moon gatherings draw from the ancient Book of Rites and the living Tree of Life teachings. These rites guide the community into stillness, intention-setting, and the quiet gestation of dreams. Through breath, prayer, and elemental communion, participants plant new seeds in the fertile darkness, aligning personal cycles with the greater cosmic rhythms.
• The Book of Rites — foundational teachings, lunar invocations, and ceremonial protocols
• New Moon Tree of Life Prayers — monthly rites of renewal, clearing, and spiritual reset
• Intentional crafting of new beginnings through sacred fire, water blessing, and word medicine
-
The Full Moon is a time of illumination, release, and heightened spiritual vision. These ceremonies draw from the Book of Rites to guide participants into a deeper understanding of what must be shed, transformed, or celebrated. Through the Tree of Life Ceremony, we invoke clarity, emotional purification, and the bright mirror of lunar wisdom. These rites strengthen spiritual stamina and open pathways for insight, divination, and healing.
• Illumination practices rooted in ancient lunar traditions
• Full Moon Tree of Life Ceremony to release burdens, empower prayers, and amplify light
• Communal healing and reflection for the lunar apex
-
We offer spiritual counseling as a grounded medicine way of guidance, reflection, and support. These sessions create a safe and respectful space to gain clarity, receive insight, and navigate life transitions, while honoring personal sovereignty, spiritual integrity, and right relationship with Creator and community.
-
Divination provides insight, confirmation, and direction through sacred tools and ancestral methods. These services help individuals understand cycles, choices, patterns, and opportunities for growth.
• Oracular visioning and readings
• Support for stability, insight, and spiritual navigation
• Tools for grounding and personal empowerment
-
Ministers of the church provide spiritual support for life’s most important transitions and celebrations.
• Marriage ceremonies and sacred unions
• Burial rites and Celebration of Life services
• Hands-on healing and spiritual support
• Community outreach and service to those in need
Prepared Programs
These offerings require prior relationship with our community, specific preparation, or completion of prerequisite training. Contact us to learn about pathways to participation.
-
The Children’s Lodge offers age-appropriate teachings and experiences that nurture connection, respect, and belonging. Through gentle rituals, children’s sweat lodges, and circle storytelling, young ones are guided to relate to the Earth, community, and ancestral values in a safe, supportive, and culturally grounded way.
-
The Youth Lodge builds upon the foundation of the Children’s Lodge, offering age-appropriate programs designed specifically for middle school and teenage youth. Through guided rituals, circle teachings, storytelling, and hands-on learning, participants are supported in developing responsibility, identity, and connection to community, tradition, and the natural world in a safe and respectful setting.
-
The Men’s Lodge supports men walking the medicine ways through teachings that strengthen integrity, warrior spirit, and accountability. It is a space for building brotherhood, fostering healthy leadership, and cultivating right relationship within family, community, and the wider circle of life.
-
Moon Lodge is a sacred gathering space devoted to the celebration of Full Moon and New Moon Rites and the honoring of the Blood Mysteries. It is a place of remembrance and renewal, where lunar cycles guide ceremony, prayer, and reflection. Through these rites, participants deepen their connection to intuition, embodiment, and the ancient wisdom carried through the rhythms of the Moon and the sacred feminine.
-
We offer traditional sweat lodge ceremonies as seasonal rites of purification, held in alignment with weather conditions and the rhythms of the Earth. With over forty years of experience working with many forms of sweat lodges, our approach is grounded in safety, ethical practice, and deep respect for the ceremonial traditions we carry .
-
The Elders Circle is a sanctuary of remembrance, storytelling, and community wisdom. Elders are honored here as the carriers of experience, humor, memory, and medicine. These circles help bridge the younger generation with those who walked before, preserving wisdom and strengthening cultural continuity.
• Wisdom exchange and oral teachings
• Ancestral remembrance and storytelling
• Support for Elder care through community connection
-
With over forty years of experience offering this sacred rite of passage, our Vision Quest provides a safe and deeply guided medicine way for speaking with Creator, asking for vision, and finding a path to walk. Participants are supported through careful preparation, training, and ongoing mentoring, honoring the many reasons one may be called to quest and ensuring the medicine way is held with integrity, respect, and care.
-
We offer comprehensive training for those who feel a spiritual calling to walk a ministry path and serve through pastoral ordination. This seminary provides spiritual formation, ethical grounding, and ceremonial preparation for individuals committed to service, leadership, and responsibility within their communities.
Indigenous Outreach
The Church of the Essence remains committed to supporting Indigenous communities through direct outreach and service. These efforts include fundraising, resource support, and raising awareness for essential needs such as:
• Clean water access
• Food, housing, and land protection
• Cultural preservation and community wellbeing