Goddess Temple Teachings

Course Dates and Details

Eight weekends:

We will meet on Zoom on 8 Saturdays and Sundays around the festivals of the year, between 10 am and 5 pm (with shorter breaks and 1 hour lunch break). You will be provided with written material from us, as well as references and recommended sources for expanding your knowledge. You will also need to take your own notes.

Some of the themes and subjects that we will cover include:

1-2 February 2025, Imbolc (in person weekend in Glastonbury, or participate online)

Introduction/overview: ceremony and ceremonial tools, rituals and rites of passage, the Wheel of the Year, the elements, symbolic language, archetypes, Goddess teachings, Opening Ceremony.

22-23 March 2025, Spring Equinox/Ostara (online)

Fertility & conception, element of Fire, the moon/menstrual cycle/blood mysteries, holding space, the heart.

3-4 May 2025, Beltane (online)

Systemic problems/structural challenges, obstetric violence, sacred rage, activism, fears, trauma, throat/jaw.

21-22 June 2025, Summer Solstice/Litha (online)

Pregnancy, element of Water, the womb.

2-3 August 2025, Lammas (online)

Birth as ceremony, birth like a Goddess, brain waves, the labyrinth, the pelvis.

20-21 September 2025, Autumn Equinox/Mabon (online)

Postpartum/after birth (healing, integration and growth), mothering, element of Earth, the placenta, breasts and breastfeeding.

1-2 November 2025, Samhain (online)

Death (including miscarriage, abortion and stillbirth), healing, foremothers/motherline and ancestors.

20-21 December 2025, Winter Solstice/Yule (in-person weekend in Glastonbury, or participate online)

Weaving together the year, dream time, the future, element of Air, breath and the voice, Dedication Ceremony.

(All online sessions will be recorded)

Sacred Circle

In addition to your presence on the training dates you will be given assignments to complete after each weekend, to be shared with the group during the following weekend. This is the most important aspect of the training – when you apply, practice and embody what it means to be a Sacred Birth Keeper and to create and hold ceremonies for yourself and others, and integrate what you have learnt into your life.

It is hard to specify the time required to complete these assignments but allow at least 1 extra day for each day of training. (More if you want to go deeper and gain more experience). In addition to completing the assignments, you will be required to read 3 books (course literature) before the end of the year.

Participation in all training sessions and completion of all assignments is required to receive certification as a Sacred Birth Keeper.

Sacred Circle

At the end of the training, you will:

  • Have created your own Sacred Birth Keeper kit: different tools and objects that you will gather and create during the year, such as songs, texts and other materials.
  • Have gained understanding and experience of creating and holding ceremonies, including Fertility Ceremony (focus on conception), Mother Blessing (focus on birth), Postpartum Ceremony (focus on the new mother’s integration and healing) and Welcome Ceremony (focus on the child and parenthood). You will also have created basic rituals for working with grief, fears etc.
  • Be presented with a diploma and be able to call yourself a Sacred Birth Keeper
  • Become part of a growing group of Sacred Birth Keepers who support each other and collaborate in various ways, for a changed birth culture globally and a better future for us all. You will become part of our online community on Facebook and will be invited to in-person meet-ups and ceremonies with other Sacred Birth Keepers.

Course literature:

  • Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage, Rachel Reed
  • Natural Birth, A Holistic Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Breastfeeding, Kristina Turner
  • When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm, Layne Redmond
  • Give Birth Like a Feminist, Milli Hill

We expect you to understand the physiology of birth, postpartum needs etc., although it will also be possible for you to acquire this knowledge independently in parallel with the Sacred Birth Keeper training (we can suggest appropriate literature etc.).

This course is rooted in the Sacred Birth Keeper training offered by Kate Temple in 2020 through Goddess Temple Teachings and has been developed further by Kristina Turner and Susannah Rickman. It was held for the first time in Sweden in 2022 (Helgad födelsevärnare).