Temple of the Sacred Womb

Temple of the Sacred Womb is a ceremonial community in Austin, Texas, that holds kambo, hapé and cacao ceremonies alongside rituals without medicines. It is organised as a private ministerial association under section 508(c)(1)(a), a free church that serves only its members and is dedicated to honouring Nature and a nature goddess.

Approach

Clementine Kruczynski, the executive director, and Astra Cristos, the outreach director, founded the temple after creating the Sacred Womb ceremony in December 2017; the first retreat followed in July 2018. Cristos describes herself as a medicine woman and pipe carrier; she has spent four years in Vision Quest training and is initiated in Reiki, kambo and Andean cosmology. The temple calls its style yin-based, built on nurturing, safety and softness, and says it is led by women and neurodivergent people. Its ceremonies without medicine include a rebirth ritual, in which a participant crawls through a birth canal with attendants supporting them, a living death ceremony with a sound bath and meditation in corpse pose, and rites of passage. It also offers tarot readings, Reiki, workshops and lectures, and runs a shop, Luminary Union.

Who it is for

The temple serves its members, and its religious services require active membership. It says it has held ceremonies for more than 1,000 people.

Practical details

Membership starts at $11 a month, and ceremonies have been priced at $222 to $1,111. Events need at least two months’ notice, and a free 20-minute introductory call is available. The kambo comes from Peru and from a centre in the Sonoran Desert.

Care and safety

Before a ceremony there is a phone consultation, an intake form, medical and psychological assessments, a review of medical history and consent forms. The temple puts weight on meeting each person’s needs as part of calming the nervous system.