honoured to serve Cape Breton Island,
the wider Nova Scotia region, & across Canada
Sacred Celebrant of Avalon Training
~ May 14 - 21, 2027 ~
Truro, NS
IPHM Accredited | Presented by Sacred Steps
Lead Course Tutor Lilli Vandermeer & Izzy Machado-Williams
A Calling Into Sacred Service
A seven-day residential training is an invitation to step into the ancient & living art of ceremony. Rooted in the lineage of the Sacred Celebrants Academy, this immersive journey weaves ritual craft, elemental wisdom, & practical skill —supporting you to hold meaningful ceremonies with confidence, integrity, & heart. Held in a small, intimate circle & guided with warmth & reverence, this training is both a professional qualification and a personal initiation.
Arrival & Opening
The journey begins the evening before Day One with a Meet the Team Welcome Dinner, hosted by Sacred Steps. This gathering is an essential part of the training and gently opens the circle through shared food, connection, and intention.
Days One & Two
Elemental Foundations, Ceremonial tools,
incense blending,
the celebrant’s candle, subtle energies, & immersive work
with Air, Fire, Water, and Earth.
Day Five
Pre-Wedding Ceremonies
Sacred anointing, couples incense blending,
bridal willow hoop, ring blessing.
Day Three
Naming Ceremonies,
Baby, & Adult,
Renaming, & Affirmation Ceremonies; Altar creation;
Client consultations; holding ceremony without a script.
.
Day Six
Civil Wedding
Ceremonies
Structure, language,
script writing, consultation,
& symbolic flow.
Day Four
Handfasting & Vow Renewals
Handfasting cords,
Hoop & Wand Ceremony,
Jumping the besom,
Cake & Mead.
Day Seven
Completion & Thresholds
Sacred uncoupling,
pop-up handfastings,
Certificate presentation, and Graduation.
Investment
Course Fee: $2,500 CAD
Deposit: $300 (non-refundable)
Remaining balance payable via e-transfer, in instalments or full
All payments due 4 weeks prior to course
Accomodations are not included in Course fees
Our hosts SEEK on the Park has a special rate for our students
Please Call them to book & receive your Celebrant Training Discount
*Options for sharing a 2 bedroom cabin to save costs
You'll arrive strangers & leave as Sistars
Our venue is approx 3 km from Downtown Truro,
there are hotel options, Bed & Breakfasts, and AirBnBs
Meet Your Course Tutors
No one arrives at the path of ceremony in quite the same way.
Your tutors come from different places, backgrounds, and traditions,
each bringing a lifetime of experience shaped by the work
they have lived as well as the work they have studied.
Together, they bring a rich tapestry of knowledge in ceremony,
ritual, grief, healing, bodywork, energy work, firewalking,
earth-based spirituality, and the sacred art of holding space.
Throughout this training, you will learn from each of them —
not only through their knowledge and experience,
but through their own unique relationship with ceremony.
Meet the women who will walk this path with you.
Sacred Celebrant ~ Ceremonialist
Lead Tutor
Lilli Vandermeer
Lilli’s work is rooted in a lifelong relationship with ritual, land, and the sacred moments that shape our lives. For over 30 years, she has walked alongside individuals and families through weddings, funerals, and rites of passage. With more than a decade as a licensed funeral director, she brings a deep respect for grief, presence, and the importance of being held with care during life’s most tender thresholds. Her approach is grounded, compassionate, and quietly powerful. Trained through the Sacred Celebrants Academy, Lilli weaves earth-based spirituality with practical skill and embodied presence, guided by her connection to land and ancestral memory on Cape Breton Island. At heart, she is a Sacred Celebrant — holding space where story, grief, love, and ceremony meet.
Sacred Celebrant ~ Kinesiologist
Elemental Ritualist
Izzy Machado-Williams
Izzy’s path into ceremony has been shaped by both lived experience and a deep curiosity about the unseen threads that connect us. After an earlier career as an award-winning software developer, she followed a calling into holistic healing. She now brings over twelve years of experience in kinesiology and craniosacral therapy, alongside a twenty-year journey in Celtic-shamanic practice. With her clinic on the Isle of Man, Izzy's work is grounded, intuitive, deeply connected to land, history, and ancestry. Trained with the Sacred Celebrants Academy and Civil Ceremonies Ltd, Izzy creates ceremonies that are both healing and transformative, most often held outdoors in sacred space with the elements. At heart, she is a Sacred Celebrant — creating ceremony rooted in nature, authenticity, and connection.
Krista Marie
Certified End Of Life & Grief Doula
My path to supporting others began with my own personal journey. I navigated chronic pain, trauma and grief as a patient, eventually finding healing through alternative and holistic approaches after conventional care left me wanting more. A pivotal moment occurred when 36 years of hip pain unexpectedly and completely vanished after a guided meditation focused on releasing old anger and grief. This firsthand experience powerfully demonstrated the impact emotions, especially suppressed and stored emotions, have on our physical being. It was impossible to ignore and ignited my passion for exploring this connection. As my healing journey continued, I deepened and expanded my education, exploring mindfulness and meditation, anatomy and neurobiology, somatic practices and energy healing, shadow work and trauma healing. Now, I have the privilege to create and hold safe and nonjudgmental spaces where others can share and be witnessed, where they receive support and guidance through narrative processing, somatic and energetic practices as well as practical tools for navigating day-to-day life while they heal through their own pain, trauma and grief.
Sacred Grief Retreat
Healing for Mind Body & Spirit
Join Krista Marie & Lilli Vandermeer in
an Exploration of Grief &
the Mind-Body Connection
Lunch will be provided, followed by
a Sacred Grief Ceremony.
2027 Dates to be Announced
$250
Lilli Vandermeer
Sacred Celebrant & Ceremonialist
Lilli’s work is rooted in a lifelong relationship with ritual, land, and the sacred moments that shape our lives. For over 30 years, she has walked alongside individuals and families through weddings, funerals, and rites of passage. With more than a decade as a licensed funeral director, she brings a deep respect for grief, presence, and the importance of being held with care during life’s most tender thresholds. Her approach is grounded, compassionate, and quietly powerful. Trained through the Sacred Celebrants Academy, Lilli weaves earth-based spirituality with practical skill and embodied presence, guided by her connection to land and ancestral memory on Cape Breton Island. At heart, she is a Sacred Celebrant — holding space where story, grief, love, and ceremony meet.
Sacred Celebrant, Ceremonialist, and Guide at Life’s Thresholds, with over 30 years of ceremonial experience and more than a decade as a funeral director. Lilli’s work is grounded, compassionate, and deeply human — shaped by land, grief, love, & lived experience.
Her teachings weave together elemental wisdom,
Celtic ritual, Ancestoral guidance, and
trauma-informed grief work—
helping people return to what truly matters.
Speaking & Guest Teaching
Ceremony • Grief • Transformation
One Sacred Step at a Time
International Women's Day
2025
Speaker Topics
-
Keynote Talks & Panel Discussions
-
Retreat & Workshop Facilitation
-
Ritual or Ceremony Hosting
-
MC / Emcee for Soulful Event
-
Grief & End-of-Life Conferences
-
Wellness, Women's & Ancestral Retreats
-
Sacred Circles, Festivals & Celebrant Gatherings
-
Online Summits, Podcasts & Guest Interviews
Grief as Sacred Work
Navigating loss through Ritual
Modern Rituals,
Ancient Roots
Bringing ceremony into everyday life
Working with the Elements
Healing with Air, Fire, Water, Earth,
& the Self
Thresholds & Transitions
How ceremony helps us
move forward whole
Seasonal & Ancestral Rituals
Living in rhythm with nature and lineage
Reclaiming the Rite
Ceremonies for naming, croning,
identity & personal power
Green Burials
What, Where & How
Art of Living
Healing Dis-ease through
Art & the Elements