I am an advocate for grief in all its forms.

What has become clear to me is the powerful role grief plays in allowing us to face what is taking place in our lives, our communities, our world, families and culture. Through our ability to sit with the discomfort and layers of loss, we can discover our capacity to respond, to protect and restore what has been damaged. Our hearts can be kept flexible, fluid, and open to the world through this closeness with loss. 

At times, grief invites us into a terrain that reduces us to our most naked self. We find it hard to meet the day, to accomplish the smallest of tasks, to tolerate the greetings of others. We feel estranged from the world and only marginally able to navigate the necessities of eating, sleeping, and self-care. Some other presence takes over in times of intense grief, and we are humbled, brought to our knees. We live close to the ground, the gravity of sorrow felt deep in our bones.

1:1 Sacred Work Grief Offering:

90 minutes

Exploring the geography of death and loss

Creating a ritual map of grief

Embodiment tools & foundational skills

I work with Francis Weller’s 5 Gates of Grief:

  1. Everything we love we will lose

  2. The places that have not known love

  3. Sorrows of the world

  4. What we expected and never received

  5. Ancestral Grief.

End of Life & Grief Ceremony

I am a trained End of Life Doula, BC Bereavement Helpline Facilitator for Traumatic Loss & Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner

I offer compassionate guidance around death and loss.
These sessions can include:

Preparing for your own death (Advocacy for funeral preparations)
Preparing for a death in the family
Pet death & At home ceremonies
Grieving and integrating
Complex family dynamics around a death or loss
Unresolved deaths from the past
Pregnancy loss
Rituals for Grief

Sometimes a single session can give you what you need. In other situations, we might work together for a few weeks or months. We follow what feels right for you. All sessions are done via Zoom.

I also regularly offer a series called ‘The Sacred Work of Grief’ - this is based on Francis Weller’s ‘The Wild Edge of Sorrow’. It is a container to connect to community and the alchemical process of grieving.
Reach out for more information about when the next online offering will be if you are interested in being part of this container
essenceskulls@gmail.com

1:1 Rune Mentorship

Runes are ancient beings. Each rune whispers differently, and working with them is an exercise in simultaneity, cloaking and uncloaking at once. Connecting with the runes is a remembering of ancient wisdom, a true-told story singing in the bones.

Learning their language is a lifeway practices of ancestral reconnection and reciprocal relationship.

Rune Mentorship sessions are 60 minute sessions held over Zoom (with replay)

They are based on your current knowledge of the runes and can cover:

  • Introduction to Elder Futhark rune meanings

  • Daily rituals & altars to the runes

  • How to make Bindrunes

  • Casting Techniques

  • How to make your own rune set

  • Seidr Magick Basics

  • Icelandic Staves and how to engage with them

    Includes PDF on what we covered during our session.

Remote Oracle Readings

These sessions provide you with clarity relating to your spiritual and life concerns, as well as practical next steps in your life’s path, so that you can feel aligned, clear and prepared.

When you book a reading, Ash embarks on a journey utilizing trance, runic chanting and Utiseta (sitting out practice) . Then through a scheduled 60 minute Zoom call (with recording), Ash shares the messages from the oracle cards or runes used and messages that arose during the journey.

Other Divination options include:

3 Rune Cast session - based on the 3 Norns URD (“fate”), Verdandi (“necessity”) and Skuld (“being”)
Includes remote rune reading and one hour session via Zoom exploring themes that came up in your reading and how they weave into your current state.
Includes: pdf , rune invocations and ritual suggestions

Thoth Tarot Card In Depth Reading - This reading includes my signature Thoth Tarot spread. This in-depth session delves into all the major themes and influence at play in your external world and unconscious life. We can also use this session to examine particular questions you may want to explore. Includes: reading, pdf & digital file of cards

Custom Bindrune

  • A bindrune is the creation of an intentional symbol weaving runes in a linear or stacked form. This unique symbol can be activated with chanting, runic names (galdr), invocation to birth intent, carving the symbol into wood, painting on cloth/hide or tattooing

    This offering includes a half hour call to understand the intentions, needs and purpose of your symbol. This can be rendered for branding or logo use as well.

    You will receive 2 digital files of your bindrune with guidance on activation and daily practice.

Hand poked Tattoo

Combining the custom bindrune, or talisman process with ritual hand poked tattooing. This involves a consult session for the creation of the symbol and an appointment to tattoo the design by hand. I am currently holding these sessions at my art studio in Nelson, BC and make trips to Saskatoon occasionally.

Nonrefundable Deposit is required to secure appointment

  • once deposit is sent, appt is confirmed

$180/hour

Email: essenceskulls@gmail.com to book

  • Flash

  • Couples bindrunes

  • Staves & Runes from reading

  • Bindrunes

  • Icelandic staves

  • Snakes

  • Staves

Custom Art

Pete B. @zenjackal

“I recently completed 1:1 Mentoring with Ash. It was clear from the very beginning, that she was not only knowledgeable but lived and breathed the Runa! She is a great mentor and communicates clearly and patiently. Most of all, she is humble and is willing to impart her knowledge with generosity and grace. Ash is a great mentor, one I highly recommend!”

Dana Clemens

“Ritual was my gift to myself after moving to a new country and leaving everything I owned behind. I started fresh, unhindered. Last year I connected with Ash’s work with animal bones and heathenry. Through our work together, I have breathed the sacred and profundity back into my daily life. I also manifested a job offer and reconnected with my dad. I am beyond grateful for this new way I show up in this precious life. We have built a relationship of trust, can’t wait for what I plan on birthing next. I am wealth, in all its forms!!”

“A huge “THANK YOU” to you!! The work you’re doing bringing people together so they know they are not alone in their struggles with grief is such a special gift. I appreciate it so much, from deep in my heart. So thank you thank you thank you!”

-Jennika Bergeron (Sacred Work of Grief course)

“I have just finished the course on Intro to Norse Magick done by Essence of Ash. We did Elder Futhark, Bindrunes, Staves, Rituals and Ceremony and the practice of Seidr. Ash helped me understand the meaning and the magic of the runes. Ash had a great presentation of us each week. Everything I have learned from her course has helped me in my practice. I highly recommend Ash’s courses. Ash is a wonderful teacher and person.”

@mertens.rhonda (Intro to Norse Magick course)

“Ash’s Sacred Work of Grief provided an introduction and framework for me to acknowledge and understand the complicated nature of grief. She is well-versed, knowledgeable, and approaches the material with a tender heart… full of kindness, compassion, and honesty. We even shared a few laughs despite the solemn nature of the work. Not only did she bring awareness to us, but she sat with us and shared her own grief… an encouraging example of authenticity! I am grateful to have witnessed and to witness the handful of amazing people in our group! Thank you, Ash! It was an awesome few weeks to share with you & everyone else!”

-@cjevanshomedesigns

  • I completed the 1:1 Ritual with Ash in February 2022. I recently came out of a divorce and was feeling completely disconnected from myself. I was desperately searching for embodiment practices and wanted to play around with talismanic magic. During and after our time together, I stepped back into the river of my life, and back into alignment with my power. My voice is clearer and stronger than ever before and I have experienced some incredible shifts in my finances. I have also done her Rune Oracle Mentorship and gone to her for tarot readings. I highly recommend working with her!

    Carla Knowles @demeter.rising

  • This course was very informative and very thorough but not at all in an overwhelming sense. Ash’s deliverance is humble but heartfelt, her connection to the runes is so prominent that it creates a sense of belonging to those she is speaking to. She is an amazing mentor for those seeking guidance down their path into Norse Magic and bindrunes.

    Kelly-Leigh @_aqueous

  • Ash took care of dad for 3 solid months while he was failing badly. Our family relied on her to take him to appointments, pick up medication and be a companion when we were not able to be there. This difficult transition was made much smoother with her presence and kindness. Our family is thankful we found her for end of life support as well as the other hospice team members. Dad was lucky to have her.

    Rick Reid , Saskatoon