About Us
Welcome to our Tree of Life Teachings website
Megan Wagner & Jim Larkin

Welcome to our Tree of Life Teachings website. We are the Founding Directors of Tree of Life Teachings International, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing individuals, couples, families and groups with a variety of services to assist in psycho-spiritual development and healing. Services include teaching and training, workshops, counseling, spiritual direction, sacred art, and ceremonies such as weddings, blessings and various rites of passage.

The Tree of Life is an ancient symbol of the Divine, as it creates and sustains life, and humanity, as we root into community, strengthen our trunk and branch out to a wider vision of life as we grow. For more on the Tree of Life, click here.

We hope to share with you our vision for holistic living and conscious relationships, a perspective we have gained through deep personal work and 23 years of marriage and through our professional work with individuals, spiritual communities and ritual experts from a variety of cultures.

We are committed to:

  • Equip others with tools for conscious living
  • Empower people to live with heart, passion and purpose
  • Encourage spiritual wisdom and understanding

Growing up in Jewish and Christian homes and working within organized religion for many years left us painfully aware that many seekers within the Judeo-Christian tradition have been frustrated, disillusioned or wounded by negative experiences or unhelpful teaching. Many western seekers long to find practical, life-giving teachings within their own tradition that can help them in their daily life with prayer, meditation, healing, forgiveness and healthy relationships. What most western seekers don’t realize is that their own spiritual tradition is rich in psychological and spiritual teachings that directly address the inner life and offer tools for transformation and healing.

This tradition is called the Kabbalah and is the mystical knowledge underlying both Judaism and Christianity. The Tree of Life is the main symbol and teaching tool of Kabbalah and forms the basis of our teaching and training programs. We hope to make the western mystical teachings from the Tree of Life accessible to anyone wishing to develop their soul and deepen spiritual wisdom.

Our studies in the Tree of Life began when we moved from California to London, England after completing graduate school. During our time in London, we were introduced to the tradition of Kabbalah and had the privilege of studying with Kabbalah Master Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi (Warren Kenton). After many years of training, when it was time for us to return to our native San Francisco, California, we were commissioned by Halevi to establish a Kabbalah School, in our lineage of the Spanish Toledo line of Kabbalah. In addition to running the Kabbalah School, we are both on the Board of Directors of The International Kabbalah Society.

During our time in London, we also worked with ritual experts such as Robert Bly, Marion Woodman, Erica Helm-Meade, Michael Meade, Guatemalan shaman Martin Prechtel and African shaman Sobonfu and Malidoma Some. As we participated in initiation rituals from different cultures, we experienced the power of communal rituals, which help people access their wounds and also discover deep within themselves the wisdom and the strength to heal those wounds.

Our interest in personal and collective healing has deepened as we have traveled the world for over twenty years, visiting sacred sites, investigating cross-cultural initiation practices and expressions of the sacred, including visual arts, music and dance. We now incorporate these ancient and modern initiation techniques in our work, including drumming, storytelling, chanting, meditation and ritual. In addition to our teaching the Tree of Life at home in California, we lead groups on journeys to sacred sites in Crete, West Africa and Europe.

Our latest delight and challenge is our adventure of parenthood, caring for our wonderful and lively 5-year-old son, Jacob. Conscious parenting is calling us to be incredibly present and focused, putting the mystical teachings into practical and loving form.

 

Megan Wagner, MA
BA Stanford University, MA Marriage and Family Therapy, MA Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

I am a Therapist, Artist, Kabbalah Teacher, Ritual Leader, Interfaith Minister and Author of The Sapphire Staff: Walking the Western Mystical Way. In addition to 20 years of counseling practice, I have 12 years of experience in personal analysis and supervision in analytic depth psychology and psychodynamic counseling. In my therapy practice both in London, England and California, I have worked with many clergy, interfaith ministers and clients following a variety of spiritual paths.

This led me to created the Tree of Life Training, a holistic model of psycho-spiritual development using the Tree of Life, a map of inner growth that considers body, psyche and spirit in the healing process. My knowledge of the Tree of Life model of health comes from my training in Kabbalah and Depth Psychology, which I received while living in London.

During my time in London I also studied Psychological Astrology with Liz Greene and did extensive research at the British Museum, British Library and Oxford’s Bodleian Library on Alchemy, world mythology, shamanism, the western mystery traditions and sacred art. My interest in sacred art has inspired numerous trips to international centers of art and culture researching how sacred art aids in awakening and healing the soul.

I also have a special interest in women’s rites of passage and have been leading empowerment groups for women for over 10 years in the USA and Crete. I teach Spiritual Psychology at The Chaplaincy Institute for Arts and Interfaith Ministry, in Berkeley, California, where we offer ordination in Interfaith Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction.

Jim Larkin, MDiv
BA, San Jose State University, Master of Divinity, Fuller Theological Seminary

I am a Kabbalah Teacher, Ritual Leader and Ordained Interfaith Minister. It is in teaching, leading rituals and serving as an Interfaith Minister that I feel I am fulfilling my life purpose. In the Kabbalah and the Tree of Life, I've found a road map through which I can understand my own personal development and my relationship with the Divine. It is also the foundation upon which I can help others to find within themselves the capability of tapping into their own personal truth as they strive to fulfill their life purpose.

Through personal and communal ritual work I have gone to the depth of my being and discovered hidden parts of myself yearning to come to the surface. I now assist others in making similar discoveries as I lead them, with Megan, through rituals designed to provide unique self-discovery and the means to find empowerment to live their truth.

Through Interfaith Ministry I have the platform to speak of things that I believe are universally applicable for self-discovery and which are a means of establishing relationship with the Divine regardless of the tradition followed by those listening.

Through years of leadership in the church and participation in the men's movement, I am aware that the underlying quality that feeds and informs how I carry out the roles of teacher, ritual leader and Interfaith Minister is the archetype of the Priest. In this capacity I teach, assist others in their personal and spiritual development and create sacred space for healing and connecting with the Divine.