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Temples of Isis in the Mediterranean

November 18, 2022 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

The Temple of Philae on Agilika Island by Ivan Marcialis CC BY-SA 2.0

The world is witnessing a revival of interest in Goddess Isis, the feminine aspect of divinity that has been neglected for so long by patriarchal world religions.

Isis of Ten Thousand Names was the principal Goddess of the Egyptians. Her worship spread south and west into Africa via the Upper Kingdom, and into the Middle East via the Lower Kingdom. By ___ BC, Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Greeks developed Ptolemaic Egypt. They spread Her worship in Alexandria and even further.

The Greeks named Egyptian Auset, Isis and her worship in Alexandria inspired Alchemy that eventually spread to secular scholars. It was Isis who taught the alchemical secrets of Hermetic wisdom attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.

When Rome took power, a new cult of worshippers in the Roman Empire spread Her worship throughout Europe. Temples were created in her honor in Libya, Italy, Greece, Spain, France and even London. It is during this period that Isis became identified with all Goddesses, an identification which continues today.

Eze, France

As the Bronze Age Phenicians spread their empire across Europe and into France, they left signs of their worship of Isis along the French RIviera.

In a small village of Eze, near Nice, The village owes its name to an ancient Isis. It is in her name that the ancient Phoenicians who colonized these lands consecrated their temple.

There is a Church of Assumption of Notre Dame in which Mother Mary and Jesus stand in front of paintings of ankhs. Why are there ankhs in a Christian church? Because the cult of Isis was widespread in the Mediterranean and Eze was once ruled by Italians who continued to worship Isis even after the Pheonicians. Isis is one of the greatest goddesses of Antiquity, an Egyptian ideal of femininity and motherhood. Even the mythical Phoenix is depicted on the coat of arms of Eze along with the saying “Isis Moriendo Renascor” which means, “When dying, I am reborn”.

The magic of Salinas

September 18, 2022 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

My favorite beach in Ibiza is Salinas. Why? Because no matter what changes or how many tourists flock to the island, Salinas stays true to the original, bohemian fun-loving spirit of Ibiza.

This October I return to my Goddess Island and I’m so excited to show you my home away from home and where I come to recharge. Together, we’ll explore Cala Plumas, chill out at Sa Trinxa and enjoy Ibiza’s famous endless summer sunset.

Salinas is wild and protected as a natural reserve. Phoenicians came here in the 8th century BC and set up their colony in Ibiza. They traded salt from Ibiza, a prized commodity and at the time, was called “white gold”.

There are a few restaurants dotting the road where travelers come for a bite to eat or a sunset drink.

But what I love most is the Salinas church. It stands guard in front of the lush expanse of salt flats and bird life where egrets, keels and osprey all graze and feed on the salty marshes.

The church was built in the late 18oo’s in typical Ibicenco architecture – white walls and a bell tower. It even has a shield of XX and YY even though it was never a part of that kingdom.

After some swimming, lunch, and a little dancing with the DJs at Sa Trinxa, I love to go Cala Plumas where all the coves are.

Cala Plumas

Every year when I come to Ibiza, this is my first stop. I’ve been coming here for twelve years so by now I’m a local and I have a community of friends who welcome me home every season.

The water here is a sea of blue jewels: turquoise, teal, green, aquamarine and emerald.

You can enjoy sunbathing and some alone time, write in your journal, explore or walk to the tower.

Every single cove is unique. Some have hidden caves while others have been sculpted with love by Ibiza artists. Here’s a very special cove with the most interesting sculpture, which I’m sure to took months to complete.

Another spot I love is a secret Salinas cave. I first came to this cave with Lorenzo and fell in love with her. Her silence and womb-like embrace touched my heart. Being inside her truly feels like being within the womb of the subterranean Mother. There are so many water caves like this Ibiza but I feel like this one knows me and waits for me.

Salinas has numerous coves to play, swim, explore and get lost in, which is what I do! The feeling in Cala Plumas is magical. It’s always serene here and I really feel I’m in a lost, ancient part of the island.

Spain was rich in silver, copper, tin and lead and other resources so it was natural for the Phoenicians to trade and settle here. Ibiza dates back to Neolithic times with evidence of its inhabitants living in its caves and in the Bronze Age, there is abundant evidence of Goddess worship.

Las Damas, Tanit’s priestesses, were found in southern Spain as well as Ibiza because the Phoenicians had established trading posts and towns on the Iberian peninsula probably before 1000 BCE. We know very little about Tanit’s mystery religion and its rituals and rites. The Romans burnt Carthage to the ground, with its libraries and sacred places, and massacred the entire population at the end of the Punic wars in 146 BCE. There was one place in Carthaginian Spain that escaped the destruction, and that was Ibiza.

Natural water temples

Ibiza is rich in natural beauty and the water feels ancient and magical. In Salinas, there’s an abundance of natural temples made from the dance of water and stone over millions of years.

I hope you enjoyed our trip to Salinas. Until next time, keep your heart open and keep traveling.

Ciao from Ibiza!

Photo credits: Lorenzo Melissari

Searching for Tanit in Ibiza

March 15, 2022 by Zinnia Sophia 1 Comment

Es Vedra Ibiza

Who is Goddess Tanit of Ibiza?

Tanit is an ancient African Mother goddess of sexuality, fertility and death. Her worship spread throughout the Mediterranean where she was honored for her ancient powers over the life-death continuum in Phoenicia, Carthage, Iberia, Libya and even Egypt.

Ibiza was her island until the Roman Emperor Vespasian suppressed her cult in AD74. The Romans named her Dea Caelestis and worshiped her as Juno. To this day Tanit is still worshiped in Ibiza and her cave Temple, at Cova Des Cuieram on the road to Portinax, still remains as testament to her memory and spirit.

In ancient times, the Island was a sacred place associated with healing, rebirth and resurrection where Carthaginian nobility buried their dead at the necropolis at Puig des Moulins. Even the Romans laid their dead to rest there.

Today, many people still come to Ibiza for the healing and rejuvenation powers of her waters, springs and fountains are said to possess purification, fertility, life and magnetic balance.

To me, Ibiza is the island where Tanit became my guide and protectress when I moved there to heal from a divorce. I was introduced to Her mysteries through grief and then recovery. Tanit is an African-Semitic Persephone who protects the dead and the dying. She is a healer, and Tantric mystic who teaches life, death and rebirth to all beings. She is the Goddess of regeneration, metamorphosis and spiritual resurrection.

Tanit’s origins

Tanit – Thinit – Tanis – Rat Tanit – Lady of Carthage – Lady of the Sanctuary – Tinit – Tank – The face of Ba’al – The heavenly Goddess – Tanith – The heavenly virgin.

All are names to represent the original great goddess, an ancient and powerful force and symbol of fertility and fruitfulness.

Tanit was the highest deity and the protector of the city of Carthage, with her consort Ba’al – Hammon the god of the sky, she watched over and protected Carthage. Tanit’s worship was spread from North Africa to Spain, Malta and Sardinia.

There are varied opinions as to the date of the emergence of this goddess, most scholars treat Tanit as having come from the Phoenician mainland as a descendant of one or more of the great Canaanite goddesses.

A few others see her as either originating in North Africa or being a combination of an indigenous North African goddess with one or more of the Phoenician/Canaanite deities.

Before her death in 2005, Monica Sjöö had been working on a book “Seeking Tanit: African/Semitic Great Goddess and Her people”. This was to be her last great work, in which she explored the origins and mysteries of the African Goddess.

Her research also shows that Tanit – the African Persephone and preserver of life in the Underworld, protector of the dead and giver of resurrection, who says “I am the Beginning and the End” – was the Goddess who presided over that world.

“I was on Ibiza – an ancient island of the Phoenicians in the Bronze Age and a sacred centre of their Great Goddess, Tanit, who said I am the beginning and the end” – when I discovered that I had a cancerous tumour in my breast. It was February of 1997. Although the tumour was five centimetres by then, I had never noticed it. I learned that Ibiza, which was called “The Island of Pine Trees”, was a place where people came to be healed and also to die. It was a colony of the Carthaginians/Phoenicians from north Africa. There are many wells here sacred to Tanit, whose mysteries were forgotten when the Romans destroyed Carthage (Tunisia). She was the same Goddess as Astarte of the Canaanites (also a Phoenician-Semitic people) who was hated by the Hebrew prophets and their Jahweh. Tanit was also African Berber in origin. In this image are the hand of Tanit (later the hand of Fatima?) and other symbols. Here is La Dama de Elche, found in Andalucia and representing the Goddess herself or Her priestess, wearing extraordinary headplates and heavy jewellery, so mysterious. Apparently Ox T’art means “womb of the Earth”, so in Ash T’art there is the word “womb”. The Siren or Serene carries the soul of the dead to the Otherworld.”

~ Monica Sjöö

Her symbol, known as the symbol of Tannit, is a triangle representing the human body, surmounted by a circle representing the head, and separated by a horizontal line which represents the hands. The worship of the goddess Tannit emerged after the 5th century BC. She appears to be of Libyan origin.

The Libyan Berber Goddess Tannit and connections to Egyptian Neith

Tannit or Neith is originally a Berber Libyan Goddess venerated by the Berbers of North Africa from immemorial times. Poets and scholars of all ages knew Her as the Goddess Neith. There is no doubt that the Nit of the Ancient Egyptians, Tanit of the Phoenicians, and Athena of the Greeks were none other than the Libyan Goddess Tannit.

The Goddess Neith is one of the oldest goddesses in the world and her shrine was attested in Egypt from pre-dynastic times. She was the patron deity of the city of Sais, in the Western Nile Delta of Lower Egypt.

Her Berber name Tannit means Ta-Nit, “the Land of Nit” and refers to ancient Libya (today’s North Africa as a whole) being Her original home. According to Herodotus Tannit (whom he called Athena) was venerated by the Libyan Amazon around Lake Tritonis.

The meaning of Neith’s name was interpreted in many ways, the most popular was the Goddess as a personification of the primordial waters of creation, making her a Creatrix.

The Mother Dragon Goddess

In her role as Creatrix, we travel back with Tanit to her Pheonician roots and even earlier to Sumer where she was the original primordial Dragon Mother Goddess, Tiamat. Before Tiamat became a legend in Sumerian civilization. She was the Creatrix Goddess and serpent mother who created life from the primordial waters until her battle with Marduk.

And the lord stood upon Tiamat’s hinder parts,

And with his merciless club he smashed her skull.

He cut through the channels of her blood,

And he made the North wind bear it away into secret places.

Marduk sliced Tiamat in half, he made from her ribs the vault of heaven and earth. Her weeping eyes became the sources of the Tigris and the Euphrates, her tail became the Milky Way.[16] With the approval of the elder deities, he took from Kingu the Tablet of Destinies, installing himself as the head of the Babylonian pantheon.

Chaos Monster and Sun God – drawing by L. Gruner – ‘Monuments of Nineveh, Second Series’ plate 5, London, J. Murray, 1853 (coutesy Wikipedia vua

The Tiamat myth is one of the earliest recorded versions of the Chaoskampf, the battle between a culture hero and a chthonic monster, serpent or dragon. Primordial chaos battles linked to the Tiamat myth are found later in Greece, when Apollo killed the Python to take over the Delphic Oracle.

Robert Graves considered Tiamat’s death by Marduk as evidence for his hypothesis of an ancient shift in power from a matriarchal society to a patriarchy. His theory suggests Tiamat and other ancient monster figures were depictions of former supreme deities of peaceful, woman-centered religions that turned into monsters by the new order of patriarchal religions. Their defeat at the hands of a male hero corresponded to the overthrow of these matristic religions and societies by male-dominated ones.

Graves’ ideas were later developed into the Great Goddess theory by Marija Gimbutas, Merlin Stone and others. Once her story became distorted, her worship slowly declined, her temples broken and myths forgotten. But she survived…Her worshippers brought the great primordial Goddess with them. She changed form and names from Aphrodite, Astarte, Asherah, Inanna and Ishtar but she always remained in the hearts of her devotees.

Tanit’s cult in Ibiza and Carthage

Could Tiamat also be associated with Tanit, the Great Mother Goddess of Could Tiamat also be associated with Tanit, the Great Mother Goddess of the primordial waters?

The Tanit cult remained strongly rooted in the island of Ibiza, where the Goddess was adored until the rise of Christianity, in the second century A.D.. Ibiza is the place where more statues of Tanit have been found, especially in the Cova Des Culleram, in Sant Vicent de sa Cala. She was one of the most important Goddess of the Carthaginians, as she defended the sacred island of Ibiza.

Tanit was a divinity represented by the lunar crescent, associated with the God of agriculture and therefore, the fertility of the earth, animals and people. She also had the character of a Goddess of the underground, health and death, and she was the protector of the deceased.

In this aspect, she resembles the Potnia, ancient Snake Goddess and Mistress of Animals that we see in the iconography of ancient Crete.

This primal energy is the natural, instinctual and untamed energy that arises from the Earth. Our ancestors honored this primal energy in its feminine form. The Primal Goddesses’s transcendent function in the Mystery arouses our inner fire of creativity, passion and co-creative power.

This energy is catalytic and shakes the carefully constructed world of the egoic personality out of its security and comfort. The energy of change, transformation and lightning awakening personal power and inner freedom.

The ancient oracles were deeply connected to this power and could sing the truth into the world because of how connected their womb was to the womb of Mother Earth. The Sacred Serpentine priestess could shed, change, transmute lower emotions into higher awareness and love. She could unify opposite polarities. She could anchor Higher Energies into earth because she was a vessel of Divine Love.

She was a messenger to “Know Thyself.”

She was a singer. She was a sybil.

She was a Kundalini Master. She who could fly the dragon.

She was Shakti.

When the Oracles of light return, the world will be set on fire.

Many statue heads of the goddess, Tanit – from the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza, Spain (photo courtesy of Historyteller)

Tanit - The original great goddess | Ethnic Jewels Magazine

13 Symbols of Carthagian god, goddess ideas | ancient carthage, carthage, ancient art

Ancient Coin Profiles - Goddess Tanit on Carthaginian Gold & Silver 1 1/2 Shekel

Goddess Tanit on Carthaginian Gold & Silver 1 1/2 Shekel (courtesy of Coin Week)

Carthage was a Phoenician colony, and as such the Carthaginians were related to the Hebrews and the Canaanites (among others). Culturally they had much in common, including the use of the shekel as the primary unit of money. Likewise, the Carthaginians worshipped a variety of deities from the ancient Middle East.

Tanit served as the special protector (tutelary) deity of the city of Carthage, which is why her effigy is found on its coinage.

Carthaginian Goddess Tanit | Arqueologia, Artefacto

08 | May | 2012 | Journeying to the Goddess | Ancient symbols, Ancient history, Ancient scripts

Tanit and The Lord of the City.

Primordial Dragon energy and Return of the Dragon tribe of Sophia

Dragon energy was the Kundalini energy of the Earth snaking through Earth’s lines as male and female energy eventually integrating into a vortex.

These vortexes became energy centers of creation and healing where temples and sacred places of worship were often built upon.

It is believed that the Sacred Sexual Priestesses of the Dragon lineage and Magdalene lineage will return to Earth to activate these sacred temple spaces where the primordial creation energy of the Earth was once honored and celebrated.

Many of the Dragon lines are already well known as Earth’s sacred chakras.

1st Chakra – Mt Shasta, California, USA

2nd Chakra – Lake Titihaca, Peru

3rd Chakra – Uluru, Australia

4th Chakra – Glastonbury, UK

5th Chakra – Luxor, Egypt

6th Chakra – Afghanistan

7th Chakra – Tibet

Is there a connection between the ancient symbols of Goddess Tanit, the Ashanti fertility figure and the Egyptian ankh (With images) | Goddess symbols, Symbols

24 Tanit Goddess/Phoenicians ideas | phoenician, ancient art, archaeology

Stela British Museum (image courtesy from British Museum)

The Temple of Venus in Ibiza

I believe that the island of Ibiza had a cult of Tanit because the island is one of the lost islands of Atlantis where the teachings of Venus were taught. I believe the island is a living embodiment of the Goddess and initiates come to learn the cycles of light and dark through being initiated by her.

Many ancient islands of the Mediterranean are remnants of the lost civilization of Atlantis. Crete, Santorini, Malta, Ibiza, Sardenga, Canarias, etc…

These ancient islands of the Mediterranean are ready to begin their new path of evolution stepping into her role as a Portal of Light to shine like a beacon as she draws people to her Light and cosmic energies.

Ibiza was a great centre of mystery and healing, dedicated to Tanit. Tanit wears the cadeceus of the healers, and the elderly and sick of Carthage came to the island to be cured or die.

The Caduceus associated with Tanit is a symbolic representation of spiritual truths, growth and healing.

Es Vedra represents balance of the feminine and masculine energies. For the first time on Earth, humanity will be integrating both energies and the Mystery Schools will show us how to do this. Tanit remains whole on Ibiza, untouched, unpolluted, left alone to be the beloved Goddess of Ibiza.island of magical women.

Sources:

The Mysteries of Tanit 1 & 2- Tanit on Ibiza by Monica Sjöö

Suppressed History Archives by Max Dashu

Tanit – The Original Great Goddess by Sarah Corbett

Tanit of Carthage by Johanna H. Stuckey

The Libyan Berber Goddess Tannit (Neith)

Tanit: Phoenician Goddess of Death and Rebirth (mixed media, 1997)

Many statue heads of the goddess, Tanit – from the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza, Spain

Tiamat via Wikipedia. Robert Graves Graves, The Greek Myths, rev. ed. 1960:§4.5.

Ancient Coin Profiles – Goddess Tanit on Carthaginian Gold & Silver 1 1/2 Shekel

Searching for mystic Kabbalah culture in Girona – How Spain and Scotland are connected through the Kabbalah and the Grail

February 3, 2022 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

All travel stories for the most part have mystery. That’s what makes you want to turn the page, but this particular story, at its heart, has a quest.

I started reading The Portal, a true-life memoir of Patrice Chaplin that began in City of Secrets, the story of her spiritual initiation into the Kabbalistic tradition. And I couldn’t put it down. I learned that an ecstatic Kabbalah tradition has been preserved in Girona, Spain since the Middle Ages by a secret society. Salvador Dalí was a member of that society. So was the renowned author Umberto Eco, the filmmaker Jean Cocteau, and Jancint Verdeguer, one of the most celebrated Catalan poets. Adding to the mystery is Berenger Sauniere, the priest who in the late 1800s built Rennes-le-Château in southern France, with the Tour Magdala, a tower that is twin to the neo-gothic tower in Girona.

Chaplin is led through a series of initiatory stages which correspond to the magical square of Venus, containing the constellation of the Great Bear.

A mystical city of Kabbalah…

Between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, more than one hundred and twenty Jewish authors devoted themselves to the study of philosophy, theology, exegesis, literature, astronomy, astrology and medicine.

From the 13th century onwards, Kabbalistic literature had prolific production of texts, especially in the Languedoc, and Catalonia, where Girona played an important role. The ideas of the first Kabbalists of Provence were first spread to Catalonia. Kabbalist circles were founded in Barcelona and Girona, by Azriel de Girona and his disciple, Moshe Ben Nahman, Nahmanides, who both explored these esoteric mysteries.

Nahmanides wrote approximately fifty books, giving us his vision of the destiny of the soul after death.

Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario - The Divan of Moses-Ibn-Ezra - Sheet Music - Adagio Mode Musical Collective

For a more detailed history of how Kabbalah developed in Girona, watch this video about Abraham Abulafia & Ecstatic Kabbalah by Let’s Talk Religion.

In the footsteps of Patrice Chaplin’s City of Secrets

Patrice Chaplin is a fascinating woman. I see so much of myself in her. Traveler, author, adventurer, philosopher, occultist, initatte, portal keeper, bohemian, lover and partner.

In her many books, City of Secrets, The Portal and Cradle of Stone, she explores the connection of Girona and Rennes Le Chatau through the secrets of its Kabbalistic and Grail connections, specifically the French priest Sauniere.

In Cradle of Stone she says,

“Girona had been an Iberian trading centre dating from 3000 years BC and the Pheonicians landed on the coast and then the Greeks in 2000 BC. The Romans left their mark, building much of what is the old quarter and Charlemagne marched into the city. Left his influence as did Napoleon III. Gorina won the Moorish contest but lost centuries later to Franco in the 1930s Civil War. Every invader left his imprint. Situated between the frontier with France and Barcelona to the south Girona had always been a city of passage. Anonymous travellers passing through left little trace making it a good place to hide what must never show its name.”

Girona would only be the beginning for Patrice Chaplin. She would come to discover that Girona was one portal of many energy points and portals that formed an energetic gateway in Catalanoia beneath the constellation of the Great Bear. This is where initiates went. Over the years, Howard Hughes, Salvador Dali and Jon Cocteau would also come to Girona to discover the city of secrets.

The Kabbalah traditions and the rituals practiced by the secret society of Girona, used chant and sacred sound for raising one’s energy and opening ‘the portal’.

Over her many journeys to Girona, Patrice was told of numerous appearances there of a Lady of Light with a cup, thought to be Mary Magdalene. She was pulled into a strange series of experiences regarding ancient Kabbalistic grail traditions by her associations with her Spanish lover, Jose Torres, a member of a local secret mystical sect.

Where I’m going

My first stop in Girona is one of the most iconic areas. A maze of narrow cobbled streets, stairs, patios and archways. Located within the Força Vella, the mighty Roman fortress built in the 1st century BC, Girona‘s Jewish Quarter, also known as El Call.

Jewish Quarter in Girona, Spain | © Enric Rubio Ros / Flickr

Museum of Jewish History

To begin my visit, learn all about the area and its significance at the Museum of Jewish History. The museum is housed in an old synagogue, and provides visitors an in-depth look at Jewish culture in Catalonia, and in Girona itself. Objects and relics on view include medieval tombstones from the Montjuïc Jewish cemetery in Barcelona and a reconstruction of the figure of the famous Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman.

I’m excited to walk through the haunted alleyways, crumbling cobblestone and ancient courtyards, where I’ll be guided by the voices of stones and the haunting chants of Kabbalists who know long-lost secrets. Secrets they wish to share with me.

The French Woman’s House

I will also learn about a rattle of Isis found in the French woman’s garden…

Why a rattle and why do so many secrets abound in the French Woman’s house? Who was she?

In the late 1800s, the French woman became the first resident in this quarter and attracted an unobvious French suitor, a priest named Sauniere, who would visit her from his district in southern France. His friendly visits soon became a passionate affair and soon after strange people from Girona came to visit as well, meeting in secret and conducting sacred rituals and chants from a lost time.

The events I imagine having taken place there reveal a pattern as old as the travelers who left their imprints of knowledge, wisdom and sacred sound in Girona.

The group who had gathered at the French woman’s house had meditated enough and aroused enough energy to open the portal to the secrets once again. In their ceremony, the continuity was kept. In the darkness, they gave birth to a new era of Kabbalah’s teachings. They connected this mysterious energy through the French woman in Girona and Sauniere in Rennes-le-Château by building two towers called the Torre Magdala. barriers.

Their work had been fruitful because they were able to build both towers on the sacred ley lines and open the portal in between on Mt. Canigou in the Pyrennes (also claimed to be the ancient mountains of Atlantis).

So now, those seeking answers to an age-long grail quest can come here to Girona to penetrate the mysteries of its previous lives. But for that we must go deeper into the city itself and find access to another dimension, a flow of memories, and especially a descent into the unknown.

Andrew Gough, author and traveler, had also taken a keen interest in this topic. On his quest to Girona, he says,

“The Torre Magdala had been in the far left corner of the garden (pictured above). To its right, along the ruined wall was the French woman’s house that Patrice had visited in her youth. The barren gravel landing on the lower level is where a large palm tree once stood. This is where José dug up the Sun Stone; an artefact of considerable importance to the Society’s Grail rituals.

The Sun Stone, which Patrice has seen on multiple occasions, has since been moved to Perpignan, France. I had my theories about what it was doing there, but more work was required before I could say with any certainty.”

~ Questing in Girona, Andrew Gough

When he walked around the French woman’s house, Chaplin guided him to the Black Cemetery, where the priests of Girona were buried for hundreds of years and the very reason why the Society had chosen the spot to gather in ceremony. It was energetically charged.

Gough makes his way into the Old Town and discovers a history of towers as I will too..

“Towers clouded my head and deferred my pain as I trekked up the exhausting cathedral steps yet again. I continued past the French woman’s house and up the hill to the shrine commemorating the 1975 apparition of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The midday sun was steamy and the uphill hike made feel spent. I broke into a sweat.

The apparition had been reported by a local woman named Maria Mesa. Countless others are said to have witnessed it that night, too. Some merely sensed it. Others smelled its perfume.

The shrine is located on a hill of medieval ruins called the Torre Gironella. The apparition occurred on the 4th of February 1975, and reappeared on the same day, each month for a year, only to reappear on Good Friday, 1982.

The significance of the apparition lies in its proximity to the French woman’s house, where Grail rituals were allegedly conducted with some regularity. Apparitions are quite common in Catalan and have been recorded in and around Girona for hundreds of years. Could they be related to Grail rituals conducted by the Society all across Catalan? The place had an unsettling feel to it, it must be said.”

~ Questing in Girona, Andrew Gough

According to Chaplin, there is another portal site, twelve in fact. Collioure is the portal site representing transformation. People say that it has a very strange magnetism and draws artists, filmmakers and mystics.

Patrice Chaplin’s books: (from left to right) City of Secrets, The Portal and The Stone Cradle (courtesy of Amazon)

And what of the rattle?

The rattle was most likely a sistrum of Isis used during the society’s rituals. The sistrum is an ancient musical instrument that was used by priestesses in the Temple of Isis. And the Temples of Isis abound in Spain.

Empuries and the cult of Isis

If I continue from Girona on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, there is a site now called Empuries. There once existed a group of ancient temples dedicated to Isis, Artemis, Hygeia and Asklepius. And nearby was a beautiful temple on the cliffs overlooking the sea dedicated to Venus-Aphrodite.

There are ancient Roman and Greek ruins at Empuries on the Costa Brava.The cult of Isis was brought here, so it is likely that the chapel there could have been used by those worshipping Isis.

It is here that I want to explore the ancient Mediterranean temple traditions – from Aphrodite’s Sea temples to the healing temple of Hygeia and the dragon rocks that sing an ancient song.

This entire area was once a cult of Isis and so it makes sense why Kabbalah made its way here as well. Isis is the Greek name for the Egyptian Auset who comes from the land of Khemet or Al Khemia, Land of Alchemy, which is where mystical Kabbalah originates. Studies of the Kemetic Tree of Life span back millions of years and have roots in Atlantean alchemy, specifically, the balance of feminine and masculine consciousness in the high priests and high priestesses, solar religious cults and working energetically with portals.

The Temples Of Isis were mystery schools teaching Divine Love and how to master various levels of initiation through energetic breathwork, aligning kundalini, transmutation, alchemy and sacred geometry.

In ancient Egypt, initiates received Venus’ rays of light and resonance into their third eye centers. Sounds and chanting were known to open portals and deepen the ceremonial experience.

Initiates receiving the transmissions from Venus, Tutankamun Shrine from Heaven’s Mirror by Graham Hancock

Venus was a favorite planet worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, Hindus, Sumerians and Mayan as her astronomical pattern in the sky revealed esoteric secrets of harmony, wisdom, unconditional love and wholeness, through Venus’s descent as the Morning Star and her re-emergence or ascent as the Evening Star. This mythical drama was one of the earliest ancient teachings on the mysteries of Descent and Ascent, in other words, rebirth.

The importance of Venus and the grail was expressed in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code as well.

“The pentacle became a symbol that relates to nature worship. Early religion was based on the divine order of Nature. The goddess Venus and the planet Venus were one and the same. The goddess had a place in the nightime sky and was known by many names–Venus, the Eastern Star, Ishtar, Astarte–all of them powerful female concepts with ties to Nature and Mother Earth.”

~ The Da Vinci Code p. 36

Venus Mystery Schools taught how to awaken the consciousness of love. The cycle of Venus was observed famously in Sumer through mythology of the Divine Feminine and in the mythic Descent of Inanna. Through advanced studies and methods, initiates learned how to use sound, music, chanting and toning to raise the vibration of their bodies, transmit higher frequencies and open portals to other dimensions.

The Philae Temple

The Isis Temple Complex in Philae (image credit Original Travel)

The Venus transit was also honored ritually at ancient sites like Rosslyn, Scotland and in Italy during the 15th. A Venus transit occurs approximately every 120 years. It is considered an alchemical birthing of the light of the Sun radiating through Venus and illuminating the Venusian principles of love, harmony, perfection.

According to Chaplin, Venus would activate the portal sites to higher than normal levels. (Venus transits come in pairs, 8 years apart.)

So at this point in my research: the Venus transmissions of wisdom, the cult worship of Isis in Spain and ancient Kabbalistic ceremonies were prevalent in both Spain.

Temples of Isis continued to spread across the Mediterranean, along with the teachings of Venus, as her temples were built in ancient Rome and Greece. Her cult worshiped the great Goddess and her teachings in Costa Brava.

Why Scotland though?

Is Scotland also connected to Venus?

Yes!

The Scotland connection

The esoteric teachings of Venus traveled from ancient Sumer and the Temples of Inanna to Egypt and the Temples of Isis where many initiations and adepts came to learn of the mystical knowledge offered here. Initiates included Essenes, Ethiopians, Greeks and Jews. This is also where Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary and Joseph of Arimathea and Anna, the grandmother of Jesus studied. The ancient teachings of higher truth eventually spread to Jerusalem along with the rich treasures, sacred objects and ceremonial artifacts.

At some point, the Temple of Solomon was built as an ancient observatory of Venus, mystery school and guardian of ancient treasures.

The temple continued the royal bloodline as well as the priest-king lineage and priest-warrior lineage through the Knights Templar. When they rose in power and wealth by aiding pilgrims to the holy land and fighting in the Crusades, they became very rich and had access to ancient writings, teachings, treasures, blueprints to architecture, sacred geometry and stone masonry.

But the secret they kept closest to protect was the teaching of Higher Truth. That truth was higher than religion and that all humans could access God without an intermediary or church. This was obviously a threat to the rising new religion: Christianty.

Ultimately, the Knights templar were betrayed by the very Church that asked them to fight for them in the Crusades. These Knights were hunted, tortured and persected for teaching any views that did not follow their Christian view. The Knights gathered much of their treasure and traveled to France, where they were protected and safe until the Church followed them there as well.

The Cathar community was extinguished were continuing to teach the mystery school teachings of truth. And from here, the Knights templar continued their journey to Scotland where they had allies who were tied to Normandy and even Mary Magdalene.

Robert the Bruce had recently been excommunicated and welcomed many Knights to Scotland where they brought their wisdom, ancient teachings and treasures.

Venus and Freemasonry

What is the link between Venus, freemasonry, the Temple of Solomon and Rosslyn Chapel?

Megalithic observatories were created at Newgrange in Ireland some 5,500 years ago to accurately measure the Venus cycle and mark the Winter solstice. This was an important measurement tool for these ancient astronomers because when viewed from Earth, Venus was the most accurate indicator of the time of year, in the solar system.

The study of Phoenician gods revealed three goddesses to be different aspects of the planet Venus. It is believed that the Phoenicians, or Canaanites carried their beliefs with them when working on the Temple for Solomon and may have affected its ultimate design.

The family of William St. Clair of Roslyn fame, hereditary Grand Masters in early Scottish Masonry include both Jewish and Norse ancestors, so it is possible that Venus became involved in early Masonic ceremonies via Scottish Freemasonry.

It is said that the first known name for the city of Jerusalem was Urushalim, “Uru’ founded by “Shalem”, the name of the Canaanite god of Venus in its evening setting, but Solomon’s Temple was facing in the opposite direction, towards Venus rising in its role as morning star. We can be certain that King Solomon’s Temple was built by Canaanites who were known to worship Venus.

Venus was worshiped by Solomon as Astarte, the Queen of Heaven continued in the Kingdom of Judah until circa 600 BCE.

Moses created Princes of the Tabernacle and the initiations took place when the Pentagram, or blazing star was to be seen in the east. It is suggested that when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in year 70 of the Christian Era, a number of the Princes of the Tabernacle managed to escape to locations across Europe. It was from these families that the men came, who went on to found the Knights Templar.

Here are some interesting facts about Venus and the Temple of Solomon:

The modern Masonic Temple is designed along the same astronomical lines as the Temple at Jerusalem, with the free standing pillars of B and J marking the extremities of the rising sun at the summer solstice in the North, and the winter solstice in the South.
The layout of every Masonic Temple is said to be a model of Solomon’s Temple.
The rising of Venus was central to Canaanite theology and was associated with resurrection, as it is in Freemasonry in our third degree.
Cyclical appearances of the planet Venus, in a pre-dawn rising against a particular part of the sky were important in the early period of Jewish Kings.
Saul, David and Solomon, all ruled for forty years, a full Venusian cycle.
Freemasonic ritual aligns with the astral cultic practices of the royal lineage of Jerusalem, the city of Venus.

The authors Knight and Lomas are Freemasons and conclude that after 14 years of research and four books culminating in The Book of Hiram, they have found the missing link between Judaism and Christianity on the one hand and the secret Masonic tradition on the other. Freemasonry is a major untapped source of information about our past that is in danger of being lost, forever because of lack of knowledge of the rituals. To lose the information buried within in its rituals, before it is properly understood would be throwing away one of the true treasures of the western world.

Conclusion

These mysteries began singing to me like a mermaid calling me home in January 2022. My guides told me it was time to go on this journey and remember my truth and this would be an important year of receiving the Royal Grail Codes. I have an idea of what this means but I am not told everything or allowed to see too far ahead or else it would ruin the mystery of it all.

2022 is Magdalene coded year, a year of sacred lineage work and sacred partnerships. It is a year of rebirthing the temples of isis and recovering the lost teachings of the Feminine Christ, the lost bride of Jesus.

2022 is also a year where Venus will be revealed as playing a crucial role in the evolution of Mother Earth’s ascension into a planet of light and mystery school.

The Divine Feminine and her mystery schools have been hidden all these centuries and her teachings will come more online this year than any other year. From buried temples in Egypt, lost cities in the Grand Canyon linking to Egypt and ancient mystery schools of Venus will reveal themselves to us once again.

Venus teaches us of love, wholeness, joy, music, unity and how to achieve the balance of our inner darkness and light. This will help Earth and her citizens take the evolutionary leap into an awakened consciousness of love.

Spain was also a medieval center of Kabbalah but Kabbalah existed in Egypt and long before in Atlantis and most likely the land held the energy and the portals.

We know that Girona and Renne-le-Chateau have a sacred connection through the Ley lines but what if Rosslyn and Girona also have a sacred connection to the Magdalene and through the Ley lines. Alison McCaren Founder of Sovereign Woman discusses this in her YouTube series, Conversations with Mary.

I have so many questions…

Had the Atlanteans left portals open for us to find?
Did Mary Magdalene, as an initiate in the Temples of Isis, know about the various portals in Spain and Scotland where the worship of Isis once flourished from Girona to Iona?
Were Atlantis and Egypt the secret origins of the Tree of Life? Was the Kabbalah their gift to awaken humanity? Was this secret mystical teaching that gave every man and woman access to inner power a threat to religious institutions that wanted absolute power?
Were the ancient Juadic Kabbalists the modern gate keepers of this secret teaching?

My hypothesis is, there were a great many Mystery Schools that flourished from the megalithic period to the Bronze Age up until the iron Age when the Mystery Schools were being destroyed by the new religion, at which point higher truth threatened institutional power.

These ancient Mystery Schools that taught Higher Truth originated from Lemuria, Atlantis then spread to Egypt and Greece and eventually into Spain, Portugal and Scotland. The teachings within the Emerald Tablet by Heremes Trsimestgus became the foundational education for initiates of the flame. The Tree of Life, ankh, Kabbalah, grail lineage, King Solomun’s Temple, sacred geometry, masonry and Knights Templar all learned from these hermetic philosophies that traveled to different lands and spread through different languages.

Many of these temples remain destroyed and in ruins but the teachings and treasured objects were continuously moved in secret and hidden in new sacred sites and churches that would reveal their secrets to the worthy seeker.

This has all been in my head until now. Thank goodness for the internet and the fact I have a blog where someone, even if it’s just me, can read this from time to time and make some sense of it.

No matter how far I travel, the journey is always a pilgrimage within the heart, to discover the great love and power that resides there. We all come from this sacredness, we all come from the Goddess.

We all come from Love.

Until next time and until Part 2…keep the fire burning in your heart!

References

Quabbalah, Masonic and Hermetic philosophy

The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy by Manly P. Hall

Girona

Culture trip: Girona

Practical Atlantean Magick by Murray Hope

Ani Williams interview of the Portal

Cradle of Stone by Patrice Chaplin

City of Secrets by Patrice Chaplin

Questing in Girona by Andrew Gough: June 2007

Atlantis

Discovering Atlantis by Diana Cooper

Scotland and Rosslyn Chapel

The Path of Freemasonry: The Craft as a Spiritual Practice Paperback by Mark Stavish

Rosslyn Chapel Decoded

Conversations with Mary: YouTube video series by Alison McLean Founder of Sovereign Woman

Conversations With Mary Series Session One

Conversations With Mary Series Session Two

Conversations With Mary Session Three

Rosslyn Chapel… Hidden History Lesson with Jim Marrs

Rosslyn Chapel… The Temple of Solomon, The Grail and The Garden of Eden

An ancient family. Secret, hidden knowledge

Egypt

The Temples of Light: An Initiatory Journey into the Heart Teachings of the Egyptian Mystery Schools by Daneille Rama Hoffman

Book of Life by Elizabeth Beckett

The Tablets of Light: The Teachings of Thoth on Unity Consciousness by Daneille Rama Hoffman

The Isis Temple Complex in Philae

Sacred Travel – Recovering the lineage of the Lost Goddess

February 3, 2022 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

2022 is a Magdalene coded year and I’m on a Grail Quest! Recovering the lineage of the Lost Goddess.

This summer I’ll be on a pilgrimage to Old Europe and Bronze Age Mediterranean, searching for the lost parts of a puzzle I’m piecing together from Atlantis and the Holy Grail to Mary to Magdalene. I’ll be going to sacred sites to discover the ancient secrets of Kabbalah and the Grail.

Searching fo mystic Kabbalah culture in Girona – How Spain and Scotland are connected through the Grail

Girona was once a center of Kabbalah and mysticism with energetic connections to Roslyn chapel (Scotland), Rennes-le-Château (France) and the Temples of Isis (Egypt). Spain has always been a holy land with sacred sites of worship to the Goddess and pilgrimages.

Searching for Tanit in Ibiza – the evolution of the African-Mediterranean Mother Goddess who is Venus, Inanna, Aphrodite, Persephone

Tanit comes from the lineage of the Great African Mother Goddess. She is the fully embodied Aphrodite-Persephone and her sacred island is Ibiza, an island of healing, magick, transformation and regeneration.

Searching for the Age of Taurus Goddess and her Temple in Malta

Malta and Gozo are the oldest megalithic Goddess temple islands from the Age of Taurus. Gigantia has direct connections with Atalntis and is aligned to the star Sirius.

Searching for lost Atlantis and the Grail in Portugal

Port-au-Gral means “Through the Grail”. Portugal has recently been connected to Atlantis as well. Portugal is now re-emerging as a land of light.

Ps. Have you put the pieces of the puzzle together yet?

Spain, Portugal, Malta and Ibiza via Egypt — all have connections to Atlantis and Sirius. They were temples of the Earth womb and regeneration centers for the Galactic Light. Pretty cool, right?

Start reading now…

Part 1 in the series of travel articles about Recovering the lineage of the Lost Goddess…

Searching fo mystic Kabbalah culture in Girona – How Spain and Scotland are connected through the Grail

Coming soon…

Searching for Tanit in Ibiza – the evolution of the African-Mediterranean Mother Goddess who is Venus, Inanna, Aphrodite, Persephone
Searching for the Age of Taurus Goddess and her Temple in Malta
Searching for lost Atlantis and the Grail in Portugal

Transformation Diary: Becoming the story I was born to live – Part 1 Integration ☥

January 24, 2022 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

The gift of being able to transmit grace, unconditional love and healing energy, is known in the East as Shakti. ~ Leslie Temple Thurston

It’s been a common pattern for me to consider myself a “spiritual person” and to intellectually get that “we’re all one” while at the same time shun my ego and other parts of myself that I claim are “not me.”

Then I look at what parts of my personality were shunned by my parents or by the society. I chose to express the parts of me that were shunned and shamed or repressed in my ancestral line and instead be the flower blossoming from the roots of my ancestral tree. And become the story I was born to live, not the story I was born to. Thereby becoming the fruit, no longer forbidden, but blossoming and flowering, 84 thousand lotus petals shining open.

I am discovering that my true self is an artist and that I’m constantly creating myself, ever so fluid, turning this way and that way, exploring here and there, creating something new, dying to what once was and creating again. Always in a state of becoming.

In my search, I have discovered the seeker within is an artist. She has been searching for creativity. The Shakti that lives within. The Shakti that creates eternity.

My search has been about experiencing opposites and eventually coming into wholeness. Moving through those opposites and duality have allowed my small self to expand into a larger Self that can hold space for all of these dualities and feel a deep experience of life.

In my transformation process since 2020, I have completed various stages in traditional alchemy – calcination, dissolution, conjunction and fermentation. I’m currently in a chrysalis. A space of integration that has come because I have accepted the pieces of myself that were once shunned. I spent too much energy in repressing the “undesired” parts of myself. And these undesired parts like shame, rejection, humiliation and victimhood that I held in my body have been set free. Liberated.

I had identified with the thing that family and society had shunned in me once, and I allowed it to destroy me. It is not the not identifying with that rejected thing as part of me that destroys – it is that I have agreed that it should be rejected, and I continue to hold onto it while also rejecting it. The conflict is within me and so it all must be destroyed, each ego layer that holds up the other ego layers.

This inner destruction is necessary and I allow it. l know I will emerge from the wreckage with a new level of consciousness based on more awareness, wisdom and emotional availability for new experiences.

What’s being destroyed?

As I surrender the ego-layers and psychological wounds, I’m moving from a wounded child sub-self to a an empowered, nurtured adult. That means no longer being guided by a wounded child that sabotages and instead allow myself to be guided by my true, wise self.

Old self…(wounded)

The need to control
The need to judge
The need to defend
All coping mechanisms to protect my inner child from attack and conflict.
And from feeling helpless and powerless.

New belief/new pathway —> I AM A QUEEN, I HAVE INNER POWER

The need to compare
The need for sex and attention to feel worthy
Unworthiness and victimhood wounds coming from my wounded princess. From gifts not being nurtured and never feeing good enough. Not able to express my soul gifts.

New belief/new pathway —> I AM SOVEREIGN AND DIVINELY WORTHY. I AM NURTURED AND SUPPORTED TO EXPRESS MY UNIQUE GIFTS.

The need to analyze and
The need to ruminate and play back past failures
Comes from attachment to victim template not trusting the Universe has my back, is benevolent and abundant and is always working through me and for me. Switch to creation template of Grail Queens.

New belief/new pathway —> THE UNIVERSE IS BENEVOLENT AND ABUNDANT AND IS ALWAYS WORKING THROUGH ME AND FOR ME. I CREATE NOW THROUGH THE TEMPLATE OF THE GRAIL QUEENS.

What’s being created?

New self emerging…(nurtured)

I am sovereign and I am a Queen
Gifts nurtured and I am fully supported in nurturing environments
Life has meaning through art.
Cocoon of spirituality, silence, prayer, meditations, music, journaling
Self-love, self-soothing and self- care
Knowing my worth, not having to prove myself
Slowing down and relaxing
Mature feminine queen is supported
Less distortions
Less reacting
Feel the Universe guiding, loving and helping me ascend
Learning about sovereignty
Shifting from neediness to purpose

As I learn to create new pathways from my new beliefs, I’m shifting from neediness to purpose. My life is becoming more meaningful and full of joy, hope and creation. I feel supported and nurtured by life as I walk up the stairway of consciousness that Dr. David Hawkins has so beautifully mapped. These new beliefs and new pathways open the door at every gate and allow my heart to awaken so I can receive the truth and the light and remember who I am and why I came.. to express my true nature, be oneness and share unconditional love and acceptance with all.

New belief/new pathway —> I AM A QUEEN, I HAVE INNER POWER
New belief/new pathway —> I AM SOVEREIGN AND DIVINELY WORTHY. I AM NURTURED AND SUPPORTED TO EXPRESS MY UNIQUE GIFTS.
New belief/new pathway —> THE UNIVERSE IS BENEVOLENT AND ABUNDANT AND IS ALWAYS WORKING THROUGH ME AND FOR ME. I CREATE THROUGH THE TEMPLATE OF THE GRAIL QUEENS.
Learning about sovereignty
Creation through regeneration
Grail Queen codes
Recovering the lineage of the lost goddess

The wounds shed like a tree, like a snake, like Mother Nature, all energy is destroyed, recycled and regenerated. Nothing ever stays fixed or stagnant.

Shakti flowing…

The gift of being able to transmit grace, unconditional love and healing energy, is known in the East as Shakti.

~ Leslie Temple Thurston

Stay tuned for more updates to my transformation in Part 2….

Transformation Diary: Reclaiming Wild Woman on New Year’s Eve ☥

January 4, 2022 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

I’ve been working with the fabulous Annabel DuBoualy in her 22-day immersion called the Rose Moon Epiphany.

I really didn’t know what to expect from this journey except that my intuition called me to this program. It is based on her wisdom of the Rose Lineage, walking with masters and guides through the portal of the Winter Solstice as we rebirth our inner Sun King as well as walking through Venus Retrograde and initiating Venus in Capricorn Meta-Goddess cycle.

In one of the shamanic guided journeys, I received guidance from Mary Magdalene about my Wounded Healer Self.

There were two traumas hidden in my subconscious memory. The first was an ancient memory of watching Yeshua on the cross.

The second was an ancient memory of being stripped of High Priestess/ Sacred Sexual Feminine power in Babylon when I was a High Priestess of Inanna, a Hierodule. Dancing through Veils in the temple of Inanna. In that life, I was forced into a patriarchal marriage with a vert domestic role.

I remember that being the lifetime when I devolved into the wounded princess archetype and I was conditioned into marriage through a man for power, wealth, safety and protection.

Mary Magdalene took the cross out of my energy field and replaced it with a 5-petaled orange rose

I saw five thrones and five Queens, each with wisdom to share with me. Cleopatra, Mary Magdalene, Isis, Persephone and Medusa.

Queen Cleopatra said It’s time to take your throne.
Mary Magdalene said it’s time to heal the Holy Grail within your heart and womb and connect to Sirius.
Isis said, it’s time to rebirth the temple of Isis within your soul.
Persephone said, it’s time to be wild, free and in tantric union with yourself.
Medusa said, it’s time to reclaim your Atlantean royal heritage.

Isis, Cleopatra and Mary Magdalene link to my spiritual heritage in Egypt, Sirius and Venus.

Persephone and Medusa link me to my spiritual heritage in Atlantis, Minoan Crete and post-Atlantean Greece.

From the shamanic work in the Rose Moon Epiphany, I did some additional research to gather information based on my dreams and intuitive nudges. I discovered the Magdalene Rose Temple created by Melissa, an Isis/ Magdalene Rose Priestess. These are her words from her website…

The Magdalene frequency is rebirthing on our planet.
Mary Magdalene is rebirthing her frequency as Queen of Magdalene
She is upgrading her vibration into the new 5d royal codes

“The Queen of Magdalene codes are now ready to be received on our planet, these are high frequency codes of Stellar Light that radiate the new 5D Magdalene frequencies – Majesty, Sovereignty & Royalty.”

“In her rebirth, Mary Magdalene is now giving us the opportunity to rebirth into our Queen of Magdalene codes and Royal 5D Light. Now is the time for us to embody the Majestic Codes of Stellar Light from the Egyptian Royal Lines & the Higher Realms of Sirius & Pleiades.”

“To become a Queen of Magdalene, and to anchor this frequency onto our planet, we need to merge the Holy Grail lineage with the Egyptian Royal Codes.”

“A long time ago, the lineages of the Holy Grail and Egyptian Royal codes became separated when we descended into the dark ages of feminine disempowerment.”

~ From the Magdalene Rose Temple, Founder Melissa

Dream journal

New Year’s Eve night, I dreamt of a pack of wolves on the roof. They were strong and beautiful with wild, white coats. They looked directly at me and were so very unafraid. One of them jumped on one of my friends as I watched the wolf sit on my friend. But the wolf did not hurt her.

Then, I saw a woman in a red cape walk into the Shamanic cave with the wolves. When she took off her hood I saw my new dance teacher for 2022. Her name is Olga Meos. She is wild and magickal and doesn’t hold back. She said she would teach me to dance in my wildness again. And that we would dance together and work together in community in the future.

The next image in my dream, I was in a dormitory/hostel like setting with other young girls. I was preparing to leave with heavy suitcases. I looked through my travel paperwork and folders and had so many folders and paperwork to organize. Too many thoughts.

The night before I looked in the mirror in my bathroom and saw a web of cords that I kept cutting down.

The next day in waking life, I received a message from Olga Meos that I should join her upcoming class. I felt the wolves with me and walked over to my bookcase where I picked up “Women Who Run with the Wolves.”

Maturing from wounded priestess to the empowered Wild Queen

I have really been triggered as of late by friends and family who play the “domesticated woman” role who stand by patriarchal patterns of dependence, caretaking and having an identity that is based on a man (married to a man, children with a man, house/lifestyle provided for and paid by their man, always with their man or any man).

What do some of these women do? Stay at home. Bake cakes. They are always smiling, always happy, nothing is ever wrong with their happy family life. Fake. Definitely not authentic.

I don’t resonate with that Ken and Barbie storyline. It’s not my frequency. The princess is trapped, forever a princess. She will never feel “enough. She will never be liberated, free or wild. She will always get her identity from a man.

When you believe you are enough, which is when you are fulfilled and surrendered and liberated and don’t feel like you need anything outside of you, then everything is fine and easy.

When you feel whole, safe content and worthy

But when you feel tired or emotionally affected, and likely don’t feel enough, then you miss any kind of external stimulation and feel like you need external validation and love.

In surrendering the external stimulation and validation, you reconnect with yourself, replenishing yourself with the love and acceptance you deserve.

The Queen says, “Let’s focus inwards and reconnect to the Source of my power, and re-establish my feeling of ‘I am enough’. “

The wounded princess says,, “I need someone or something else to give me love and validation because I’m not willing or capable of giving that to myself.”

The Queen aligns to Source energy, where her true power comes from to replenish her cup.

Her personal vibration (Shakti, life-force) is her greatest resource. When we raise our vibration and align our life-force to the Divine, we join the Divine Flow and life can take on an effortless flow, relationships are harmonic and abundance streams with ease.

Your core mission is to wake up, connect to the source of who you really are – and raise your personal vibration. Ultimately, you will experience a new more enlightened world.

Once you are at peace with yourself, no matter the external condition, you look at your relationships through the lens if non-attachment. You no longer need “another” to to validate you and this feels very liberating. It allows you to co-create together in the spirit of interdependency, instead of saving each other from a place of co-dependency, unworthiness and addiction. It also means you can choose to be together freely and not out of need or obligation.

Then, there’s the new collective of Isis Priestesses and Wild Women belly dancers who I do resonate with. They are wild!

And this leads back inward to the split I have within myself that was created long ago in the patriarchy. Carl Jung calls this split in consciousness the Mother-Whore complex. We witness this in the biblical narrative of Lilith-Eve that has since devolved from the ancient roots of earlier epics, The Descent of Inanna and the Abduction of Persephone. Both stories that invite the feminine to descend into her dark mysterious nature, confront her fears, complexes and all to transform in the belly of the Goddess and be reborn with a new sense of individuation, freedom of the authentic self and wisdom that only be found in a journey to the Underworld.

I’ve been healing through this spilt in consciousness for years and the healing happens in spirals. In this round of Venus retrograde I am spiraling deeper than ever before.

I’m receiving powerful New Earth healing transmissions that allow me to receive the 10th dimensional Golden Christ Light.

The healings have been supporting my heart expansion, raising my consciousness, healing my physical self by becoming aware and releasing patterns, habits and thought forms of lower consciousness. One of those deeply held patterns is the wounded princess, shaming Shadow mother and victim/savior/villain drama triangle and betrayal matrix.

Then it all came together for me…

My soul had been patiently waiting for the Great Remembering and New 5D Earth to fully heal from the patriarchal dark ages where fragments of my soul have been stuck and so much rage and power along with it.

The Queens in my shamanic journey (Cleopatra, Mary Magdalene, Isis, Persephone and Medusa) were guiding me to shed the patriarchal woundings, identities and timelines to finally rebirth my true empowered, Divine self. Essentially, transform myself from the distorted patriarchal darkness and rise into the Age of Light.

The ancient Queens are guiding the priestesses and oracles, encouraging us to activate our royal codes to embody deeper levels of sovereignty and feminine power.

And all the rage and fragmentation I feel about sweet, innocent, unaware and un-initiated Eve/Barbie suddenly makes sense. She is also a part of me. She is my deepest fear of what happens to a woman once she becomes caged.

My deepest fear is that cage…

As Wild Woman I cannot fearlessly run with my pack unless I face this fear and re-integrate the fear into my consciousness so I can be whole.

And I want to fearlessly run with my pack of wolves and create and rebirth and love and teach and travel and be free and wild in my authentic self and unbridled sexual power. I have been searching for this elixir from my wild soul and this wild pack of kindred spirits.

I’ll leave you with the the wild, wise words of Clarissa Pinkola Estes from her beloved book, “Women Who Run With the Wolves”.

“For women, this searching and finding is based on the mysterious passion that women have for what is wild, what is innately themselves. We have been calling the object of this yearning Wild Woman…but even when women don’t know her by name, even when they do not know where she resides, they strain toward her: they love her with all their hearts. They long for her and that longing is both motivation and locomotion. It is this yearning that causes us to search for Wild Woman and find her. It is not as hard as one might first imagine, for Wild Woman is searching for us too. We are her young.”

Transformation Diary: Healing unworthiness is part of the heroine’s journey ☥

January 3, 2022 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

Welcome to my Transformation diary! I’ve been in metamorphosis since 2020 (caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly) and wanted to share my awakening and ascension journey.

Descent into our unconscious is an initiation into feminine power, wisdom and abundance. Exploring and enquiring about our unworthiness is one such initiation.

Unworthiness can be an ugly word or terrifying emotion to explore but once we do enter the dark labyrinth that holds ideas, concepts and complexes about our unworthiness, we become more aware of how we arrived here. Is it still true? Are we carrying baggage from our childhood? Is there an emptiness inside we can’t seem to fill? Where does the emptiness come from? Do we try to fill this void with people, food, sex, money, drugs? Do we chase things and people?

Entering the Void

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”

– Jim Morrison

This void is the space we need to explore. We need to explore both its beauty and cruelty because without knowing it, we will be crushed by its powerful gravity. But if we choose to visit the void, trust its vastness and silence. Meet our fragility there, we may be able to look in the mirror of our unworthiness and find untruths that no longer serve us. We may find truth that we can carry back with us into the light. And for that journey, we need courage to guide us into the dark.

As the Divine Feminine energy and consciousness rebirths on Mother Gaia and we reclaim the birthright of abundance we still have to face and clear our patriarchal beliefs of unworthiness based in lack and scarcity.

We all have dark, unconscious thoughts and beliefs rooted in our subconscious mind. Some of these beliefs we formed in childhood and others we’ve inherited from our family and ancestral belief systems.

Last Friday, we had a lunar eclipse in Taurus and the day before Venus went into shadow as it retrogrades Capricorn. In February of 2022, the USA will experience its Pluto Return, which will be a rebirth of its values and direction.

I believe the planets are preparing us for some deep healing.

My recent initiation into the Sisterhood of the Rose of the Isis / Magdalene / Ra lineage is teaching me new layers of healing and embracing Venusian consciousness. Venus is the planet of love and harmony. Her initiations and teachings help us realize our value, self-worth and confidence as divine feminine leaders of New Earth.

She heals our issues of poverty-consciousness and neediness.

We often think that poverty is a financial condition we suffer from. It’s a mindset, a consciousness based on lack and scarcity that needs clearing and healing. “How will I pay for this?” “I wish I could attract money like other people.” “I’m just not good with money.” “I’m always hiding in the shadows” “Why am I so worthless?” “Why doesn’t anyone appreciate me?”

These are all examples of poverty consciousness. Anyone can get stuck in poverty consciousness because it’s not actually about money. It’s really about worthiness.

There is one force on the planet that can eradicate poverty consciousness and I believe that is Love. The love you feel from your Creator or God/Goddess or Universe. The belief that no matter the condition, that we live in a loving, abundant universe that is always guiding and conspiring to help us grow and expand.

Aligning to this love of the Universe and believing you are valuable and worthy of your bliss creates a different kind of consciousness and energetic experience for you.

Aligning to Love’s life-giving flow

Know your worth and value. Stop giving yourself away to experiences that make you feel empty and instead invest in your soul. Invest in deeply fulfilling experiences that resonate with your soul’s calling. Explore your gifts and talents. Invest in your spiritual path.

Spend time in Nature and explore her cycles of abundance
See how she continually creates and gives
Explore and express your authentic gifts
Value your time and space
Create sacred space to meditate and be with yourself
Identify ways you are abandoning your gifts, path, time and energy
Redirect your energy fulfilling actives and people
Replenish yourself and practice
Learn to receive and fill your cup
Learn to receive guidance through mediation and stillness
Learn to receive inspiration through art
Volunteer in your community
Love others as yourself

Learning how to replenish yourself, not give away time and energy and feeling that you are a creator connected to a higher power of consciousness will all help you shift out of a state of unworthiness.

We heal in layers and you may find in your devotional practice, you are feeling another, deeper layer of unworthiness. It’s an opportunity for you to enter into silence, travel to that cave of unworthiness and birth a new truth.

Ending old stories of abandonment and fear

Now is the time to end old stories of abandonment and connect to you inner Self. Your inner Self is a part of this abundant universe and is always flowing to you. You are in the flow of life. The only time you are cut off from life is when you believe you are cut off and this is what stops you from receiving that flow.

During this time of exploring our Underworld of unworthiness, you may uncover old stories that don’t define you any longer. The cure for the pain is within the pain (abandonment) so I explored my inner darkness.

I uncovered my old stories of abandonment inner child programming. I found that my inner child was holding on the pain and memory of multiple abandonment experiences and longing for the opposite of those experiences. That duality of opposites was lodged into my subconscious system, wanting to break free.

The opposite polarities were literally fighting with one another.

Abandonment	Adoption
Neglect	Caretake
Ignore	Enable
Forget	Remember
Invalidate	Validate
Desert	Support
Disconnect	Connect
Vampire	Angel
Narcissistic	Empath
Suck the light	Give the light
Addict	Drug

I was abandoning myself by allowing my deepest fear to take over me. My deepest fear being I am worthless and that my true wild nature will never be honored in a patriarchal system, my gifts are worthless.

I will not be chosen, patriarchal women will be chosen. The fear became a Root belief: I am worthless. I have no value I don’t deserve the love. My love interests can fall in love with someone else and not choose me, not value me

Be me. Align with Source who loves you and values you unconditionally. Align with the abundance and love of Source, the Divine Mother Consciousness. Detach from patriarchal beliefs

The medicine for the pain was loving my inner child. My inner child needs my unconditional love. The key is to care for her soul gifts, enable her soul gifts, remember her soul gifts, validate her soul gifts, support her soul gifts and creations and connect to her soul gifts and creativity.

I can’t expect anyone outside of me to caretake me.

I can express my gifts on my own. I have been learning new dance skills and will be ready to teach and dance on YouTube soon!

My inner child needs to know she is healed and free. I am her mother and father and I will support her dreams. She is fully supported to commit to her path and she will not be abandoned.

New Belief: My TRUE PATH will love and support me.

I don’t need a romantic partner/man to help me live my dreams (3D). I can rely on my Higher Self to carry me to my TRUE PATH (5D). Joyful, energetic, healthy, respectful connections.

Desire to be abandoned	Fear of being abandoned
I can handle the feeling	Feeling alone and deserted
I’m used to it by now	I’m unloveable
Auto pilot mode	No one desires me
I can continue to not be vulnerable	Feeling crushed
I can have my defenses	Feeling like a helpless child with no control or protection
Don’t need to be soft
Can stay independent and armored
Protected from being vulnerable and hurt
Can blame someone else. Play victim.
Denial that i’m never abandoned but i choose lovers not relationships where i invest and get hurt

Desire to be caretaken	Fear of being caretaken
Nice to lean on someone	They will want to control me
Feel protected	Fear of being smothered
Feel like I matter	Fear of co-dependent relationship
Feel special	Fear being too close and enmeshed
Feel “fathered”	Fear they will be needy and child like
Feel cherished	Always have to be in a power struggle
Held, held up, “hold me up”	They will want something to
I think this is how i can receive love	Unequal partnership, someone always has to be the victim
They are responsible for me like a parent
Feel needed
Fit into society’s model.

Just because your love interest doesn’t caretake/ do these things doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be cherished. It means your Higher Self is nudging you to not be dependent/addicted to them for these needs and rely on your Higher Self/Divine to take care of you.

Everything is based on need and addiction. Parental need instead of self-sufficiency and relying on inner resources and Source.

I’m no longer a child searching for a partner to fill a parental need.

I’m a child of Spirit being nourished by Divine Light and Spiritual Sustenance.

I can let go of that previous identity/ addiction and the ego structures that hold it up through the Divine Grace of Spirit.

I surrender my Karmic Patterns of addiction and victimhood.

I surrender my free will to Divine Will. I merge with Divine Will.

Desire to abandon	Fear to abandon
Feel powerful, not needy	Not based on love
Don’t feel helpless	Not healthy
Can dominate	Abusive
Feel in control, they will comply	Might really lose the person for good
Show them I don’t care	Heart gets closed every time
Don’t need them

Desire to caretake	Fear to caretake
Feel needed	Stuck
Feel superior	Stuck with someone who can’t take care of themselves
Used to giving, not receiving	Sickness
	The person will never grow up
	Parent/ child relationship
	Someone will outgrow the dynamic
	Feel drained and tired all the time
	Attract vampiric people
	They will take and take, suck and suck
	Won’t get to follow my dreams

The key is you ☥ – Healing the relationship with yourself and your inner being. ☥

Whatever is going to help you feel free. Whatever I need to feel I can be the best version of myself. The key to the inner work is achieving my wholeness. My true self (Higher self) attracts unlimited abundance and resources to me.

100% inner focus on Higher self

Surrender and allow
Connect to Higher Self
Develop relationship with Higher Self
Align to Higher Self

Spiritual practice

Connect to guides
Daily meditation/ yoga

Healing Inner Self

Healing lower self/ lower self-esteem
Inner completion/ wholeness/ path of true self – move forward with this energy!!!
Rest

Soul’s Mission

Creative/ spiritual abilities
Helping Earth Ascend Higher (writing books, youtube, pleiadian lightwork, dance, gifts of Ma’at)

Healing still to be done

Forgiveness (myself, all, the past)
Let go of control (fear) and fully surrender to Spirit
Healing defensiveness, walls, escape
Inner acceptance
Love the wounds of my inner sleeves (inner child, rebel, teenager)
Work through triggers
Value myself
Healing self-criticism (love that voice)
Release lack beliefs
Release limited thought patterns
Develop faith and trust
100% energetic focus on myself
Believe in my mission
Freedom from attachments/ external validation
Detach – DO NOT focus on him (external)
Let go of struggle, doubt. How will this come together?
Shift from stress, resentment, doubt, questioning the dynamic. Be simple. Don’t think.

Heal, align. Heal, align. Heal, align. Heal, align.

PURGE. SHIFT.

Heal, align. Heal, align.

Move forward!

All this work is the unconditional self-love I’ve been looking for. When I fully show up for my emotional needs with acceptance, I am no longer abandoning myself or my path.

Choosing love over fear

During 2020, it was revealed to me that my true path, my destiny, was to be an artist, healer and Oracle and continue the ancestral lineage of my priestess path. I had veered away from that by taking lucrative corporate jobs, despite my creativity bursting at the from my soul, in order to make ends meet and have money, but I was unfulfilled.

I had friends I knew who were in the art community, who were deeply passionate about it and were able to be successful. But I was taught from a young age how pursuing the arts was not going to provide material wealth, rewards and comforts.

This fear that had been passed down onto me by ancestral energy patterns and you I was choosing to live out that same cycle. By not committing to loving myself and heeding my soul’s calling.

By the Law of Attraction, I continued to draw unfulfillment to myself in my career, and in my life, because I chose fear over love. I allowed myself to be bound by the 3D Templates/Material World/Ancestral Energy Patterns and not live out my true purpose.

“I allowed other people to veer me off course and that was the pain that remained in my body, that was the pattern that I had to unweave. The pattern of abandoning my soul path out of fear of not being supported.”

The medicine was truly committing to my path, loving myself and heeding my soul’s calling. That was the ultimate act of reclaiming power.

I continue trusting the unknown on this new adventure. I continue living in the energy of freedom, flow, truth, the authentic and playful joy.

I also realize now lessons return in spirals, not to haunt me but to help expand me even further on my path as I cannot move on from lessons and energetic cycles, until I have come “full circle” in my soul lessons. So I lay down my doubt, I surrender and trust.

The honoring path

The sacred practice of honoring and valuing your inner Self, choosing love over fear and walking in the direction of your soul’s calling are choices that keep you in the Divine Flow. It increases your receptivity to abundance and heals your soul. It is a daily practice though and I find myself making choices that nourish my soul every day.

Every time I believe in an illusion where I’m not a part of this greater flow of love, I drop into separation. I’m making a choice to participate in a negative cycle where we I put negativity into a connection or experience that’s outside of myself to deliver joy. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes there’s no reciprocity. It’s reminder I’m out of the flow and to connect back to Source energy because I have no control over another person’s intention or action.

So, I make the honoring choice, again and again. I choose my path, I choose to stay committed to it faithfully, I choose to surrender ego to Source, I choose to focus on unbridled joy and not depend on another’s attention and approval and to keep moving ahead with my spiritual fire and creativity.

Choices. It all comes down to choices. I can choose to throw out any thought, person, or experience that does not align with my soul gifts and soul path, with who I am, how far I’ve come, and where I am going. I am becoming more aware of the love, blessings, and abundance that surrounds me. I’m coming out of the ancient memories bitter snow of the patriarchal dark ages, and toward the warmth of New Earth. I remember who I am. I am worthy of each and every blessing I have, and all those that are still on the way.

And finally, I don’t wait to turn on the magick. It surrounds me on this journey and will awaken for you too if you are brave enough to touch the heat of your creative fire.

Offerings, classes & workshops are coming in 2023!

September 12, 2021 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

* I will be on traveling to multiple pilgrimages this year. All classes offerings have been postponed to 2023.

Venus Temple initiations

Join us for live Temple Journeys where we explore a Goddess by working with her alchemical medicine. We will explore her origins, medicine and go on a guided journey to her ancient sacred site or temple of worship.

Winter months – We will explore the Dark/ Wild Feminine including Lilith, Morgana, Persephone, Kali, Medusa, Mary Magdalene and the Black Madonna lineage of the Black Rose.

Spring & summer months – We will explore the Bright Feminine including Inanna, Ishtar, Demeter, Isis, Hathor and Athena.

* Starting Jan 2023

book on Eventbrite, info coming soon

Feminine Awakening June 2023 – Ibiza

Join us for a 4 day experience with Zinnia on the beautiful Goddess Island of ibiza to awaken your feminine energy, your Shakti and inner Wild Woman. Learn more about this experience here.

***NEW *** Wild Feminine alchemy (workshop + class series)

A PATH TO SELF-LIBERATION AND INNER TRANSFORMATION

The more you practice self-inquiry and sit with your shadow, you allow all of who you are to be. You feel inner harmony. You sit centered in your power — aware of your thoughts and feelings, but not attached to them.

We begin an inner quest of finding the Dark and Light within us. Once found, you can nurture this loving relationship between the sacred Shakti of your inner being and life-force.

Inner union requires claiming all parts of the self, being responsible for maintaining your alignment and managing your own energy system. But first we must do the work. We must embrace our shadows to find the true gold and treasure as we travel through the darkness of our egoic attachments and ignorance to finally break free from them and liberate ourselves form our shadows.

Wild Feminine alchemy is a body of work I created by living, embodying and researching various healing systems, alchemy systems and wisdom traditions including:

Jungian shadow work & psychological integration
Khemetic alchemy / Egyptian mysteries of alchemy
Goddess alchemy from the ancient temples and Mystery Schools of Atlantis, Egypt, Eleusis and Delphi
Yogic tradition of Shiva and Shakti, marriage of opposites, kundalini awakening and energetic alignment, specifically form Marriage of Spirt by Leslie Temple Thurston.
Pleiadian Lightwork and Pleiadian Tantric techniques by Amora Quan Yin.

Wild Feminine alchemy – 2 hour workshop

*book on Eventbrite, info coming soon

Learn about the sacred feminine alchemical medicine wheel.
We will explore the different sacred feminine archetypes including Dark Feminine /Wild Feminine medicine.
Learn about the alchemy of opposites.
And do journaling exercises around pairs of opposites to practice inner alchemy.

Willd Feminine shadow work series – *classes 2 hours each

*book on Eventbrite, info coming soon

Go deeper with shadow work techniques of inner alchemy.

Continue the learnings from the introductory workshop.
Learn about the sacred feminine alchemical medicine wheel.
We will explore the different sacred feminine archetypes.
Learn about the alchemy of opposites.
Do journaling exercises around pairs of opposites to practice and build your personal inner alchemy practice.
Release triggers, old stories and emotions you’ve been carrying around and shed attachments to old ego identities that don’t express your true self.
Integration techniques for working through the duality of opposites and discovering the ascended, balanced qualities.
Sacred Inner Union – The practice of Sacred Inner Union, ignites our higher potential and allows us to relate to one another in wholeness, not neediness. When our cup is full of purpose and worthiness, we can relate to others who are also fulfilled in this way.

Feminine Awakening June 2023 in Ibiza!

September 7, 2021 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

Are you interested in joining us for 4 days in June 2023 in Ibiza? Would you like to learn feel your power, beauty and abundance on the magical Goddess Island of Ibiza? If yes, please fill out this interest form. You can also learn more about the previous Feminine Awakening 3 day workshops here.

This is an initiatory and shamanic experience and is limited to 12 women. Please share and invite friends!

As we come closer to 2022, after two years of a collective dark night of the soul, we have all become newer versions of ourselves. The sacred women I work with have new dreams, are moving to new locations or pursuing their sacred missions. My sacred mission is to help women rebirth Wild Woman, their Wild Feminine Magick and energy so we can collectively create templates based on unconditional love for our dear Mother Earth who is ascending. And we are ascending with her!

Welcome to Feminine Awakening – the Wild Feminine Magick edition!

Welcome to this special edition, an initiatory journey into the Triple Goddess Mysteries of descent and ascent. We will work with temple magick from the ancient Goddess Mystery Schools including the Egyptian mysteries of alchemy, Goddess descent rites and sacred dances of Sumeria.

Rebirth your Wild Feminine energy with me. Connect with your wild woman, her joy, her passion and power, her ancient wisdom and set her free! Liberate and celebrate!

We will journey to…

Temple of Magick – Meet Goddess Inanna from Sumeria

Temple of the Moon – Meet Ereshkigal & Lilith from Sumeria

Temple of Rebirth – Meet Tanit Goddess of Ibiza who is the Mediterranean is Venus/ Aphrodite

Initiation ceremony

Wild Feminine Magick is a path of self-liberation, inner transformation and alchemy for your feminine awakening.

Here’s how it works:

For 4 days, you’re invited to dance with me in the Goddess Temple, chant with devotional feminine music and be guided through empowerment, sensuality, and embodiment breakthroughs in your Feminine Awakening!

DANCE SESSION BREAKDOWN
11 am – 6:30 pm 4 Days June13-16 2023 @ Casa Corazon in Ibiza, Spain

Day 1: Invoking Goddess Innana (JOY)

Belly Dance & Flow: Experience your sensuality and create a deep connection with your sacred energies. There is a goddess at the core of your being waiting to come alive and be liberated to love. Find the freedom and fullness of expression that come from embracing yourself and your body through expressive movements, sensual gestures and erotic touch. Dance, love and open into self-discovery. Let the dancer and the romantic unite in you.

Self-Love, Feminine Chanting: Learn how to connect with your heart’s desires, feel intuition in your body and channel divine messages. We will chant to raise Kundalini into your heart.

Day 2: Invoking Goddesses Ereshkigal/ Lilith (POWER)

Shakti Flow & Activation: Get connected to your body. You will learn where power comes from in your body. In Shakti Flow, we connect to the ancient healing rhythms of Oriental temple traditions. We will awaken our spiritual power and Kundalini through spontaneous dance, connect to our inner self and have fun. You’ll receive oracular and shamanic transmissions and activations from Zinnia. Expect to feel radiant, revitalized and energized.

Descent of Inanna: The foundation of this dance is the ‘Descent of Inanna/Ishtar’, through the seven gates, and is one of the greatest myths to be revealed to us from the ancient world. The goddess Inanna is unfamiliar with the Mysteries of death and rebirth. She possesses only the virtues of life and fertility and so she seeks entry to the Mysteries.

At each of the seven gates of the underworld she pauses, asking permission to enter. She is challenged there to remove her jewelry, girdles, and royal regalia that bind her spirit to the material world. We reinact this sensual dance and raise our Kundalini through our higher chakras into the crown chakra, the Flower of Life!

Day 3: Invoking Goddess Tanit (REBIRTH)

Wild Woman/Erotic Dancing: Bring your Wild Woman out of hiding. You know her, the one that is sexual, sensual, erotic, exotic, fierce, wild and free. We will awaken her and allow her to share her medicine. You will connect to an ancient and wise part of yourself that you may have lost touch with. Shimmy, shake and let loose the power in your hips!

Rebirth Ceremony: Leave behind what no longer serves you at the gate before you return from the Underworld. Receive your new Self. As we receive from Tanit and her offerings of abundance, we claim our soul gifts and divine worthiness, we claim our beauty and sovereignty as dancers, priestesses and guardians of New Earth arriving in all our magnificence.

Day 4: Initiation Day

Priestess Initiation & Ceremony: We will honor this rite of passage of feminine empowerment and becoming a priestess in the tradition of Venus / Isis/ Inanna / Hathor / Aphrodite. Step into your sacred beauty and power by embodying the codes of Venus and let her supreme wisdom guide your heroine’s journey and magickal transformation into mature, sovereign womanhood.

Join me for 4 days of…

Chanting
Yin yoga
Guided journeys
Sacred Dance
Shakti alignment meditation
Sacred Feminine archetypes
Group Goddess card channeling & sharing
Soul gift sharing & celebration
Journaling
Ceremony
Sisterhood

Schedule

**** PRICE & REGISTRATION ***

This 4-day event is € 450 (euros).

*** REGISTRATION WILL OPEN IN JANUARY 2023 ***

Please fill out this interest form and I will send you more information soon. I can’t wait to dance and spread love, joy and magick with you all!

Love,

Zinnia

Introducing the Sacred Sensuality Retreat in Ibiza, Spain!

July 18, 2017 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

I am over the moon to share my newest love offering with you this October. Introducing the Sacred Sensuality Retreat for women in Ibiza, Spain on October 7 -14.

I’m delighted to bring this to you and your friends. I know how busy you all are, working and taking care of your homes and families. You barely have time to nourish and nurture yourselves.

What if you could come to a magical, healing island, where a Goddess team is waiting for you – offering you feminine healing, yin yoga, feminine massage, fresh Mediterranean breakfast, lunch and dinners, pampering and nourishment – all custom tailored just for you.

I’ve created a sensual experience to open your heart, heal your body and set your soul free.

Why? Because years ago this is how I healed through corporate burn-out, city living and a divorce and I want to share all this love and healing with you. You deserve it!

I invite women from all over the world, to enter this retreat space, this sacred sanctuary, for kindred spirits in need of nurturing and nourishment, who wish to embrace their sensitivities, emotions, sweetness and feminine essence.

Learn more about the experience below and explore the Sacred Sensuality Retreat 2017 brochure here…

A Private, Exclusive, Luxury Retreat

As you nestle yourself in this gorgeous 5-star luxury villa, you’ll find yourself releasing the hustle-and-go, masculine “doing” energy of modern life. Pressures will subside, to-do lists will naturally fade away.

You’ll shed layers and layers of built up energy so you finally radiate your inner light.

Release conditioned beliefs about what it is to be a woman. Open your heart and access your innate wisdom, heal, grow and learn beautiful techniques to be sustainably healthy and happy.

Discover your inner and outer beauty, swim when you want, eat luscious organic foods, surrender to nature and relax in Mother Ibiza’s arms.

Live life Ibiza style…

Relaxed, Tranquillo.

A new doorway opens for you, a new beginning…

Feel lighter and brighter as you surrender to the transformational energies here. As the masks come off, you feel more awake and aware of your emotional self.

“You will be held by Zinnia, by the women of Ibiza and by the loving feminine energy that supports this island.”

Surrounded by a supportive team, in a sweet, supportive space, and with the positive energy of other like-minded women sharing the journey, you are able to let it all go, feel intuition and appreciate your sensitivity. After one week, you will feel so reconnected with your power, your abundance and your beauty.

Have time to relax and reflect in nature. Listen to the Goddess within you – your inner voice, your higher self. Soften into your feminine nature and feel your inner glow.

Enjoy walks in nature, the vineyard and the surrounding lush, green hills.

Enjoy nature from your room with lush, verdant views of green abundance.

Relax in our cozy living room and cuddle up with soft sofas beneath luminous light. This is your home and we want you to feel completely free and comfortable.

High-vibrational foods, sunshine-filled citrus fruits and energy-rich, nutritional cuisine.

Relax to sunshine and chill-out with Balearic music in our saltwater pool surrounded by fresh, fragrant pine trees.

Awaken Your Sensuous Goddess

Together with my Ibiza sisters, we will share with you our experience in yoga, dance, holistic wellness and energy work. We are here to support you in every step of your journey. We hold space for you and gently encourage you to open, awaken and align yourself to your heart so you may feel connected to the true you, your sacred essence.

My beautiful and inspiring team will be offering you yoga, dance wellness coaching, holistic counseling, energy work and spiritual healing during your stay. Most of all they love to support you to find your feminine flow with joy, laughter, playfulness and spontaneity!

Explore and book the retreat here

Sacred Movement & Flow

We will guide you through yin yoga, Goddess dance, gentle massage, sunset swimming, and align you to your feminine light so you can return home fresh, relaxed and rejuvenated.

Love and Nurturing Support

I am here to support you with loving energy, hugs and real-life journey stories to inspire you to find courage to face even the most challenging obstacles. I am here to listen, to encourage you and to help you see your feminine radiance and light.

The Healing Island

Ibiza is a feminine island. That means the natural beauty and power of the land has feminine energy that heals. The island’s telluric, healing abilities and beautiful, healing energies make this breathtaking island magnetic for anyone who wants to relax, rejuvenate, heal, let go of emotional blockages or transform.

Whether you fall in love with days and days of sunshine, the sensational beaches and hidden turquoise coves or the beauty of nature that surrounds you, your heart will open and your soul will connect to its power. Everyone who comes here falls in love and we hope you will too!

Feeling inspired?

This will be your catalyst for wellness, rejuvenation and inspiration!

The Sacred Sensuality Retreat for women in Ibiza, Spain
on October 7 -14.

Come to the Mediterranean, where the sun shines 365 days a year, where life is exquisitely balanced between sea and sky.

Balanced.

Tranquil.

Serene.

Begin your journey here. Where your wellness holiday becomes reality.

Don’t forget to view the retreat program and villa brochures below!

You can also connect with us on our new Facebook page Sacred Sensuality Retreats

Explore and book the retreat here

Featured Feminine Leader: Rachael Pontillo, Beauty Expert

March 13, 2017 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

The Feminine Leader Series helps aspiring women leaders understand the power of their platform. As a feminine leader in the 21st century you need to influence and impact hundreds, thousands and millions and when you can impact millions, “Your Platform Is Your Power”. My guest experts share their own experiences on how their creativity, passion and purpose evolved into a personal brand, especially a feminine empowerment brand that has positioned them as a visionary voice and celebrated leader in their industry. Our Feminine Leaders also share their journey of vulnerability, bringing their voice into the world and challenges of visibility. I hope you get inspiration and tips from these brave souls and rising stars!

Today, we have a very special guest with an incredible story to share, Rachael Pontillo. Rachael is the bestselling author of the book Love Your Skin, Love Yourself, and co-author of The Sauce Code. She’s an AADP and IAHC Board Certified International Health Coach, licensed aesthetician; and natural skincare formulator and educator. She’s the president and co-founder of the Nutritional Aesthetics™ Alliance, the creator of the popular skincare and healthy lifestyle blog, Holistically Haute™, as well as the 6-week online course, Create Your Skincare. Rachael received her health coaching education from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition®, where she was the recipient of the school’s prestigious Health Leadership Award, and her aesthetics education from the Vision Academy Paul Mitchell School. She also has a Bachelor of Science degree from Philadelphia University and Masters of Metaphysical Science from the University of Metaphysics. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Holistic Life Counseling. Rachael also holds additional certifications in metaphysical science, detoxification, acupressure, Reiki, Chinese Facial Diagnosis, and Ayurveda. She’s an avid herbalist, self-professed skincare ingredient junkie, and lifelong learner.

How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?

My life experience has made me the leader I am today in so many ways. I went through a great deal of my younger years–as a child, teen, and young adult–feeling like I needed to seek everyone’s approval to be good enough. I wanted to be the best behaved kid to my divorced parents, the best older sister to my siblings, the best student, the best friend…later the best girlfriend, employee, etc…and I never paid attention to what I wanted–except I knew I wanted to be pretty. Don’t get me wrong, everyone told me I was pretty–but that I would be so much prettier if only I had clear skin.

So no matter how hard I tried to be the “best” to everyone and everything, every time I looked in the mirror, I felt flawed and ugly. I felt wrong. If someone disapproved of me, or didn’t give me the attention I wanted, I automatically thought it was because of my skin. I became obsessed with trying to scrub or pick off blemishes, cover it with makeup, and not meet my own eyes in my reflection. I also gained serious body image issues with post pregnancy weight, which is what finally pushed me to realize that I needed to feel at home in my own body. I was now a mother of two little girls and did not want them to ever feel the way I felt about myself, and I realized I had to be the one to model self-love, self-acceptance, and self-confidence to them.

So I took it upon myself to change everything–how I ate, how I moved, how I approached life, how I spoke to myself in my mind. I changed my touch from punishing to loving, and I learned to prioritize self-care and allow myself to be seen and heard (even when I wanted to hide), so that my girls could have a strong feminine role model at home.

This calling to be a role model continued as I built my coaching practice and online course, and continues as I write more and speak more. Though holistic skincare is my business, my mission is to support women to know the Goddess within themselves, and step up as the leaders they too are meant to be.

How did writing and broadcasting present a challenge to you while you were building your platform?

I faced many challenges when I began writing my blog, presenting webinars, doing YouTube videos and my podcast because I was the last generation to grow up without the Internet. I had to learn all these skills–blogging, video, social media, podcasting, writing my books, email marketing, PR, etc–on my own either through books or online education. I also found I needed more formal education if I was going to write from an informed position, so I went back to school not once but three times. I felt that I had no option though, because I felt charged with a message that needs to get out. And while finding the right resources and teachers presented other challenges–those of time and money–I knew I had no choice and that if I ignored this calling, I’d let myself down, and also ignore my dharma–which I was not about to do. I’m still learning how all this works, and I’m still growing my skill set, though I’m grateful now to have amazing team members–though giving up control and asking for help was another challenge still! I love a challenge though, because in my life, I’ve learned that the very best things come after a challenge. Pregnancy and childbirth were no easy feat, yet I got two amazing daughters. Marriage also isn’t always easy, yet I’m about to celebrate 17 years with my husband. Writing books is certainly hard, but I have a 5-star-rated Amazon bestseller. And the list goes on.

The challenges will continue to come, and I will continue to meet them, and overcome them. And I love that.

What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?

Always listen to the Goddess within you–your inner voice, your higher self.

Most often, you don’t need anyone’s advice because you already have the answers if you ask and then create the inner headspace and heartspace to listen and hear. If you are going to ask for advice, ask only the advice of those who you truly respect and who have viable advice to offer.

This means, that as much as you love your mom or best friend, if they’re not in online business, chances are their advice will frustrate you more than it can help. It’s great to work with coaches to provide unbiased feedback, or bounce ideas around with–I’ve worked with several amazing coaches over the years and continue to–but don’t let someone else’s experience dilute your own process of self-discovery. You have to learn who you are personally and professionally–and what your core values are. You have to be firm on your negotiable and non-negotiables with things like boundary setting and time management.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for modern women aspiring to lead and spread their message?

Self-doubt. Patriarchal society has taught for millennia that women’s opinions are not valid on their own. We’ve had to ask permission, have our facts checked (often by men with lesser qualifications), and work twice as hard to play on an even field both at work and at home. Double that for women of color. We’ve been taught that allowing ourselves to experience emotions means we are weak, and that we should learn more to compromise and avoid conflict. We’ve been taught from day 1 to put all others’ needs and opinions above and before our own. We’ve been taught that we cannot own or acknowledge our own beauty or pleasure, because that is reserved only for men. We’ve been taught that if we speak up too loud, then we’ll get called a bitch, nasty woman, whore, or worse. Enough already.

My message to modern women looking to lead and spread their wisdom is this: you are perfect as you are. Nothing about you is wrong or less than, and you don’t have to be anything for anyone except your higher self. You will feel intimidated. You will feel fear. You will feel self-doubt, inadequate, and afraid. And that’s OK. But now is not the time to turn back. Now is the time to acknowledge those feelings–allow yourself to feel them–and then choose to let them go as you move forward, one empowered and embodied step at a time.

How has mentorship made an impact in your professional life?

I’ve been fortunate to have incredible and strong female mentors in my life both personally and professionally–some of which I know personally, others I’ve learned from through books, events, or online. I’ve experienced the humility that comes from being around wise women who have traveled the world, lived among indigenous cultures, and learned ancient wisdom from medicine women, priestesses, and shamans, who now pass that down.

I’ve experienced feeling at awe of female political figures for what they’ve had to go through to even run for office, often with families at home. I’ve come to respect my own mother in a whole new way as a single working parent with three children turned entrepreneur who has never let anyone’s lack of faith in her distract her from working towards her dreams. It’s my honor now to mentor women in my coaching practice and online course, as well as through private organizations in which I volunteer my time. I had ideas and I had dreams, but without the inspiration and support of mentors, I likely would have let them go.

Which other female leaders do you admire and why?

I’ve already mentioned my mother, but other than her, I have to honor my grandmothers who came from different cultures, yet took incredible risks and worked extremely hard to give their children better lives than they had–often while sacrificing their own personal wants and needs. Women today have more choices than what my grandmothers had, in terms of whether or not they wanted to marry, become mothers, or work. My grandmothers did not have a choice. Other female leaders I admire are Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Marie Forleo, Regena Thomashauer, Michelle Obama, Athena Perrakis, and Kaia Ra. These women shared and continue to share their truths, and raise their voices for female empowerment–some of which overcame extreme challenges themselves and despite that, answered the call to do their work, speak their truth, and support other women.

Finally, Hillary Clinton. I will be the first to admit that it took me a long time to make the effort to learn about all Hillary has accomplished and overcome despite extreme criticism to her as a wife, mother, and politician. I listened to the criticism by her male opponents, and by other women who felt triggered by Hillary’s drive who lashed out against her. But then I took time to read her story and see what she accomplished. And how she handled herself with grace and class every step of the way. She has paved the way for women in politics like none other, and it is my hope and expectation that whichever woman runs for president next, will have an easier time of it because of Hillary. I extend a deep bow of gratitude to her.

What’s your vision for women leaders? What legacy do you want to leave?

My vision for women leaders is that they look into their hearts, and ask their higher self for guidance on how they’re meant to lead and serve. My vision is that once they make that deep connection with the Goddess within, that they will too realize that leadership is not an option for women today–it is an absolute necessity. Once that realization is made, I encourage women to look to their natural talents, their passions, and their joy–that is what a successful leadership platform must be built from. The legacy I want to leave to young women today, and to my daughters and all little girls is that no matter who you are, where you come from, what color your skin is, you are a Goddess–you have a voice that will not be silenced, we are all one, and you ARE the future.

What inspired you to create your platform/ personal brand?

Though my platform and brand represents a global message of sacred feminism and female empowerment, it all started from my own challenges with skin, weight, and self-love. The brand started when I was first starting to make a shift in my own diet, lifestyle, mindset and consciousness, and it’s evolved to reflect that, though skincare is still the starting point for most women when they first encounter my brand. And skincare is important, because your skin is the container that holds, carries, and represents everything inside you in this life. It’s often the first thing you see in the morning, and the last thing you see at night. It’s how you present yourself to the world. So many women have skin conditions that interfere with their ability to see themselves for who they really are, and my brand strives to help them move past skin, and step into their true selves so they can be the leaders they’re meant to be.

Connect with Rachael on social media
Rachael’s Books: Love Your Skin, Love Yourself and The Sauce Code
Rachael’s Blog: Rachael’s Holistically Haute Blog
Rachael’s Podcast: The Rachael Pontillo Show
Rachael’s YouTube channel: Rachael Pontillo

3 Things I Learned from JLO about Power and Self-Love

February 25, 2017 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

How is the month of love going for you? I’ve been filling my cup, detoxing winter from my body and home space to make room for spring and enjoying food, music and dance. If you’ve been following me on Facebook or Instagram, then you probably saw what an amazing time I had in Las Vegas at the JLO concert! She was the best Valentine ever!

I danced and felt so good for multiple reasons. 3 reasons in particular that I want to share with you…

1. Living in my power takes me high
When I was a young girl I was in love with life – traveling the world, living in different cities, soaking up cultures, falling in love with new experiences in Greece, Egypt, Europe, Australia, NZ, China, Japan Tibet and India. I was whole, my own woman. After my divorce, my definition of being a woman and my definition of life changed. I let the experience of a divorce and of failure define me. Since 2010 no matter how much life I’ve been living or any amount of re-inventing myself or success has never made me fly as high as I wanted to go because I was carrying the heavy burden and belief that my success depended on being in a successful and lasting relationship with a man.

How did watching JLO change that belief for me? Her show was nothing short of magnificent. She put her heart soul and joy into the dances, lighting, choreography and she brought joy to everyone in the theater. She was a lightning rod channeling power through her!

“I want to feel and look and be doing that,” I said to myself at one moment in the concert.

Yes she’s had a few different husbands, multiple lovers and boyfriends but how many people in safe, comfortable relationships are creating the way she’s creating? She can look back on her life and say, “I lived out my destiny.”

So I’ve changed my belief that no man wants to be with a woman of power. He will come when he comes. And if he doesn’t come that’s cool too. I’m not waiting for it. I’ve got a new inspiring life to live that requires me to be on fire, in my passion, traveling all over the world spreading joy. And until then – yes lovers are welcome!

2. Joy makes me fly
I went to see the JLO experience with my friend from Ibiza. Her mother just passed away and she has been grieving for the last several months When I asked her what she was going to do this year she surprised me. She said, “I want to know what I’m capable of. I’ve just lost everything and death has shown her power. Now I want life to show me her power.” Wow! This girl is 30 and she was kicking some serious wisdom to this 40-year-old priestess. She was flying across the room, in her joy, getting inspired, creating, being unstoppable. And I thought, she’s completely in her joy. And it’s cleansing her. The way it cleansed me when I lost everything and moved to Ibiza and started dancing.

I’ve been a little jaded from New York lately and Sascha made me see that joy was waiting for me if I would just let it in. So we acted like teenagers, hugged, cried, made plans to celebrate life and celebrate women. I booked my tickets to Ibiza with one suitcase in my hand ready to fly from one retreat to another..and another and another! So we begin in April with Feminine Awakening in Ibiza and and I’m sending it out the Universe to keep doing this across Italy, Greece, France, Bali, NYC, Hawaii and anywhere else that needs me!

3. Connecting & creating with love makes me feel alive
JLO is not married. She’s not in a relationship. In social media I see a lot of images and messages around dating, and relationships that feel forced. They reflect people fulfilling society’s expectations of them. Not all those images feel real and authentic, of love and joy coming from the heart.

Where are the lightning rods living their lives on fire? Where are the joy bringers? Where are these templates of power and love?

And how many people are really living in their joy, in complete freedom of what the outside world expects from them? Not many. We need more people living their true passion coming alive to love.

So this year I’m going to experiment with how much I can create and with how many people I can connect with deeply, with how many countries I can dance in and spread joy, with how many women I can teach and train to embody joy, dancing in a waterfall of feminine power and feminine light with them, creating something more beautiful and magical with them than I could ever create on my own!

“The moment you feel you are no longer dependent on anyone, a deep coolness and a deep silence settles inside, a relaxed let-go. It does not mean you stop loving. On the contrary, for the first time you know a new quality, a new dimension of love – a love that is no longer biological, a love that is closer to friendliness than any relationship. That’s why I am not even using the word friendship, because that ‘ship’ has drowned so many people.”
Thanks Osho!

The deeper you can feel, love and connect with intimacy – the higher you can fly into bliss, ecstasy and freedom. Joy brings you all of this and more!

This is a moment of rebirth for all of us. For me it will manifest like this…

I want to see Life reflect back my soul’s power, beauty and passion. I’m ready to see myself in my full glory and shine that light out to the world. I’m ready to taste the light of my own ecstasy. I’m ready to walk in total freedom making love to life.

I am a bride walking up to an altar of stars, ready for life to unveil her holy face.

I want to see how high I can feel, how far I can fly and how deep I can connect with love.

I want to celebrate life and I want to celebrate her NOW! Are you with me?

JLO performing “You’re Love Don’t Coat a Thing”

JLO performing “I Hope You Dance, Dance, Dance”

2017 Messages: The Year of Truth

February 1, 2017 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

2017 is the Year of A Grand Awakening. Year of the Phoenix.

“Phoenix year begins on January 27, 2017 on the new Moon in Aquarius at 4:07 pm PST. Chinese New Year is the second new Moon after Winter Solstice. Some translations refer to 2017 as Rooster year, but I resonate with Phoenix because the energy of this year brings opportunities for rebirth and transformation.

Phoenix is a brilliant, inspirational, and fearless visionary.

The element Fire is perfect for Phoenix because Fire brings strength, passion, bravery, and leadership. This is the year to break free, claim your destiny, and overcome obstacles. You can heal past actions, with fresh new perspectives and new awareness.”

~ Alkymia

The visual for this year is F.L.Y. (Fearless Love You are). This has come from our ancestors who have predicted this time through myth, Quetzalcoatl, the flying serpent, the balancing of masculine and feminine, the joining of forces, absolute equality.

It is a Feminine Awakening where every woman and man who has felt the call to awaken will step up into greater leadership positions. Especially, we will see more women running for political office, more community leaders, rising into action, more female platforms, more female publishers, more messengers of love, abundance, harmony, cooperation, collaboration and sharing. They are the leaders of the New Earth and they will be grounding the higher vibrational energies of love and truth into political and corporate institutions that need this balance of feminine authority and the feminine voice alongside masculine authority and a new sacred masculine voice.

In 2017 we will see many changes, disruptions and shifts. Here are the overall themes.

Truth and the freedom of speech
This is a year of truth. Not just your normal everyday run of the mill truth. I’m talking absolute truth and alignment on all levels. Speaking without fear. Without giving into the fear. Change always comes and change is constant. So is our truth. We will be seeing a tidal wave of new fresh voices, a new generation of messengers. They will use every platform to share their stories and spread their message to the world. There will be exponential growth in writers, publishers, broadcasters and a new feminine empowerment media emerging where women’s voices are heard and celebrated. We will see more whistle-blowers and employee leaks wherever the truth is threatened or not allowed to be freely expressed.

Alignment and Congruence
We will all be asked to do some deep soul-searching, shatter any illusions we have been carrying about an old identity of who we thought we are and step into the highest and best versions of ourselves where we are contributing to community, giving, sharing and balancing over-consumption. We are coming into our soul’s alignment. The energies of this year will help individuals align vertically to a higher order of personal authority and integrity. Personal power is being healed through facing our limitations of being enslaved, powerless and voiceless for centuries and taking that power back. We have already taken the power back and now we are aligning and integrating at a deeper level. We are healing our issues with the patriarchy and inviting in a sacred masculine to join us.

This year is especially helpful for those who have experienced paternal abandonment and betrayal by the male energy. A new sacred masculine energy is rising along with the new feminine to align and cooperate alongside one another. It’s time that we find one another, as the new male energy will champion the new feminine vision for equality. But first we must be aligned in our absolute truth.

Personal Power
Phoenix and 2017 has a powerful healing presence as we are shedding a 9-year cycle and starting a new cycle this year with new beginnings. Its stature and dignity symbolize the shift you are undergoing in relation to your own personal power. The masculine principle within your psyche is rebalancing at this time, and you will find yourself able to receive new wisdom and sacred knowledge, which resides within your heart. Explore the very nature of your own authority and will power. A tremendous amount of life force is available to you now and you are able to sustain your power over long periods of time. The lessons in personal power are about using our power for higher purposes, not just personal gain, profit at the expense of humanity and the earth.

Active Citizenship
This year has awoken a great call to citizenship and peaceful activism. For people to get into the streets, speak their truth, spread their message. We are all being encouraged to be vigilant but not afraid. We will be less inclined to stay hidden and more inclined to show up, be more visible and add our voice to the social collective, causes that matter to us, causes that will balance humanity towards greater love, compassion and abundance. This year presents a big opportunity to step into more active roles where we are stewards of progress and of our government. It is an opportunity to not be victimized and be weighed down by the burden of helplessness. We have resources and if we come together, we can find them and share them. We have a responsibility of active membership within our local communities, national community and within government.

A New Template of Leadership
This is a year of emerging leadership. We will see more teachers and the teaching of new teachers. As former President Barack Obama said in his farewell speech, “Hearts must change.” The rise of feminine leadership will lead the change of hearts.

Women’s voices: authors, podcasters, bloggers, broadcasters, YouTube stars, speakers, activists, innovators, femmepreneurs, more women in government, more TEDx Talks – using your voice and the power of social media to make change where change is necessary. We will see the rising up of young leaders with new social innovations, new digital models, community based support and organizational clout that will help solve the needs of the underrepresented, voiceless, marginalized and exiled. They care and they will make us remember again how to contribute in greater ways. We have an incredible variety of gifts, talents and strengths to offer in solidarity. The nation’s foremost thought leaders at our fingertips and they will get more involved in anchoring love and truth. This includes ambassadors, university professors, innovative CEOs, creative entrepreneurs and arts pioneers offer their points of view on life, the arts, national security, freedom of speech. They will open their doors in the spirit of change, growth and expansion.

More People Will Awaken
There will be a mass awakening of consciousness. As the pendulum of power swings, it’s up to us to stand up for what we believe, embrace those who are rising in their awareness and offer our wisdom. Offer our stories. Have courageous conversations. Be great storytellers. Tell great stories. Inspire one another. Awaken one another. With truth. With love. Through the stories of our suffering, pain and joy. We can share how to triumph and overcome without blame. Through the journey of our deep strength and rising out of the ashes towards victory we become teachers, citizens, artists, upholders of faith and we become the ones we have been waiting for.

Bigger Picture Thinking
On this journey of truth, we will be asked to think about the bigger picture, beyond our personal agendas and create towards a collective vision where everyone’s needs are considered and accounted for while accepting multiple points of views. We are leaving behind old cycle, thought patterns and habits of victimhood, enabling and villainizing and entering into creatorship, empowerment and mastery. We are also leaving martyrdom and entering into a paradigm of empowered mastery and leadership.

To inspire a collective vision we will see more solidarity. This new cycle will usher in greater solidarity within women’s organizations and movements. We saw how women rose up in the Women’s March on January 21, one day after the Presidential Inauguration. The Feminine Collaboration Model and A New Golden Age of Female Entrepresurship is on its way. Women from all sectors and ages will be more active in creating a dialogue between the merging next generational women leaders and the more established women leaders of the 21st century. Women will be running for public office at local, state and national levels. There will be an increase in the need of power within the community, a need for connection and creation for the greater good. Marching. Uniting. Living truth.

The Shadow side of 2017
2017 will be a year of great change, upheaval and transformation. We are living in revolutionary times. The paradigm of politics, corporations and government will begin to dismantle a legacy of lies, control and abuse. We will witness gag orders, shut downs for progressive and liberal agencies, manipulation of the press. Our freedom of speech and freedom of choice will be tested. Our basic human rights will be tested. We will be tested just how far we are willing to travel to stand up for freedom. There will be mass protests and even riots. Some events will cause quick changes, big shifts and upheavals. Uranus will make sure of this. Uranus acts like lightning. Sudden changes, quick and swift.

If it hasn’t been clear yet – this is also a year of voice. The people have a voice are the people who have a choice. Use your power wisely. Use your voice to make change where change is necessary. No matter where you stand, who you voted for, where you live or what your nationality is, this year, we will all be given a gift. A gift to move forward with our hearts as masters, open wide to invite love, abundance, compassion, oneness and unity.

We have been given an invitation to become the change.
If you want the light, it is there for you.
If you want the darkness, it is there for you.
You have the power to choose.

There’s so much going on in the world and my heart goes out to all who are navigating through these challenges from the presidential transition, new ways of living, disruption in healthcare and changes in travel and immigration status. Millions of warriors are our way-showers, showing us the way towards a humanity where we can love and protect one and another. In the end that’s the only thing that counts. How much we loved one another through it all.

As always, please stay safe and know that you are supported on your journey. I will be praying for all of you and sending extra love and comfort.

If these messages and themes resonated with you, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll be sure to reply!

Fearless Love You are! FLY High!

[References taken from Jennifer Hoffman & Alkymia]
For deeper reading:
Jennifer Hoffman Energy Reports
http://enlighteninglife.com/

Alkymia
http://www.alkymia.com.au/announcements/2017-year-of-the-fire-phoenix-rooster

My Top Moments of 2016!

January 24, 2017 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

Happy New Year everyone! I want to wish you all a wonderful and exciting 2017. I want to celebrate you and the spirit of your dreams, creativity and reassure you that I will be here in 2017 to support and empower you.

Did you know that in 2015, I moved back to the USA from Ibiza, Spain? It was my dream to bring Shakti to the US, especially to New York City and launch the platform including books, print, radio, video and one on one conversations.

And you know what? I did!

Dreaming is the stuff of stardust… It takes so much focus to bring dreams into reality.

With focus, determination, a commitment to your dreams and the belief that you can do it (YES I CAN), you can achieve anything.

Here are some moments I’m incredibly proud of and I would love to celebrate with you!

1 COVER_messages from shakti 1. Messages From Shakti was a #1 Amazon Best-Seller

For years I wrote inspirational posts on Facebook for my community and fans. One day I decided to collect all the messages and put them into a book. And Messages From Shakti was born. After its launch, it reached #1 in Hot New Women’s Releases and in the Women’s Personal growth category.

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2. Attending the 20 Beautiful Women Writer’s Conference

I was invited to this gorgeous writer’s community where I had published my story, Be The Heroine Of Your Life, Not The Victim. I had the chance to network in an intimate setting, celebrate one another’s writing success and listen to how other women were developing their personal brands and careers. It’s important for young women who are emerging leaders to feel supported, loved, cherished and held by community. This is the true power of community.

3. Being a Feminine Expert on Aspire Magazine & Best-Selling Author with Inspired Living Publishing

I love, love, love my publisher Linda Joy of Inspired Living Publishing. She has been a mentor and loving source of support for me. She helped me launch my voice and featured me as an Empowerment Expert in Aspire Magazine as I co-authored 4 books with her. Thank you Linda Joy!

4. Completing my TEDx Talk with Tabby Biddle

I put a lot of time and effort into this. And it kicked my butt! Writing a TEDx style talk is NOT easy. They have a very specific style and format and it’s hard for spiritual writers to break through. Thanks to my mentor, Tabby Biddle, I was able to break through! I’m still revising my talk but it’s in good shape and I’m ready to step on the TEDx stage in 2017. Stay tuned! If you want to take Tabby’s class, Give The TEDx Talk Of Your Dreams, learn more here.

5. Launching the Shakti Power Podcast on iTunes

I wanted to break down Shakti into 10-15 minute teachable bites. So every woman could apply specific techniques to your lives. I learned so much about podcasting including how to create a teaching platform and how to amplify my voice. Thank you Shann Vander Leek, my wonderful producer! If you’re interested in podcasting, check out Shann’s services.

6 Nitika ZInnia

6. Being Featured with TV Show Host and Self-Love Expert Nitika Chopra

What an honor! I love this woman and what she stands for. Love, self-love and compassion. She opened my heart to running an authentic business and inspired the hell out of me! You can watch the video we did together here, 3 Ways To Manifest More Powerfully.

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7. Delivering My Spotlight Talk As the Keynote Speaker for Nitika Chopra’s Self-Love Celebration

Nitika Chopra is a gorgeous influencer in New York City and she invited me to speak at her Summer Self-Love Celebration event in June. I met so many wonderful entrepreneurs, beauty experts and wellness gurus. Thank you Nitika for teaching me about owning your feminine authority, influence and impact!

8. Guest podcasting for women’s leadership platforms and The Goddess Talk Sessions

Empowered women empower women. I met so many beautiful women and got to know their mission and message as they supported spreading my own message. I’m very grateful to all my soul sisters who are waking up and speaking up. We need to hear every woman’s voice! Listen to amazing feminine wisdom from the Goddess Talk Sessions Event.

9. Keynoting and leading WLPN workshops for Ogilvy & Mather

I was invited by the leaders of Ogilvy’s Women’s Leadership Professional Network (WLPN) to speak and create dialogue for women in the workplace. I met an amazing group of women who were interested in motivation and authenticity. Thank you Marla and Monica!

10. Meeting Marianne Williamson!!!

Marianne is a force. She is amazing. When I heard her speak, something in her voice activated me to serve. To write. To speak. For a larger audience of women and to be in service to women in a much deeper way.

11 Meet Zinnia Gupte on Vimeo

11. Becoming a Featured Founder on IVY: The World’s First Social University

I spoke before about the power of community and how to choose people who lift you up. Well, IVY lifts me up! This national organization of entrepreneurs and professionals has been supporting my work and helping me to spread the message of women’s empowerment. I’m one of their featured members they are spotlighting nationally! See the video here

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12. Speaking at the STEEAMnista Summit at Samsung Accelerator

Founder of FlyTechnista, TeLisa Daughtry had an amazing vision. To bring more women in tech together to support one another, exchange ideas, get funding for their startups, learn leadership skills and celebrate one another’s success! I had so much fun at the Samsung Accelerator working with women in tech and STEM. Thank you TelIsa! Learn more about the STEEAMnista Summit.

13 goddess power 2

13. Creating my brand platform and women’s lifestyle products

It was a creative year! Team Shakti launched the Goddess Power Cards: Sacred Feminine Oracle with MECU Collective, launching my Desire & Manifest program, kicked off a Webinar series with Reclaim Your Power & Truth, and broadcasted guided meditations for women around the world. You can get the Gorgeous Goddess Power cards here.

14. Attending the Hay House Movers & Shakers Conference

It was my dream to attend the Hay House Movers & Shakers Conference in Boston with CEO Reid Tracy and NY Times Best-Selling Author Cheryl Richardson. They taught me how to go deeper into service, be vulnerable and shift towards teaching on the path of love. Here I am with Hay House CEO Reid Tracy who was so generous with strategies to grow as an author and speaker. So grateful!

What’s next? I am fully committing to developing the next generation of women leaders through new leadership courses, mentoring and coaching.

It takes time to build your brand and platform and get clear on your message. So take your time, learn from other leaders, ask for support, support your sisters and enjoy the journey.

This is also my way of saying thank you to all the women who came into my life to inspire, empower and educate me. This is the Feminine Collaboration Model. We Rise Together!

In 2017, I’m giving back… to YOU and to more women who need love, support, guidance and empowerment.

In 2017 I’m launching…
– New coaching programs including the Feminine Awakening, and Sacred Sensuality Retreats as well as Private Coaching For Aspiring Leaders,
– The Shakti Featured Feminine Leader Series to celebrate emerging leaders
– And my new YouTube Channel Zinnia TV

What inspires you to create?

How can you use your gifts to create a more joyful life? This brings in more light than you know and inspires other people to shine their creative light!

What is one thing you can do now to support another woman?

Please write your comments on the blog! I would love to know what you’re working on and what inspires you. If you have any questions about writing, developing your personal brand and becoming more visible, please let me know if I can support your dreams this year.

Happy creating!

Love,
Zinnia

3 Ways to Manifest Powerfully

October 26, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

I am still on my “Ibiza Heart-Centered High” and riding the waves of joy and bliss. However, I didn’t feel like that when I arrived on the island 4 weeks ago. I was frustrated, numb and lost in my direction and next steps. Why? I was in my head. Trying to figure out things from a mental space and not in my heart.

Have you ever tried to “manifest” something into your life?

A partner, a job, a bigger income… Manifesting has become popular over the years and sometimes we can make dreams come true through visualization and action, sometimes we can’t.

I can relate. When I am in my head, saying “I want this to happen” no matter how many times I put them out into the world, visualize them, push for them and wish for them, don’t show up.

What if manifestation has everything to do with connecting to your joy?

In today’s video, I want to share how to manifest by connecting to your joy and allowing your desire to flow unhibited, free, without any limitation. My fabulous friend and TV Show Host of Beautiful Living, Nitika Chopra, discusses ways to manifest powerfully.

How did I use the power of desire on my incredible journey from divorcee to priestess (watch to find out more), and how did I kick start my writing career to become a best selling book on Amazon.com called Messages from Shakti.

That’s exactly what I’m going to show you! I’d like to help you access your manifestation power.

Nitika is a powerhouse women’s lifestyle brand and through her friendship and mentorship, she has shown me the way to expand Shakti into a woman’s empowerment lifestyle brand.

Go ahead and watch the video and be sure to join the conversation in the comments below. Nitika and I want to hear what your experience has been with your manifestation. Please share!

Letting Go and Falling In Love

October 12, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

oct_blog_photo_woman-in-water

Our summer months have come to a close and now the energy of fall is here. Seasonally, this is the time for letting go. Everyone talks about letting go and it is a beautiful skill to have.

Letting go can help you heal…
Letting go can help you transform…
Letting go can help you balance…

Have you ever tried to “let go” of something in your life? A job, career, boyfriend, bad habits, an unhealthy way of life? I have tried to let go of people and situations that I was dependent on and it’s not the easiest thing to do.

This month I took my yearly pilgrimage to Ibiza to let go of the past year and reflect on the lessons I was meant to learn as I prepare for 2017. Letting go of control and addiction was one of them. Surrender was another.

As I reflected and relaxed under the sun, I swam, sailed on boats, watched the sunset and danced across the sand. When I had filled my cup with love, Ibiza began her magic and the island sent me a surprise that mystified me.

Recently, I reached out to a soulmate who I thought I would never speak to again! In previous years, we had cathartic fights and betrayal between us and I realized I was still holding onto old anger and resentment.

I let go of the anger…
I let go of the resentment…
I let go of the defensiveness and the wall around my heart…
And fell in love again…

I fell in love with this soulmate and we have fallen in love with one another so many times. Before we fought and fought but something changed this time. My heart was so full of love that I only wanted his happiness. As short as our love story was, it is now full of friendship, flow, forgiveness and unconditional love.

The truth was, I had been running away from him because he mirrored my intense and difficult feelings about myself, and that meant I was running away from myself.

I was having trouble trusting after my divorce creating a solid relationship bond with another, and having a healthy, nourishing, friendly bond with my own heart, feelings and emotions.

I was addicted to running away, flying away and not staying connected to my body, mind and emotions and whatever came up for me.

This time in Ibiza, I let everything come up and then I let everything go with the compassion I would have for a child crying to get their needs met.

For me, this was a chance to outgrow my dependencies and addiction and it meant growing new emotional muscles and compassion for my inner child.

When I first started to feel the dark and difficult sensations, my first reaction was to repress them like I had done during childhood in order to survive around my parents.

Addictions are eliminated when there’s no longer a need to numb-out, or run away from You. And when you can feel the full spectrum of your feelings from shame, rejection abandonment, unworthiness, betrayal all the way to beauty, happiness, joy, bliss and ecstasy, your feelings bring about wholeness and healing.

Real love is based on freedom.

So when I met my soulmate again, Love filled my cup and offered me the “freedom to choose” without any bindings on this person, and I chose a balanced path instead of following a negative path leading to self destruction.

This is the mystery of the Sacred Feminine. You always have the power to choose which path you will take.

The feminine has many faces.

Love can feel free. Life can feel full of joy!

The Sacred Feminine teaches you that who you are is free, liberated already, completely free of all dependence. This is wholeness. And from wholeness, everything comes to you!

If you want to connect and stay embodied to your emotions, feelings and to the light, here is a beautiful invocation I use from Wistancia Stone’s book, “Invocations To The Light”.

Reaching For The Light

Invocation is a sacred act. Some personal preparation to bring you into sacred space is important for it to be the powerful tool of transformation that it is. Remember, the heart is the gateway – or stargate –to feeling the sacred unity of life. So access the heart. Begin by connecting to Source in whatever way you can, be aware that intention is a dynamic tool to manifest a linking with Source. Be present in respect, in faith, in sincerity.

Take a moment to center yourself. Visualize white and golden light encompassing you. You can say to yourself, “I surround myself with peace, love and light” and create a sheath of protection around myself.” You may choose to outpicture platinum light – a frequency above the gold. Take a few slow, deep breaths and release the tension out of your body. Each breath is a new gift of life—the Masters call it a “new morning.” And with every in-breath and out-breath there is a point of stillness, which brings serenity when it is your focus. Feel the finer energies around you. Feel your heart and connect with your breath. You may wish to visualize a “figure eight” connecting your breath with your heart so they are joined and begin to intertwine. It is like breathing through the heart. From your heart breathe light into the rest of your body. Feel the top of your head—your crown—and consciously intend it to open to bring light from the higher dimensions into the physical, emotional, mental, and etheric layers of your Being.

You can do this invocation daily or a few days a week to connect to yourself and to higher vibrational energies.

In Ibiza this time, I was reborn. Time to live life again with flow, freedom and fully in the feminine. I’m so grateful for love and sharing from this deep heart space of giving, sharing and cherishing the people in my life.

With this new love I am announcing my new love project! I am hosting my first Sacred Sensuality Retreat for Women in Ibiza in October 2017. I made a video to share my vision and excitement with all of you! Click the image to watch!

Go ahead and watch the video and be sure to join the conversation in the comments below. I want to hear what your experience has been like with letting go and opening your heart to new experiences. Please share!

How to Value Yourself in Relationships

September 21, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

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A couple of months ago, I shared an article with you on a topic that received a lot of attention, shares and feedback. It was all about healing from divorce and feeling whole again.

I was 24 years old when I fell deeply and intensely in love. I thought I would spend my entire life with this person. I trusted my choice in heart, body and soul. I was 29 when we married and I felt the joining of the two of us in my roots. While that deep, undeniable intense love brought magic and passion into my life, when we got divorced, I was left shattered.

Ending our marriage was unbelievably devastating, confusing, and shocking. I didn’t understand how I could have made such a wrong choice. I felt I had betrayed myself. How was I ever going to feel complete and whole again?

I literally felt the roots of my body had been ripped out. After years of healing and forgiving, I moved on and transformed. I buried the dead and learned that my first marriage had been a lesson of self-worth.

Recently, I opened my heart and began dating again…in New York of all places! New York has a bad reputation for singles who are interested in connecting, bonding and creating beautiful intimacy. It’s a vortex of rushed energy, transient people, busy people, traveling people, guarded people, jaded people and sometimes in the hustle of it all, our minds go into overdrive and we close our hearts.

Women and the sacred feminine inside all of us run on heart energy. This is our beautiful, beating beacon of life and radiance and this is where we turn our light on! Naturally, women like to relate and long to share this radiance with their friends, family and romantic partners. It’s natural to want to share this energy and feel a complete sense of belonging and love. It can get imbalanced when we long for that completion outside of us if we are not consistently filling our own cup with self-love.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever longed for a guy to complete you, love you, nurture and protect you. I certainly have!

The whole mindset around a man completing a woman is deeply engrained in our collective female psyche. We are told, convinced even, that we need a man to nurture and love us, to provide for us, and to protect us from the dangers of the world. What if there was a different truth than the one we’ve been listening to for years and generations and centuries? What if we have what we need to lead rich and fulfilling lives we possess within ourselves.

How does this feel to you? Comfortable? Uncomfortable? Let’s work this one through together.

Many of you know my divorce story. What you don’t know is that every time I’ve tried to date or have a relationship I was a mess in the beginning stages. I was filled with anxiety, helplessness and powerlessness. I met this guy years ago; let’s call him David. When I met David I was living in Ibiza, Spain. We were in romance bliss, but that didn’t last.

Since David was a marine-biologist and loved the freedom of the seas, he traveled and was away most days the summer we were together. I went out of my way to see him when it was convenient for him. I became anxious and crazy and my lovely, relaxed energy started to become one of desperation and needing to get his attention. David started pulling away more and more. The frequency of calls and texts declined. He stopped initiating contact (but would always respond when I reached out to him, acting nice and normal like always). Eventually, I stopped reaching out because it felt imbalanced, ignored, rejected and incomplete.

I dated many, many guys after David and I observed the times when I was overly available, feeling anxious, clingy and needy for their attention – I was giving away my power. The problem was I hadn’t worked on myself. I had a very needy mindset and I derived way too much of my self-worth from how men responded to me. That’s not what confidence looks like. (Read: 10 Things Confident People Dare To Do Differently.)

As empowered women, we all have all the resources we need to survive available to us within ourselves. This is our deep, inner power. So it’s time to stop searching for it in the outside world.

How do we do that?

1. Be Emotionally Whole
Being emotionally independent means that you take responsibility for your own happiness. It means being realistic about who’s in control of your happiness. As in keeping clear of your individual identity so you do not “lose yourself” in the other person.

The other person is not responsible for making you happy. YOU are, and when you follow and stay in control of your own happiness, then your life is empowered.

2. Stand Your Ground
Don’t let a guy disrespect your needs. You do not have to put up with any bad behavior. If he treats you in any way that’s not okay with you, let him know. Don’t spiral and over-analyze what you did wrong to be disrespected.

If a guy flakes or cancels on a date and gives you an insincere excuse, do you let him know it’s okay and clear your schedule to meet up another time?

If a guy knows he can get away with anything he wants and you’ll still be waiting around for him, he’s not going to value you and instead he’ll take advantage of you.

Next time he calls or texts, you can let him know. “My time is valuable. I’m available this day Thursday and Friday nights.” Then he says great I’ll meet you at this time Thursday at Landmarc Bar. You don’t need to confirm. If he is a gentleman, then he will honor the commitment and meet you there. If he flakes and cancels then he is not honoring the commitment and you do not want to reward his behavior. So you say, “I’m really happy to meet up with you and I like it when people honor their commitments and stick to plans. Since you’ve already canceled twice, this isn’t going to work for me. Thanks, I’ll be seeing you around.”

3. Believe In Yourself And That You Are A Prize Worth Winning
Men value things they have to earn. Be confident and see yourself as the prize that your man has to work hard for to win. Being the prize is all about inner confidence and knowing that you are worthy of being loved, adored, and worshipped.

If you feel unworthy or unsure that he will step up to the plate to pursue you and are constantly trying to impress a guy and win him over, he’s going to intuitively sense that you don’t value yourself. Men are just as intuitive as women!

When you treat him like the prize and work hard to win him over, you are valuing him much more than you are valuing yourself. If he feels like you did all the work to get him into a relationship, he’s going to feel trapped because it wasn’t his choice.

A man falls in love to a woman when it’s his choice to chase after her. He has to feel like he won the prize.

4. Be Vulnerable And Connect With Your True Self
A big part of valuing yourself is your willingness to be vulnerable. I know, it can be scary to see and accept the real you. But you have to be vulnerable enough to be who you really are and feel comfortable that other people will like you for your real self as well.

How do you become vulnerable? By connecting to the beautiful and unique YOU; as in coming into alignment with our higher-self or true-self. This is the part of you that wants you to be the master of your own direction. Only you can truly see you, and only you can truly know what you need. When we put the responsibility on someone to provide for us, we have created a situation that is set up to fail.

5. Make Self-Love and Self-Care Your Foundation For Love
Take the time to nurture yourself throughout the day was and actually listen to your own needs and body.

A lot of women get caught up in the fantasy of having a boyfriend. They might not care that much about the guy they’re with, so long as they are with somebody and don’t have to be alone. Be comfortable with being alone and honor yourself with daily, weekly and monthly rituals. It’s very nourishing to make nurturing rituals for yourself Explore My Top 6 Self-Love Rituals here.

Acknowledge and appreciate yourself. When you recognize your best qualities and show your sincere appreciation for the gorgeous Goddess you are, you will raise your self-confidence and fall in love with you.

6. Return To Old-Fashioned Values
If you were raised with old-fashioned values then dating apps and casual sex may feel uncomfortable to you. On the other hand, you may feel completely empowered dating multiple men. Whatever the case, own your sexual power.

Don’t just give it away to anyone who gives attention and buys you a drink. Your sexuality is a gift and a treasure. When you save yourself after getting to know another person and connect with them emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physical in an organic way you build intimacy, trust, friendship and connection. These are high-vibrational qualities. Values like these can hold a relationship together without the need for control, drama, manipulation and mind-games.

What’s the rush? Empowered women have sexual urges, desires and cravings too. They want sex. They don’t NEED sex. They won’t die without it. So they don’t find themselves in compromising situations that diminish self-esteem. They also realize their body is their temple and only someone worthy of respecting that temple is allowed entry.

7. Practice Self-Empowerment, Confidence and Courage
A life of empowerment or enlightenment requires us to show up in class, do our inner work of slaying our emotional fears.

What are our fearful reactions? Fear of rejection. Jealousy. Fear of loss. Fear of abandonment. Anxiety. How do we transform them into loving responses? Through self-worth.

Connect to your self-worth in such a way that you love yourself first before you love another person, and the love that you do give to another is the overflow of love you have for yourself. In other words, make yourself first.

8. Practice Personal Balance
Bring a depth of personal balance into your life. Personal balance is the persistent focus of self-awareness, self-love and self-loyalty. Remember how I spoke earlier about having felt like I had betrayed myself? That’s where self-loyalty comes in. Be loyal to who are at your core. And if you don’t know what that is yet, enjoy the discovery process.

Balance in relationships is where you are not pushed around by the emotional imbalance of others. Your connection to your true-self / spiritual-self keeps you in tune how you respond to your happiness. You are aware of the unique you. When you are in that place in you, your relationships will reflect that balance.

When we become imbalanced, eg. Expect the other to fill our needs, heal our wounds, resolve past mistakes and failures, be responsible for your moods, etc. This is disempowerment in action and we are in a place of imbalance. We are placing the other person first. This action comes from fear of losing or rejection. Connecting to self-worth insures that everyone that you become involved with reflects to you the same self-worth you feel for yourself.

9. Check In With Yourself
All these techniques are meant to empower you.

Empowerment = joy
Disempowerment = drama

Ask yourself.
Does this inspire me?
Does this empower me?
Does this energize me?

Remember ladies, there’s no way to be perfect in relationships and there’s no reason we ever should. All our flaws come out so it’s about being gentle with ourselves, accepting who we are in the moment and loving ourselves through the process.

It’s about learning and growing in relationships. Not looking like you have it together 100% all of the time, in control and invincible. Be willing to discover yourself and who you truly are. Men don’t fall in love the same way women do. They connect with you when you are connected to yourself, your worth, your value. This is your greatest source of strength and power.

It took a long time to realize I needed to stop prioritizing guys above myself. When you are a woman who values herself and is confident in who she is, you don’t need to play mind games and you will naturally activate a man’s instinctive desire to pursue.

Whenever I am dating someone new, I take it slow. It’s easy for me, for anyone one of us, to be swept away in romance and sensuality. In our busy lives we crave it and long for it. As long as you know that you are the source of sensuality, love and pleasure, you can generate those feelings within yourself instead of looking for a man to fill those needs for you.

Be sure to share your thoughts with me in the comments below. I want to know if you’ve under-valued yourself and/or felt under-valued in relationships and how you love yourself up with self-love rituals!

You’re Invited to the Goddess Talk Sessions Global Event

July 26, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

Beautiful Women,

June and July has been about deepening my nourishment, connecting to women, starting my own Women’s Empowerment Circle and stepping into a nurturing, mothering role.

It’s felt so sweet, succulent, loving and blissful! And I am celebrating that feeling all summer long with the beautiful women in my life!

Do you know that feeling you get when another woman gets you, nourishes you, sees you and loves you? You feel so warm, loved up and supported. That’s exactly how I feel when I’m with Shann VanderLeek. She’s the producer behind the Shakti Power podcast and she has helped me to amplify my voice and supported my dreams of becoming a speaker.

Join Shann, myself and a circle of juicy Goddesses for the 2nd annual Goddess Talk Sessions Global Event. We’ll be creating this warm, luscious space for you to be nourished and loved up too!

“When women come together in community, we can heal ourselves and change the world.”

Get VIG (Very Important Goddess) access by registering early and receive a gorgeous goddess affirmations meditation. Click here to register.

6 Things To Let Go of and Improve Self Confidence

July 26, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

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This summer has been a really bittersweet time for me. This summer is the 6 year mark of when I separated from an old life and began my divorce with now ex-husband. I even went to Los Angeles last weekend and stayed at the same hotel where we initiated the divorce. I saw my old-self there. She was lost, broken, low on confidence and with no hope for the future.

I looked at the woman in the mirror now, today, in the present and celebrated the journey I have taken, the journey so many women take when they transition from one relationship to another or one stage of life to another.

It takes guts, girl.

Courage.

Confidence.

To say goodbye to the past and the person who you used to be. So if you are going through something like that right now I want to share with you the parts of myself that I had to let go to get back my confidence.

I believe deeply that one of the biggest leaps a woman makes in her self-discovery and awakening is claiming her self-worth and self-confidence. When you claim this personal source of power, you begin to identify where you are leaking power to other people, places, things and situations and you need to be willing to “let go” of them.

The easiest way to do this, is to let go of the old thoughts and beliefs you have that are keeping you trapped in your current situation.

How attached are you to your old way of thinking and how much do you really want to grow and expand? I was pretty attached to all of it. And so I lost all of it. That’s how the Universe showed me to start over again. I was attached to so much anger, blaming and shaming myself, comparing and despairing over other people’s lives and their relationships, my victim story, self-pity, old beliefs and the deep fear of rejection.

I’m putting out there! I’m a Leo so being rejected is my greatest fear. And it has become my greatest teacher and ally.

Here are the 6 things you need to let go of before you can truly develop self-confidence:

1. Anger

When you are a victim, it’s easy to get angry with your family, friends and co-workers. You blame others for where you are in life and for why you’re so unhappy. You may not even realize how much you blame everyone else for your situation. Anger is a draining emotion. It also prevents you from moving forward in your life. You can’t see solutions if you’re focused on being angry at people.

Take your power back. Use anger to understand where your boundaries have been broken, what is making you so angry and then channel that anger into creating and producing. If it’s not serving you, let the anger and blame go.

2. Compare & Despair

Have you ever heard that term before? Compare and despair? This is when you open Facebook or Instagram and see the happiest people on Earth on their dream vacations, getting promotions, getting engaged, opening their own business, publishing books, appearing in magazines and you say to yourself, “I haven’t done that,” “I don’t have that,” “I could never do that.” The comparison is toxic and kills our spirit one comparison at a time. Open the lines to your heart and focus on gratitude for what you do have in your life, all the gifts, all the opportunities, all the beauty. You are talented and unique with your own set of strengths, experiences and dreams. Believe in yourself. You are the treasure.

3. Your Story

Sometimes when we have had a long history of being a certain way and experiencing life in a specific way (struggle, hustling, victim) we cling to those stories of survival (I was abused, I was poor). That story is all we’ve ever known and we make it a part of our identity. Are you willing to start doing something new about your problems and create a new experience?

When we create a new identity, we move forward into the unknown, into uncertainty and into risk. We move into courage and create a new identity based on new experiences, new opportunities and new challenges. This requires creativity. Don’t repeat past outer experiences. Instead listen to your inner voice and intuition. Your new creative spirit will lead you forward on the path of life.

4. Scripts, Old Programming, Invisible Beliefs

Look at your thoughts and pay attention to what they’re limiting beliefs they are looping and repeating in your mind. Be willing to choose which thoughts keep you small, anxious and unmotivated and which ones delight, expand and grow you to your next level. Then, let go of the thoughts and beliefs that are bringing your confidence down.

These old, out of date past thoughts and beliefs sound like, “I’m unlovable”, “I’m unsafe”, “I’m worthless”. The beliefs you have about yourself and about others will impact you in love, career, relationships, health and life Choose beliefs that build you up not knock you down.

5. Victim Orientation

Do you say things like, “I’ve tried everything and nothing ever works for me” or “I’ll never be able to do that” or how about “I’m too slow”, or “I’m too old” and “I’m not lucky”. These are beliefs you have about yourself and your brain will sabotage yourself to ensure that you’re right about your beliefs.

For example, at the last minute you are asked to give a presentation to speak on behalf of your sick boss. Do you see it as a problem or as an opportunity? In victim orientation you may think, “I can never count on anything turning out as planned.” In creator orientation, you’ll develop resilience and can see a change as plans as a new opportunity to create something new.

6. Fear of Rejection

We all experience fear at some point in our lives, especially the fear of rejection. It keeps us safe and it protects us from danger. Fear can motivate us to get out of a dangerous situation, and take action towards our goals.

But most of the fear that we carry around does not serve us. It actually paralyzes and imprisons us. And this is when we turn into victims. We shrink. We hide in the shadows. And we stop trying.

This is exactly the point where people stop. Fear stops them in their tracks. Learn to not take rejection personally. Give people a chance to have their preferences and allow yourself to accept your own love and gifts, regardless of other people’s acceptance and validation of them. You’ll learn how to be self-sufficient.

There is a way out of that fear of failure, anxiety and self-doubt.

Up until now you’ve reflected and learned about your fears. You’ve let go. Now what? There’s an empty space waiting to be filled. Now it’s time for action. It’s time to turn your fears into fuel for self-discovery.

Here’s my 7 step Shakti Power exercise to turn your self-imposed limitations into power and stepping stones for self growth.

Step 1:
Sacred Space
Set up some sacred space where you can breathe and meditate.

Step 2:
Ask Shakti to show you the way (align with your higher self)

Step 3:
See your ceiling of limitation
Is it seeing yourself as a failure, loser, worthless Is it fear of money? Is it fear of going big and being seen? Is it your fear of losing something you create because you don’t have confidence that you can handle success?

Step 4:
Write down the tools you need to break the ceiling
Visualize you are successful in this dream, project, role or new level of what you’re doing. Generate feelings of success (being unstoppable, feeling secure, feeling aligned, feeling supported, feeling visionary).

Step 5:
Remove your obstacles with a brave action
Identify what your brave action is and commit to a frequency – every day, every week or every month.

Step 6:
Summon your trust
Trust that you can face your fear, embrace it and challenge it. Trust that you can handle the discomfort that comes up.

Step 7:
Express your gift
This means being vulnerable and showing up. Set a creative expression date with yourself. If you are an artist, then write, paint, dance, sing. Share it socially or publicly. If you are a corporate professional, show creativity in your work. Look for great ideas, brainstorm, strategize and present your work with pride.
Present, ask for a promotion, speak up. Be a leader.

Once you let go of these things, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you start to develop self-confidence. You’ll let go of victim thinking and channel your energy into creating and producing. When you become the creator of your life, you live life with passion and vision your life will naturally blossom with new opportunities. Then you can become the true spirit you were destined to be.

4 Questions to Help You Find Your Life Purpose

June 24, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

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Something wonderful happened last week that I want to share with you. I was a partner and keynote speaker at Nitika Chopra’s Summer Self-Celebration and I was in the company of some amazing lifestyle empowerment brands like Hay House, Vikaz, We Are The Light, Jennifer Racioppi and Folk Ayurveda. They were such a bright, fun bunch spreading their joyful products and services with Nitika’s guests. They each shined brightly in their own way – Ayurvedic healers, astrologers, beauty care professionals, coaches, energy workers and self-love experts.

At my table, I signed copies of Messages From Shakti and gave intuitive oracle readings. There was a huge line at my table and all the time slots were filled with more guests asking for additional readings! I was surprised and delighted that all these women wanted to get readings from me. And do you know what most of them asked about? “What’s my life purpose?” “What am I meant to do?” “What’s my gift?”

I answered their questions one after another. Many of them smiled after feeling the relief that someone else had acknowledged their gift. Some cried at the joy that what they were intuitively feeling all along was correct. Some were shocked that they could actually heal and help others with their numerous gifts expressed together.

Your gift IS your purpose. Whatever it is that you love to do. That very activity or cause that lights you up. The cause you are so passionate about.

So when people say, “What should I do with my life?” or “What is my life purpose?” what they’re actually asking is: “What can I do with my time that is important?”

I used Doreen Virtue’s Life Purpose Cards in my readings and I loved the messages that these cards bring. We are conditioned to believe that we can only be one type of person, logical or creative and that our job has to be as one-dimensional as that.

Here’s the truth. We have many gifts, talents and strengths. And when we use them together and express those gifts, we honor our purpose and our passion and what brings us meaning.

Here are all the different gifts and roles in Doreen Virtue’s Life Purpose Cards:
Healer
Music
Crystals
Leader
Artist
Freedom
Spiritual Teacher
Nutrition
Body Worker
Justice
Counseling
Support
Writing
Books
Travel
Children
Animals
Environmentalist
Builder
Strength

Some of the women were so shocked that they could infuse qualities like “Freedom” and “Entrepreneurship” into their lives, even into a full-time job. They were surprised that they could generate the amount of “Passion” and “Drive” to start their own healing practice or business or become an author in the meantime.

I assured them, “Yes, you can.”

And then Nitika invited me up to the podium so I could share my own story of how I found my calling.

In 2010 I was getting divorced. It was an emotionally crippling process that left me lost and broken. At some point in the divorce process, I decided I wanted re-invent myself and change my career direction. I was an advertising executive working in San Francisco and New York. I began to dream of a life I’ve always wanted but was scared to pursue.

One year in the Mediterranean. I imagined a life in Spain. I listened to flamenco music and Cafe del Mar all day long, I had vision boards of “My Life In Spain” in my house and at work, I listened to my intuition on places to visit that matched my inner desires, once I arrived there I networked and created trustworthy relationships with people who lived in a magical island called Ibiza. For months I journaled through my resistance and transformed doubt and worry into passion and purpose. I channeled the joy I felt about this life.

When I journaled about the possibilities of this experience, there were so many voices that cautioned me out of it. What will my parents say? What about my full-time job? I trusted the words that poured out of my soul. I followed that. I trusted my inner voice and my inner vision. I chose that. After hundreds of pages filled with the voice of a woman’s whose soul had been set on fire, I had discovered the ability to follow the voice of my soul consistently and discern between soul and ego. My body was tingling all over. My heart was pounding and I felt excitement and passion flow again through my veins.

I had laid down plans for a new vision for my life. My deepest longings and desires to dance at festivals and concerts the way I once had when I was young girl. To swim in moonlight and dance across the shore of an ocean. I wrote down all the possibilities.

Have you ever felt like your life didn’t bring you joy? Or your job wasn’t completely giving you what you want for yourself? When you embrace the work that inspires you, you want to feel passion and feel alive. And the world needs you to feel passionate and feel alive!

It took me time to journal through my feelings, listen to myself and get clarity.

So how do you get to that clarity and eventually a vision for yourself?

Ask yourself these 4 questions.

What do I love to do? What’s my passion?
What makes me come alive? What would I keep doing even if I weren’t paid for it?
What is my vision? What do I burn to do?
As a leader, what are some of my unique qualities and skills that I bring to my role? What’s my unique expertise as a leader?

When I asked my community of what they burned to do, here’s what they said…

A wildly successful podcast. A bold and brilliant blog. And a growable income stream from writing books, teaching yoga, guiding yoga nidra, my audio meditations, and my online classes and coaching program.
A thriving mindful living coaching business for women who want to go on the inward journey to connect with who they are, what they want and how they can ignite their inner sparkle.
Growing my business to financial abundance and be able to sustain me, love (both self-love and partner), abundance, travel, new home.
I’m desiring invitations to collaborate, opportunities to travel, and motivation to create Soul Alignment Retreats.
To begin speaking after my book “Change Your Movie, Change Your Life: 7 Reel Concepts for Courageous Change” and to begin working on my second book.
A Sacred Feminine revolution that awakens each us to the power, beauty and wisdom of the Feminine. A hugely successful podcast, inspiring blog and resource book, joyful collaborations and transforming work with clients.
An amazing community of people who are committed to their own truth, expressing their gifts and honoring the Inner Teacher.

These were their vision statements. Look how clear they are. Each of these women has taken time to surrender to their heart, their intuition and to their courage. They have taken time to journal about the possibilities of what they can do with their gifts and what they can become.

Write Your Own Vision Statement

So here’s your challenge. Journal on those four questions from above.

What comes up for you? What do you think you can do with these talents, strengths and skills you have?

Be creative! Find other people you admire and study their journey. How did they begin? What gift did they follow? What experiences were they open to having to discover themselves in a new light?

Them roll up your sleeves and get out your journal.

Write down I burn to: ____________________________________________________________________

Feel into what you’ve written. Really feel the joy this act brings you and all the people you can touch just by bringing your joy and creativity into the world.

This is why we are here. To support each another, nourish each another, inspire each another and lead. This is beautiful time in history where women are stepping up to express their gifts and become leaders in the world.

This is what I practiced to get clarity on creating a career that brings me joy and makes me feel alive.

I’m so excited to see what you discover during this process. In the comments below, please share 1-2 things that came up for you when you asked yourself the 4 questions and when you created your vision statement. If you have questions, please let me know and I would love to support you.

I wish you so much love and luck on your journey!

10 Gifts of Sacred Feminine Empowerment

May 15, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia 2 Comments

blog post photo_water love goddess

What is Shakti Power? Shakti is your natural sacred feminine power. She is an ancient energy. She is the female face of the Divine. Shakti inspires women to awaken and turn on their light. She dances through the universe brave and awake singing “wake up, wake up!”

Here are the 4 pillars or empowerment principles that make up Shakti Power.

Personal Power
This is your mental and physical power to make decisions, speak your truth, take action, stand up for what you believe in, be a leader, believe in your worthiness and deservedness to receive all your heart’s desires.

Intuitive Power
This is your ability to trust your inner voice and inner sight. Your ability to follow the voice of your soul consistently and discern between soul and ego. When you are connected to intuitive power, you have inner knowing and you know the vision for you life.

Manifesting Power
This is your ability to create from spirit and materialize it into form by visualizing in the sprit world first – then drawing in your desire through affirmations and invocations, life visioning, inspired action, asking for help and receiving.

Creative/Sexual Power
You can generate power by feeling all your feelings. With this power you can change one emotional state to another form. Transforming depression into expression of life. Transforming deep loss and regret into joy.

In my own life, when I decided I wanted to heal from a divorce, re-invent myself and change my career direction, I used my inner power. Within a year, I healed, starting dancing, created Sacred Dance Ibiza and was invited to dance in Turkey, Greece, even Bali. Within two years, I was being interviewed in magazines, on the radio, and on television about dance and the teachings of Shakti. By the third year I had written a book and opened my own company, Shakti Priestess, to guide, mentor and coach women.

This is the power of Shakti. For me it was moving overseas. Healing and transforming on a magical island for three years, developing a sacred dance practice, life coaching business and a wisdom school to mentor priestesses in training.

The Gifts of Shakti are for everyone and her sacred empowerment principles can be lovingly applied to your life.

1. The Gift of Desire
Follow your desires
Feminine power is based on pure desire. Desire without fear or limitation. Once we have pure desire, we attract and magnetize to ourselves anything we want. Shakti burns away obstacles and shows you what your heart truly desires. Shakti helps you focus and channel power in ways that moves energy in your desired direction.

2. The Gift of Clarity
Be clear about who you are
Clarity cuts through confusion like a sword cuts through fog. You can manifest by getting clear. Get clear on how your perceptions. How do you describe your perception of yourself? Do you feel strong, weak. powerful, beautiful or magical? Get clear on your imagery. Get clear on your expectations.

3. The Gift of Victory
Take control of your life
Empowerment is when you move your will power through strong emotions like fear or anger and confusion like a chariot moves through battle into victory. You can use the volcanic energy behind anger, fear and confusion and transform them into positive qualities that propel you in life.

4. The Gift of Self-Love and Strength
Feel all your feelings
When you are not feeling loved, do you want someone to tell you they love you? To be empowered around this issue you would have to stop waiting for someone else to tell you are loved and start telling yourself. You would need to tell yourself frequently to really let it in. You have to value yourself and define your sacred identity as eternal, worthy and deserving. When you have told yourself enough times you are deeply loved then you will start to own and embody that love. This becomes your own experience of self-respect and self-esteem.

5. The Gift of Letting Go
Let go of repetitive patterns, beliefs and habits that keep you stuck
Empowerment is actively taking charge of your thoughts. Changing long-held belief-systems, patterns and habits takes time and devotion. The first step is to notice self-sabotaging thought forms like ‘yes but’, ‘if only…’. Notice when you are putting yourself down or devaluing yourself by comparing yourself with other people. These are bad habits that can be changed. You are a unique individual and any comparison to anyone else can sabotage your progress towards self-healing.

6. The Gift of Boundaries
Walk away from abusive or toxic situations
Once you embody your self-love, you will no longer be waiting for someone to tell you are loved. You will already know you are. You’ll be less interested in spending time with people who do not behave in loving ways towards you. Moving away from unsupportive, unloving or toxic relationships is a natural consequence of loving yourself more. It will help you clear out people who do not fully appreciate you and make space for the ones who do.

7. The Gift of Transformation
Own your personal transformation
Empowerment is a choice. You choose to change. You give yourself the permission to do sacred, internal work. You generate power and the strength to push through an old identity and channel confidence and will power to create a new identity that serves a higher purpose. Own your personal transformation and what needs to be changed.

8. The Gift of Breakthrough
Break through limitations
When you take charge of yourself that usually means questioning beliefs forged in childhood and making changes so you can be the adult you want to be. If you are struggling with this self-love (if you were neglected or abused as a child and feel unloved because of this) then seek help from a good therapist or coach to help you unravel unhelpful, painful beliefs. You have the power to change “stuck energy” like limiting beliefs, resistance and trauma from your childhood by believing in your strengths and who you are today.

9. The Gift of Radiance
Shine your magnificence
In ancient Indian language, the name for Goddess is “Devi” and is derived from the Sanskrit root word “div” which means “to shine”— The Shining One. Shakti’s sacred intention is for you to feel and believe in the highest vision of yourself. Shakti gives you the courage to step out of hiding, step out of the shadows and share your beauty and gifts with the world.

10. The Gift of Sensuality and Creativity
Express your creative gifts
When a woman comes back into her power, she reclaims her creativity, her own voice, values, vision, the magnetic energy of her womb and her body. For me, I awakened this power through dance. For other women, they may awaken this power through other forms of creative expression like painting, singing, movement, yoga, Pilates, chanting, any creative practice.

When you can apply these sacred empowerment principles in your life, you create an unshakeable foundation of power. You know who are and you are not willing to betray yourself. You stand as tall and fierce as a fortress of truth. You awaken fully to your inner power.

Be The Heroine of Your Life, Not The Victim

May 4, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

22183832832_53f87826fa_o Getting divorced felt like a tsunami taking over my life. I became a victim losing everything that was important to me. It was an emotionally crippling process that left me feeling small, undeserving and unworthy.

One by one, I saw my home, my job, my circle of friends, the city I loved and the natural beauty of northern California slip away from my view. This loss brought me to my knees. Some days I would cry for hours. Other days I would smoke cigarette after cigarette to numb the pain. On the outside I seemed to be invincible. My shiny black hair, glowing skin, manicured red nails and fashionable clothing all aided in my facade. On the inside I felt drained and disempowered. One day after coming home from work, I looked in the mirror. My eyes were bright red and filled with grief. My silk blouse was torn and I did not notice. I felt small and vulnerable. I was shrinking. I held my face in my hands, shaking. I wondered how I could navigate through the pain. My belief in myself was sinking as self-doubt crept in.

How was I going to show up through the divorce process? With fear- knowing I lost everything of importance to me? Or with love and courage?

It was the most important choice of my life: to believe in myself again and feel there was something inside of me greater than pain, doubt and obstacles.

Yes, I lost my home, husband and security, but I still had my imagination. So I began dreaming of a life I deeply desired. The life of the woman I wanted to become. I had hopes, dreams and desires buried within me. I wanted to explore. I was working in San Francisco and New York in the advertising industry. I started to dream of living in the Mediterranean for a year. I imagined living in Spain, relaxing on the beach, listening to flamenco music, detoxing with fresh food, learning yoga, swimming in cerulean waters and dancing with wild waves in the sunset.

I made my plans. I researched places to stay, saved money and networked on Facebook.

Four months later, I arrived in Ibiza with the intention of living there for one summer to retreat and heal.

It wasn’t easy. I had to learn a new language, make new friends and create a new home for myself. I found a beautiful white, furnished apartment. I fell in love with its silk curtains as they floated in the ocean breeze along long verandahs and sunlight poured in through swaying palms. I began taking belly dancing classes and running three days a week on a long beach road. I changed my eating habits and ate fresh salads every day, went to the market with a straw basket to buy fruits and made myself juices and smoothies.

I purchased a turquoise journal and wrote in it often. Pouring onto its pages my dreams, desires, wishes and goals. I wrote about my regrets and the things I longed for. I began to know myself again. I also saw what was hidden. There was a beautiful, intuitive voice singing inside of me, letting me know what I could do and who I could become.

I also began a new ritual every morning. I created a vision board of women dancing and yoga instructors teaching. I included women I admired like Shakti Gawain and Colette Baron-Reid. These women created powerful healing systems to empower women. I would look my vision board every morning, chant “I am worthy, valuable and deserving” ten times and then run for three miles. I wanted to see, hear and feel strength flowing through my body. Every day I programmed my mind and body in this way. As I nurtured and gave to myself all the love I once wanted from my husband, I became stronger, bolder and braver. New opportunities opened up for me.

One day, at a dance festival, a producer saw me dancing with musicians who were playing in the plaza. He asked me if I would dance in one of his summer shows and I agreed. I performed every weekend at sunset on a magical hilltop villa overlooking the ocean. With the sun in my face and music spreading in the breeze, I whirled like a gypsy in a cascade of red silk and gold jewelry.

I was also invited to teach a dance workshop at a healing festival. In a Balinese pavilion among sacred orange groves, lemon trees and neroli blossoms. I prepared the dance temple with incense and red rose petals. When the music began, I closed my eyes and lifted my skirt in preparation. The sounds of Persian chanting flowed through the room. I swayed, swirled, and opened my heart to the sky. The other dancers, moved like silk, flowing and swaying with the sacred rhythm inside the room.

There was a magical energy in the temple that day. The energy moved through us, activating our bodies into ecstasy and opening our hearts. Some women went into trance, others felt electric shocks flow through their hands. With hands on their hearts, whirling free, I could see their faces turned to the sky. These women were tasting the light of their own ecstasy.

The creative energy, fire and feminine freedom had a name. Shakti.

I began researching and studying Shakti. I wanted to know everything about this feminine force flowing through me, burning obstacles away, opening up my inner fire and creativity. I began embodying Shakti. Owning my inner resources and gifts as the source of my power. From this place, I discovered my intuition, personal and spiritual power, ability to manifest, magnetize and transform. This source power came from my spiritual identity; and it became a great influence when I opened up to the flow of spiritual assistance, power and wisdom it provided.

All summer I danced at healing festivals, weddings, fashion shows, and concerts with famous, sacred musicians. A summer became one year and one year led three years. My life began to change in little ways at first and then in big ways. I was interviewed in magazines and on radio on how I awakened Shakti and my inner power. I was invited to dance across the Mediterranean in Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. By the third year I had written a book called Shakti Power, and built a new brand, Shakti Priestess, to empower women in discovering their inner power, fire and creativity.

I began to write about the sacred teachings of the Sacred Feminine and found a publisher who wanted to work with me to share my wisdom with the world. Together with many other talented co-authors, I co-authored 3 best-selling books in the women’s inspirational genre and touched the hearts of thousands of women. I felt overjoyed knowing how women were responding with such positive enthusiasm to my story of how I healed and transformed in Ibiza, and to the love I was offering the world.

As these women continued to ask for more empowerment principles, I recorded guided meditations on the four powers of Shakti, created eBooks and produced empowering podcasts to help listeners embrace Shakti in deeper ways. I intended to reach more and men-to inspire them to reach deep within themselves. I shared tools, techniques and rituals that could initiate their journey into awakening and empowerment.
I continued my daily ritual of looking at my vision board with the faces of inspiring teachers shining with wisdom and grace. I saw the journey I had taken from the day I looked in the mirror and promised myself I would believe again. Five years later, I had traveled a thousand miles from being a disempowered woman to being an empowered woman.

The loss I once faced allowed me to empty myself of who I no longer was and values I no longer believed in. Shakti gave me a gift. The power and ability to create my own world.

Now, I am enjoying a life based on serving and empowering women. I am sharing my gifts. I am increasing my economic power and expanding my brand globally. I am speaking at conferences and collaborating with women who want to make a difference in the world. I hold a frequency to shine light, share gifts and empower others.

I have become the heroine of my life, not the victim. I believe every woman can discover her inner power and wise voice – to create a life worthy of her deepest desires and grow into an authentic vision of herself.

If you are a women seeking to discover your inner power, I have a few tips to help get you started.

First, it is crucial to trust your inner voice. Envision your ideal life, desires and dreams.
How do you want to feel? What are the things you want to do the most now?
Let your voice flow and listen to what you say. Journal what you find to connect consistently to this voice. Let that voice and desire be stronger than any fear.

Claim your personal power. Believe in your worthiness. Believe in the power and beauty of your dreams. Write down all of the goals you want to achieve and the character traits you love about yourself. Create a brave list of adventurous actions you wish to take of things you are aching to do and places you desire to go. Read this list over and over. Discover your passion and your gifts. The key is to believe in yourself and go after your dreams!

Transform pain into wisdom. Learn to solve problems on your own and accept the blessing in your situation. Transform depression into the expression of your unique gifts. Transform deep loss and regret by letting go of an identity and values that no longer serve the future you, the true and the authentic you. Focus on the future and re-build based on what brings you joy. Make time to discover what brings meaning to your life. You need people who support and uplift you throughout this process. Hire a coach and join a like-minded community who will cheer you on celebrate your success with you.

Say yes to your life. Say yes to your dreams. Say yes to you. You choose the life you want to lead. You choose the partner of your dreams. You choose how your deepest desires will manifest in this life.
Most important of all, you choose own your magnificence. The world needs your brilliance, joy, talent, grace and radiance. Hold on to the vision of your life. Sing your soul song out into the world and be a heroine- a shining your light for the entire world to see and rejoice in your inner beauty.

Zinnia Gupte is an inspirational bestselling author, speaker, priestess and sacred dancer who helps women embrace their sacred feminine power. She is an expert at connecting women with their souls’ desires. Zinnia is the author of Messages From Shakti and host of the popular podcast Shakti Power. She is also the co-author of Inspiration For A Woman’s Soul: Cultivating Joy, Women of Midlife Wisdom 2, and Unleash Your Magnificence from the leader in women’s inspirational publishing, Inspired Living Publishing. Her forthcoming book, Shakti Power: Awaken Your Inner Power, Beauty, Intuition, and Magic will soon be available to the world. She teaches sacred dance every year in Spain at the Ibiza Spirit Festival. Reach Zinnia at www.shaktipriestess.com and receive your free Shakti Goddess Gift.

Be The Heroine Of Your Life, Not The Victim first appeared in 20 Beautiful Women Volume 3

A Journey Through Sacred Feminine Power

April 18, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

wild let go

Throughout the sands of time, there has always been the temple of the Sacred Feminine. And in that temple, there are five key archetypes a woman must journey through to experience initiation, trials and mastery of her sacred woman maturity and blossom into her fullness.

The five sacred archetypes are the Lover, the Medial Woman, the Amazon, the Mother and the Queen. Any adolescent girl may start her initiation at any given place on the circle. Some girls start their journey as muses and artists, discovering their creativity or sexuality. Other girls have ancient memories of being a healer, priestess, oracle, shaman, seer or medicine woman and want to activate that flame within them. Some girls are very nurturing and love the compassion, harmony and graceful feminine presence of a matriarch. Others begin the adolescent journey with warrior skills – ambition, courage, a strong will as well as independence and purpose.

Each journey around the circle is sacred and each circle once completed takes the woman to her next evolution on the spiral of womanhood. In each woman, one of these archetypes is more dominant and one archetype is dormant or is deeply in shadow. This is the part of us that remains unknown, unloved, or unwanted, and controls our lives until we see her, touch her and commit to healing her.

Lover initiations often involve opening up to sensuality and being in the body. The Scared Lover gives us the gift of beauty and vitality, she is our honey, sweetness and sacred succulence, our magnificent expression of intimacy in our bodies. The shadow of the Lover can involve addictions, abuse and not claiming the deep language of our bodies. The healed Lover wants to share her creative gifts with the world and can experience the highest expressions of love including joy, bliss and ecstasy. The healed Lover has a healthy relationship with herself and brings Divine Creation into the world through her Higher Self. When we activate her sacred nectar, the holy grail of magnetic energy, we awaken shakti and let her liberate us. Life becomes a sensual celebration, a wondrous dance and a joyful orgasm of living deeply and loving fully. Goddesses who can help you heal your inner Lover are Aphrodite, Iseult, Guinivere and Hathor. The Lover can express herself as a muse, artist, musician, poet, dancer, courtesan, enchantress model, painter, and photographer.

Amazon initiations involve speaking our truth, defending boundaries, finding a higher purpose and calling that places us in service to humanity. The shadow side of the Amazon can arise when we cannot defend ourselves and we are easily defeated by people, places and situations. We fall into being a victim, where we react to the world. A healed Amazon is empowered and identifies with being a creator, not a victim. She has shed the more adolescent forms of brattiness and being the center of the world and knows how to negotiate and navigate in the adult world with a set of standards based on truth, honesty, integrity and service. Goddesses who can help you heal your inner Amazon are Artemis, Diana, Boudica, Freya and Dhurga. The Amazon can express herself as an adventurer, activist, warrior, military person, political leader, corporate leader and executive, pilot and crusader.

Medial woman initiations involve discovering our magician powers. We are called to experiment with crystals, healing modalities, sacred dance, ancient rites and esoteric knowledge. Many medial women come from a long line of ancestors who were medial women. The Medial Woman in shadow may hide her true power from fear of punishment, abandonment and exile. She prefers the shadows where she is safe and not in the spotlight. The healing work that often helps her is soul-retrieval, journaling her truth, channeling her Highest Self, identifying with being a powerful woman, womb healing, singing and dancing and expressing her greatest power: her intuition and inner knowing of plants, earth medicine, the moon cycles, the symphony of stars, ancient dance, singing and sound healing. The awakened and healed Medial Woman is a spiritual leader in her community, spreading her message and she is supported in her work. She is cherished and loved for her wisdom. Goddesses who can help you heal your inner Medial Woman are Medusa, Morrigan, Isis, Ixchel, Lilith and Circe. The Medial Woman can express herself as a priestess, shaman, oracle seer, coach, facilitator, reverend, church group leader, psychologist and leader.

Mother initiations happen when we give birth to our children, a deeply cherished project, vision or company. Maternal energy is our birthright and one of the deepest feminine rites of passage a woman can experience. The Mother energy is Empress energy, abundance energy and creation itself. She inspires us to embrace nourishment, as she is the Queen of Nourishment. A Mother in shadow is someone who has a limited view point of her fullness and sees herself only in a mothering role. She does not accept and integrate her inner lover and warrior, medial woman and queen. Shadow mothers are clingy and controlling with a deeply held belief that there is “not enough”. The awakened mother is very open to the flow of love and abundance – her resources, family and bountiful gifts. She is not controlling. She is aligned with creation. Goddesses who can help you heal your inner Mother are Kali, Kuan Yin, Isis and Cybele.

Queen initiations happen when a woman steps into her executive decision making skills and economic power. The Queen’s talents are about mastery of her different archetypes. Having journeyed through the circle multiple times, she has a vision for her life, a plan. She has access to resources, people and money that help her build an empire. She works with the awakened Medial Woman within her to access deep power and intuition to guide her. She activated her Amazon to speak her truth and do what is right in her heart. The mature lover inside her allows her to choose a wise King and the Mother within will teach her to be fierce, compassionate and loving matriarch of her children, family, castle and Queendom. A Shadow Queen can be a tyrant and a bully. Secretly in her inner world, she feels powerless inside so he has to rage and roar to control everyone in her external world. Goddesses who can help you heal your inner Queen are Cybele, Isis, Brigit, Rhiannon and Athena. Women who were not allowed to step into their Queen power were Princess Diana and Princess Grace of Monaco. Women who successfully stepped into their powerful roles as Queens were Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Queen Zenobia, Queen Hatshepsut and Empress Josephine.

When we come full circle and crown ourselves in the center of our sacred feminine maturity, we become the Queen. The Queen is no longer a sleeping princess, unaware of her powers, skills, resources and talents. She knows who she is, where she belongs and she has a vision guiding her future. From this place of deep feminine power, she can create anything she desires. She is magnetic. People will appear to get the work done for her.

When we as women can embrace that we have multiple dimensions to our soul, we can embrace the rich layers of who we are deep at our core. We discover the Great Mystery through these archetypes, we discover our beauty, power and grace. Most of all we discover, that we are works of art on a human journey of trial, tribulation, refinement and mastery, awakening our true divinity as Goddesses walking a path of beauty and grace here on Earth.

Inspiration and acknowledgements:
Sheila Foster
Temple of The Sacred Feminine
http://www.templeofthesacredfeminine.com/Temple/Home/index.html

It’s FREE – You’re Invited!

April 11, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

This is SUPER exciting, I know!

Next Friday, April 22nd, I’m holding a free webinar online. For everyone!

Mostly, for YOU.

Reclaim Your Power & Truth:
Use Shakti to Step Into Your Power, Express Your Gifts and Truth

Whatever is frustrating you or making you feel like a victim…let’s solve it using the power of Shakti.

Women have a tremendous wealth of wisdom, creativity and power. And our voices and vision deserve to be heard.

First, we must recognize our own value, worth, wisdom and power.

In this FREE TRAINING WEBINAR – RECLAIM YOUR POWER & TRUTH – I will support you in healing your voice and visibility wounds and the “I’m Not Enough” story, so you can expand and play a BIGGER game.

PART I: FACE YOUR POWER = Own your fears and their hidden gifts

PART II: OWN YOUR VOICE = Own your truth, own your feminine expression, own your feminine authority

PART III: OWN YOUR VISIBILITY = Own your worth, own your success, own your gifts

You’ll feel the power and energy of this.

You + Shakti Power.

We’ll work through challenges and problems many women are having right now (income goals, promotions, career change, stepping into leadership, etc)

When challenges haven’t been resolved, do you know what happens? You feel like a victim. You feel discomfort, conflict, frustration, defeat even anger.

That’s not what I want for you.

Nothing in your life right now has to stay the same. If you don’t like it, there are tools to change it. Shakti Power gives you those tools. Passionate, potent, masterful tools using your OWN power to address your challenges and resolve them.

Join me on Friday, April 22nd evening as we go through these areas and the steps to heal and transform so YOU can play a BIGGER game.

Click here to join the webinar and learn more.

The idea is to give you hands on experience of what Shakti Power Mentorship + Group Coaching feels like, by giving a webinar that shows you the kind of work we do. Every month, we go deep to remove fear and focus on generating more power. This power helps you to re-create and up-level your life.

I hope you’ll join us!

P.S. I will be offering some powerful BONUSES on the free training call, including a private, 60-minute one-on-one Personal Power Breakthrough Session with me for one lucky winner from the registration list. So make sure you register! Reserve your spot now.

Shakti Power 2016 Enrollment is Open!

April 4, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

Ready For A Big Shift In Your Life?

“Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny, he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally, you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.” – Osho

Are you a woman who has come to the point where you are ready for a big shift in your life?

Are you ready to finally say yes to your heart’s innermost desires that have seemed impossible to achieve most of your life?

The only thing that stops anyone from living their dreams is their self-doubt, lack of trust, limited beliefs and thought patterns.

That is why I am in service to awaken any woman:
– Who wants to close the door on living on everyone else’s terms
– Who is tired of living inauthentically
– Who is ready to make changes and manifest their vision for their life

More and more women are stepping into their power to become who they are truly meant to be and fulfilling their true mission.
Women are powerful catalysts for this big change. We need more feminine leaders, feminine voices and feminine wisdom in the world.
If this message is speaking to you and you feel that you are truly ready to step into your powerful destiny, you can get all the details about the program here.

Shakti Power Mentorship Program – begins May 2016 – Sign up Now!
http://www.shaktipriestess.com/shakti-power/

I teach you personally how to talk to the Universe, where your strengths are, how you make changes, how you program the energy of success, and I show you what is inside of you that tells you can’t have it. So we can clear that away and step into your next level, next project, next dream, next success and MANIFEST it.

Don’t forget, you have access to free inspirational content and free trainings:

–>Listen to the
Visionary, Bold Woman meditation
https://soundcloud.com/shakti-priestess/visionary-bold-courageous-woman-meditation

–>Listen to my FREE TRAINING:
How To Overcome Your Fear Of Being Visible
https://soundcloud.com/shakti-priestess/how-to-overcome-your-fear-of-being-visible

Enjoy! -My Gift to you-

SOME BEAUTIFUL FACTS ABOUT THE SHAKTI POWER MENTORSHIP:

SHAKTI POWER is a 7-month program.
SHAKTI POWER starts May 17, 2016.
SHAKTI POWER is multi-media, live, online, over the phone, and self-paced.

Shakti Power Mentorship Program – begins May 2016 – Sign up Now!
http://www.shaktipriestess.com/shakti-power/

Shakti Power Discovery Session:

To see if Shakti Power Group Coaching is the right fit for you. I would love to connect with you and guide you towards your dreams and purpose with new confidence and courage. This Shakti Power Discovery Session is all about discovering your needs and making you feel comfortable. There’s no obligation to purchase. Click on the link below for a complimentary chat with me.

Book your Shakti Power Discovery Session
https://www.timetrade.com/book/4DD56

8 Ways to Step Into Your Power

March 4, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

I get asked many questions on how to develop a “spiritual practice” of tools and rituals related to the Goddess. There are so many modalities like runes, crystals, tarot and divination. Where does one begin? How do you choose? This is a guide to help you decide which modality you are drawn to. It’s better to start with one, master the beginner’s level, then move on to the next.

To practice Intuitive Power you need a daily spiritual practice. This is your base, your temple. With this foundation, your rituals and tools will return more power to you. You can start to build a practice with any of the following Sacred Tools:

1. Meditation & Mindfulness
With practice, you start noticing the quiet voice within. Meditation helps you to get quiet and be in the present moment. The key to increasing your intuitive awareness is to stay very present. Intuition lives in the present. Start to feel in your body where you feel strongly when your intuition is speaking to you. Learn about mindfulness through books and YouTube. Take a mindfulness class or work with a coach.

2. Crystals
Place your hands round the crystal and breathe out. On all the out-breaths allow your tension to flow through you and into the crystal. Next, just open up and allow yourself to feel the energy of your crystal; ask your crystal to show itself to you and listen with your heart, feel with your heart. Draw the energy in an effortless manner through your hands and into your heart. You may feel instantly at peace. Keep yourself open and watch all that is happening. Watch for any color you may be given; any name or names given or any ideas planted in your mind.

Work with the following crystals to enhance soul qualities in your life:

Rose quartz for compassion and self
Lapiz Lazuli for intuition
Black tourmaline to release worry and get grounded
Jasper for grounding
Tiger’s Eye for courage and confidence
Turquoise for healing and travel
Amethyst for meditation and relaxation
Jade for luck and prosperity
Citrine for business

3. Dream work
Acquiring the ability to interpret your dreams is a powerful tool. In analyzing your dreams, you can learn about your deep secrets and hidden feelings. Each symbol represents a mood, a memory or something from your unconscious. Look closely at the characters, animals, objects, places, emotions, and even color and numbers that are depicted in your dreams. Keep a dream journal and write down your dreams every morning for 6 months.

Get close to your dreams:

Write down recurring dream symbolism
Water in your dreams means emotions
Flying means freedom and liberation from a previous limitation
Marriage means union of a certain part of yourself with another part
Trains and busses means you are in transition from one part of your life into another
An elevator shows you are moving higher in consciousness or going lower
Silver means receptivity and intuition and directly relates to the moon
Gold means action, prosperity and joy. This color directly relates to the sun

4. Shamanic work
Shamanism is humanity’s most enduring healing practice with roots touching every continent and culture on earth. Intuitive Shamanic Work focuses on clearing and strengthening your energy field. For most people, the benefits are a feeling of release, of being “lighter. The path of the shaman is the path of the wounded healer, we are always the student and always working on our own healing and growth as this becomes our medicine.

As we travel through life we sometimes need help identifying and healing certain issues that have imprinted themselves in our energy field. By removing the imprint (that keeps us in a repeating pattern of pain) we can create an energetic shift that gives us new insights allowing healing and the opportunity to make new life choices with greater ease.

If you are interested in exploring your shamanic gifts, then start learning about Animal Guides, Totems and Medicine, Shamanic Ritual, Energy Work, Shadow Work, Channeling & Akashic Record Readings.

5. Dowsing
Another way of channeling your intuition, is to use a pendulum, and ask “yes” or “no” questions. First, ask three questions: 1) What is yes? 2) What is no? 3) May I ask some questions at this time? If you can feel space opening up and you are in the presence of your heart, proceed to ask your questions, and trust in your wisdom to interpret the answers.

6. Runes
There is some evidence that, in addition to being a writing system, runes historically served purposes of magic. Study the runes to study an ancient alphabet of nature. Your use of them can draw energy towards you or dispel energy away from you. Get to know the alphabet and the ancient language of Nature.

Image via Wikipedia

7. Incantations
When you’re on a journey of personal growth and making magic happen in your life, here is a powerful tool that you need to have in your spiritual toolbox. Repeating mantras, affirmations, invoking the Goddess are powerful ways to manifest. Your word is your wand as we say in magic. Words generate energy. Words generate power. Words are born from intention. Words that become chants and mantras have the power to create and shape spirit into matter.

Prayers & Affirmations

Divine Mother, Thank you for helping me cherish my truth and beauty.
I am the creator of my life; I build its foundation and choose its contents.
I am overflowing with joy and energy.
I am full of health, vitality and tranquility.
I am superior to negative thoughts and low actions.
I am unique and have access to my treasure and talents which I use every day.
I forgive my past and let go of anger to create space for new beginnings.
I am guided in my every step by Spirit and I have soul vision.

8. Tarot & Hermetic Alchemy
Study Hermetic alchemy and its symbols. Any esoteric visual guide will unlock your memory to the spiritual alchemical process. You will learn to transform one form to another. Buy the classic Rider-Waite tarot deck and feel into the rich layers of colors, elements, courtiers, characters, events, mythology and astrological associations. There is magic hidden in these cards and that magic is waiting for you to discover it!

My Top 6 Self-Love Rituals

February 15, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia 2 Comments

It’s very nourishing to make nurturing rituals for yourself. When change is in the air, and you are entering a cycle of change, growth, transition and transformation – you may not be sure what the change is or what to do about it. It’s usually during this time, you need to nurture yourself the most. This includes not over committing to other people and projects. Allow yourself to cocoon and go internal when you need to. Create a list to nurture yourself. A Juicy List that will inspire with you with daily habits to nurture yourself and “be” in your feminine essence.

Here are a few of my favorite rituals that help me relax, enjoy my body and melt into sacred space. A sparkly swim, a delicious essential oil massage, inspirational reading, witnessing a sunset, listening to music, practicing yin yoga, cooking a warm meal, writing in my journal, creating a Goddess altar, smelling pink peonies. I have collected my top 6 self-love rituals during the month of love and hope they inspire you to nourish and adore yourself!

1 Cocoon
Sometimes we need to retreat from the outer world and fill our inner world with relaxation and safety. Less noise. More soul. When you feel frazzled, frustrated or irritated, this is a perfect time to envelop or surround yourself in a protective or comforting way. Retreat from the stressful conditions of public life into the cozy private world of your sacred sanctuary. Light incense and circle it around your body. Light a candle. Touch the flame over your third-eye. Play soothing music. Spend the whole day being, doing nothing. Cook yourself a heart-warming meal. Frame your favorite photo of friends and family. Bring out your crayons and your playful inner child and color. Relax on your sofa and wrap yourself in a warm blanket. If its summer or warm outside, wrap yourself in silk after a refreshing shower, make some hibiscus tea with ice, a slice of lemon and fresh mint leaves. Listen to sumptuous sounds, ambient music, the lapping waves of the ocean in soft, guided meditations that melt you into your body. Soothe yourself. You deserve it.

2 Inspirational reading
Nourish and lavish with beautiful words of inspiration, warmth and encouragement. I love the poetry of Mary Oliver and the deeply, rich visual images of Diane Frank. My favorite poetry collections from Diane, who is also my poetry mentor, are Isis, The Winter Life of Shooting Stars, Rhododendron Shedding Its Skin and Swan Light. Both these visionary women have light, feminine voices with deep, delicious wisdom. Let them wisp you away to their magical landscapes where you can get lost, wonder and wander.

3 The Desire Ceremony
Create a sacred space. First, prepare like a Goddess. Bathe with luscious oils and gorgeous smelling body wash or taking a bubble bath. Emerge from your senses and wrap a silk robe around. Go to your dresser or small table and create a Goddess altar. Place a silk scarf or sarong on the surface of the table. Place fresh-cut red and pink flowers. Red and pink represent passion and desire. Then place a statue or photo of your favorite Goddess on the altar. Turn on some inspiring music form a sound track. I love the music from Braveheart and Enya’s Orinoco Flow. Spray perfume on your skin and richly smooth it over with rose, lavender or jasmine lotion. Get yourself a warm cup of tea if you are doing this in the morning or a sensual glass of wine for evening time. Start writing in a fresh, newly opened journal. Begin your sacred self-discovery and exploration. You have opened the door. Go, walk gently. Discover the magic of your desires.

4 Journal, Connect and Reflect
I love this activity! Journal about your deepest longings and desires. Write down all the possibilities. Buy a tarot deck and do a reading for yourself. Feel into the images that resonate with you and feel right to you. Draw and sketch the beauty that surrounds you. Take long meditative walks in nature or spend time meditating on your desires. In other words, connect with yourself.

Journal on the topic, “My Life, My Creation”. Many of us have had the attitude that life is something that happens to us and that all we can do is make the best of it. This is a victim’s position, giving power to people and things outside of ourselves. When we realize that the power rests in us, that we can choose to create our life the way we want it to be. This is the power of DESIRE. And the best way to experience this power is feeling your way through it. Fall in love with the passion, the vision, and the beauty of your goal. As yourself the 3 most important questions:

What do I want to EXPERIENCE? How do I want to GROW? What do I want to CONTRIBUTE? This journalizing exercise will change the way you plan your life and see your goals. It’ll change the way you see your career, mission, and life purpose unfolding. Answer these 3 questions, and you’ve come up with the most powerful framework of setting goals for your life.

5 Create a Goddess Altar
I love this ritual. I love to honor the sacred feminine energy flowing through my body and the world by bowing to it every morning and every afternoon. These are ancient Vedic rituals called Anjali and Arati. If you have a dresser or a small table, you can clean it first with a soft towel and soap. Then spray it with rose water or swirl incense smoke over it to cleanse and bless the space. Next, lay a scarf, sarong or silk cloth on the surface. Buy a statue of a Goddess who resonate with or frame her picture. You can buy photos on Etsy or simply go to Google images and print out a color copy. Place a white candle votive and incense holder. I love Nag Champa. Put some jewelry on your altar that is precious to you and ask for inner beauty. Put some cash and coins in a little bowl and ask for blessings of wealth and prosperity. Finally, you can put fresh flowers in a vase, a glass of water, and fruit as your first offering to the Goddess. Remember, she is you. You too, are a Goddess. Honor yourself.

6 Make a Juicy List
Appreciation is also super important. It’s about getting your joy and love vitamins! And we are the ones who can know what truly makes us feel joyful and loved. In your journal, write down all the things you love and appreciate about yourself every day for 21 days or as long as you want. You’ll feel yummy and delicious!

I like myself because _________________________
The thing I do best is _________________________
My best quality is __________________________
My special talent is __________________________
I feel proud when __________________________
The most important thing to know about me is __________________________
What makes me unique is __________________________
Thee thing I like best about myself is __________________________
Thee Universe loves me because ________________________
If I was introduced to someone now, the first great thing they would notice about me is __________

I hope you enjoyed these tips on bringing more self-love, beauty and sacred ritual into your life this month. As you probably guessed by now, it’s all about surrendering to the flow, letting go, tuning in and going slow. Stay tuned for more tips during the month of love!

Awaken Your Inner Warrior

January 26, 2016 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

One of the most amazing leaps an awakening woman can make in her journey is to recognize how her personal power comes from making adult decisions and better choices. Sometimes a person is so lost in reactive behaviors, old hurts, and their wounded self that they don’t realize they are trapped in a stage of childhood that limits their personal growth and relationships.

It’s important to journey through your inner emotional landscape and embrace your emotions. Reflecting and working with your inner child helps you face and heal unresolved grief and unmet needs from childhood. This grief can feel like depression, controlling behaviors, anger, intimacy problems, and poor communication skills. A mature woman who is expressing her authentic power must face and heal these hurts in her journey towards wholeness.

Becoming whole and healthy means embracing your warrior – the emotionally mature adult inside of you.

Sometimes we don’t even recognize the grown-ups we are supposed to be because we either are stuck in a childhood or teenage stage in emotional development or we simply didn’t have appropriate role models or support systems.

Relationship difficulties show us that our inner adult needs to emerge with a new set of truths, standards, boundaries, guidelines and strategies.

If you se and feel a pattern of imbalance, constant fighting and shutting down in your relationships or if you’ve developed unhealthy behaviors, reactions, or decisions, you can start to look realistically at yourself and make some changes now. This can become an opportunity to nourish and activate your inner warrior to make sure he or she is alive and well!

Your inner warrior is a person who is authentic, truthful, and willing to grow, learn, and accept his or her own flaws and mistakes. She develops attitudes and behaviors in relation to herself and her environment, which lifts her past childishness and dependency.

Here are some of the characteristics of an emotionally mature adult:

Appreciates the opportunity to grow and accepts criticism gracefully
Does not expect special consideration from anyone or have a self-inflated sense of entitlement.
Controls his/her temper but can express anger or frustration in healthy ways.
Meets emergencies with calm and poise.
Is not easily hurt or wounded by others.
Doesn’t leak her power, tales responsibility of her own actions without blaming others.
Has outgrown the “all or nothing” stage, and recognizes that no person or situation is totally evil or purely good.
Has shed the “bratty phase” and has learned that she is not the center of the universe and must often adjust to other people and situations.
Can endure defeat and disappointment without whining or complaining.
Does not worry and obsess about people and situations beyond her realm of control.

Tips for strengthening your inner warrioress:

Is not given to boasting or “showing off” in socially unacceptable ways.
Be happy when others enjoy success or good fortune.
Develop strong boundaries. Know where another person ends and when you begin.
Be aware of when you are “fault-finding” or complaining.
Plans things in advance rather than trusting to the inspiration of the moment or leaving things for others to handle.
Show kindness, patience and good manners, especially with those who are less capable, sophisticated or mature.
Create core values, guiding principles, beliefs or values that create the framework for decisions and actions. Stand by them.
Learn how to be solution-oriented rather than needing to be right.
Feels comfortable with a wide variety of people and situations.
Experience and understand your own deepest feelings and needs, and express your feelings and needs in appropriate and constructive ways.
Act on and react to life circumstances with intelligence and wisdom.
Be flexible in response to life’s changing circumstances.
Channel energy, both positive and negative, into creative contributions to yourself and the community.
Don’t indulge in destructive habits or behaviors.

Awaken Your Enchantress

December 15, 2015 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

The Enchantress within us evokes emotion, feeling and sensuality. She opens us to our senses–touch, taste, smell, hear, and sight–or in other words. She experiences life’s possibilities in her fullness.

When you tap into your Enchantress energy, you have access to your creative power. You feel alive and connected to the world. You become a vessel of love from which emotions, dance, joy and sensuality flow. You are a fountain of energy and can channels it to create art, beauty, inspiration and leave cultural and artistic legacies.

Becoming whole means embracing your enchantress – the sensual artist and creator inside of you.

The Enchantress awakens your inner Muse. She gives us flashes of inspiration or sparks of creativity. A woman developing this energy will be deeply receptive and inspired by beauty. In history she is symbolized by the courtesan, enchantress, temptress, harlot, prostitute and wild woman. When this energy is repressed, we lose our natural feminine energy to inspire, desire and create. We lose our ability to feel joy.

Opening to life’s pleasures and channeling her senses allows a woman to feel, inspire and create joy for the world.

The Enchantress is so alive and sensual, she enjoys all of life’s pleasures. She has a unique relationship to the other three archetypes of mature femininity. While Enchantress energy seeks freedom, the Queen, Warrior, and Magician archetypes provide a woman with structure and discipline. The Enchantress’s passion fuels and powers these three life forces, and in turn, they channel and harness the Enchantress’s energy in a healthy way, with a focus on worthy goals.

An emotionally mature woman develops attitudes and behaviors which lift her past reckless romance and sex. Your inner Enchantress is a dancer, a dreamer, a wild-hearted child, a singer, a musician. Let her out and play. Let her create. Let her dance her heart out for you. Your inner Enchantress understands that for a woman to be truly free, she needs to have a deep emotional life; and a little wilderness to rest, rejuvenate her spirit and express all that joy.

Here are some of the characteristics of a joyous woman, artist, muse and creator:

Constantly curious about her path and the world.
Explores life’s pleasure’s- beauty, art, education, learning, dance, music and literature.
Has a passionate sense of excitement and spirit of adventure.
Channels her creativity from a place of self-love and self-expression.
Develops a relationship with her inner muse.
Is rejuvenated by Nature.
Shares her joy with family, friends community and audiences.
Is always creating and teaches others how to create.
Open to the language of her senses and of her body.
Feels many different levels of love – self love, romantic love, platonic love, passionate love, unconditional love, intimate love.

Read Zinnia’s story of how she awakened her Enchantress in the story, “Dancing with Joy” from the book Inspiration For A Woman’s Soul: Cultivating Joy.

Desire & Create – A Mini Soul Vision Workshop

January 11, 2015 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

January is the perfect time to start planning for the new year. You’ve just finished up the holidays and finally have some self-love time for yourself. January is the perfect time to start reflecting on what you want to create for the year ahead. Why? Because you are full of excitement, anticipation, wonder and positive energy to start fresh!

What’s your vision for 2016?

Do you have a goal?
Do you know what you desire?
What fires you up? What sets you free?
Do you know what your gifts and talents are?
What do you want to experience?
How do you want to grow?
Where do you want to travel next?
Are you burning to try something different this year?

If you said YES to any of these questions, join us in January for Desire & Create a 3-week Virtual Soul Vision Workshop. I will empower you and get you fired up on setting your vision for the year, making a vision board and creating a strategy and action plan.

Have You Ever Felt?

You feel like you’re not clear on your dreams or how to go after them.
You feel lost, like you don’t know who you are or what your purpose is.
You feel a lack of confidence about what you desire and feel low on energy on how to get there.
Your friends are succeeding and you want to know the secret.
You’ve tried making new year’s resolutions and then eventually forget about them.

If you’ve felt this way before, you’re not alone.

I’ve Been There, I Know How You Feel

I know what it feels like when nothing is working and you feel like a failure.

I was disconnected from my truth, power and authentic self. I had forgotten about my deepest heart’s desires and dreams, feeling I wasn’t deserving of them. I was never meant to be an author. Best-selling authors were for someone else, more worthy and deserving. I wasn’t meant to live a wild, rich life in the Mediterranean. That too was for someone else.

In 2011 my life turned around. I got divorced and moved to the magical island of Ibiza to retreat, rejuvenate and rediscover my true self. I shed the layers of my negative self-talk, I understood that we are all here to share that special something that is unique to each one of us. No matter what your circumstances, by choosing to step into your big dreams, anything is possible.

I’m going to help you do the exact same thing.

What are you burning to do in 2016?

Start a blog?
Write a book?
Turn a hobby into a dream?
Become a coach?
Travel more?
Go to graduate school?
Earn more money doing what you love?

Let’s get you that dream…

INTRODUCING DESIRE & CREATE: A MINI SOUL VISIONING WORKSHOP

What you get:

I will guide you through 3 strategy sessions and 3 one hour group calls. You’ll get your PDF lessons in advance before every call and we’ll check-in with how you are doing in the private FB group. You’ll have a chance to comment, ask questions and request support.

Strategy Session 1: Set The Vision – Deep inner reflection, journaling and getting in touch with you heart’s desires. Together we answer your heart burning questions of what you want to experience, what you would love to manifest and how you want to grow. In this important session, we hold the vision of your highest self and commit to being true to that.

Strategy Session 2: Create Your Own Vision Board – Step by step guide on how to create sacred space, gather supplies, get inspired my beautiful vision boards and make your very own. I will share my vision boards from previous years, how I manifested all my goals and dreams and teach you how you can too!

Strategy Session 3: Power Up Your Year – You have the power to set the direction of your life. Year by year, month by month. In this strategy session, we cover rituals and mantras to program your flow energy, blast through any resistance and keep forward focus on generating power and momentum throughout the year.

BONUS: Strategy and Action Plan for 2016 – A planner that revisits your BIG DREAM for 2016 and breaks out the year month by month. You write goals for every month and stay accountable to get that dream of yours!

3 strategy sessions + 3 group calls + 4 beautifully designed PDF lessons + 1 free guided mediation + Lifetime access to private FB group and Shakti Power Community

All for $197!

Ready to Rock Your Dream?

Click here to register

Zinnia is an inspirational author, speaker, priestess and sacred dancer who helps women embrace their sacred feminine power. She is an expert at connecting women with their souls’ desires. She is the co-author of Cultivating Joy and Women of Midlife Wisdom 2, Unleash Your Inner Magnificence and 20 Beautiful Women. Her forthcoming book, Shakti Power will be in the world soon. She teaches sacred dance every year in Spain at the Ibiza Spirit Festival. Reach Zinnia at www.shaktipriestess.com and receive your free Shakti Goddess Gift!

A Tigress In The Temple

January 9, 2015 by Zinnia Sophia 1 Comment

Being true to yourself is old magic. It’s a key to self-realization, to being all you can be and to living an abundant, joyful, harmonious and rewarding life. Being true to yourself is a way of living where you stay connected with the beauty of your innermost Self, listen to Its guidance, follow your heart, and speak and take actions that express your truth, ideals and values. One of the greatest challenges in being true to yourself is knowing what choices best honor you and reflect your deepest truth, your sacred beauty. Being true to yourself requires self-awareness, where you are in touch with your dreams and vulnerability. It means knowing what empowers you and what does not. Self-awareness comes from being in contact with the divine within you.

To be true to who you are, to know how to express your deepest truth, requires awakening to your true identity as a soul that is greater than your mind, emotions and body. This is how the spirit of Ibiza awakened me. Through the Goddess. And through dance. Three years ago I traveled to the island of Ibiza, Spain. My intention was to live there, retreat and rejuvenate during my divorce. My healing journey in Ibiza happened when I decided to unleash my wild sacred self. To untame the tamed woman I had become. And to release the tigress within, the priestess, dancer, the wild woman who ran with wolves, who danced in ancient temples amongst tigers and forests. This was a woman who was buried deep inside of me. And this was a woman I needed to uncover once again, if I was going to live from my true authentic self.

I arrived in Ibiza on a warm spring day in March. The breeze was playful. The island was green with rain and I could feel her thawing, opening, blossoming as if I was one with her heart, her round hills and electric skies. My first week I was introduced to the island’s longest living resident dancer, Zorah LeDuc. She was a beautiful, sensual belly dancer and lover of gypsy music. She was a gateway. She awakened me to dance again. In the first class, I felt the awkwardness of my body while watching young, beautiful, supple belly dancers shimmying and sashaying through the room. I was terrified of the feeling bubbling up inside of me. There was an old voice shaming me, “who do you think you are?” Shame, self-disgust, fear, judgment. Why had I stopped dancing? Why wasn’t I slim, healthy and radiant like these women? How had I allowed myself to become fat? I cried when I got home and promised myself I would dance again. My wish came true. As I trained, ran, got in shape and practiced dance, I received a message from a Dutch woman who had met me in a restaurant in San Josep. I forgot we had exchanged numbers to discuss future events. She asked me if I would dance at her restaurant opening. I said, “Yes, yes, of course I would!” I thought I was ready. The day of the performance, there were not so many people at the restaurant. I was crippled with fear. I hadn’t choreographed anything. I was just going to move with the music. But my body could not move. My heart was frozen. Thankfully, the music system didn’t work either and so I could not dance that day. My friends who had come to support me all consoled me and told me, “Its okay, you’ll dance another time.”

That night I had a dream. I dreamt I was dancing inside a red temple. There was a blazing fire in the middle and I was dancing around the fire, waving my arms in ecstasy, swaying my hips in sacred circles and offering my heart as a prayer to the sky. A tiger came to dance beside me. She whispered something in my ear and afterwards I was able to dance with great force and devotion. My hair fell along my back like a river of dusk and in the red ray of light my spine opened to fire. I felt part of me hiding in the cocoon of my skin, until my heart began beating, drumming began. I heard ancient chanting, sounds floating on red steps. The sounds opened me. Orange flames rose from my heart as I danced in spirals, red hibiscus in my mouth. A flame whispered inside of me. Even the heat had music. I broke open. I broke loose like a snake uncoiling across hills into a fierce, old woman with round eyes and crimson plumes flying in all directions. The tiger symbolizes devotion and this word danced in my mind while I had the vision of a beautiful sun dancer dancing with the element of fire. I felt I wanted people to see my unique, individual expression in all its forms, and in all the ways I could dance. I felt my heart desiring and longing to express the fullness of my talents –- a full range of grace, drama, fire, discipline, devotion, softness, technique and skill. And I wanted to enjoy the journey through this process. Growing through the gift of sacred beauty and sacred dance and remaining in humility to the Goddess who bestowed her gift to me.

That night, I vowed to honor the truth flowing inside of me. Opportunity after opportunity flowed to me after I made that commitment to myself. Nature lives commitment. One month later, I returned to the restaurant in San Josep and danced my heart out in three choreographed performances and spontaneous ecstatic dances. Then I continued to dance at weddings, healing festivals, lead workshops, and opened concerts for famous musicians like Prem Joshua and the Sunny Singh Bollywood Dance Academy. I also created a dance movement called Sacred Dance, Shakti Flow and Dance of the Kama Sutra. I danced for three years in Ibiza and in Greece.

Layer by layer, I unfolded. I followed my inner child, my little girl who was full of talents and gifts to share with the world. As she revealed her pain I listened and held her in her pain. I listened to her stories of shame, abuse, humiliation and I held her so she felt protected, loved and cherished. That it was safe to be vulnerable and express her gifts again. I’m no longer frozen dancing. I’m whirling in the joy and existence of my body.

This feminine power that flows deep from within me. It was the courage of a new beginning that set me free. The voice of courage was wiser and deeper than the old ancient voice of shame. And she roared. She said, not now, not ever again. The fire of that inner courage unfroze me and awakened me. Now I empower myself and tap into inner power. Now I allow my inner power, grace and beauty to shine. Now I listen to my intuition and inner guidance. I flow moment to moment. I believe in my heart’s deepest desires and dreams. I follow sweet delicious feelings inside my fountain of joy. I open to the language of my body. I open to pleasure, sensuality and delight. In Ibiza, I unleashed every wild, waking moment inside of me. I set my inner soul free. I danced on cliffs, sang with stars, swam nude in the midnight ocean with the lunar light floating upon me. I did everything my wild soul wanted. And I drank in Ibiza. I drank her in.

I continue this journey with a woman who is wide awake, alive and open to all the strength that lives inside of her. This was the gift of the journey. To reclaim truth and a divine vision of myself. To not believe any longer the stories of a broken, damaged, less than woman.

Now when that voice asks me “who you do think you are?” I am vulnerable to it. I do not hide from it or let it control me. I open up and meet it, shake loose my hips and I reply, “I am a Goddess, dancing my truth. Join me.”

Awaken Your Inner Queen

December 29, 2014 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

It’s time. No longer are you a sleeping princess unaware of your power and beauty. You’ve grown up. You’ve been a warrior in battle and you’ve transformed yourself through challenges, scars, initiations and unimaginable experiences. I hear you. Your stories of devastating loss, Dark Night of the Souls, spiritual awakenings, healing, perseverance, fearlessness, and fighting through Ego and old emotional wounds to find a rainbow at the end of a storm. I know you. The path you have taken powerful, courageous woman. I bow to you. It’s time to take the throne. Feeling empowered, masterful, and free. You choose the life you want to lead. You choose the partner of your dreams. You choose how your deepest desires and dreams will manifest in this life.

What legacy will you leave? How will you mentor others? Who will you inspire? What gifts are leaping from your Queenly heart to shine out to this beautiful, bright world? 2015 is an 8 year. Executive energy. Leadership. Power. Strength. Goals. Long-scale plans. Stability. Queendom. We need your light. We need your life force. Awaken your inner power this year and HOLD it. EMBODY it. MASTER it. EMPOWER it. LEAD with it. Every moment has led you here. No more playing small. Open the ferocity of your soul.

Claim your power and AWAKEN YOU INNER QUEEN.

Be The Heroine of Your Life, Not The Victim

December 29, 2014 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

Transformation is in the air.

I feel it in my circle of friends, my family, priestess community, among my teachers. And I certainly feel it within myself. We are all in different stages of spiritual development. Like a butterfly cocoons, chrysalis, breaks free and transforms into a completely different creature than it was previously. This magical and often painful journey requires learning, crisis, growth, transition and transformation. In terms of women today, we too are journeying through layers of ancient stories and birthing a new way of being, a new story. While some women are living an old story, some women are finishing up writing the old story. Some are in a Sacred Pause or have begun to flow within the Co-Creative Wave, and some of brave, courageous souls are actually writing a New Story.

The old stories are old and ancient and speak of a time when we were victims of violence, war, poverty and discrimination for 5,000 years. We have been collectively carrying the wounds of generations of women for so long. Too long. Now in this lifetime we are being asked and guided to let them go. In the old story, we internalized shame and felt this shame about our bodies. This story we have been telling ourselves is an illusion and a lie. It is distorted and disconnected perspective on sexuality. It is disconnected from the juicy, vibrant goddess that lies with each of us, who knows she is whole and has a divine purpose to bless and heal the earth and all beings with her love, sensual, erotic, passionate and compassionate nature.

We now have a choice to change this story around.

Our new choices demand that we connect to the power and protection of the Divine Feminine within us. To our beautiful bodies, emotions and to nature. If we can relate to the Great Mother, to Gaia, the Goddess in any way, shape or form, we may have a better chance at getting to the New Story. What does this look like? Having values based on nature, ecology, collaboration, cooperation, harmony, wisdom, love, compassion, respecting the wild, loving with an open heart, abundance consciousness, beauty and radiance. Some women are waking up and discovering that their old story is falling away, and they can let it go more easily than ever before. They can no longer relate to it as who they are, and they recognize the signs that are telling them to release it and heal. Some women have done the work of releasing the old story and find themselves undefined. In a holy moment, a Sacred Pause of a Great Void. She is pregnant with possibilities for a new way of being, relating to herself and to the world. She is becoming her own sovereign, listening to her inner queen who is ready to rise towards a life based on the sacred feminine: an inner life shaped by connection to her body, the earth, her emotions, self-belief, self-love, self-care, nurturing, inner beauty and service to the community through her wisdom.

In this phase of her transformation, she needs rest, renewal, and a nurturing of her life-force energy and a reconnection to the sensual. Some women have caught and are beginning to ride the Wave of Co-Creation. The impulse and vibration of change is in the air for them, and they are ready to find a new way to be in their bodies. Dancing, moving and desiring a freedom of movement that allows desire to rise up into power. In this dance they are feeling the vitality and shakti of feminine flow in harmony with Gaia and the Goddess within. Some women are in the forefront, writing the New Story for the Feminine because they have been living it all along. The entrepreneurs, healers, prophetesses, tantrikas, shamans, oracles, priestesses and teachers who walk their talk in all areas of their lives.

The New Story is embracing this Divine Goddess within.

Imagine a woman who gets to choose her life’s experiences. She is no longer attached only to her light nature and limited by her dark nature, her shame, taboos and failures. She no longer fears being abandoned by a man while living in a world of masculine ideals and expectations. She no longer believes that purity is the only path towards the Divine. She is whole. She has lived and is integrating her her dark and light natures. She in balance with herself. Imagine how controversial this would have been in medieval times—in fact, it remains controversial in so many societies even today who do not receive a cherie a woman like this. A sovereign. A Goddess. In the old story we were split apart. We were not whole. You might recognize it as “slut-shaming,” the Madonna-Whore complex and the curious treatment of the Magdalene. Patriarchal religions did not allow the freedom of woman to be determined by her understanding of Self and the Sacred. Shaktism and Tantricism, paganism, mystic Judaism, Shamanic traditions, nature based practices and Goddess spirituality do allow this. And they also allow for the Divine Masculine to be a counterpart to the Divine Feminine.

We are one. That is new path. That is the new story.

These women who are transforming, evolving, healing, learning and growing; have rejected a worldly life where she was once a captured woman rejecting herself, her intuition and her instincts. She may appear as the single mother, the divorcee, the widow, the crone—a woman who has simply rejected her reliance upon a male energy as her only source for love, approval, affection and salvation. There is a deep, dark wisdom to all of this. The stages of feminine development. In the sacred pause of transformation, when you are alone and scared, fear not as others have gone before you. The Holy Sophia. Dhumvati, and of course Mary Magdalene. She is formless. Smoke. She is the Hermit, She is the Wandering-Sage, She is the Woman Unafraid to be Alone and Unprotected as She moves through the World. To reclaim her truth, her values, her power, her life, her song, she will sacrifice it all. She’ll burn herself down to ashes. And then she’ll rise up again, unashamedly to the rest of the world singing softly in their ears, “Wake up wake up.”

Living A Life With Purpose

December 3, 2014 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

Do you know someone who has a clear personal mission – who acknowledges their talents and uses them intentionally to achieve important goals?

Do you also know someone who lives reactively and aimlessly – i.e. with no long-term purpose other than daily survival?

At the end of your life, which of these lifestyles would you rather have experienced?

Can you say out loud now why you’re on Earth?

What are you trying to do with your life, gifts, and energy?

Some people learn this early in their years, and others much later. And some never do. Key factors in discovering your true life mission or purpose are intentionally (1) empowering your true Self to guide your personality, and (2) developing personal and social awareness. As your life experience grows, your sacred mission (what you never tire of doing) will become clear and attract supporters and clients to you. People who haven’t identified their life purpose are probably dominated by a false self so far, and live in an environment that doesn’t nourish or nurture their dreams. Once again, this is a choice, You can choose a path of self-discovery to explore your talents and gifts and ask your higher self to reveal what is for your highest good and the highest good of your beautiful soul.

The Power of Joy

November 30, 2014 by Zinnia Sophia Leave a Comment

“When everything seems to be going against you,
remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”

~ Henry Ford

Getting divorced was the hardest experience I’ve had up until now. It was frustrating, emotionally crippling and felt like spiritual abandonment. The experience forced me to face my darkness and to face what choices had brought me to this moment. Why I had separated with a partner who I had pledged to spend a lifetime with. I do not commit easily and when I do, it’s for deep soul partnership. When that dream shattered, I became lost.

I was fortunate to have the strongest weapon in my spiritual arsenal during that time period. My faith. I used the melancholy time to go inward and reflect. I committed to feeling the pain, understanding the pain, cleansing myself consciously and journaling every day. While all of that that helped me intellectually, nothing touched my soul the way that joy would. It was a journey I was meant to go through and it changed my life and gave me soul purpose in a way that nothing else had the power to.

At some point in the divorce process, I decided I wanted re-invent myself and change my career direction. I was an advertising executive working in San Francisco and New York. I began to dream of a life I’ve always wanted but was scared to pursue. One year in the Mediterranean. I imagined a life in Spain. I listened to flamenco music and Cafe del Mar all day long, I had vision boards of “My Life In Spain” in my house and at work, I listened to my intuition on places to visit that matched my inner desires, once I arrived there I networked and created trustworthy relationships with people who lived in a magical island called Ibiza.

For months I journaled through my resistance and transformed doubt and worry into passion and purpose. I channeled the joy I felt about this life. When I journaled about the possibilities of this experience, there were so many voices that cautioned me out of it. What will my parents say? What about my full-time job? I trusted the words that poured out of my soul. I followed that. I trusted my inner voice and my inner vision. I chose that. After hundreds of pages filled with the voice of a woman’s whose soul had been set on fire, I had discovered the ability to follow the voice of my soul consistently and discern between soul and ego. My body was tingling all over. My heart was pounding and I felt excitement and passion flow again through my veins. I had laid down plans for a new vision for my life. My deepest longings and desires to dance at festivals and concerts the way I once had when I was young girl. To swim in moonlight and dance across the shore of an ocean. I wrote down all the possibilities. I arrived in Ibiza with money to live there for a few months, retreat and rejuvenate. I took long meditative walks in nature, spent time meditating on my desires, enrolled in belly dancing classes, painted and wrote poetry. In other words, I connected with a beautiful, sacred and magical part of me. I was not only dancing at healing festivals and concerts and weddings again, I was dancing with life.

I had found joy.

After the first year of discovering joy, I knew I had tapped into a fountain of power and it had regenerated me. Now, how to maintain that power? This was to be my next learning. I created a daily manifestation practice as well as a seasonal one where I trained my mental powers and physical body. I made decisions based on my core values, spoke my truth even when that meant disappointing others. I took inspired action, believed in my worthiness and deservedness to receive all my heart’s desires and became a leader of my community.

The result?

I ended up living on a magical island for 3 years, developing a sacred dance practice, life coaching business and a wisdom school to mentor young women. Every year I felt stronger, eating fresh salads and fruits, swimming in turquoise Mediterranean waters, running 12 kilometers three times a week on an ocean road, learning new spiritual skills, belonging to a sacred community who embraced me. I had learned how to take care of myself again and belong. And not make my partner responsible for filling those needs for me. I marketed my dance company in the Mediterranean and was invited to dance in Greece. I danced with famous sacred musicians who taught me the value of joy through dance, song and music. I was so connected to my personal power and what I could manifest with that. By this point, I felt I had fulfilled all my wishes.

I looked back on my vision board I had created three years ago and I wept. I had achieved everything I wanted. A life based on music and dance, strong community relationships, and feeling beautiful inside and out. I felt very abundant. But there was something missing.. Something was still holding me back. There was resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness. I had to learn to let that go. If I was going to have a beautiful relationship with myself – clean and pure – I had to let go of old emotional programming.

The divorce was final. The courts had signed the papers. I was a free woman. I called my ex-husband and I wished him well. I let him know that I would always be here should he need anything and that I honored our friendship still. I gave both of us the gift of forgiveness. And I gave myself the gift of self-acceptance and peace with my past.

Once I did that, the magic began again. And a new set of opportunities presented themselves to me. I was done with my three year retreat on the magical island of Ibiza. I had finished the lessons life was teaching me. It was time to learn a new challenge. Now, a new career is now opening for me. To teach sacred dance, online empowerment classes and open a wisdom school to mentor priestesses in training. My new dream is to spread these rich teachings globally to women. Some are transitioning from a relationship, some have been abused or mistreated and some just desire more abundance from life. I have a message for these women, “Yes, joy exists, After everything you’ve known falls apart, it is this one thing that can save you. And you have this power within you.”

Here are my top 5 tips on how to connect with your power:

Trust your inner voice Envision your ideal life, desires and dreams. How do you feel? What are the things you want to do the most now? Let your voice flow and listen. Feel the quality of freedom of being able to do this. Journal to connect consistently to this voice.
Claim your personal power Believe in your worthiness. Write down all of the goals you’ve already achieved this year. Character traits you love about yourself. Read this list over and over. They key here is to believe in yourself and go after your dreams!
Manifest your dreams You can manifest anything by getting clear. Clarity cuts through confusion. Get clear on how your perceptions. Get clear on your imagery. Get clear on your expectations of your life. Feel into the possibilities of the picture you’ve just created.
Transform pain into wisdom Master how to change one form to another form. Transform depression into expression of life. Transform deep loss and regret into life lessons and joy. Shape-shift your career into your spiritual mission and life path.
Own your magnificence The world needs your brilliance, joy talent, grace and radiance. Hold the vision of your life, sing your soul song out to the world and be a light.

Joy is a practice. You have to practice it every day. Joy is based on pure desire. Desire it. Long for it. Claim it and own it. Not only will you attract and magnetize to yourself the life you want, but a life that you deserve.