What is your morning ritual to cultivate clarity and grace (self care must do’s)?
I begin each morning with gratitude and prayer before I get out of bed. Whether I speak it out loud or in silence or write it down, saying "thank you" is a must do and I do my best to recall the messages that came forth in my dreamtime too. I feel blessed that often I receive a special morning delivery from my Beloved Shems, of either coconut water and lime or turmeric/ginger/lemon tea (or both, all local from Maui) since he is most always up before me and I'll make it for us on the rare occasion I'm up before him. Nourishment is a must.
Once out of bed, my morning ritual is to show up for myself to connect with my breath, body, spirit and to connect with Nature. What actually happens can look different depending on if I'm at home, traveling or what I'm currently devoted to and focused on. This can range from simple empty presence meditation to kundalini yoga to dance to breathwork and can be 15 minutes or a couple hours.
I do love to get up with the beauty of the first light if possible and walk on the beach and swim or practice yoga or Qi Gong or I'll go outside to our rooftop deck and greet the ocean and practice there. More often than not, my daily practice is a 40 day Kundalini yoga kriya or meditation. In my online offerings we do this together as a global sisterhood 4-5 times a year. We've just started one that supports the rising of leadership with self love and womb sovereignty. And I'm currently devoting my 40 Day practice to #StandingRock.
And a delicious, nurturing breakfast is a must for me.
Who do you believe is your spirit animal and why? (optional)
I love this question. I have a several. There are some that show up for a time and then leave and others that are with me always. The first animal totem I connected with was the mythical Unicorn at a very young age and then the Raven when I was a teenager, which was part of a powerful awakening in Nature whilst on a 'solo' in a Leadership Training for a Camp that was based on First Nations traditions on Vancouver Island. Raven and Unicorn are both animal spirits for Magic.
The White Owl the spirit animal that has been my main totem for the past several years who visits me regularly on Maui at times of great poignancy and synchronicity. I feel her ally-ship and guidance strongly. She is the carrier of keys who travels between the worlds to deliver messages from the spirit world to the physical world and from the physical world to the spirit world.
Other spirit animals I am deeply connected with are Serpent, Wolf, Whale, Dolphin, Jaguar, Hummingbird and Dragon for the gifts of transmutation, wisdom, sacred song, play, integrity, joy and alchemy.
What is the true essence of “Goddess Rising” and what inspired you to create this platform for women?
The essence of Goddess Rising, as a Sisterhood, is to transform how we relate to each other from competition and comparison to collaboration and celebration. To create, cultivate and sustain sacred connection and support whilst navigating this journey of life.
With this foundation, as a Mystery School Temple, Goddess Rising serves to reconnect women with their wild and sacred selves through the remembrance of their lunar rhythms, the power of their womb, and the goddess mysteries to rise in empowered living and leadership with pleasure, passion and purpose.
This creation of this was simultaneously inspiration and divine assignment. All was revealed to me, one step at a time. When I reached a place of healing within my own womb space of intensive menstrual cramping, that my cramps were also the collective cramp, and the way to the other side was through the pain, I knew that I needed to share this with other women. To support their individual journeys.
This was at the same time of coming into an empowerment within myself in my relationships with other women, to support and celebrate on another and to step out of the disempowering game of separation, gossip, jealousy. I knew somehow that a sacred space for women was going to be birthed through me. And felt the call to create a platform for the Goddess to truly RISE through all of us, to return to the ancient ways and for the power of the Divine Feminine to work her magic into the physical.
I felt and heart the soul whisperings in late 2011. Then on the first day of 2012 I had a profound experience at Amma's Ashram in India guiding a New Year's workshop for women, where I knew that everything from then forth, and all of my training was to be in focused with devotion to the healing and empowerment of women.
I didn't know what it was going to look like or when it was going to happen. Later that year I took a business course and then had the transmission of Goddess Rising through my body and found the URL. In January of 2013 I held my first Moon Goddess Workshop in Mexico and my first full retreat in Greece in July. And it's been growing ever since....
Name one muse that continues to inspire you?
Always, Amma. Always. She is my muse, my teacher, my sister, my guru, my spiritual mother. Her whole life is devoted to Love and Service, continually offering her whole Self to uplift humanity. It is said that Devi comes.
What is your daily ritual to stay connected and in the creative flow?
Breath and my mantra. Music and movement. Dance and play. Stillness & Presence. And it's different for me, depending on the phase of the moon cycle. I am guided by my inner rhythms to move and dance when needed, rest when needed, take action when needed. And I love my tea!
What makes you feel Graceful and Victorious?
Expressing myself through dance, sacred self care, prayer through voice and activism and guiding women in reclaiming their super powers! I feel victorious when I am serving and on my purpose out of loving devotion.
Describe the feeling you wish women to feel during your ceremonial offerings?
Safe, accepted, connected, inspired, empowered.
How has ceremony and Ritual altered your life and when did it begin?
This is an interesting one for me. I'm not sure it's completely altered my life, because I feel it's always been with me in some way, but it has evolved. Ceremony first began for me at young age during the Potlatch ceremonies I used to attend. There was always a sense of mystery and magic for me and I also felt so at home. Since my early twenties, without anyone telling me how or why, I began to offer my moon blood to Mother Earth. This, along with other blood mystery rituals has created and sustained a very deep and powerful connection for me with Mother Earth, with Great Spirit and my intuitive gifts. This also healed the extreme symptoms I used to have during my moon time, when I menstruated.
What are your personal rituals in regards to the New Moon and Full Moon phases?
At the new moon, I set new intentions with our Global Sisterhood and have been hosting this free ritual for 30 moons now. Though this is for our sisterhood, it is also a way of me personally serving, which is important.
At new moon I often paint, draw or dance my theme or intentions for the month. I will bury or place on the earth my crystals (esp my yoni crystal).
At the full moon I love to make flower essences and I put out my crystals to be charged up. These are some of my base rituals, but each new and full moon ritual is somewhat different because I'm creating it based on the energy and astrology of the moon (which is why the moon rituals I send out to our global community are always different).This is part of magic and power of the moon, that even in the same phases that take place over and over, each new and full moon has a unique energetic feel and medicine to her. In my personal new moon, meaning, the time that I bleed. I always offer my moon time blood to the earth, which was shared earlier, as well as create sacred self care by being off my computer and phone as much as possible, being in Nature, and in the quiet and stillness. And then of course, there are some personal moon rituals that must remain a mystery...
What is your current Mantra, Prayer or Affirmation that you pull up for support? (when you feel lack, depleted or low)
Most often, I go to my personal mantra, which was giving to me by Amma in 1997. These personal mantras are only between teacher/guru and student/disciple, so I can't share what that is.
Currently, when I translate an energetic feeling that I'm carrying, and translate it into a mantra, it would be this, "I trust in the rhythms of life and am supported in all ways. The universe has my back."
What does living in the Aquarian Age look like for you?
For me this about embodying/living my fullest potential, uniting spirit and flesh. My life is a living prayer. For me, there is no separation between spiritual life and householder life. They are one and the same. This means doing the laundry, gardening and meditating. It means chopping the veggies with my mantra. It's utilizing technology in a conscious way to share my message, art and teachings, to connect with our global family and accomplish the work we were set out to do to collectively raise the frequency of love and consciousness to the masses.
It looks like having a glass of wine and chocolate when I will appreciate it and chanting for world peace on a daily basis. Om Lokah Samastah Sukino Bhavantu is one that I use A LOT. Which means, "May all being be happy and at peace."
In your opinion, what is the most powerful thing we can do together as women on this similar path to create real impact in our communities, families and cities?
Cultivating consistent connection in a sacred way. When we connect in love, hold space and support each other, keeping each other accountable to our commitments, desires and dreams, we are indeed creating powerful impact locally and globally and fulfilling our individual and collective dharma.
What are you grateful for in 2016 and what are you really excited about for 2017?
2016. Big year. And it's still not over. I'm am deeply grateful to have co-created with Joanne Ameya, our first ever Moon Temple Facilitation Training and our Temple Woman of over 100 pages of powerful content for woman to rise in their leadership. This training has been so beautiful, edgy and potent. These incredible women who will graduate soon and complete their certification are then the first wave of Moon Priestesses to be a part of our Goddess Rising Moon Temple Collective! This is a this vision I've held dearly for sometime and now it's blooming to life.
The training was birthed this year and then our Moon Temple Collective will be officially birthed in 2017 (our Instagram account is @goddessrising_mooncollective, for anyone that wishes to stay connected with all the women who are sharing their gifts and moon medicine with Red Tents and Moon Temples around the globe).
On a personal level, I am deeply grateful for deepening relationship, love and partnership I share with Shems. We share a bought a home together a few months ago (which is HUGE) and we have been 'summoned by the universe' to co-create together to offer Empowered Loving courses/journey/retreats together for couples beginning in 2017. I'm very excited for what we are concocting right now, to be served up next year. It feels timely and so needed. I've been asked my so many women for this, and I'm overjoyed to be able to share that it's in the creation phase!
In numerology, 2016 is 9 year, which is all about universal brotherhood/sisterhood and completions and 2017 is a 1 year. So, another cycle coming to an end and beginning. I feel excited about the Mystery right now, as there is much that is stirring in the cauldron that will be revealed when it's ready.
With Aloha,
Achintya Devi