  I’ve just returned to the United States from The Spirit of Tengri festival in Kazakhstan. What a powerful celebration of culture! Dancing in circle with the Kazakh people touched me deeply. Sharing sacred dance on stage with Karavan Sarai is truly an honor. This moment connected me back to myself and my ancestral lineage. Our voyage spoke deeply to my intuitive knowing. I heard the whispering of these ancestral lands. Do you want to know what the ancestors told me Beloved? They told me to be courageous. They told me to honor my lineage, and empower others to connect to the ancient pulse of life felt within. Listen as I share my story. I’ll bring to life for you how I’ve aligned with my soul’s purpose. I manifest in alignment when I courageously speak my truth through the grace of my ancestors. You can too Beloved. Are you ready to reclaim your ancestral heritage? Reclaim your ancestral empowerment beloveds. Now is the time to courageously clear your ancestral karma my love. I want to empower you with this teaching to live your truth. Kazakstan is close to my own ancestral roots, both geographically and energetically. My ancestors are Azeri. Azeri is our native language. Iranian Azerbaijan is the NW portion of Iran. It borders Iraq, Turkey Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. If you are a lover of Rumi then you will know his master Shams of Tabriz. Tabriz is the most populated city in NW Iran. Of course, I am Shams as well. The Azeri minority are revered people. Farah Diba was the last Empress of Iran. She was Azeri and we share her name. We are connected to this beloved icon as family friends. I carry this exquisite lineage. This is my deep central asian blood line. My ancestral karma echoes in my being. My Story I was conceived two months after my mother had a traumatic experience fleeing Iran. She was pulled out of her native place and her Indigenous understanding. When the revolution happened in 1979 my father was in a top notch brain surgeon training in Germany. He carried the intention of returning to Iran to set up a practice there. Like many others, my parents had no concept of what an Islamic state would be like. My mother returned home to Iran with my brother. She had come to set up a family home and begin a new job, awaiting my fathers eminent return. Within a week the Iraqis attacked. The telephone lines were down. There were no lines of communication My grandmother realized a complete shut down was on the horizon. My mother and brother may not have been able to ever see my father again. They needed to get out of Iran fast if that was even possible. She got on a bus. The bus driver ensured my mothers safety, along with a pregnant woman. It was very dangerous to say the least. They drove up towards Turkey along the border, hiding during the day time and traveling under the cover of night. There were many bombings happening on this Western border of Iraq. My father couldn’t reach any of his family. There was no way to communicate with Iran. You can imagine his concern. My mother rode this bus through Anatolia, and into Ankara. She finally was able to call my father after five days. My mother finally made it back to Cologne via Bulgaria with my brother. Reunited with her beloved, but torn asunder from her ancestral land. Thus far living in Iran was joyful. My mothers life was full of love, warmth and community. My family was secure and abundant. When my mother moved to Germany initially with my father it was just a few years after WWII. The holocaust had left many Germanys cold, frozen and guarded in their trauma. My father as an emergency surgeon worked all the time leaving my mother alone for much of the week. She had to learn German on Sesame Street with my brother if you can imagine. Not knowing if she would ever return to the beauty of her ancestral place tore her apart. I was conceived just two months after the onset of the Islamic Revolution. My mother processed this trauma with me in her womb. She was plagued by fear for her family. After all, you never know what can happen in a war zone. The anxiety was palpable. This was my experience in utero. I get emotional just telling you about this. I have always felt this sense of displacement. This is my ancestral karma inherited from my mother’s displacement. I grew up in the diaspora. My substitute family became a community of people who went through that same story. We shared this collective trauma. My parents were the lucky ones. We were set up with my father's German education in neurosurgery. However, many of my friends parents were educated people in Iran, but in Germany they were relegate to be taxi drivers. Their degrees were not acknowledged in Germany. Everyone was my Auntie and Uncle. Their children were my cousins. This theme of displacement left us kids confused. Germans are only similar to Iranians in the fact that your education and work are central in life. The values of emotional relating, duty to your family and many social constructs we cherish are not part of German culture. The level of politeness of Iranians clashed with the abrasiveness of German culture at this time. I felt out of place growing up in Germany. In Germany we were always outlanders. We never integrated. We were social outliers. We were ok, but we were reminded that we were other. We were not German. To have such a strong Iranian name, not Sarah or Mona, made me resent my heritage at this age. My name was so unusual. My family even cut our name in half, and just called ourselves Diba. Yet, we are Shams Diba! We did this to accommodate Germans, and make it easier for them of course. I count myself so lucky to grow up in Germany. I had so many friends from all walks of life. Yet, I carried this feeling of not knowing where I belong. This theme of belonging is central to my life path. I am more very sensitive, very empathic. As a little girl I saw that the cultures of the east were warm and beautiful. Yet, they are so burdened and heavy also. There is so much expectation and social protocol for girls down to their mannerisms. What a girl can do and can’t do is heavily dictated. It is very patriarchal in these Sicilian and Anatolian working class families. You can see this even more so where there is a lack of education in immigrant communities. My experience with my educated Iranian family was more liberal, but I still was expected to be a “good daughter”. I was very sensitive and empathic to it all. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t intellectualize or verbalize what it was. I relate to the world emotionally and intuitively. Yet, the over intellectualization, and over emphasis of german culture, was very strange for me. These conflicting contexts did not always work well together. It took Iranians a long time to adjust their ideas of how to raise their kids living in Germany. They had to adapt to where they were living in many ways. I grew up with full on Persian culture. My parents made sure of this. We went to all the concerts, dance performances, cultural gatherings, we celebrated all the customs and rituals. Our home was full of Persian food, and Persian carpets. We spoke our languages, received spiritual guidance from our Persian traditions, (which are not muslim). Miniature art and all the beauty of Persian culture adorned my life. Our home was always open to community and to family. There was always enough for everyone. All of this rich and beautiful culture was kept alive. That understanding was in place. Every time I went to Iran I felt connected to the people. I felt that I belonged, that I was not an outlier. I felt roots with the land. I love Germany, but I did not feel this umbilical connection. My parents loved Turkey so we regularly went to Istanbul. There was this kinship. When I was in Turkey I had the sensation of completely blending in, or being absorbed despite my diaspora accent and mannerisms. I felt good about all of this, yet I needed to find out who I was without my ancestral karma. I ended up rejecting my heritage. I needed to be free to find myself. There was too much pressure. I have an autistic older brother. He was accepted, but I was expected to compensate for him. I was expected to fulfill the good Iranian child’s capacity because I was the one with full abilities. Letting Go I had to leave all of it behind. I needed to become my own person. I needed to let go and heal. I realized watching my dutiful mother that she carried so much sadness inside. She was weighted by a resigned bitterness. My beautiful mother like so many women never had a chance to live life fully on her terms. I didn’t quite understand it, but I knew that I could not live such a restricted life. I went to Iran regularly, after the Iraq war every two years, until I was sixteen. Every time I went to Iran I felt connected to the people. I felt that I belonged, that I was not an outlier. I felt roots with the land. I love Germany, but I did not feel this umbilical connection. My parents loved Turkey so we regularly went to Istanbul. There was this kinship. When I was in Turkey I had the sensation of completely blending in, or being absorbed despite my diaspora accent and mannerisms. Yet, at the same time I sensed deeply that I could not carry forward the burden of my ancestral karma. That was not the life I wanted for myself. I would not have restrictions placed upon my femininity, my sensuality, my sexuality, my choice of work or my choice of partnership. I was born to be free. I was determined to make my own choices I finished high school and could have gotten into medical school. That was such a disappointment to my parents because I could have so easily done it. The idea that my talent was a waste on someone like me. Everything I manifested to break free from my ancestral karma was by shear believing in myself. I went out and got a job in Germany selling newspaper subscriptions. I did catering work, distributed fliers, all the things. I made a crazy amount of money in just a few months! I took my destiny into my own hands. I didn’t take money from my parents thus opening my own financial portals. I came from a household where I was taken care of. Yet, I knew I had to break away and manifest my own life. I needed to breath. I needed to feel myself. I needed to ask, “who am I without all of this?” I left behind all the expectations to become a doctor or lawyer. I dropped all the expectations to date and marry certain types of men, to dress a certain way, to express a certain way. My parents loved me more than themselves. They thought these cultural prerogatives were what was best for me. My mom wanted me to live for her. When I left there was such a riff with my parents. I was told, “we sacrificed everything for you. We did everything our parents wanted, this is how you pay us back? I am always a good daughter, and you are not.” I didn’t take it on. I was 19, but I understood her pain. I understood intuitively what was going on. I had to go and find my way. I thought about going to India. The idea of going to another country where womanhood is contrived and controlled was not compelling. A Healing Place An emerald land in the middle of the south pacific called me. New Zealand beckoned me to her shores. I knew the land was going to heal me. New Zealand’s strong Maori culture runs deep, yet the land feels fresh. It didn’t seem to have the same collective karmic burden created by ancient civilizations. There was something about the lightness in the quality of the land that was deeply healing. I had no idea what I was doing. I bought a van and live out of my van in NZ. I had the courage to trust. I would sleep on beaches by myself. Go on hikes by myself in nature for the first time. It healed me. I got in with the spiritual community. I stayed with hippie communities, gardening, woofing, making medicines, stayed at a yoga ashram. I started bellydance. My life in NZ was all roots, organic and down to earth. It was all on my terms. Iy was a revelation and it was magical. I was aligned with grace. It shifted me. I didn’t dream of another life anymore. I was living the life I wanted. I followed my intuition. This was the only way for me. I fall into anxiety and depression if I am not living my life aligned with spirit. This new way of living healed me. New Eyes Then I applied for herbal college in NZ. I went back to German, but I made it clear I wasn’t staying. I was living on a camp ground out of my van when I was in school. Eventually, it was time to find a home. I thought now it’s time to find a home in NZ. The first place I looked at was a woman who loved world music and Eastern music. She had travelled in the east, and set up her home on the inside like a Bedouin tent! We met and it was sparks and magic. We were perfect flat mates to each other in NZ. She was one of the most precious beautiful beings. She had such a heart for the east. She loved me for me, but also because of my background. She embraced me and shared with me her delight for eastern culture. That was the first time I met a westerner who appreciated eastern culture. She truly appreciated my heritage. Her celebratory perspective helped me to rediscover and reclaim my own heritage. Germans were not really that into the oriental culture in my experience. So this was a bit of a revelation to me. Then studying herbal medicine in NZ also awakened me to the profundity of my culture. Ancient Persia’s contributions to medicine and astronomy, herbs and alchemy helped me also to reconnect to my roots. Even the lineage of my family comes from renowned ancient physicians of Persia. Having this space to reflect back gave me new eyes to appreciate my ancestors. One day I found myself in a book store. I stumbled across some Persian miniature art and broke into tears. Weeping I bought the art and placed in upon my altar. Concerts and festivals helped me find an outside appreciation for my culture. I saw my culture anew. A Place to Stand I also started to bellydance at that time. I was the only one with oriental roots who actually was doing this dance in NZ. I realized what an advantage this was because I was able to connect to the heart of the dance so naturally. The quality of bellydance was rooted in my DNA. I am truly able to embody bellydance. I don’t believe in race or separation. I believe we’re all children of the earth. However, we carry our ancestral karma in darkness and in light. I was also very connected to the Maori culture. They are all about lineage. In Marori culture, you have to know where you come from in order to know where you’re going. Tūrangawaewae is your standing place on the earth. It means, a place to stand. If you have a place to stand then you can do anything, you can be anywhere. It is literal, but is it is also transcendent. Tūrangawaewae has to do with your lineage, and land. Amazingly, their Maori word for land is the same as placenta. They always praised me saying, “You have that. You know you're lineage. You’re rooted in culture.” Dancing with my Ancestors At this time in my life the art, the music and the dance all came flooding back to me in my heart. All it took was for me to take ownership. It was always there. I just had not taken pride and ownership in my culture. Th moment I integrated ownership and pride something happened. Now, I can feel that my ancestors are so happy that I let them walk behind me. They are by my side. I kept pushing the away. My ancestors are happy that I'm dismantling the social conditioning. They support me in saying no to oppression, all the while keeping the culture alive. This is the purpose of my incarnation in this life. Everything I had experienced played into this bigger picture of untying my ancestral knots so I can truly dance. Sometimes we have to remove ourselves from a situation to be able to change it. I am doing this healing work for all the women in my family. This is my divine plan. This is my sacred story. I feel my ancestors hands on my back since I took ownership of my ancestral lineage, and karma. I feel so supported. If I fall backwards they will catch me. Even talking about it I can feel it. I did not have this support before when I divorced myself from my roots. Reunited with my Mother I went to Turkey with my mom for the first time as an adult. We went to see the dervishes, folk dances, bellydances, and sacred sites. Turkey is a place where we’re invited into the family. We’re seen as the same. My mom always would say to me. :I always get butterflies when I fly to Turkey and Iran. I feel finally I belong again.” This was the first time I felt that with her. I said, “Yes me too. I feel that too.” We had tears in our eyes. Finally we were not displaced people in the diaspora. Rather, we were accepted and belong. Have strong boundaries with your ancestors. I saw a lot of things that were not working well in my lineage. My mother had to override all of her needs to be there for everyone else. She was over burdened, and would not speak her needs because it was disrespectful. I would implore her to say no. We must listen to our bodies. We must connect to that which creates harmony in our being. Body based spirituality helps us navigate life. Having our awareness around our body as our central navigation system is the way of discernment. Listen to your body. Listen to you intuition. Drop into sensitizing to the truth in your body Beloved. You will begin to actually feel what arises from conditioning, and fear, or what is authentic to us. Observe your sensations. This happens for everyone in the present moment, but it is also a unique experience for everyone at the same time. I hold space for all of this in my workshops and retreats. Clearing Ancestral Karma There are ancestral themes that all women have in common. We can all clear our wombs. We can create a sacred space where everyone can share. Then we heal and clear together. There are different stories, but then we all come into unity through our shared story. We heal through unburdening ourselves, by seeing we are not alone, by expanding through another woman’s pain and courage. I had to grow into discernment of my cultural treasures and the ancestral burdens. I had to use the tools of therapy, nature, movement medicine, flower essences and all the things. I had to respond to and work through each layer of ancestral limitation and disharmony and samskara. How do we dismantle all of this? Step by step with great courage you will find healing. You can clear your ancestral karma for yourself, our ancestors and the generations to come. Having the tools and support is really important. My work is to help others own their own sovereign being and their individual makeup. I am not here to tell you what is appropriate or not. I am simply here sharing my own journey and the powerful practices that evolve from my transformation in a loving and compassionate way. Ask yourself, how can you be in alignment with what expands you're being? It’s about creating awareness and mindfulness. Conclusion I really feel nothing is a coincidence. This journey of transformation is part of my incarnation. It is my pain that has become my biggest gift. My life has been all about coming home within myself. This is reflected beautifully with my north node in cancer, my purpose in this lifetime being so much about the mother and home. My life’s circumstances lead me on this path of coming home to myself. I realize this truth more and more everyday. I have learned to honor my journey. I guide you to do the same. I will be sharing more content on how to connect with your ancestors Beloveds. I also have a beautiful new book coming out The Mystica's Guide to Sacred Space! I would love to share it with you. So please do sign up for my email list and I will send it to you as soon as it is released. Otherwise, I will see you at Spirit Weavers Gathering in Oregon this weekend. Halo and I will be in Crete for our annual Path of the Mystica Retreat in just a few weeks! The journey continues! 
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 Greetings Beloveds,
Blessings to you this Mother’s Day. This Mother’s Day take a moment to honor the Divine Mother that lives within you. You're healing will emanate outwards when you heal your relationship with the Divine Mother. You may find your own essential relationship with your mom also receives healing. Divine mother is the feminine manifestation of the divine. She is Adi Parashakti, Boomi Devi (mother earth) and Kuan Yin. Divine mother manifests in a myriad of forms as Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati. She is the wrathful grace of Kali, the divine personification of time. She is the most humble Radhe, the purest Sita and the surrendered Parvati. Just as the universe manifests in so many amalgamations so does Divine Mother. She whirls, twirls and manifests before us in so many enchanting ways. I ask you this Mother’s Day to honor the divine mother that lives within you. I invite you on a journey to heal your relationship to your body temple as a way to honor the feminine principle. Open the sacred door to connect with the feminine expression of divinity pulsing within you’re being. Imagine your body is a sacred space. Ponder that your body is a temple. The purpose of this temple is to honor the divine mother. Now, imagine you’re a great devotee of Ma (the universal creative force). How would you treat your body then? Would you worship every cell in your being? Would you adorn yourself with art and flowers? Would you sing and dance and whirl with joy? Or, would you desecrate yourself with vile messages? Invite in all kinds of wayward souls to wreak havoc? Would you let your temple fall into disrepair? Feed yourself with junk food? You’d realize your body was a temple and dedicated it to Ma. You’d worship within your temple with euphoric reverence for each and every breath. You’d rise in the morning to joyfully celebrate your experience of life. You’d create a sanctuary around you to honor the beauty inside. You’d develop rituals to savor the sweetness of her bounty. You’d hold yourself with infinite mercy and compassion. You’d protect yourself with so much love and affection. You’d shield your eyes from harmful aberrations. You’d bath yourself with tender loving care. You’d manifest a divine reality for yourself. You’d nourish yourself with deep wisdom. You’d heal yourself with great resolve. You’d delight in the senses. You’d labor joyfully. Healing our bodies is healing our relationship with the divine feminine. We are not only healing for ourselves, but we are healing for each other. In an age of Kaliyuga, ignorance and suffering, you may suffer from all kinds of body dysmorphia and self hatred. You were probably, like most women, conditioned by commercialism and patriarchy. We’ve all been rendered compliant in the quest to sell lots and lots of things with fear based tactics. You may have grown up with a mother who was conditioned to believe her worth hinged on her appearance. She inherited this subconscious belief from her grandmother, ad infinitum. You witnessed this as a child, and internalized this shame and pain, blocking you from wholeness. The vicious cycle continues. In a shadowy, patriarchal society most of us have been deeply conditioned to believe that there is a desirable body type and we’re not that! We believe that if we had perfect skin, the right body shape, big lips and eyes, a small nose (and on and on) then we’d be successful and loved. We may even believe that to be loved we must be beautiful. This is simply not true. We may even harbor these subconscious beliefs and not know it. There is no one to blame for this. Everyone is doing the best they can. In the age of Kaliyuga we are right on time. We’re not victims. Rather, we’re empowered agents of change in this divine unfolding. Our purpose in this life is to grow back into wholeness. And so the path of the Mystica begins. Set yourself free on this healing journey. Find what works for you. Seek out role models, guides, guardians and befriend goddesses. Find practices and therapies to dive in a heal unresolved traumas both minor and severe. Phase out toxic habits, practices, places, jobs and food. Create a nourishing lifestyle and show up for yourself every single day. You can heal your feminine shadow. This shadow of low self worth and victimhood has been carried by your ancestors for too long. You can clear out your wombs in meditation, shamanic journeys, flower essences, ritual, sacred dance or with hypnotherapy. You can untie the ancestral knots with taoist spiritual practices. You can find the oneness that emerges from knowing intimately our sublime self worth by not settling for less than the highest. Your body is your temple. You are the divine mother. Your value is inherent. Your worth is absolute. No one can give it to you. No one can take it from you. Now, you’re on a healing journey back into your wholeness. Now, you’ve reached out and acquired support and tools to deprogram the societal conditioning modeled by our caretakers. Now, we are returning to our divine selves. May I offer my personal journey of transformation healing my body as an antidote? I hope by sharing that I inspire you on your path to finding deep love and self acceptance for your body as a temple. Would it shock you to believe I also carried a distorted view of my body for far too long? I have been blessed with a beautiful body, but nothing black or white. Sometimes our biggest gifts can be our biggest challenge. When I tell friends or strangers about my experience with my body they are astonished. Our relationship with the mirror can be something so powerful. What I saw when I looked in the mirror was not my true reflection. Carrying around low self worth and self hatred left me in misery. I’ve healed myself through my dance and embodiment. I’m so happy to say that I have healed my relationship with my body through the feminine healing practices that I teach. I believe I was met with these challenges so that I could then guide others with deeper compassion on this same journey of self love and healing. Beauty is something to be experienced within, not a commodity to be possessed. When we see our own inner beauty then we can see the beauty in others as well. I choose to look for the inner beauty in every single woman that I meet. I do not seek out their flaws and fixate upon them. When I fall in love with all women then I fall in love with myself. This is the sacred mirror. I practice this everyday with loving compliments, and uplifting words. I share beautiful thoughts without a need to have them returned. My reward is seeing the light shine in others when their inner beauty if reflected back to them. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself how beautiful I was when I was suffering. The lines on my face represent my life experience, my wisdom and make me love myself more than ever. There is so much richness in these lines. I pray that you will see this in the lines of your face as well. My personal journey of healing has compelled me to ask, ‘What does it mean to be embodied? How can I live a spiritual life embracing the physical form?’ We’re embodied when we’re deeply aware of our sensational experience of life. We are embodied when we experience divinity intimately from inside our body temple. My body temple shines when I allow myself to be an innocent child receiving the blessings of Mother Earth. I allow myself to be nurtured by her: eat her fresh food, breathe in her clear air, bathe nude in her waters, bask under the sun, sleep close to the ground under the stars. As I receive the gifts of mother earth like a child I become sensually aware. In these moments I am embodied in the truth of my beauty. To be embodied means to embrace our human experience as the sacred feminine. This means that we perceive, sense, witness and taste sensations as they arrive in the space of our awareness. We recognize the energy we fell in our bodies as sacred too. We can then direct our energy with divine intentions. We truly learn to appreciate our bodies as a microcosm of the macrocosm and experience it in that way through dance, ritual, yoga or any number of spiritual modalities. We’re able to come into contact, explore and experience life intimately. A wonderful tool to being with is to work through the elements. We can recognize these elements in our own bodies and then connect ourselves as part of the universal whole, and even begin to expand our being. Working mindfully with the elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether in our own body temples through ritual is illuminating. We can invite in a divine beauty through our bodily experience of the sacred elements When we honor our bodies as sacred temples then the magic of the divine feminine emerges. If we harbor self hatred, if we do not heal our childhood wounds of shame, then we will be blocked from a sustained experience of the sacred feminine. This is the path of the Mystica. This path allows us to feel, sense, experience and embrace this world as sacred. You’re the divine mother. You’re a sacred channel. You’re the microcosm of the macrocosm. And yes, your precious body is a temple. Join us for the Path of the Mystica in Crete !!!  Greetings Beloveds,
What if art was your prayer? What if your body was a sacred vessel? What if your creative expression was medicine? What if your dance transformed our collective stories from suffering to freedom? I’m whirling with joy, and jet lag, as I contemplate these questions. I’m making my offerings in America after a month steeped in the magic of Bali. The nectar of Balinese ritual theater is still melting in my heart as I write this. My fresh experience of ancient magic is flavoring my present moments. Bali refreshed my passion for ritual living and sacred dance. Every one of us can access our creative potential through ritual dance. Nearly all Balinese people experience sacred dance and participate in rituals to sanctify life. You too can live artfully by introducing meaningful, heartfelt rituals into your life. You don't need to be an artist or a dancer on stage. Connect with the divine through sacred dance at home. Liberating your creative expression into your everyday life will empower you. Try taking five minutes for some movement medicine in the morning. You don't have to be an accomplished artist to live artfully. Life becomes magical when we translate the way we live into a work of sacred art. Receive the blessings of sacred dance. Sacred dance is more than just entertainment. Experiencing devotional art is like receiving a gift. Sacred dance as performance is a shared, transformative experience for both the artists and the audience. Let sacred dance be like medicine for your soul. What if we collectively carried a deeper understanding of sacred dance together as a community? What if we came together to experience the transformative power of ritual theater? How would that impact our world? I want to encourage this line of inquiry because it hints at a new possibility. Ritual dance has the power to lift the veil. Ancient cultures remind us of the greater significance of ritual dance. Yet, modern dance icons show us that there is a place for ritual dance theater in modern culture. You need only look to dance pioneers like Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, or her student Martha Graham, to understand the influence of ritual dance theater now. These great artists introduced sacred dance back into western culture. What a gift! Dance is for healing and magic. Ritual dance is an invitation to reflect in a sacred mirror. We offer our embodiment of universal archetypes, gods and goddesses on the altar of transformation. The dancer and the audience both are healed and transformed through the shared experience. The possibilities are infinite in ritual dance. Ritual dance taps into a profound power when designed as a prayer. Ritual sanctifies life. You will open to receive profound beauty when you imbue your dance with sacred intentions. This is the power of ritual dance. Ritual dance recognizes life as sacred. In sacred dance, you rise above material attachments and hope to find liberation. Aim for deeper joy and spiritual connection with your dance rituals. Infuse your movements with the divine reality. Sacred art soothes our soul’s deepest desires. Allow for the creative unfolding in the moment whether you're dancing at home alone, in a circle of sisters or on stage. Bringing presence, and mindfulness, to your movement is the key to unlocking the power of sacred dance. The magic of happens when you infuse your art with sacred intentions. If you're a performing artist then you may bring forward blessings for everyone to receive. Your audience receives this medicine and carry it forward. In this way, the essence of your art ripples outwards into the world. Have you felt your heart calling for a higher purpose expressed through art? In ritual art you defy the ugliness of the world. Ritual art is a cycle of creating that evokes transcendent beauty to heal and transform together. This is a profound and joyful path to liberation. If you feel called to embody sacred dance in your home practice or as a performing artist then come to peace with discipline. In all forms of dance we work hard. It’s a process of refinement towards a worthwhile result. This process of sacred dance is not about perfection. Sacred dance is about being an open channel. If you choose to share your dance with others there is an exchange of energy between you and the audience that can heal. As a sacred dancer you may be open to receive grace through a balance of discipline and surrender. Sacred dance is an empowerment. It takes showing up again and again to meet the dance. Dive into this process. It will burn away what is no longer serving you. Experience freedom in dance. Dance like the ancients danced. Your dance has the power to bring heaven to earth. Dance to unite Mother Earth with Father Sky. Dance to find harmony between the mud and the lotus. Dance to find the sacred in the mundane. Root into your ritual dance with a deep sense of nourishment. Look to the sky from a grounded space with great aspiration. Expanding outwards as you spiral through time and space. Whirling. In this way your art becomes your sadhana, your spiritual practice. You’ll be empowered with purpose through your embodied effort. Penetrate deeply into the heart of your dance. You’ll encounter your shadow as you peel back the layers of sacred dance. Light will fall on your inner critic as you burn away that which you‘re not. Your wounds are powerful opportunities for self exploration. Your shadow may manifest as lethargy in your home practice, performance anxiety, or difficulties in collaborative partnerships. Know that challenges are inevitable opportunities for expansion on the creative path. Unblock with compassion. How will you face the hidden parts of yourself that come forward in the dance? I hope you’ll meet yourself with infinite patience, and so much loving kindness and compassion. If you’re experiencing blocks then make peace with your shadow, your anxiety and fears. It's not often that pushing harder or forcing your way will result in a more abundant, expansive and creative flourishing. It’s the lotus flower that moves through the mountain with grace, floating peacefully on the flowing river. Take the first step on this journey towards becoming an empty vessel for sacred expression. Be willing to call in resources, guidance and practices to work through your creative blocks. Open to allow for divine energies to emanate from you. Burn away all that you're not. This is not about being technically perfect or skilled. It’s a journey of the heart and soul. Understand the value of your dance. Then you will carry it with reverence. Connecting to the deeper meaning in your dance will light a fire in you. Sacred dance is an experience to be felt rather than a goal to be achieved. There are so many rewards on this path so come out and dance with joy! If you’re still reading this then I trust your soul is longing to dance. This is your moment. Dance and doors will open. Dance with me at Lightning in a Bottle at the Living Village Culture!  If there is to be a future,
it will wear a crown of feminine design. ~Aurobindo Have you felt an inner passion blazing? Have you ever followed that thirst within to the source? I believe we all have an inner calling to experience the fullness of life. Can you hear it? When you listen deeply to your inner knowing then you'll begin to actualize your dreams. This is the process of divine manifestation on the path of the mystica. Get quiet and be present with your body wisdom and your intuitive knowing will guide you. Seek out rites of passage, despite the way slowly eroding in modern times. You are a mythological heroine on your quest to self discovery! Can you hear that affirming whisper within calling you to go deeper? Listen to that inner knowing singing about your inherent deservingness to live a beautiful and sacred life. How can we cultivate a space of deep listening and the inner qualities that will take us within? How can we find this innate skill of intuitive listening? Come with us on a journey and we will guide you to find out how! You’ll find a deep inner alchemy when you listen to that inner calling to find your path, your teachers, your sisters and your embodied practice. Transformation is possible when you surrender yourself to the call. Support your quest seeking out guides and guardian, experiences and sacred spaces. These elements create space for the alchemical fire to burn away all that is false so your authentic self may be revealed. Transformation appears in cycles and chapters. This path is not a linear one. We love to dance in beautiful circles after all. You’ll continue to blossom closer and closer to reveal your true essence overtime as you walk this path. You're a co-creator with life itself. Listen to the whisper of your soul and dance with the divine. Discipline and surrender, devotion and perseverance both have their place to keep you moving forward on this sacred quest of self discovery. There are moments when you may reach the top of a mountain after a determined ascension, take a deep breath and celebrate your breakthroughs. There are also moments on this journey when you find yourself stuck in the mud, needing a helping hand. You will learn to reach out and ask for support. It is your birthright to receive and be held. Every step is sacred. There are moments where you’re showered with blessings. You’re able to support your sisters and brothers on the path with your cup overflowing. Other times you’ll be given love that supports your wings taking flight in simple and magical ways. Sometimes you see the divine winking at you. Listen close enough and the wind will say, “yes this way, you're on the right path.” Other times you hear a loud siren warning you to reroute. You are shaken back on your path to retrace your steps. You rewind, renew, reflect and come back to finding your inner alignment. You continue to polish your diamond with prayer, inner alignment and hard work. The endless cycle of spiritual evolution goes on! What is written in the stars for you? You let go over and over again, surrender more and more to the divine unfolding. This continuous emptying out will create space in this ever new process of renewal. You dance closer and closer to that blazing fire of inner alchemy within. You feel the heat simmering within you on this journey. Yet, how do you discern between your egoic motives and a deeper knowing? It takes courage! You move, dance and whirl discovering again the inner light shining within. You’re being becomes infused with the experience of divine timing. Kismet connections, synchronicity and a sacred rhythm begin to guide you. You begin to feel a pulse coming from within animating your journey. You learn to cultivate a reverent patience as your body attunes to the natural harmony of life. You learn to trust the process and even delight in the mysterious unfolding. When you walk the path of the mystica you will know your deepest desires are divinely orchestrated. Your most authentic dreams are your birthright to fulfill. Are you ready to call in this aliveness? Are you willing to give all of yourself? Now is the moment to fulfill your part. This is the journey of the mystica, the yogini and the pilgrim of the earth. Can you hear the inner calling? Dance the path of the Mystica with me in Crete this June 17th to June 26th. Find our more HERE.   Namaste Bali Spirit Festival,
I’m touched to draw from my ancestral roots to share an integrated approach to the Sacred Feminine Arts in my format ‘Essence of the Feminine’ with Bali Spirit Festival. My sacred feminine offerings converge where two rivers flow together. I am an artist and a woman of two cultures. I feel like a bridge between worlds. I was raised at the crossroad between traditional Persian culture yet in Germany. My bicultural upbringing is my gift to embody and share with the world. My family's home was infused by the scents of saffron and rosewater, the intricacy of miniature art in paintings, objects, and carpets. Moments filled with messages from the Beloved were expressed in the wisdom of mystical poetry and music. I learned through osmosis. My parents left their home and families so that my brother and I would experience a peaceful upbringing with opportunities. I dedicated myself to making the most of this gift. My practice weaves together these threads on my journey to reclaim my femininity. I dance where the east and west meet. My expression carries an integrated message of both sovereignty and sensuality united together in the arms of the Beloved. I’m a global nomad, artist and teacher. I’m a pilgrim traversing the sacred, diverse world. I’ve experienced many places around-the-world. I keep encountering the same confusion about femininity, just in different ways: oppressive restrictions condition our feminine expression like in Iran. The concept of what is “taboo” for the feminine causes fragmentation and pain. In Germany, we celebrate rationality, intellectualism and the thinking mind. I personally experienced German culture as very masculine in my own experience. I felt the linear and rational bedrock of German culture neglected my deep, intuitive knowing as a woman. My personal journey of transformation allows me to hold space for the deep mysteries of the east, and the powerful freedoms of the west. Growing up in Germany gave me a sense of freedom, while my life’s blood instilled a deep love of spiritual beauty. I now offer healing in from this space of integrated freedom and sensuality. I felt confusion during my intercultural upbringing as a woman between worlds. An inquiry was sparked in my spirit when I observed the masculinization and rationality of women in Germany. The left brain, rational focus in German culture contrasted starkly with the mystical Persian poetry that rang through my childhood. Yet, my experience of freedom in the west illuminated the oppression of female sensuality in the east. I’m not saying western women are not sensual, but rather that women’s sensual expression is almost universally shamed. Societal norms always find fault and fragment feminine sexual expression in one way or another. To restore women’s sexual energy to a status of the greater creation cycle is key to harmonize the gender rift. I’ve resolved these layers of complexity by taking the middle path. I have married east and west, feminine and masculine within myself first. As I grow, so does my understanding of the dance between these forces. Over time, I’ve harmonized the perceived differences within myself between east and west. I eventually realized the gift of both cultures, and the freedom my position between worlds gave me. I unite what works best from both cultures in my offerings. I integrate the sovereignty of the west with the sacred sensuality of the east to create space for all forms of divine expression. My life was naturally infused with Persian mysticism since birth. Whispers of Rumi and Hafiz whirled through my childhood. Rumi’s beloved teacher was Shams of Tabriz. My family name is Chams and my parents are Tabrizi. The tapestry of my ancestral line is woven together with the richness of eastern spirituality, yet embedded in the global community. It’s a blessing to walk this path fortified by my mother and father. I share the beauty of eastern mysticism with the hand of experience in my offerings. In Persian mysticism, the state of longing plays a significant role. We’re all in a state of longing for union, to move from separation into wholeness. We yearn to become one with the Beloved again. For women, union and empowerment can happen when the heart and womb are finally connected. The union of feminine and masculine, matter and spirit, mundane and divine is found in the heart. My work is about the heart. It’s about the Beloved. It is about love. I hold circles just for women in order to create a safe space. We welcome men as well in our circle at the right moment in time. It is a comfortable space where everyone can relate. In all mystical traditions, our human body has the power to channel the forces of the feminine and masculine, the earth and the sky. We bring these two polarities together in the heart. I bring women and men together in the heart space between dualities. Persian mysticism conveys that our longing is universal. We realize that the Beloved is in everyone. When we meet ourselves in the face of another then transformation and healing is possible. Mine is a richly embodied offering. Immersing ourselves in these traditions from the root and the origin creates depth. My prayer is for you to receive a direct experience of the beloved in my performances and teachings. We can have instantaneous healing and transformation when we drop into a safe space with the right guidance, and our inner power sources turned on. These moments can have a long-lasting effect. I’m holding a space for you to redefine your womanhood in community. We’re bringing back the healthy feminine aspect that transcends all barriers. We’re retelling the story in a celebratory and healing way. If you are longing to unite with the Beloved then please join me at the Bali Spirit Festival for my Essence of the Feminine offerings. |