It’s been one hell of a ride. From crystal dildos and wombifestation, to becoming a spiritual activist, our Best of The Numinous 2017 charts a truly transformative year …
2// Use Your Birth Chart to Meet Your Shadow Self: In a year where we faced our collective shadow on oh so many levels, we learned how to come face-to-face with the skeletons in our cosmic closets …
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3// How to Master the Art of Wombifestation: With the focus on ways to shift to a more feminine paradigm, Latham Thomas revealed the real secret to the law of attraction …
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4// Date Night as Spiritual Practice: As part of her popular Holy F*ck column, Alexandra Roxo shared how to make date date a mirror for where you’re at on your spiritual path …
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5// Healthcare Vs. The Wellness Industry: As the wellness industry came in for yet more criticism, we asked: what’s worse, a broken healthcare system or the elitist wellness industry?
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6// What’s Your Asteroid Goddess Sign? As the Divine Feminine demanded to speak up and be heard, Rebecca Farrar showed us how to harness the full feminine force of the stars …
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7// 7 Things I Learned Starting a Crystal Sex Toy Company: Adding to the conversation about self-pleasure as a healing practice, Chakrubs founder Vanessa Cuccia shared the deep spiritual lessons of her entrepreneurial path …
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8// Shaman Durek Says Spirituality Is Just Common Sense: On a mission to put shamanism in the hands of the masses, Shaman Durekexplained how loving integration of our darkest places unleashes the power to heal ourselves …
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9// Mooners & Shakers Anniversary Edition: As we celebrated our one-year mooniversary, we celebrated the loving, empowering, and fearless community that is Moon Club …
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10// Did You Know You Have a Tarot Type? With Tarot becoming more popular than ever, Hayley Ed Houseman shared how to discover your tarot type, and start casting spreads that speak straight to your spirit …
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11// How the Patriarchy Made You Fear Goddess Day: A.k.a. Friday the 13th. Lucy North shared the real meainng behind this “spooky” day, along with simple ways to reclaim its feminine power …
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12// 9 Tips for Running a Spiritual Business: Teeing up her new “Ask a Spiritual CEO” column (launching Jan 2018), Maha Rose founder Lisa Levine shared how to mix some magic with your business mojo …
15// Why You Need to Discover Your “Ikigai”: With more people than ever questioning our contribution, Sushma Sagar shared the ancient Japanese art of Ikigai, or how to discover your life purpose …
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16// 8 Ways to Be a Spiritual Activist in 2017: In a year of protests and political resistance, Numi founder Ruby Warrington shared timeless insight into how peace begins with each and every one of us and the daily choices that we make …
As Mercury goes retrograde, the coming three weeks are the perfect time for some life laundry. For Victoria Cox, this meant asking: “am I living a lie?” Artwork: Aneta Ivanova via Behance.net
It’s an unsettling feeling to look back on the last decade of your life, only to discover that you’ve been living a lie. No, I haven’t recently been arrested for identity theft nor do I want to be the next Caitlyn Jenner. What I mean by living a lie is this: upon looking back at the arc of my burgeoning adulthood, I was astounded to discover that the career choices I had made, had never, in fact, been the choices I wanted to make.
There was no gun being held to my head. I made these decisions entirely voluntarily. Succumbing to my own burning desire to please others, I began to emulate a path that would impress my father. Abandoning my creative desires, I launched headfirst into a career in law.
Essentially, I took on what had been one of his ambitions and pursued his goal for myself. All, I can see now, in the hope that he would love me just a little bit more. Of course I didn’t realize what I was up to until much later in life, that’s the power of the subconscious mind. But there were signs along the way, tiny whispers asking if this was truly what I wanted.
Ultimately, it was finally paying attention to these signs that opened my eyes to the fact I’d been faking it all along.
SADNESS: The first sign was the persistent, heavy sadness that was my constant companion. I spent so long convincing myself that I was doing the right thing that I simply chose to ignore it. I knew it wasn’t normal to feel this way, but it took me years to confront my sadness and ask myself that terrible question. The one you don’t want to ask because you already know you don’t want to hear the answer. “Why are you really doing this?”
FEAR: Then there was the fear – fear of making any changes to my life. So, cushioned by my regular paycheck, I chose to play it safe. I convinced myself that it was the fear of losing my job that kept me awake at night, when actually I was afraid of something completely different. I was afraid I was missing out on living MY life.
RESISTANCE: I had always wanted to be a writer, yet I never wrote. Instead of putting pen to paper and creating a story, I created a litany of excuses. I was too busy, too stressed and this was killing off any creative inspiration. What I was really doing was a classic case of self-sabotage; I was refusing to get out of my own way.
DISTRACTION: I would do anything to avoid facing up to the truth of my situation. Cue night after night when, instead of turning on my laptop to write, I poured myself a glass of wine and checked in to see what The Real Housewives were up to. Anything to divert myself from… myself.
EMOTIONAL GUIDANCE: Sensing my malaise, a friend suggested I try a meditation class. Once my monkey mind finally settled I discovered a sense of peace I hadn’t felt in years. Meditation began to show me the true purpose of emotions and how they can actually provide valuable guidance. Quieting my mind had highlighted the fact that anxiety and fear were my sole companions while I was at work. In stark contrast, I discovered that the only time I felt any semblance of joy was in a creative environment.
BOREDOM: Another sign that showed me I was living an inauthentic life was a constant sense of boredom. I was bored by my work and bored with life. I would plan vacation after vacation in the hopes of brushing up against some kind of enjoyment, but nothing excited me anymore. The world seemed to have become one, long, monotonous…nothing.
ILLNESS: Being stressed and unhappy takes its toll on the mind, and on the body. My body decided to give me a sign of its own making, a physical wake-up call. My skin reverted to its teenage years and broke out constantly. I had severe insomnia and my adrenals were burnt out. My body was essentially screaming at me to get my attention the only way it knew how, through sickness.
IDENTITY LOSS: Despite the fact that I was desperate to change my career I hid behind my profession. I used my identity as a lawyer to impress people, because I was too afraid to show them who I really was. Ironically I spent so long holding up this mask as a “successful lawyer” that it was no longer a mask. I had morphed into somebody that I didn’t want to be.
SELF-LOATHING: I was disgusted by the realization that I had let fear hold me back from pursuing my creative dreams. In an attempt to remove these loathsome thoughts circling around my mind, I began journaling every evening. A torrent of hateful words poured forth providing another sign I desperately needed before I could move forward. I now needed to forgive myself.
PERSPECTIVE: The act of writing out my deepest fears in my journal showed me that I was stuck in a victim mentality. Instead of throwing a 24-hour pity party, what I needed was a change in perspective. Why was I choosing to hide this experience in the Life Mistakes folder, when I could file it under Life Lessons instead? Looking at my situation from a fresh perspective showed me that my experience had actually created a swath of writing material. What if I chose to write about my story so that it could help others who were in the same boat?
I’m still a long way off from the writing career of my dreams but that’s the not the point. The point is that each step of my journey has shown me I was living life out of duty rather than desire; acting always to please others rather than pleasing myself.
I hid behind my fears because I didn’t want to face up to the fact that in order to follow my writing dreams, I had to let go of those parts of my life that no longer served me. Yet the very act of finally facing these fears gave me the permission I had been desperately seeking; the permission to pull off the mask of inauthenticity and show my real self to the world.
September 17 2015 is a QUADRUPLE 8 day. And 8888 numerology means time to step up and transform, says Felicia Bender.
Are you feeling the burn this year – and particularly this month – in pretty much every area of your life?
Numerologically, everyone on the planet is experiencing an 8 Universal Year.
You calculate it this way: 2015 = 2 + 0 + 1 + 5 = 8
The number 8 is the money and power number. The number 8 is an amplifier. Yet, here’s the rub. The energy of the 8 tests you in the realms of power. And not just some inconsequential quiz – this is like the comprehensive exams for your doctorate. And once you pass the exams, you must write your dissertation. Once you finish your dissertation, you must defend it in front of your committee. Once you defend it in front of your committee (and you pass), only then you get your degree. Ardous? Yes. Worth it? Damn right.
2015 is your year to develop and nurture everything related to money, power, control, and authority. There can be amazing gains, wonderful advancement, powerful achievement, and financial abundance. And there can also be losses, set backs, feelings of victimization, and financial slaps-in-the-face. The 8 is about resilience.
And since you’re a member of the Numinati, and pay attention to Astrology, you’ll also know that there have been – and will be – substantial planetary shifts and events taking place this year. Eclipses, Blood Moons, Blue Moons – need I go on?
And now here’s a “red letter” day in numerology: September 17, 2015 is a QUADRUPLE “8” day.
· 2015 is an 8 Universal Year (2+0+1+5=8) · September 2015 is an 8 Universal Month (9+2+0+1+5 =17; 1+7=8) · September 17 is an 8 Date (9+1+7=17: 1+7=8) · And 17 is an 8 Day (1+7=8)
What’s more, this particular 8888 numerology shows up between two powerful eclipses!
So how to bring this energy down to earth?
The whole point of this intense time is to bring us back to our roots – to the foundational, authentic you. Your soul is being revealed to you now in all its beautiful truth, and wherever we are not aligned with our soul path this will itself to us as a rather loud wake-up call. And one that can come in all forms – from pain to euphoria (and everything in between).
September 17 is also a “portal” of sorts – an energetic opening where manifestation energy is at an all-time high. Dramatic changes and transformations are happening all around us and within us. The keys to working with the energy of 8888 numerology are:
· To be open and receptive to rapid transformation. · To set your intentions with the utmost clarity around what you want (rather than what you don’t want). · To trust your truth and your intuition. · To take right action to manifest the next level in your life, whatever that might be to you. · To ready yourself to let go of old, old, old thoughts, habits, and programming.
Many people see the number 8 simply as the money number – personally think there’s more to it. Metaphorically, I see the 8 as a really difficult personal trainer. Think Plutonian vibes. Working with the energy of the 8 in any aspect of your life isn’t easy. It always brings substantial tests – and like a personal trainer, it’ll make you show up even when you’re hung over, and work your ass off until you can barely walk. Yet as you step up, you’ll become strong, disciplined, and ripped.
September 17, 2015 (8888) will bring challenges to those who’ve been in denial or slacking in the “life purpose” department, and a huge breakthrough to those who’ve been doing the work and are prepared to leap into their next magnificent phase. Get ready for the ch-ch-ch-changes…
How will you work with the 8888 numerology this week? Share in the comments below and connect with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
I would describe myself as empathic and creative, so in a lot of ways it was natural for me to fall into hairdressing when I was 16. It was never my first choice – I had aspirations of being a fashion journalist – but choosing to pursue it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. Fourteen years later, this seemingly humble path has enabled me to fulfil some of my biggest dreams, mainly because one of the beautiful things about hairdressing is that it’s a portable trade. I can cut hair anywhere in the world, meaning I’ve been able to earn a living in the unlikeliest of places.
The last six years in particular, I have truly followed my wanderlust. Like many on a similar path, I travelled to ‘find’ myself, having experienced a strong disconnection with life in my hometown. Despite having a large group of friends, I’d never really felt as if I fully fit in or belonged, as if I was always holding part of myself back. So I went to work in Ibiza for the summer, in search of adventure and hoping to break free from the things I thought were holding me back. I then bought a round the world ticket to the Southern Hemisphere for a winter in Asia and Australia, bringing me back to Ibiza, and chasing the dream of a never-ending summer.
On my travels I met many kindred spirits, and collected experiences and memories like treasure. Island hopping and hitchhiking around Hawaii, sleeping under the stars in Australia, and making friends with liberated souls as we took sanctuary from the dust storms on the Playa at Burning Man. Living like this, I could be who I wanted without any attachment to my past. I was free from old thought processes that had held me back, and I found friends who seemed to be on a similar path, all in search of ‘something more’. My loved ones back home all seemed to want different things in life to me, and I think a lot of my anxieties came from trying to fit in.
But beyond the hedonism, I never felt any closer to finding myself. No matter how far I travelled or how long I stayed away, my shadow self was never far behind, and I realised I was trying to run away from rather than towards my true self. My epiphany came when I was recovering from a break up that had seemed to consume me. The experience led me to turn inward, and I realised that I needed learn to be happy in myself, wherever I was in the world. Home or away.
People would describe me as bubbly and outgoing, but I have actually suffered from anxiety and depression most of my adult life. Until I connected with my spiritual path, that is. When I went to see my doctor about my epiphany (a.k.a break down) it was recommended I go on antidepressants. Of course, this didn’t resonate with me, and so began my mission to heal myself holistically. It began with yoga, and practising meditation regularly, finding tiny glimpses of inner peace that over time became a lasting sense of calm and clarity.
In my meditations, animals kept showing up for me, regularly enough that I began looking up the meanings of these beasts. A Wolf appeared most frequently in my visions, the message being that I was in the process of spiritual development, and developing my self-esteem and inner knowing. The Wolf was there (and still is today) to remind me that I was being protected. I discovered that the animals were my spirit guides, and their messages were so relevant that I couldn’t ignore their calling. So I began using these messages to guide me on my healing path – my first indication that I had an affinity with Shamanism.
The deeper into my spiritual journey I went, I experienced a conflict between my work commitments and my spiritual life. I was eager to learn more about healing, which manifested in a desire to help others with what I was learning, but I also needed to support myself financially. In the end, I decided to take the plunge and booked a two-month sabbatical from the salon I was working in at the time and travel to Bali. Being half Indonesian, it was one pilgrimage that I had always wanted to take. Now it was really happening, and for the right reasons.
I began to research my trip, my main priority to find a way to fully immerse myself in my spiritual development. I looked up retreats, workshops, yoga centres and healers, and emailed different leads to find out what my options were. A few websites caught my eye, but after quite a few unanswered enquiries, the search engines kept drawing me back to a Shaman called White Star. I took this as another sign, and connected with her on email – which resulted in her offering me a place on her apprenticeship programme. I was going to be a Shaman’s apprentice!
I arrived in Bali two months later, and noticed that my energy instantly felt lighter, as if some kind of a shift had already occurred in me. I spent my first few days exploring my new surroundings, acquainting myself with the local customs, and trying to prepare myself for my first meeting with White Star. But how do you prepare to meet a Shaman? And one who is going to teach you her secrets?
When we finally did meet, I was full of excitement and anticipation. I had a preconceived idea that my new teacher would have an air of authority about her but when I met White Star, I was in awe. With all of her power and wisdom she is a humble woman with an unassuming presence. But it was also as if she had an ethereal radiance about her. I remember thinking she was at least 10 years younger than what she said she was – apparently there’s a healer in Bali who specialises in ‘spiritual Botox’, but I also think she’s living proof that living magically keeps you younger.
I had booked 40 hours of one-to-one lessons with White Star that were stretched out over 4 weeks, and I felt so blessed to have the time to immerse myself so deeply in my new education. I had expected to pay up front, but she was trusting and happy for me to pay cash as we went along. Our lessons took place at her home in the jungle, and were filled with practical experiences of Shamanic healing techniques, spiritual development exercises, meditations, wisdom and musings. White Star also taught me how to expand my consciousness using Shamanic journeying to tune into the spirit realms and earth elements.
Most magically of all, the more time I spent with White Star, I found that not only was I learning how to heal others, I was healing myself. I gained new insights into my past, which helped me make sense of what I always thought had been holding me back. I believe you need to learn how to understand your past and its purpose so that you can fully release it, allow you to move forward and heal. I gained a new sense of confidence and purpose, and felt myself surrendered to being my authentic self, releasing my attachment to needing to fit in.
Every day, I would walk past waterfalls on my way to my meetings with White Star, feeling that I needed to pinch myself, to check it wasn’t all a dream. It was as if my soul had found its home, and that all the life choices I’d made (including the ones I thought I regretted) had brought me here. This was real.
In my Bali bubble, it felt so natural be fully conscious in the present moment. All my anxieties dissipated, as I learned to simply go with the flow. Time expanded as I took each moment as it came, learning to really trust my intuition. Synchronicities were a regular occurrence in my Bali life, because I took time to notice them. I felt I was constantly surrounded by magic.
Shamanism teaches us that there is a spiritual component in everything; that everything around us has a spirit, and that everything is connected. Flowers, trees, water, stones, animals, and humans. A Shaman walks the path between the seen and the unseen worlds, using altered states of consciousness to connect to what can’t be seen in our ordinary reality.
When we are disconnected from spirit, we fall out of alignment with our highest good. We experience states of negativity which can lead to anxiety, depression and other emotional and physical symptoms of imbalance. With Spiritual healing and Shamanic medicine, we are able to reconnect with our highest self, or soul, bringing us back into balance. Feeling calmer and happier, life becomes easy again. When we are spiritually aligned, we feel are able live from the heart; detaching from our ego, we are confident to follow our life’s purpose. Feeling empowered, there is no room for fear.
I returned from my Bali trip a little over a year ago, with none of the same ‘homecoming anxieties’ I used to feel, because I brought my Bali bubble home with me. Since then, my Shamanic alter ego Wolf Sister has been born, and I have been building my own healing practice, alongside working as a hairdresser. And the two actually go hand-in-hand.
When I am working with my hairdressing clients, I enable them to feel better about themselves on an external level. I still enjoy my work at the salon, but my true passion is to help people heal on a Soul level, helping them empower themselves. I feel that I’m able to do this more effectively through Spiritual healing than I am by styling hair, but still I infuse my Shamanic teachings into every moment of my ‘everyday’ life. Knowing always that my Bali bubble is there to be tuned into when I need it.
Where has your healing journey taken you? Connect with us and share your story on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Tamara is an Intuitive healer, Supernatural Potion Maker, Crystal enthusiast and Tarot reader. Find out more at Wolfsister.com
