Happy August Full Moon!

Today this website officially went 'live'. 

Full moons are said to be a time of harnessing creative energy, taking actions on your intentions as well as releasing what isn't serving you. I feel that this is a perfect time to launch Wild Mystic Woman into the world and let this beautiful space grow under the light of the full moon.

Feeling the glow of la luna's love!

Ceremony and ritual have become an important part of my sacred practice.

Tonight I intend to do a short full moon ceremony of releasing what is no longer serving me so that I can move forward with more intention and sovereignty.

Practicing living in tune with the moon cycles and my menstrual cycle has become an incredible way for me to bring more sacred alignment into my life. These cycles give me a map for honouring where I am at, and learning how to call in and release what's necessary at regular stages.

It is so important for us to reflect on a regular basis on what our intentions are, and whether we are moving towards them in a way that feels good, as well as what is no longer working for us and intentionally letting it go as we call back more of our power.

I like to envision this as the waves of the sea washing up onto and down from the shore.

When the waves crash onto the beach with great force, that is like the energy of the full moon. It is focused and sure of itself as it lands on the shore with its full power.

And then it begins to recede and slowly draw back into the sea. This is like the energy of the new moon. Slowly returning back within to reflect and gather up force again before returning back onto the shore.

Like the sea, as women we are heavily influenced by the moon.

And so I like to use these full moon and new moon phases to embody the fact that I too am a part of nature. That I have seasons and phases and that when I honour them, I feel more aligned and powerful. And when I don't, I feel out of sorts.

My full moon ceremonies usually involve some or all of the following (depending on how I'm feeling and my time constraints):

• Setting up an altar space. This can be as simple as lighting a candle and gathering a few crystals, or as detailed as setting up an elaborate altar with carefully positioned candles, a crystal grid, objects from nature to represent the four elements, etc.
• Opening sacred space. Again this could just be lighting a candle a saying a short prayer to set your intention. Or you could call in the four directions as practiced in many Native traditions. See this example from Rochelle Schieck over at Qoya.
• Meditation. I like to sit for a few minutes in meditation to settle my system and settle into my intention. I've recently purchased Tahlee Rouillon's meditones album 'Luminous' which has some beautiful tracks for meditation. Sometimes I like to sit in silence, or do a guided visualisation or meditate to tracks I find on YouTube. 
• Prayer, Reading & Listening. Sometimes I like to say a prayer, or read a poem or read a few pages of a spiritual book regarding whatever challenge or fears have been on my mind lately. Sometimes I'll watch a video on YouTube from spiritual teacher whose teachings I really need at that time. I love calling in the wisdom from teachers, authors, speakers and mystics to help me connect to my own inner wisdom. 
• Journalling. Writing helps me to get to my truth. I like to free style journal on the questions: what/who do I need to release and what/who do I want to call in. 
• Releasing. This part is for me the most important part of my full moon rituals. After identifying what/who I need to release I do a ritual to release them. My three go-to ways of releasing are energetic cord cutting meditations (this free one is my favourite!), the Hawaiian ho'oponopono forgiveness meditation (I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you.) and a fire ritual (writing down the negative thoughts, beliefs, habits, energies and aspects of relationships that I want to release on paper and then setting light to them in a bowl - see image below). 
• Gratitude & Reaffirming Intentions. Before closing I like to reflect on all the things I am grateful for and reaffirm my intentions for things I would like to give my focus to, things I would like to attract and things I would like to give to others - in all areas of my life. I write this all down on paper so I can re-read it during my new moon ceremony a few weeks later. Tonight I will be giving thanks for launching this beautiful website out into the world :)
• Closing. I like to close by pulling some oracle cards and then sitting for a few minutes in silence allowing the work I have done during the ceremony to settle in and to give thanks for what I have released and what I am calling in.

What I've found with ceremonies and rituals is that we have to make them our own.

There are no experts. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. There is only your way.So by all means take ideas from me and other people. But above everything - trust yourself. Tune into your intuition and feel into what you would like to do in your rituals and then just do that.

Sacredness is what you say it is.

Wishing you beautiful full moon blessings and I'm so excited to have you on this journey with me.

Layla xo

Ever since I was a little girl, I've always had this great sense that what we can see isn't all that there is.

And that beneath the hustle and bustle of this physical reality, lies an infinite world of mystery. 

As an adult, I've followed this thread of wanting to connect to that place of sacred mystery. Wanting to know who I really am, why I'm really here and how I can feel more connected with the Divine. 

To me, this is what being a mystic is all about.

It is being a seeker.

Wanting to express more and more of our souls. Wanting to heal the parts of us that block us from our wholeness. Wanting to not just understand God, but to feel connected to God.

And as feminine mystics, wanting to connect to our feminine souls and our feminine bodies. 

I've recently joined Mirabai Starr's 9-month advanced immersion course called The Way Of The Divine Feminine Mystic. In that program I'm learning that mystics came from different times, different religions and different cultures. 

Mystics are the non-conformists.

They are the ones who follow their own unpaved path.

They may, like me, come from traditional religions. But they are anything but traditional.

Or they may come from no religious background at all, but simply know that there is a Divine principle at work throughout the universe.

When I first received the call to create this website, I had a lot of internal resistance.

I worried that people would judge or criticise me because I am a practicing Muslim who is also an explorer of all types of spiritual practices.

I was scared that I would have to defend my beliefs around the divine feminine, or fit myself into one box (Do I believe in goddesses or don't I? Am I fully committed to my religion or aren't I?)

I was anxious about sharing my inner most thoughts and sacred practices when I'm not an "expert" in spirituality or the feminine mysteries.

But these thoughts were the exact thing that were keeping me from my own spiritual essence.

The idea that I needed approval, permission or validation from someone 'out there' were keeping me disconnected from my sovereignty, and from my power to claim my truth.

So this is what being a mystic really means to me.

It's trusting your own experiences. It's trusting your own inner voice. It's knowing that it is your right to walk your own unpaved spiritual path, and knowing that your relationship with the Divine is between you and the Divine.

It's not being afraid to look outside of what you know or have been taught. It's remembering that you were never created to fit into a box. 

Here's to the mystics.

May we always speak and live our truth. And in doing so, may we give others the space to do the same. 

Layla xo

First moments are sacred.

Our first sounds.

First smiles.

The first time we walk and talk. 

Our first periods.

First kisses.

The first time we read a book that opens our hearts and brings us to tears.

This moment we have together right now, this is our first moment.

Our first moment together in the Wild Mystic Woman Temple. 

One of the things that I always ask my mentoring clients when we begin working on any aspect of their business is: What is your intention? 

Knowing what our intentions are helps us to ensure that any action that we take is aligned. That it makes sense within what our broad purpose is and that it matches up with our values.

And it's important to be clear on your intentions, whether you're working on your business or whether you're coming together with others to share an experience, like we are doing here.

One of my personal intentions and core values is 'truth'.

You might call it transparency, honesty, integrity or the most popular word we often see... Authenticity. So before you dive into any of the blog posts or podcast episodes, I want to be very truthful about what kind of topics you will likely see in this space.

If any of these topics make you feel squirmy, uncomfortable, upset or make you want to roll your eyes, then this probably isn't the right space for you.

And if that's the case then I kindly invite you to turn around, put your shoes back on and leave this sacred space.

• Spirituality (in all it's many different forms from different cultures, perspectives and manifestations, but especially feminine spirituality, exploration of goddess mythologies and archetypes, mysticism, the Divine and the Sacred Feminine)
• Feminine Archetypes (The Divine Feminine, The Great Mother, Goddess Queen, Priestess, Healer, Wild Woman, Wise Woman, among others)
• Conscious Feminine Leadership (how we can lead in our lives and our businesses from our feminine power, with our healthy masculine aspects and in ways that honours ourselves, others and the world)
• The Heroine's Journey (our journey as women back home to ourselves)
• The Spiritual-Entrepreneurial Journey (the journey of growing a sacred business as spiritual women)
• Women's Cycles & Lunar Cycles  (also known as periods, menstrual cycles and moon cycles)
• Womb Wisdom (wombs, yonis and accessing feminine power through our bodies)
• Chakras & Energetic Systems
• Creativity & Self-Expression
• Sensuality
• Self-Care and Self-Love
• Healing Our Wounds
• Courage, Vulnerability & Personal Power
• Sisterhood

If these topics are some of your favourite things to talk about, then you and I are kindred spirits, sister, and I'm so grateful to have you here! 

Like you I am a seeker on my own path, and I explore these topics because of a deep desire to explore my truth and my power. 

I hope this space will help you explore yours.  

Layla xo