the magical combination of spirituality and feminism
I didn’t immediately see the parallels between my spirituality and my feminism. The two received various degrees of attention on my journey in life at various different moments, but in hindsight, the two never spent much time apart.
I believe spirituality needs feminism to make it inclusive, to keep it grounded in the present moment and to create space for the empowerment part of our spiritual awakening. I also believe feminism needs spirituality to highlight our innate oneness, motivating our activism from a deep place. Additionally, from a historical perspective, female’s spirituality has more often than not been shunned, judged and banned, so to trust our intuition and take up space with our true Selves in the world is not only a radical act in this patriarchal society, but also a powerful reclamation of centuries of oppression.
This is why I believe the intersection of Spiritual Feminism matters!
My Journey
Throughout my life, I have always been labelled the ‘sensitive’ one. As a child, I was often the ‘loud’ one. And in my teens and early twenties, I found myself conforming to the ‘good’ one. Can you relate?
As women, we’re often labelled ‘too much’ of something. I did not realise how much that label would define my choices, my opinion of myself and my judgment of the world. Being seen as ‘too much’ made me lower my gaze, silence my voice and shrink my energetic presence from a very young age.
In primary school, I was bullied by another girl, resulting in me feeling unsafe on the playground, with my friends and in other social situations. Around this same time, I started to feel the presence of my grandfather, who had passed away a few months earlier. I didn’t know what to make of it, but I started seeing a healer who helped me navigate the energies and entities that started to pay me a visit, hoping to take care of their unfinished business through me. I know this may sound very abstract, and that is exactly how I experienced it back then. I got scared by the inexplicable and (literally) unreasonable explanation for what I felt and saw. I decided to close that door and block my gift.
Looking back on that now, I feel compassion for the 11-year-old young girl who couldn’t carry the huge burden these energies were putting on her. But I also see something else. I see a subconscious understanding that everything we cannot see but feel needs to be feared, and thus blocked.
I think those years shaped my conditioning more than I can even fathom now. I left parts of my free inner child on that playground and started to lock away my innate intuitive gifts, moving through life from expectation to expectation.
This auto-pilot way of living was put to a halt by a big life event in my early twenties. Before that, I had walked the academic path, graduating with a Bachelor’s in English Literature + Culture before starting work on my Master’s in Book & Digital Media Studies. This was an intensive programme, leaving little space for hobbies – let alone thoughts! 😉
When I had a rare week off about 4 months into my Master’s and caught my breath for the first time in a good while, my intuition came through loud and clear. She told me – and left little wiggle-room – that I needed to leave my current relationship, move out of our shared apartment, and rebuild my life all over again. Why? I couldn’t tell you at the time. But the voice inside of me grew so loud and strong – in the most loving way – that I knew there wasn’t even a choice. There was only a matter of when.
This ended up being the renewal of my soul-finding journey. I listened to my deep intuitive voice then, and I continue to listen to her now. In fact, she has become my biggest guide.
She hasn’t just given me the nudge to leave a constricting relationship, but also a numbing 9-5 structure. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
By listening to my inner wisdom, I started to awaken to my Soul. Yoga found me, meditation found me, and then crystals started to trickle into my home and the stacks of spiritual self-help books started to grow. I started to see that there was a whole other realm to lean into when it comes to live – a realm that was supportive, expansive, creative and inherently feminine. Piece by piece, my Self started to come home to it all.
Intuitive living is a true commitment to the reclamation of what it means to be a human being in this world. Speaking from my own experience, it continues to be a rebuilding of a lot of what I was taught and shown about what it means to be a woman in this society.
I now live in the south of the Netherlands (born and raised!) with my cat Nala, writing this heartfelt note on my journey to you on the laptop from which I build on this business called the Spiritual Feminist. It’s pretty wild – exactly how my soul would like to see it!
To tell you the truth, living intuitively is simple. It’s simple because it’s about including your body and soul into the conversation. It’s simple because it’s a grounded, expansive way of living, rather than a reason-driven state of mind, which will always find reasons to not be or feel enough.
But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy.
It takes tremendous courage to take the intuitive leap.
It takes continuous effort to pick apart conditioning and live close to your inner Truth.
It takes energy, commitment and awareness to move away from the expected path and choose to flow with your inner river.
And yet here I am. Living and thriving and happier than ever, because I live in alignment with my soul. I honour my body and use my mind to connect, create and write. I understand my inner world more than ever before and still maintain a curious attitude to all the lessons yet to come.
Does any of this resonate with you, spark something in you, trigger you, and/or inspire you?
I would love to hear from you, sister. We may be all walking our own, unique, individual paths, but I trust that these paths run parallel to each other – and that they all lead to the same river. And from that abundant well, we can all drink. We can all swim, bathe and flow. Together. That is my vision and mission, from which the Spiritual Feminist has been born.
My own life’s experiences and my love for spirituality combined is what makes the Spiritual Feminist the container it is today.
From my heart to yours.
“
Words that Inspire Me
The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door. If you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.
– clarissa pinkola estés
Get to Know More About Me
What is your spiritual routine?
I love to light a candle, pull a card and journal on my intuitive thoughts
What book accelerated your growth?
Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
What keeps you motivated?
Seeing other women’s quality of life improve deeply and widely because of this magical work
How does your Spiritual Feminism look like on a day-to-day basis?
I lean into my cyclical needs and use my body as the guide for my to-do list that day
What are your sun, moon & rising signs?
I’m an Aries Sun, Taurus Moon & Leo Rising!
What’s a great starting point for spiritual knowledge and inspiration?
I’d say: see whatever book, story, person or podcast comes your way and trust the unfolding of your unique journey
If there was one message you could give to the world, what would that be?
Life was never meant to be lived in a linear way. Honouring the divine cycles of our journey brings in compassion, softness and openness – something Mother Earth yearns for us to lean into
What are some non-Spiritual Feminist related hobbies and interests of yours?
I love to bake, write, and am always DIY’ing something in my home. My soul also needs long walks in nature and deep chats with friends
Work with Me
Are you ready to start rewriting your story?
Do you feel called by your intuition to do things differently?
Do you feel it’s time to reclaim your womanhood and spirituality?