Oct 26, 20219 min read

Spiritual Retreat

Updated: Sep 27, 2022

WHEW! It's finally time to exhale y'all, the long awaited spiritual retreat blog is here. yay ! It has been almost 2 months since I've attended the AWW retreat but let me say when I think about it and when I look at the pictures I am transported back to those precious, peaceful summer days. A feeling I've never experienced until I attended this retreat, loving, insightful, genuine, whole. It was acceptance; acceptance from a large group of women and not just any women, African-indigenous wholistic women. How beautiful to be in this sacred space, as Amari Mouna would say "We have arrived". So lets start from the beginning, the way I learned about this retreat was from a client of mine who actually moved to Tennessee not to long ago. We keep in contact from time to time and she wanted to tell me about this experience she had, she said it was life changing. My client strongly recommended me to go, needless to say I was clearly all in ! S/O to foxxy for putting me on to such an unforgettable experience and opportunity. Gratitude.

The day came Aug 27th and I landed in the beautiful city of Memphis, Tennessee. It was my first time coming to Tennessee, excited to say the least. I was picked up at the airport by two of the women who were also attending the retreat that offered to give me a ride from the airport to the retreat. It was about a 30 minute drive from the airport to our destination, a very scenic route. As soon as we got about 10 minutes out from the camp ground we lost cell phone service completely. Thank the most high for the cars GPS lol, at this moment it was becoming real. They warned us about the service beforehand but this was different a total disconnect from the outside world, we had 0 bars! It was exciting yet a nervous anxious feeling washed over me.

Listen, I went by myself and I didn't know anyone that would be in attendance. A lot of the women had met up before hand because they lived in the area, it was only a few of us that were flying and I was the only one from Virginia. Some people had a level of knowing , if that makes sense. Yet that didn't take away from anyone's experience because no one expected what these 4 days would mean to us, what it would become for us. We finally arrive, it was so beautiful the cabins perfectly placed in the woods, the crisp air, the sunlight. I had never been camping so it was such a surreal experience.

When we arrived we were told we can leave our bags in the grass and come over so we could be cleansed as we arrived one by one. We received our name tag that included our sun and moon signs, thats zodiac placements for those who don't know. At this moment it became very real for me, I had such an anxious feeling come over me as Mouna looked deep in my eyes as she cleansed me from head to toe. I learned my "womb is heaven", I was then told to find the cabin that felt best for me. I found my cabin and it was all love, my mini tribe was a match it was all in alignment. The first few people I connected with felt magnetic, destined. The relationships I built with my cabin mates I will forever cherish (both cabins of course long story lol) after we were settled in our cabins we were told to come to the meeting hall.

Sacred Space

We are now entering into sacred space, we take our sandals off before we step into our meeting grounds. As we walk in we are guided by Mama Kiyaamaye Maat, I like to call her the wise scorpion 🦂. She told us to lean over as she preformed a head washing for our crowns, she spoke words of love and enlightenment as she preformed this ritual. I believe this helped open our third eye and gave us the ability to become vulnerable and open minded. The smell of roses and lavender filled my senses as my worries faded away. A feeling of confirmation has now took the place of anxiousness, Im now in the present moment. Its now time for all the women to come together in this sacred space. This is where I will highlight events because I don't want to take away from the video and the depth of my experience. Also for others who plan to attend I don't want to give too much away.

Please press play below to truly feel the vibes as you read through the blog

Meet our Leaders

Mama Kiyaamaye maat : The wise scorpion

I think of her as the wise scorpion, these are nick names I gave them. If you don't know a scorpio you better get to know one, no matter how you look at it you can learn a lot from them by the depths of their water. A high vibrational Scorpio that is. When she speaks it feels like you're listening to the matriarch of your own family. So wise, so real, yet so fiery. A very wise woman, a poetic woman. When she speaks you will listen and not forget. She will teach you how to let Mother Earth in, teach you how to talk to her in your own way. Show you how to become one with her, how to come back home.

Mama Sadio: The back bone

Mama Sadio reminds me of your back bone, that "will"within you. The thing that keeps you going even when you want to give up. Your strength, your grit ! She exudes power, she commands respect without even having to say a word. You know that look your mama gave you when you were a kid? yeah she IS THE LOOK. Strong but very sweet woman, in her words she's been here for many moons and entered this spiritual journey at the tender age of 15. A very raw yet vulnerable woman and that duality is a divine balance. She "gathers the women", Mama Sadio has the qualities you pray to acquire as you go through this life.

Sah Maat: The Warrior

This woman embodies the warrior spirit, she taught us traditional African dances. How to get into formation, she never let up ! She has the ability to put you so in sync that all the outside noise fades away and now you're dancing with your tribe. Dancing to prepare for battle, to harvest , and to receive. Dancing is a way to connect to our ancestors, we speak through our steps and our movements while chanting to call back what belongs to us.

Amari Mouna: The free Spirit (we have arrived)

Last but certainly not least, Mouna. The free spirit. This is who I learned the most from, she was everything to me. From the cleansing I received when I first walked in, to the dancing in the forest. She taught me how to let go and just be. She'll heal you from her own womb as if she birthed you herself, she listens to her womb and speaks from it. She encourages you to do so also because your womb knows best. She is the youngest of the leaders but so rich in knowledge. She was also in charge of intuitive dance, she wont direct your steps but your womb will on her command. Her voice so light and airy, as if you're sitting on a cloud and you're just floating away. Mouna will put you in a headspace of peace, love and laughter. The opportunity to be truly free.

These women truly molded us the entire weekend and showed us so much, they listened to us, loved us, and taught us as if we were their own blood. I am forever grateful. These leaders nourished our minds and spirits but who nourished our body? I must talk about our leaders in cuisine, Brittney and Araba Esoun.

Feed my Soul

These women curated the most amazing vegan meals for the entire retreat with the help of their sou chefs! bless the sou chefs! Brittney the alchemist, the loving and healing she puts into the food is FELT. Araba the perfectionist, she can "please the pickiest of pallets" showing us how to honor our body with what we eat and do it with grace. I didn't eat anything that I didn't love, they put their time and energy into everything they made for us. These women explained to us every ingredient and what it does for us in all levels of our life. Even telling us how we should properly eat our food and I'm not talking etiquette. They made food that was truly feeding the soul and y'all know i'm a taurus, so ya girl gotta eat and eat good lol !

Get into your element

EARTH

On this day we set up our earth altar. Early in the rising grounding our selves, we were cleansed by Mother Earth and reconnected with her. I'm an Earth sign so it was no surprise to me that I resonated with this element and this exercise the most. It was a pivotal moment for me and where I received one of my most important downloads (message from spirit). Every day we were encouraged to journal our experience.

FIRE

Fire was by far the most intense element for me. The fire ritual ...... I honestly am at a lost of words trying to describe this for y'all lol. That's how intense it was, veneration of the ancestors. We did fire breaths to prepare us for what we were going to experience, calling upon our ancestors to show up in ritual with us. They spoke through us, they screamed through us, they cried through us. This ritual .....mmm I'll elaborate in the video because whew chile!

AIR

This was a very interesting day for me because at first I found myself unable to resonate with this element. I looked at air as being reckless, indecisive and no security. Like I said I am an earth sign, x2 actually and I thought I was just to "grounded" to get with this ritual. Later to realize it wasn't being grounded it was my ego trying to hang on to control. Air is about being free, free to do as you please, move as you please, live and love as you please lightly with ease (BARS! LOL that wasn't intentional). Accepting change and going with the flow, letting go with no inhibitions. I always thought I was a very open person, "free" I say what I want and do what I want right ? WRONG! I found out my ego actually shows up a lot for me in this area without even realizing it. At the end of this ritual I felt so good, a weight had been lifted. I managed to get a picture of myself this day.

WATER: RITE OF PASSAGE

Every ritual was important but this one holds precedence, this was our rebirth, our rite of passage. On the same day as air later in the evening we began our water ritual, where we danced some more but less like air and more like water "water is life" and as we tried to move like the life force we came to realize we were not in tune. That showed what has become of us as a people, how can we be stiff when we're mostly made of water? It is what we are, the planet is mostly water, this is where we are from. It is our life force and we had grown so disconnected from it that we had forgotten how to flow. When you are not connected to spirit, the life force you are stagnant. You will not grow, you cannot nourish. That was a very important lesson for us all. We completed our water ritual with a walk to the river as we sung "wade in the water". Inviting our ancestors to walk with us as we embark on this journey, and to know that we wouldn't be here without them. Ase'

Click the arrow on the right of the photo below to see more pictures

As we got into formation, the wind swirled around us the trees swayed and the grass danced. I knew each and every one of our ancestors were with us the most high shined on us. Rejoicing that we have come back to our roots. The same roots that were intentionally stolen and tarnished to be used against us, to shame us, to bind us, and to brain wash us into believing we were UNWORTHY . Reclaiming what has always been ours, Reclaiming our spirituality and connection. Lost but now we are found.

We are now ready to commence our rite of passage with a sweet bath, one by one our crowns were blessed as we affirmed our life and our rite.

"Ori Tu Tu, Ori Tu Tu, Ori Tu Tu,

May the Spirit of my Head (Ori) be Cool and Refreshed (Tu-Tu)"- Araba Esoun.

An excerpt from my journal:

" We were bathed on our crown with a sweet bath 💕 It was Divine, I loved every moment of it. We shouted loving words for ourselves, affirmed ourselves to the universe as the blessings were poured over our crown. The sister beside me called upon OYA and the sky instantly opened up! The rain poured just for us. All weekend it had been hot not a drop of rain fell until it was time for our anointing, our rite of passage. I am so grateful and will forever sit in gratitude ASE' "

Reciprocity: A principle of MA'AT

Through the entire retreat we learned and practiced the 7 principle of MA'AT. Truth, Justice, Harmony, Balance, Order, Reciprocity and Propriety. It was time to celebrate our rebirth and the best way to do that is too give back in gratitude.

When we arrived back to our camp ground our feet were washed by 3 different sisters, they spoke loving words over our life and all our creations while doing so. After they were done washing our feet, we anointed our own feet giving gratitude; for they have carried us through this journey. Then I did the same for 3 sisters of my choosing, another gracious moment for me. for the remainder of the night we celebrated, eating and drinking herbal teas. Building on our new connections and basking in the light of the higher vibration we stepped in together. I love each and every one of these women, we were all brought together for a reason and stepped out with our purpose.