Welcome Witchy souls!

We are so very excited to introduce you to Jana of @cedar_magic on IG! She’s a fascinating being! A healer, tarot reader, and new mama! Nix from @seedlingspiritual took time to interview her, and we can’t wait to share her with y’all!

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Jana, please tell us a bit about you!? Your practice...your journey...what makes you, you? And, When/How did you know something different was calling you forward?

Oh where to start? Well, I am a Queer Witch, Tarot Reader, Shamanic Energy & Reiki Healer, Drag Queen, Singer and a first time momma! Born in Sweden but based in Berlin for the last 8 years I have spent my time blurring the lines of gender and realities focused mostly on healing work and performance art. I have been running a queer performance space as well as my healing practice for the last years but am now, being a new mom - focusing mostly on my tarot and healing work!

This is something that has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and was something I always knew I wanted to do. I have been drawn to the occult, the mystical and magical since I can remember, spending most of my childhood running around in the forest feeding the fairies - dreaming of one day becoming a healer.

My father was deeply spiritual and my mother encouraging - gifting me my first Tarot deck at the age of 13 (always found the Thoth deck an interesting choice for a 13-year-old, but I dig it). Always having them near me I dived deep into witchcraft, physics abilities, meditation, healing, numerology, spirituality, and everything related. My teens felt very “the craft” hanging out at my favorite spot - the one and only esoteric bookshop in town.

Growing older, this stayed with me as an integral part of who I am and my journey. But singing, making music, and performing took center stage for a long time. And after moving to Berlin and being deeply immersed in the queer scene here, that somehow naturally evolved into drag. And although my focus was on music - my inner witch was never far away. My first music video features a seance slash exorcism performed in the forest by a witch, and one of my first drag performances was as “Bloody Mary, Priestess of the dark arts” making cocktails of menstrual blood and performing “I put a spell on you”.

It was when I stumbled upon a course in Reiki during a visit to Australia that I knew the time had come to start stepping into healing work for real.

That sparked a long journey of education and initiation in all sorts of healing traditions and modalities - Reiki, Theta Healing, Siddha Kundalini, Crystal Healing, Shamanic Energy Medicine, Shadow Work, Natural Medicine, and of course my dear old friend the Tarot. It was like coming home. And so from all these teachings, I have created a practice that incorporates all these tools with the goal of empowering my clients on their healing journey to find radical self-acceptance, alignment, emotional freedom, and the courage to step into their highest potential and purpose with passion, joy, and confidence!

Working with clients one on one with healing sessions and tarot readings, I also host ceremonies and courses and continuously looking for new ways to expand. Especially now in times of corona I'm thinking of ways to do more things online, one of them being my new weekly live tarot reading for my followers - and definitely more to come!

You're a parent! How has that affected/magnified/changed your path/practice?

Having a baby has of course had a huge impact on my path and life - so much i don't know how to not make this into a whole essay but let's say in short that - it has deepened my experience and understanding, and opened me up to new parts of myself and to life.

I kind of always had this feeling that I was going to be fully able to step into my potential when I became a mother. There is something truly magical about being so close to the creation of life and seeing a new soul take form and enter this physical existence.

And yes! Babies are so incredibly magical - it's like they bring the other side with them into this life and you can see that spark of source expressing itself in a brand new form. There are incredible learnings, growth, and expansion that takes place - in pregnancy, in birth, and of course in being a parent.

And for me, meeting and getting to know my baby is like reuniting with a soul mate from another lifetime. It has opened my heart more than I could ever imagine. Getting pregnant and becoming a mom also really pushed me to solely and wholeheartedly focus on healing work, let go of the aspect of my life I had outgrown, prioritize what is truly important and get on my damn path, and for that, I will be ever grateful.

Many of us are trying to be who we needed when we were 'younger' or just starting out...what would you say to the ‘you’ who first stepped into this journey if you could talk to them?

On the spiritual path: Your intuition is ALWAYS right! Trust it! Trust yourself, trust the universe. You are truly MAGICAL and so is everybody on this earth!

In life in general: You are worthy. Nothing or no one outside of yourself can ever dictate that. Love yourself, accept yourself, and always treat yourself like a damn goddess! Feel all the feelings, set boundaries, follow your heart, never mind other people, do you baby.

Do you have one element you connect to more than others and if so, does that manifest in your work at all?

I am very much earth and water. I'm the most at home in the forest or on a beach. I love the grounded and practical nature of earth and this is something I think is very alive in my work - both in Tarot and healing. And since emotional health is at the heart of my practice the water aspect is also hugely present. Because I'm very much into creative expression, especially as a form of healing, I would say water is “what” we are working with, and earth is “how” we work with it. If that makes sense. I think water without the earth can become overwhelming at times so the combination of the two makes for a balanced healing practice I believe.

What has 2020 given you/taught you the most?

Oh my goddess, 2020 has been a massive dark night of the soul - personally and globally.

It has been a year of Shadow Work and self-care for me and a deep, deep dive into the hidden and wounded parts of my psyche and heart. And even though it has been challenging, it's been ultra healing, enriching, and totally beautiful. I call this year my year of becoming human again - reconnecting with dormant aspects of myself to become truly whole.

This year really invited for introspection and reflection and I wanted to embrace that. It has been such an important year and practice for my personal growth that I now work with assisting my clients to navigate the difficult but rewarding journey of shadow work. I think it's an integral part of true healing work.

When do you feel most dropped in or connected to 'Spirit/The Craft/Your Path/Purpose' (however you define it)?

When I feel in alignment - this could be when I'm working, when meditating, painting, performing, when in ceremony, or walking in nature. I think having practices that tunes you into this feeling of alignment and connection to your true purpose are massively important.

Bless!