Welcome!

I’m Vanya and I’m so glad you are here ~

Ever since I can remember, I have felt a strong pull toward the depths, toward the unseen forces that shape our lives. Throughout my life I have had many names for this other world: gods, goddesses, archetypes, creative daemon, the sacred, unconscious, wild soul. Sometimes I still like each of these in their own time, some more than others. But generally, I feel most at ease with the mysteries or the unknown.

I grew up on a religious commune in southeastern Brazil. While this met my curiosity about the invisible world in potent ways, the shadows were heavy. Around my twentieth birthday, I experienced a spiritual catastrophe as my god and the worldview that had made me and guided me shattered. I lived in those ruins for a long time.

Eventually I was found by teachers like Clarissa Pinkola Estes and Thomas Moore. Their work ushered me into the wilds of the mythic imagination. They opened doors in my life that I thought were close for good. I finally understood that I could live symbolically, mythically, mystically without going back to fundamentalist religion. This was a revelation. And put me on a path that led to many years of independent study and eventually to get a PhD in Depth Psychology with emphasis in Jungian and Archetypal Studies.

What makes sense to me right now is to weave depth psychological scholarship, archetypal sensibilities, ecological wisdom, and the magic of the mythic imagination. These ways of imagining, inquiring, and living invite me into a move from mastery to participation. From optimizing to befriending. From domestication to wildness. From exile to belonging.

In 2024 I published The Flesh & the Fruit: Remembering Eve and the Power of Creative Transgression. Through the lens of the archetypal and mythic imagination I explore the powerful transgression at the center of this creation myth. In a myth that has been literalized and used as justification for horrific acts and ideologies, I found a rich mythic background that tells us of banished goddesses, forgotten ways of knowing and being, and the power of creative transgression (disobedience) to set us free and bring us into sovereignty. ​​Eve has been a deeply significant teacher for me since my recovery from spiritual violence has had me deeply entangled with questions of disobedience, spiritual sovereignty, and belonging.

The fig in the title of this publication is a nod to the Mythic Eve, who reached for the fig and found sovereignty through creative transgression.

Through the years, the mythic imagination has continually invited me into the mystery and magic right here in the mundane.

My work and writing circle around these themes, resting on the ancient archetypal wisdom of stories, dreams, symbols and in the wild knowing of our own bodies, imagination, earth, and ensouled world. The religion of my youth taught me to look for these mysteries up and away from here. But through the years I began to follow the mysteries deeper into earth, body, and into this slow messy muddy work of being the human part of nature. This is the alchemy between mud and mystery that I am so curious about. I have whole essay on this, so if you are looking for a place to start this may be a good one!

In addition to this publication, I also offer courses, workshop, retreats, and mentorships. I especially explore themes of wildness, spiritual sovereignty, and belonging through the deep archetypal and mythic imagination.

Since you are here, I assume you are also curious about this alchemy of mud and mystery, earth and imagination, matter and spirit. I trust our belonging to each other and am deeply grateful for the kinship we can find as fellow wanderers and curious souls.​

Again, I am so glad you are here! Please feel free to send me a message and introduce yourself.

With care and warmth,

Vanya

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