Today we’d like to introduce you to Raven Marie.
Hi Raven, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Really the start of my journey to where I now begin almost 8 years ago. At the time, I was working in the Miami Nighlife scene as a bottle server. Although the money was decent and the parties were beyond fun I was really unhappy and unfulfilled with what I was doing with my life.
I was raised to believe that without a college degree that my options would be limited. In spite of this, I only finished two years of university before I knew it wasn’t for me, and so I withdrew from school to move to Miami and pursue what was really calling to me at that time which was modeling.
Modeling jobs came far and few in between yet I did become an Ebony Fashion Fair model for over two years which granted me the opportunity to travel all over the continental US, Canada, and some of the Islands like Bermuda and St. Thomas modeling the latest in high fashion and Couture from top designers across the globe.
It was a life-changing opportunity and during that time I became what you would consider a household name in the African American community.
Once I came back to Miami, I continued to model but needed something to supplement my income, that’s when working in the nightlife came into play. I also became a certified esthetician but after years of the same ol’ I knew things needed to change, I just didn’t really know how or where to begin.
One day in total desperation and despair I prayed a prayer for help and guidance and within days things begin to radically shift in my life. New people who thought in ways I had never considered began to appear and I began having experiences that were incredibly spiritual and unexplainable. Each person and each experience planted seeds within me that began to grow while changing, reshaping, and opening my heart and mind.
Before long I found myself being drawn to meditation, even tho I had no idea that’s what I was doing. One day a tree outside the window of my kitchen caught my attention.
I couldn’t stop gazing at it and before long it became a daily practice of just gazing at and sitting with that tree. Weeks passed and I began to feel a lot calmer and more present with myself which was huge as I had always struggled with an overactive mind that was filled with relentless thoughts on top of thoughts.
Then came numerology. I began seeing 1111 EVERYWHERE and after a while, other numerical sequences began to catch my attention. I would look the numbers up and they would be conveying messages that were directly in alignment with where I was at that moment. It didn’t take long for numerology to become a solid form of guidance that I still use to this day.
I finally gained the courage to quit my job and trust that something better was coming my way. Besides, that’s what my numbers were telling me! Things were looking questionable on the outside as parts of my life began falling away yet I had never felt so much overall peace and trust.
My behavior shifted in such a way that some of my friends thought I was going crazy and being wreckless; even my family was growing concerned. Something was pulling me and I could no longer let fear or the opinions of others stop me from moving in a way that felt right for me on a soul level.
I was right and within a matter of weeks, I was offered a job opportunity in Dubai working as a manager at Cavalli Club Restaurant & Lounge.
It was another life-changing experience and I loved many aspects of my time there yet within a few months I knew in my heart that living in Dubai and doing the work I was doing was not the final stop for me either. Confused and conflicted I went to have my very first Reiki session which essentially shook everything up in my life directly after.
Days before I moved to Dubai I met a friend’s mom for the first time. She greeted me warmly and immediately told me that I had a lot of power in my hands and that I should consider channeling Reiki.
That was the first time I had ever heard of the practice. It’s funny now because at the time when she described it to me as channeling energy through my hands that came from source energy I thought she was absolutely insane. It was just too far out of my scope of understanding to embrace at the time. However, after having that Reiki session in Dubai my perspective changed.
And so I decided to leave Dubai and after two months in China, I came back to Miami feeling unsure of what my next steps would be. Remembering the message from my friend’s mother I decided to explore Reiki. I looked high and low for a Reiki Master to teach me but I didn’t resonate with any of the people I contacted.
I remember praying that if I were truly meant to learn Reiki that I would be guided to the right place and person. Days later I was invited to a reiki circle. It was here that I met my Reiki Master and by the end of that same week, I was Reiki 1 certified. I did a 21-day healing process just learning and working with energy on myself and after the 21 days, I advanced to level two which allowed me to begin serving others.
Without much effort at all people began to show up who could benefit from Reiki and I quickly fell in love and into service. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was truly doing what I was meant to do. After a few months, I decided to focus fully on Reiki and was willing to ride the waves of uncertainty while I found my way.
It didn’t take long before I became the resident reiki practitioner of Love Life Wellness Center in Wynwood. From there I became a part of “Deep Frequency” a pop-up yoga experience that started off in WeWork locations and expanded throughout Miami.
Within half a year I took on the role of the Wellness Director of Spa Ricci on south beach. A few months later I began doing independent wellness consulting for wellness centers and spas located in the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale areas. During this time I also continued to expand as an individual and as a student of the holistic arts by becoming certified in multiple holistic modalities and incorporating them into my offerings. I also began my journey toward becoming a Reiki Master.
Even with all the growth, I had experienced within a year I felt in my heart that there was something else that I was meant to do. Then a job opportunity that would relocate me to Costa Rica came manifest. I took on the role of the Regional Wellness Leader for Selina Costa Rica. I oversaw the wellness programs for over 9 locations as well as the Vida by Selina Retreat Center.
Much of my job required me to travel to different Selina locations around the country. While there I would enjoy all the activities and excursions they had to offer and connect with backpackers and nomadic entrepreneurs from all over the world through the wellness programs that I helped establish and maintain at each location.
The role was challenging, liberating, fun, and exciting. I loved my work but somewhere inside I knew that I wanted to help others in a deeper way beyond the typical yoga and meditation classes.
Then Iboga came into my life. Iboga is a sacred plant medicine that originates from Equatorial West Africa. It is considered the “Master Teacher Plant” and is known as the greatest hunter of the truth.
It purges the mind, helps to move us from the victim mentality, brings forth a total self-review, and reawakens us to Love on the deepest levels. It is also considered one of the most difficult medicines to sit with as it can be incredibly challenging to look within and fully feel our feelings. Especially feelings that have been suppressed for countless years.
An Iboga retreat was being held at the retreat center that I oversaw and after connecting with the providers I was offered the opportunity to sit with the medicine. My life literally changed overnight. I was confronted with some of my deepest wounds, communed with my ancestors, and was given messages and prophesies that would radically reshape my entire existence and literally reunited with my soul.
By the time the retreat left I knew I had a soul agreement to learn more and be in service to the medicine. I just wasn’t sure how. A few months later the group returned and this time they asked me if I would like to hold space for the ceremonies. I jumped at the opportunity and as I stepped into that role and witnessed the things I witnessed that week there was no turning back.
By the time they left, they had also made me an offer. They were opening an Iboga Center in Costa Rica and wanted me to come and join them. They were also going to Africa for initiations and invited me to go. I said yes to both!
Graciously I resigned from Selina and within a month I was headed for Africa. I was in Gabon for almost two weeks learning the ways of the Bwiti and the sacredness of Iboga and was initiated by the Shaman responsible for bringing Iboga to the west. I give thanks to him for sharing his wisdom and magic. DIBOTI.
In March of 2018, I helped open Awaken Your Soul Retreat Center in Costa Rica. In our first year, I supported the process of over 100 souls as they sat with Iboga.
It was intense, painful, confronting, magical work. Living and breathing retreat life nonstop was challenging and after two years I transitioned to focus on providing Iboga integration support to guests after they went home as a ceremony is only the beginning. I did this throughout 2020 and after being recognized by Zoe Helene of Cosmic Sister began speaking on global platforms about Iboga.
Iboga then led me to ayahuasca which then led me to Kambo. After having a 3-day Kambo cycle and experiencing massive benefits physically, emotionally, and spiritually I felt compelled to learn how to provide Kambo treatments for myself. Within weeks, I was trained in self-application and spent one year giving myself treatments and learning how Kambo worked.
My teacher and mentor for Kambo is highly knowledgable and spent many years amongst the tribes learning how to properly serve Kambo. She was given the blessing by indigenous Shamans to share her wisdom with others and I am beyond grateful that I have been able to learn from her. In 2021, I finished my training and began offering Kambo treatments to others.
Today I am settling back into Miami. I have a baby on the way and after 5 years of living in Costa Rica, I felt it was time to return back to the states in order to be closer to family and some of my closest friends.
Community is everything especially when a baby is in the mix! I aim to bring all that I have learned along my journey both personally and spiritually into my work by supporting others and it fulfills me deeply. I provide both remote and in-person sessions and offer energy work, coaching, spiritual advisory, wellness consulting, Iboga integration, and Kambo Ceremonies.
I also work to ensure that the ways of the indigenous are remembered, respected, and honored in medical spaces. As plant medicine becomes more popular in the west so does the abuse and misuse of these medicines. Many of the medicines that can help so many are used solely for profit. Retreat prices can soar upwards of 5k which makes the medicines feel less for the people and more for the privileged and that needs to change.
How do we give back and become allies to the indigenous? How do we become humble students of these medicines instead of immediate self-declared shamans? How do we not appropriate cultures and overstep sacred boundaries? How do we tame our western minds that believe we know best and that we know it all?
How can we remember our oneness with nature and learn to be better stewards of her? These are just some of the questions I hope to wake within those in medicine spaces as we continue walking each other home.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has been anything but a smooth road. At times, I have wanted to give up, at times I have felt defeated, lost, and full of doubt in regards to myself, my life, my purpose, and life choices.
My father told me once that I was under a spiritual initiation and I have viewed my journey as such since then. Every upset, every letdown, and disappointment although painful at the moment provided the grounds for deep self-reflection and massive breakthroughs that have strengthened me in ways I did not know were possible.
I have struggles just like everyone else and I use my struggles to learn and to also help my clients in their struggles too. I believe that my pain is my power and instead of seeing myself as a victim I choose to see myself as victorious. It is not easy, it can feel like daily practice and in truth it is.
Some of our biggest blocks come from the mind. What we believe we are capable of, what we believe we deserve, and who we believe we are can be some of the greatest challenges we face because many of the answers we come up with and allow ourselves to believe are limited and far from our divine truth.
Moving past the limitations and old stories of the mind have been some of my greatest struggles and I’m certain so many can relate.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Reflections of the Divine is a one-stop shop for supporting others along their journeys toward enriched living and overall well-being.
I focus on:
*The energetic body by providing Reiki sessions and training as well as intuitive energy channeling sessions,
*The mental and emotional body by providing the 6 and 4-week programs Soul Sessions and Project Happiness which focus on emotional intelligence, soul dynamics, the inner and outer world dynamics, self-love, belief systems, and joyful living.
*The spiritual aspect of one’s life by providing spiritual advisory and support and wellness consulting by providing suggestion-based information to clients who are seeking to live a more holistic lifestyle.
*I also provide Iboga integration support and private Kambo ceremonies
My offerings are a unique combination of energy work, soul/inner child work, intuitive personal reflective coaching, spiritual advisory, vulnerability, and humor all brought together to support you as we bring awareness to the blind spots and emotional, mental, and energetic factors that could be affecting you in various ways.
My intention is to help you nurture a deeper relationship with yourself and your soul to live more in alignment with your fullest expression.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I am not where I am today because I did it alone.
So much of my journey was made possible and more enriched by the helping hands of my friends and teachers/mentors throughout the years. I’ve had friends who have financially supported me when times were tough and mentors who were more than willing to take me under their wings and lift me up through encouraging words and important teachings.
Earth angels have always been a part of my reality. There is not a step that I have taken that was not supported by another rather it was mentally, emotionally, financially, or spiritually. I am very aware of how blessed I am to be so supported.
To try to list everyone would take years however there are a few earth angels that I would like to acknowledge. First and foremost my best friend Paola. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to list all the ways she has supported me through the years. She is one of the most important people in my life and I love her dearly.
My other best friend Jamie has also been my rock and constant support throughout the years and I’m grateful for the relationship that we have, There are so many more friends who have supported me, and although their names are not mentioned I hope they know that I am grateful for them too and that I love them.
I also have amazing support from my family. My sister, mother, niece, and nephew play a huge role in my life and I am super close with them. They are everything to me and always have my back.
I have been blessed with wonderful mentors and teachers such as My Reiki Master Melissa Solano, Zoe Helene from Cosmic Sister, Carrie Otis, Mama Theresa, Anthony Esposito, my Bwiti Shaman Moughenda, my Kambo teacher Nadine and many many more who have helped pave the way for my growth and evolution.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iamravenmarie.com
- Instagram: @ravenmarie1111
- Yelp: reflections of the divine
Image Credits
Martina Tuaty
