Erika Maizi is an individual with a profound journey of self-discovery and reconnection to her roots. Her quest to uncover her true essence began early in life, driven by a desire to look beyond the surface and masks that people wear. Erika’s family’s immigration from Kazakhstan to Germany at a young age left her feeling isolated and disconnected, yearning to regain her sense of belonging. A pivotal moment came beginning of 2017 when a childhood memory of her birthplace in Almaty, Kazakhstan, rekindled her connection to nature, family, and her inner essence. MysticMag has the pleasure.
Your journey involves a unique blend of embroidery, spirituality, and Siberian shamanism. Can you share how these elements have come together in your life and led you to the path of Wyrding Way?
My journey along the Wyrding Way started before 2017 when my family relocated from Kazakhstan to Germany in 1987 and I lived abroad for many years. Throughout this time, I always felt disconnected, as if I didn’t truly belong anywhere, despite my love for travel and exploration. There was a persistent feeling of a missing piece in my life, especially regarding my ancestral heritage.
In 2017, a pivotal moment occurred when I facilitated an online conference about natural learning and living. During this event, I had the opportunity to interview several women from my ancestral lineage, from Siberia and Kazakhstan. The trigger for this transformative journey was my decision to read the renowned book “Entering the Circle” by Olga Kharitidi, which delved deep into Siberian shamanism and introduced me to the concept of the Great Mother Umai in Siberian Shamanism.
As the voices in my mind grew louder and more insistent, I felt an undeniable call to embark on an extraordinary journey via the Trans-Siberian Railway in the same year, 2017. The purpose of this journey was clear – to connect with my roots and meet the women from my ancestral line in person. For me, the art of embroidery, particularly the traditional “Rushnik” in Russian, was the initial link that beckoned me.
Rushnyk, a tradition where young girls begin weaving their life tree from the age of 6-7, became a powerful symbol for me. It served as a tangible connection to my roots and heritage, offering a sense of reconnection and purpose. This experience prompted me to undertake extensive journeys, during which I documented my experiences and the development of my unique shamanic dress, complete with personalized symbols. My journey was a conscious weaving of my unique life threads, a departure from the feeling of being pulled in various directions without a sense of belonging that had characterized my life for so long.
Meeting my indigenous ancestors, connecting with the land, and engaging in the sacred art of embroidery ultimately brought me back to my ancestral roots. The culmination of this profound journey is detailed in my book, “The Wyrding Way: the mysterious art of weaving your own destiny.”
Your book, “The Wyrding Way: the mysterious art of weaving your own destiny,” discusses the concept of Beregini Goddess Power and Soul Runes. Can you explain how these ancient Slavic symbols and runes can guide individuals in discovering their unique life paths?
In Russian, “Beregini” refers to protective goddesses or guardian spirits. In Slavic tradition, there are 27 archetypal Bereginis associated with the Great Mother, Mokosh, who is believed to have woven the whole universe. By getting to know our unique Bereginis which are determined by our birth details and are often referred to as a “Rod Horoscope” or “Soul Tree Horoscope,” we can connect with specific archetypal powers or goddess attributes. These powers are woven into our lives, and they are highly empowering.
Discovering and embracing our main Beregini can be a profound experience. For instance, my primary goddess archetype is the wise Raven, which is why I have it embroidered on my dress. This archetype embodies a significant source of power and guidance in my life.
By using our birth details, we can calculate the archetypal powers or goddesses that are associated with us throughout our life journey, helping us fulfill our unique soul purpose. These archetypes are often represented through specific symbols, and this connection is deeply woven into the sacred clothing, like the “Rushnick,” of women who maintain a strong connection to their soul’s purpose and their ancestral roots.
You’ve mentioned experiencing an initiation involving the three destiny Norns—Urd, Verdanti, and Skuld. Could you elaborate on how this experience has influenced your work and your understanding of destiny?
The Bereginis and I share a deep appreciation for the archetypes and traditions rooted in Slavic culture. However, my family background also includes Germanic roots from my father’s side. My spiritual journey, which involves weaving my fragmented abcestral parts into wholeness, led me to explore the Germanic tradition of the runes. I embarked on a journey of learning and teaching about these sacred symbols, which are considered to be a reflection of the universe in Nordic mythology. These runes, often associated with the three giantesses known as the Norns Urd, Verdanti and Skuld in the Germanic tradition, represent aspects of the past, present, and future. It is said that our birth may be entwined with specific runic vibrations, connecting us to the grand tapestry of life.
As I delved deeper into the study of runes, these three giantesses began to reveal themselves to me. In the shamanic path, connecting with spirits is an essential aspect, and I learned to listen to and understand what these entities conveyed by their presence in my life. This significant interaction with the three Norns is why they grace the cover of my book, “The Wyrding Way.”
The concept of “wyrd” from the old Germanic tradition is related to fate and destiny and the interconnectedness of life. It is often referred to as the “web of life/Wyrd” and represents the interweaving of destiny threads in the whole universe. The more I connected with these three giantesses, it felt like a profound revelation, akin to a transmission. I have been teaching others how to perceive their unique threads of destiny through the runes and how we are intricately woven into the broader web of existence, known as “wyrd.” This is precisely why I named my book “The Wyrding Way,” as it signifies the conscious path of weaving our own destiny.
You have embarked on a healing journey with a cancer diagnosis and a subsequent exploration of shamanism. How have these challenges and experiences shaped your spiritual practice and approach to life?
Certainly, it’s not a personal question at all, as our life path often includes significant challenges and transformations. I’ve faced my second cancer relapse, with the first one occurring just before Christmas in 2020. Interestingly, during the parallel process of my initial diagnosis, I was learning from a Siberian Shaman, with whom I later visited the sacred mountain Belukha in Siberia. My Siberian teacher introduced me to various Shamanic practices and I also learned from the Shambhala Warrior Path an ancient Buddhist technique called Chöd/ “feeding your demons.”
This practice, alongside the Siberian shamanic path, taught me how to confront my “demons,” or in the original Socratic sense, aspects of my higher self that continually urge me forward (daimon/diamond). It made me realize that no experience is objective, and every aspect of our journey is a part of our soul path. Consequently, I began to see my experience with cancer as a teacher, showing me how to confront it.
Throughout my journey, I’ve engaged in these practices to release what no longer serves me and to uncover the wisdom hidden within my “demons”.Hence, I wrote my second book based on my healing journey with breastcancer: “The even more Wyrding Way: The Artchemy of turning demons into dismonds”.
In the case of my tumor, I started to perceive it as the suppressed feminine power that had twisted itself into something destructive. This resonated with themes like the ‘Obscurus’ from movies like Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, where suppressing magicsl power led to destructive forces. This suppression ran deep in my feminine ancestral line, even affecting my mother, who also passed away from cancer.
The emergence of my metastases was furthermore a reflection of my ancestral line’s unresolved issues and a symbol of the destructive masculine energy that had never been properly integrated into the grand tapestry of life. It became evident when, during my first cancer initiation, there was a war-like tension in my city, possibly related to Kazakhstan’s historical supression within the Soviet Union.
My second cancer initiation, then, represents a deeper process of letting go of what no longer belongs to me. It also involves confronting the prospect of death and exploring whether my soul’s progression in this body is ongoing or if it’s merely a transition to another form. It’s a challenging journey, involving the release of identities and attachments.
Through these experiences, I’ve learned not to view myself as a victim but to actively engage with my destiny threads, recognizing that each experience is an integral part of my soul’s journey here on Earth.
Your vision includes the idea of a multicultural tapestry weaving together various cultural threads into a New Earth Tapestry. Can you share more about this vision and how individuals can contribute to this emerging tapestry of unity and love?
When we began our conversation, I shared how I had felt disconnected for most of my life until 2017, when I made conscious choices to embark on a transformative journey. This journey involved holding the threads of my existence and weaving myself back into a sense of wholeness. It dawned on me that this disconnection from Mother Nature, from our own souls, and from our destiny threads is something many of us experience. We might not have access to this conscious weaving of our life’s purpose.
My personal experience with this conscious weaving has been incredibly fulfilling. I believe that if every individual could uncover and understand their own destiny threads, we would be better equipped to face life’s challenges in a conscious and empowered way. We could all become conscious destiny weavers and co-creators of a new world, rather than perpetuating the old systems that no longer serve us.
In the words of Einstein,“You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” To truly create something new and better, we need to be aware of our unique destinies and actively participate in weaving the tapestry of a new Earth. It’s an empowering journey, and I believe that if more people embark on it, we can collectively create a more conscious and harmonious world.
If you would like to find out more about Erika Maizi, visit https://erikaamaizing.me/
