Interview with Nicole Graham | Business Goddess of Journals for Empowerment

A successful coach, facilitator and empowerment advocate, Nicole Graham originally hails from Australia but is now living in Hong Kong. Nicole is a qualified Adult Educator, Certified Soul Coach, Certified Past Life Coach, Goddess Facilitator and Reiki Master.

Her businesses, The Modern Goddess has evolved over time and evolved out of a passion to help women become empowered and inspired.

Nicole has co-written a guided journal and co-recorded the companion guided meditation CD, Journal for the Modern Goddess, with Gold Coast-based artist, Tara Spicer. Their business together is Journals for Empowerment.

What was the inspiration behind the Journal for the Modern Goddess?

Tara and I both have a passion to help women become empowered and inspired. For Tara she is doing this through her paintings and for me it is through my workshops and coaching.

As we bounced our ideas around, the more inspired we became and over a 6 month period we found we had created a beautiful journal we wanted to share with the world. Our passions fed each other’s passion.

Is it reflective of your own spiritual journey?

I look back over my life and am so grateful for the experiences that I have because I know that they have gotten me to where I am today. There have been a lot of changes in my life over the past 10 years and I’m now feeling that I’m in a really great space. I’m settled, I’ve been through the changes I have needed to go through and now I’m living my dreams.

I’m a person who reflects back over time and I can now see that birthing this journal has allowed me to really plant my feet on the ground and say, yes... all it good, all is just how it is meant to be, and I’m so grateful for this journey. Yes, it is a reflection of my own spiritual journey.

What is the purpose of the journal?

The purpose of the journal is to help women discover the beauty that they hold within them. It is encouraging them to uncover the beautiful, unique and powerful Goddess that they really are. Women are amazing and too often they forget how amazing they are. This journal helps them to remember.

What makes this journal unique?

It is a combination of things. The beautiful imagery, the specifically tailored sections for ‘self empowerment’ through guided self study, and the companion guided meditation CD. The journal takes its owner on a magical journey to find their own personal power.

What’s your favourite part?

It is hard to pick my favourite part because every time I look through the journal I am in awe of its beauty and I know I’m a little biased because as one of the co-creators, how can I not love what we’ve produced. However, having to pick a favourite part, I love the guided meditation CD. I remember being so nervous about recording the meditations and felt sick but when

How did you choose the imagery used in the journal?

It was an interesting journey because we originally were looking at Tara’s existing paintings and then at some point we both realised that the journal needed a goddess of its own, one that really represented the journal’s purpose.

Our goddess was created specifically for the journal. I asked Tara how she came to paint the image and this is what she said:

"This image is an image that, from my heart, honours the great Goddess within every woman. Three years ago, I gave birth to my daughter and it was a very powerful event that took more than I thought I could possibly give of myself. The following day (and every day since) I have had an overwhelming realisation of just how amazing every single woman is and how powerful she is, what she can give and what she can accomplish.

"I have been disappointed in how this incredible strength and light is never really honoured and recognised in our day to day lives and I really wanted to create something that made celebration of every woman’s inner Goddess a part of our daily lives. This painting is a reminder to every woman to spend a little time each day, to go within, discover and connect with the Modern Goddess that they are despite the great many distractions and demands that day to day living presents"


Why combine meditation with journaling?

Journaling is a powerful tool for self-discovery and so is meditation therefore combining the two felt very natural. We feel that the meditation CD compliments the guided writing sections, and at the same time has power of its own. Meditation can help you delve deeper, and to really listen to your intuition, your inner self. Combine that with writing and it allows you to really explore your own journey.

So, who should be using the journal?

Women who want to connect with their higher self, their inner power, their inner goddess. Women who want to explore their thoughts and feelings to help them understand who they are and where they want to head in life. You do not need to be journaling frequently because it has been created to write in it when you feel like it and in the section that is relevant to what is going on in your life at that moment.

Do you have any special offers for those reading this interview?

Yes! We are currently on our Virtual Book Tour promoting our Journal for the Modern Goddess. Followers of the tour can enter our competition to win a Meditation Kit consisting of a ‘How to Guide’ to Meditation, a pack of incense sticks, gratitude /meditation beads, 5 Goddess affirmation cards, an amethyst gemstone (the stone of meditation). To read more, visit our competitions page.

So what are you planning next?

We are currently working on our ‘Journal for the Pregnant Goddess’ and she is coming along beautifully. This time you’ll see more of Tara’s gorgeous artwork not just with one image but with a series of images.

Michelle, thanks for interviewing me and being one of our hosts for our virtual book tour.

Nicole Graham and Tara Spicer are currently on a virtual book tour promoting their recently released writing journal, Journal for the Modern Goddess.

About the Journal for the Modern Goddess:

This beautiful hard covered, spiral bound writing journal helps women uncover the beautiful, unique and powerful Goddess that they really are.The journal features 6 coloured inserts with inspirational quotes, guided questions, affirmations and 204 lined pages for journaling. The coloured inserts divides the journal into sections - Gratitude and Happiness; Moving Forward; Dreams and Visions; Journal Pages; Guided Meditation; and Sanctuaries and Sisterhood.The companion guided meditation CD features 3 tracks that provide women with sacred journeys that inspire and encourage them to create positive life patterns. These tracks help them to recognise and invite magic, inspiration and loving energy into their lives.

The journal retails for $34.95 AUD including GST.

To view or purchase the journal, please visit Nicole and Tara’s website, Journals for Empowerment. Please click on the banner visit:

On Monday we head over to Rainbow Dreams, the official blog for Goddess Fire. We are moving into our last week of our virtual book tour so please visit us at http://virtualcircle.blogspot.com/

Goddess meditation

Angelic wisdom and rainbow dreams

Every blade of grass has its Angel

that bends over it and whispers,

"Grow, grow."

Talmud

This week's Rainbow Dreams invites me to explore the essence of life within the realm of birth and death and beyond, for the soul does not confine its adventures to the spiritual plane alone, but involves itself in the great laboratory of experience here on planet Earth.

Our task here on Earth is to fully interweave the spiritual dimension with the material; to mix the gold of spirit with the silver of embodied existence.

When the soul is thirsty, it becomes a vessel, ready to be filled and then poured out into new life circumstances.

To seal the cracks in my own cosmic vessel so that I may soothe my soul and revitalise my life force, I am asked, what do I fill my cup with each day? Now is the time to explore this esoteric question.

• My cup overflows with gratitude, I keep a daily gratitude journal
• Daily meditation
• Regular ChakraDance practice
• Constant study ~ I'm currently immersed in Anodea Judith's Chakra Balancing
• Life coaching with the amazing Gayla Maxwell
• Blogging and connecting with an amazing circle of incredible women
• Connecting with the Goddess

Blessed be!

Full Moon in Capricorn 8° 25'

If you feel like you are pushing a huge boulder up a steep hill on this Full Moon in Capricorn, blame it on retrograde Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Chiron.

Ouch!

Well, what other Full Moon could face this kind of struggle by shrugging its shoulders, and saying, "So what else is new?"

Thank you Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, the great teacher of how to handle hardship, struggle and reality, with commitment, follow-through and guts.

So though this is the Full Moon to celebrate goals and achievement, with this kind of planetary resistance to moving forward, we can also celebrate small steps, realistic goal-setting, and being successful when faced with tremendous limitations.

Going forward has its right time and right place.

This is the night to look within, connect with one's own sense of proper timing and trust the wisdom that arises from this kind of inquiry. Remember retrograde planets are ideal for inner work; especially retrograde Mercury.

When the Moon is full in Capricorn, the Sun is in Cancer, the sign that rules emotional connectedness, nurturance, compassion, and personal expressions of love. Because the Moon rules Cancer, when the Moon is posited in Capricorn (the sign opposite its natural zodiacal energy) this makes for a special energetic symbiosis between the Sun and Moon.

Only at this time of year, can the Moon fully infuse the restrictive, withholding, structured, serious energy of Capricorn with its natural, energetic Cancerian open, flowing love and compassion. This is especially true with Mercury (mind) in Cancer (heart) conjunct the Sun and opposing the Moon.

This is a celebration to enliven compassion for ourselves, especially in our toughest times.

So use your ritual to bring compassion to bear upon your most critical, negative images and thoughts about yourself. Self-love is not a concept; it is active, and takes energy and time to develop.

This Full Moon in Capricorn calls upon each of us to find the appropriate structures to express love and connectedness in our lives. This is especially true when love is not our first response, or is drowned out by pain, fear and hatred (the domain of Capricorn/Saturn). Where Cancer feels almost childlike in its attachment to direct experience of emotive love, Capricorn knows that sacrifice and personal responsibility are the building blocks of true love, and realises this goal with a special grace and maturity.

This is the Full Moon of tough love, facing the reality of love lost or denied. Don't underestimate the depth of understanding that a Capricorn Moon brings to the table, especially with all these retrograde planets. This is a huge invitation to look with depth at the suffering you create around love; Venus in Leo, the drama king/queen makes this Full Moon particularly suited for releasing our attachment to emotional wounding as a way to get love and attention.

Use this Full Moon as a test of how selfless and openhearted you can be. Mercury and Sun in Cancer and Venus in Leo can make us all ultra-sensitive, teary-eyed and touchy. So do some self-care. Make sure to be in the company of people you feel good about and trust. The level of sentimentality will be high on this day.

Saturn/Capricorn forces us to come to terms with fear. I don't know about you, but I am so tired of fear mongering and war mongering. The old ways (Capricorn) steeped in solutions that arise from fear and war will not work. They are what got us here and will never lead to freedom from fear. The Full Moon in Capricorn is the one night of the year when we can truly see our fear for what it is: a distinct inability to transcend the human-made irrational divisions of race, religion, nationality, and gender. There is no separateness, only love. All matter is made of love and therefore can only be love at its most basic, as well its highest expression.

We need to create societal and governmental structures that solve these problems from a core belief in love and connectedness.

This will of course require a complete shift in human consciousness. We must move away from identification with the small egoic, self, mired in the ignorance of separateness, to the full experience of the unbounded, transcendent divine Self, realising love as the true nature of all existent life. When we change the Self, we change everything.

Do you think this goal is unrealistic? Not on this Full Moon. This is the Full Moon of hard work and accepting one's personal responsibility to heal the suffering of others. Did you know that most of the great spiritual teachers were born under the Sun sign of Capricorn? Why? To change human consciousness requires a Herculean commitment to achievement no matter how hard or how long the road. This is Capricorn at its best.


Take responsibility for your own healing.

This is the night to reach deep into your well of strength and decide that achieving your own inner peace is the only goal worth attaining at this moment in our human evolution. This Full Moon simultaneously uncovers our fear and reflects the solution to our fear: acting only from love, compassion, and doing the hard work of relieving the suffering of all sentient beings by achieving enlightenment and inner peace.

This is a very powerful and serious Full Moon-don't waste it!

Manifesting your divine potential

Beneath the surface of our daily lives, we are always asking the question, “Who am I, really, and where is my true home?”

The answer to this question is so utterly obvious, so beautiful, so ordinary, and yet so profound, that like the nose on our face, we have a hard time seeing it.

Because of our own self-imposed limitations, the answer to this mystery can only be revealed little by little, as if a great veil were being lifted inch by inch, until the truth is completely exposed.

Yet, we are destined to receive this knowledge.

The alchemical movement toward purity and perfection which is our birthright as spiritual/material being ushers us ever closer to the truth of who we really are and where we belong.

Ancient alchemists believed that the natural world taught that in order to relate properly to nature, one must follow the “truth of imagination.”

From the word, imagination, we find the word “image” which is the manifestation of our physical form and body identity.

The image we carry of our self within our mind and heart carries the power to bridge our highest ideals into our everyday practical life.

On the other hand, attachment to a poor image of self-condemnation and suffering carries the potential to destroy our right to joy and abundance.

Which do we choose?

Practicing the laws of “visualisation” is not unlike the practice of meditation, where the seeker opens oneself to channels of higher guidance and inspiration.

Ideally, we are given the opportunity to walk through the gardens and forests of the earth with astute concentration and attunement, opening our opportunity to the light of healing and service, each and every day.

As the veil is lifted, the truth is revealed: we are each of us the High Priestess; our bodies are her temple.

We were present at the birth of this universe and, beyond that, at the death of the one that came before.

We heard the first sound vibration and the first spoken words.

We birthed chaos into form and became known as the Empress, Sophia, Mother of the World, whose love and wisdom opened the gates to the heart of wholeness. We are Anima Christi, the feminine face of God. We are the Black Madonna, unafraid of the dark, watery womblike spaces. We are Tara, the first fully enlightened female Buddha, and Goddess of the Lotus, also known, in the Chinese context, as Quan Yin. We are Isis who holds alchemical secrets concerning the evolution and destiny of the human race.

We learn through the alchemy and, in our quest for wholeness, that knowledge has the potential to lead us toward our own perfection rather than away from it.

The choice is always ours to make. What we do with our spiritual knowledge and wisdom is up to us.

We are all made in the image of The Divine.

Likewise, nature is the Divine Mother, the vessel of life which contains our origins.

Our bodies are but temporal imprints of this splendor, cast into form by the design of infinite possibilities and magnificence.

It is your birthright to be a part of the grand plan of mastery and personal fulfillment.

Dare to open your mind and heart to the deep ocean of love that pours forth on all beings from the Loving Mother of the World’s “cup of golden light.”

Bliss

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
bliss /blɪs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[blis] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment: wedded bliss.
2. Theology. the joy of heaven.
3. heaven; paradise: the road to eternal bliss.
4. Archaic. a cause of great joy or happiness. —Idiom
5. Slang. bliss out,
a. to experience bliss or euphoria: Just give them some bean sprouts and a little tofu and they bliss out.
b. to cause to become blissful or euphoric: a recording guaranteed to bliss out every Mozart fan.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

It was my first day back at work today, and I feel blessed. Not because I love my job and that I was glad to be back. Rather it was just the opposite. Within 10 minutes of walking in I heard myself saying, "I just don't want to be here anymore."

Then I cried.

I finally let go of a job that no longer serves me, it was a moment of mourning. For years, this job has been my identity -- an integral part of who I was.

No longer.

Tonight during my meditation, I invoked the goddesses: Kali for grounding; Pele for empowerment; Kwan Yin for love; and Athena for communication.

Through Kwan Yin I sent love and light to those who have wronged me, and I forgave them.
I asked Kali to keep me grounded during this time of turmoil, and invoked Pele to keep my self-esteem strong and true. And of course Athena to help me speak my truth with integrity and love.

During my ChakraDance practice tonight, I experienced a sense of bliss whilst dancing the heart and crown chakras. I felt a smile creep across my face as I danced with the goddess.

Through regular prayer, meditation, and visualisation—the human body begins to transform into a being of Infinite Bliss. The organs are strengthened and new levels of perception are awakened. The preconditions necessary to attain true peace and freedom have been fulfilled.

Remember you encounter the Great Bliss Queen in your life when you are fully present and alive in the world of form, while fully immersed in your flaming wisdom bliss. Once you have awakened to your own blissful nature, you encounter the Great Bliss Queen everywhere. There is no place She is not. She is All. All is Bliss.