When I was young I already had a great love for nature. As I got older I discovered the Great Mother through the Wicca movement and at the age of eleven I devoted myself to Her. I'm not really sure why, but I knew I belonged to Her. She inspired me through nature and through a deep sense of Being within the cycle of nature. I could surrender to the changes, in myself and around me. I learned to transcend the wheel from her.

During my adolescence I completely lost that connection. As a seeker I wandered through the world, looking for my self, my identity in this tangle, this maze of impressions. Wandered and wandered with me, many others. Completely preoccupied with my mind, thinking, knowledge, performance, strength without vulnerability, rationality, analysis ... and much more. I had no awareness of my menstrual cycle because I was on the pill, I had no idea of ​​the beautiful woman's rhythm during the month that was identical to the circle of life, I had lost nature because I lived in the city, I drank, smoked and i went to parties. I didn't find myself, on the contrary; I lost myself ..

Later I went into the mythology of these regions, of the Netherlands and northwestern Europe. I discovered paganism and through paganism I came into contact with the Matrons and the goddess cult that lay underneath the Indo-European layer and was also mixed with it. I had no idea about this whole culture! Why didn't I get this in school ?!
I began to recognize the symbols in all the traditions that our country has, from reindeer hunter to Christianity. Through the books of Marija Gimbutas and Annine van der Meer I learned to recognize Her, to read Her hidden language again. This gave me a very great feeling of coming home, of recognition, I belonged to Her, It was She who had always called me, whether whispering but compelling, even when I was so young ... And a seed that planted itself in me the eve when my father died and we saw Venus shining in heaven together, as bright as a beacon as my father described it; when he died, something deep inside me also died ... and at the same time I was reborn, by the Lady in heaven, it felt like that. An intensely mystical experience that I can only somewhat comprehend in words through poetry. I was completely empty, withdrawn from any idea of ​​identity, and it was then that I came back home and slowly started to fit everything back together ... I was who I was again, who I had to be, the fog cleared, I quit dyeing my hair, smoking and drinking and went to live in my father's house in the polders, away from the stinking city with all its noise; finally silence. Peace. Literally and figuratively coming home to my native soil.

With this coming home my femininity also gained more depth, more power, more inspiration, more creativity ... Not only did I feel more connected to the divine feminine than ever before, but I also felt more inner balance - more harmony - and with that a peace and acceptance came over me similar to nature residing in all its changes throughout the year, I felt more ME, whole and connected to everything around me, not staggering on one but firm now - on two ! I could live from my heart again - my head was connected to my belly again, I was grounded again and had found my power center again!

Mother Earth is currently having a hard time because of our way of life. This cannot continue like this, we are causing her and her creatures much suffering. It is my mission not only to help people connect with their own soul and the feminine in order to become more personally in balance, our Mother Earth also needs our help. The message that we are one behind all forms, that there is a source from which we all come, we so desperately need right now to realize that what we do to each other and to the Earth, we also do to ourselves. It is my deepest wish that we relearn that we are all connected and that we are part of nature, rather than standing above it. I wish with all my heart that I can contribute to the awareness of the people around me of the love that comes from this unity and to better reflect on their way of life in relation to others, themselves, the animals and our beautiful planet.

The religion of the Mother has enchanted me, the love for Mother Earth, and I want Her language, which is hidden in the esoteric currents of Northwestern Europe, the language that Gimbutas and Annine van der Meer have largely managed to decipher and my work inspire, make visible again so that others also come home, with Her and with themselves, find their strength again, find their balance, feel human again, feel complete again, heal themselves from this old wound of imbalance and thus allow their healing process to extend far around them ... Small circles make great circles of change!

I want to help give new meaning to our own traditions, which have such ancient roots, from times when people were more connected with the Cosmic Cycle, the seasons and the lunar phases. Old knowledge in a modern guise, without compromising its authenticity. We have to learn to speak the language of nature again. Not only the Lowland traditions and paganism, but also Europe and all our ancestors. We have to heal the past, we descendants can do this. From Christian ancestors to the first Europeans of the Siberian steppe, man and woman. Not only the language of nature, but also of love and unity. We come from the same source of Origin, all people on earth, we are brothers and sisters. Let's celebrate unity in diversity. Let's embrace each other in love.

- Mirjam van Donselaar, 2020

 

Other projects:

Spirits of Souls - artistic expressions, poetry, wire work and more.

 

Experience and backgrounds:
 

2011 - Training Caregiver IG (Rotterdam)
2014 - Bachelor of Science Applied Psychology (Leiden University)
2016 - Establishment Sibbe Fernjawegan (paganism and heathenry)
2016 - Rite of the Womb 3x (Klara Adalena) + Womb Keeper
2015 - Mourning woman training (Linda Wormhoudt, A'dam)
2016 - Workshops Shamanism & Systemic Ritual® (Suzanne Hazen)
2016 - Masterclass Mourning Woman (Linda Wormhoudt)
2018 - Establishment of Het Vrouwenrad + van Donselaar - Applied Psychology
2018 - Life coach for people with autism
2018 - Classic Massage (M00D Massage)
2018 - Instructor Bootcamp + instructor Historical Fencing (Gouda)
2019 - Publication "Dagaz"
2019 - Zen meditation (ZenDoen, Gouda)
2020 - Founder and member of the Dutch office of Spirit of Wolf (international shamanic network)
2020 - Initiation into Traditional Siberian Shamanism (Tuva / Khakassia) by Morsuk Kam / linked to Karagai Kam
2020 - Tarot training , individual class at Frances Aarts
2020 - Publication "de Heilige Nachten" A3 Publishers (Oct 2020)