Herstory

As a very sensitive child, I felt deeply connected to animals and spent all my time in the barn or in the woods talking to trees and faeries. I was raised in a family of animal lovers, living with horses, dogs, and cats at our home in Michigan. My mom would have to peel me away from the barn at night, where I spent every waking moment not in school with my beloved white pony who I named Mystical (Misty). We experienced what I later understood to be a telepathic relationship, sharing a deep understanding of one another. Misty and I began jumping and competing in horse shows when I was seven years old.

When I was twelve, my family moved to a small town in Colorado where I spent my afternoons at the local bookstore reading about astrology, tarot, mysticism and magic. One day I was approached by a woman who invited me to her home where she channeled her spirit guide to speak with me. This was a significant experience of expansion, remembering, and awakening, and soon after I began channeling and sharing past life regressions with friends.

My first realizations about patriarchy came in my young teen years when I was punished at school for sharing my spiritual experiences. My journey to understanding and embracing my spiritual gifts has included many years of healing through the wounds I experienced as a young woman being misunderstood, ostracized, and suppressed.

The deep dive into my personal healing began in 2007 when I began a Masters program in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica. During this time I reconnected with my magical child within and rescued a gorgeous Palomino horse named Blue, who was one of the great loves of my life. I graduated in 2009 and went on to complete a third year emphasis in Consciousness, Health, and Healing in 2010. After graduating, I was compelled to expand and shift my perspective through traveling the world. Over the course of one year, I prayed and chanted in temples and ashrams in India, meditated with Buddhist monks in Thailand, explored the enchanting island of Bali, drank tea with tea masters in Taiwan and the high mountains of China, and sat in ceremony with shamans in Peru. I am so fortunate to have had these vast, stimulating, humbling experiences.

My time abroad rekindled my deep longing for the sacred feminine. Upon returning home to California I found the Reclaiming Collective, a community co-founded by Starhawk. Reclaiming is a modern witchcraft tradition marrying a love for Goddess with social activism. Being part of this beautiful community gave permission and safety to the young girl inside who was expelled from school, and was deeply healing and liberating. From 2011-2013 I completed all their classes, as well as a yearlong Priestess and Sacred Leadership Training with Gerri Ravyn Stanfield and Suzanne Sterling. 

In 2012, I formalized my decade long devotion to yoga by completing a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training with Saul David Raye. Through this process, I formed a deeper awareness of my body, leading me to a desire to deepen my knowledge of women’s health.  

In 2013, I completed 100 hours of Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training with Colette Crawford and continued my studies with Tami Lynn Kent to become a certified Holistic Pelvic Energy Practitioner. I am also a DONA trained birth doula and feel blessed to be able to experience some of the most profound and enlightening moments of my life while supporting women during childbirth.

In 2014, my lifelong calling to the land of my Celtic lineage made manifest when I journeyed to Glastonbury, England. It was on this land of my personal and spiritual heritage that I truly found home. 

In the winter of 2017 I was faced with a true shamanic initiation when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was plunged into the innermost and rawest depths of my being, where I existed for many months in a place that was as excruciating and terrifying as it was blissful and transcendent. With the help of my incredible support system I experienced profound multidimensional healing, completely reclaiming my power, truth, and wholeness. I have walked through the flames of transformation and know the depth of my strength, courage, authenticity, and integrity. I am grateful for the many gifts I received during this time and for the opportunity to live so fully.

I return to Glastonbury as often as possible and over the years have traveled to Neolithic Stone circles, cairns, long barrows, holy waters, wells, and springs all over England, Scotland and Ireland. After three years of training with the Glastonbury Goddess Temple, I dedicated as a Priestess of Avalon in 2019. I lead women on pilgrimage to the sacred land of Avalon every summer.

Thank you for being here and for taking the time to read about me. Much love and blessings on your path xx

Blessed Be,

Annah Taylor