I grew up in a Catholic family, where much time was devoted to attending church every Sunday, studying the Sacraments, and altar serving into my high school years. My mother and father, both brought up Christian, raised us in a family that valued religious ideals and teachings. My siblings and I grew up in a happy (somewhat strict) middle-class childhood with loving parents. What could be so bad about that?

After many years of introspection, I realized the conditioning I was handed, permeated deep into my core. Religious ideals offered hope and faith, and also fear and shame (a whoooole lot of shame). They said sex was for straight marriage, and only then could you procreate, and dutifully raise your children in the church.

In school, sex education was a joke, planting fear in our minds about STI/Ds or unwanted pregnancy, instead of teaching us communication and alternative ways to be safe. And forget about pleasure, especially female pleasure. The media glorifies male sexuality, with headlines like, “5 Secrets to Giving the Best Blowjob” and “How to Please a Man.”

All of these messages shaped how I saw my body and my worth as a woman. It shaped how I viewed intimacy, love and relationships. Couples were only truly committed if they’re monogamous and eventually lead to marriage, right? Wrong. All of this was wrong. And if you were fed these messages too, I’m sorry. Because, you didn’t choose that. If this is your truth, I honor that. Just know, there are choices, and what works for you may not work for another.

As a good Catholic girl, I did my best in school, didn’t get into trouble and participated in extracurriculars. I continued attending church, listening to the stories, and singing the songs. The lessons seemed wholesome enough and almost always had a good message. I learned very early on, the art of devotion, and for that, I am grateful.

I started to notice, I didn’t really believe in the stories themselves. They were like metaphors to me, and nothing else. I realized the church was a broken system, built through the eyes of patriarchy. And when I made that realization, I drifted away from the church and all religion in general. It didn’t feel true to me anymore. I had wild urges to rebel! That urge still comes out to this day through impulsive, sometimes selfish, decisions.

Only now have I found my own spirituality, and that is through honoring of the self. THIS is what feels true to ME. Taking care of myself helps me recharge, reignite, and show up for myself and others. I don’t want to rely on an external source to give me faith, I want to feel faith in myself and become open to the endless universe of possibilities that life has to offer. God is within me and within YOU. If you want to get biblical, I do believe this was Yeshua’s true message after all.

I still find myself honoring ideals of religion, but this time, in a way I choose. I honor my mind, body, emotions, energy, and soul; the dark and the light. I make rituals for myself every day and pray to the higher consciousness of the universe that connects us all (that IS us all). I create not only for the sake of conceiving a human being, but for pleasure and expression. I view sex as one of the most powerful energies, and use this energy to alchemize my dreams into realities. Sexual energy=creative energy (think about it). I see relationships as honest connections that encourage us to grow into our highest selves. And last, but certainly not least, I believe love is the all mighty powerful healer.

HonorThy reclaims the words I often associated with religion, and transforms them into new meaning that feels unique and open to many interpretations. I’ll be offering guided experiences, as well as, knowledge, practices, and rituals that are powerful for me, and I hope they resonate with you too. If they don’t, that’s okay too! I invite you to be open and curious to what life has to offer, and take only what feels right for you. In the near future, I plan to share my stories and your stories. Because those are the stories we learn from and inspire our hearts. Our stories are unique, yet, exactly the thing that connects us.

Thank you all for being here to support this dream. I hope you will connect with what I have to offer the world in this lifetime.

I’ll leave you with this reminder: ✧ the magic is in you. ✧

With love & gratitude,
Olivia Marie