Soulful Sounds with Zoe
Step into the ethereal realm of sound as we highlight the enchanting journey of a soulful musician nestled in the misty highlands of Scotland.
This multi-talented artist, who is also a devoted mother, seamlessly weaves together her love for music with shamanic healing practices.
Join us as we delve into her captivating story, exploring how her melodies echo the ancient rhythms of the universe while nurturing the spirits of those who listen.
Tell us about your journey with music, has singing and playing instruments always called your heart?
I have always had music in my soul, my mum tells me I was singing before I could properly talk! Singing and songwriting both came so naturally to me at a young age, I used to buy magazines with the karaoke cd's attached and write my own lyrics to the instruments.
I bought my first guitar and started writing songs, heavily influenced by the folky-storyteller vibe of Laura Marling, and I've always been a bit of a rock child, growing up listening to my parent's records of David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, The Who and ACDC. When I turned 18, I started playing gigs along the south-coast of England. When I turned 21 I moved overseas to Bali and Australia and continued to play and write music, which took on more of a spiritual element as I also started deepening into my own spirituality as I opened my eyes to this beautiful world.
My songs are always influenced by nature, and this wild and wonderful human experience, though in the last year I have been transitioning from the acoustic singer-songwriter style and returning to my Rock n Roll roots, learning music production and creating a bigger sound under my band name 'Fates'.
I have been steeped in Mystical studies for the last 13 years. Having spent a good time working with master plant teachers and some incredible embodied human teachers. I started offering Sound Healings with my voice and crystal bowls 8 years ago after a shaman friend encouraged me to have a play in his temple space. They quickly rippled into me offering this on retreats with my best friend Sally (Mustang). After some time of me delivering these Sound Healings, it became apparent that the power of this offering was sending some people deep into trance and journeys to which I couldn't explain. This encouraged me to deepen my shamanic studies, and I worked closely with a teacher to learn Shamanic Journeying and Soul Retrieval. I now offer all three of these modalities, oftentimes they all merge together and compliment each other, alongside our plant ally of Blue Lotus in ceremonies, retreats and online gatherings.
What has your journey of motherhood taught you?
Motherhood has truly shown me that I know nothing! Haha, really though, it's the greatest initiation especially in those first 3 years as you evolve from Maiden to Mother. It's taught me so much compassion and grace on this human journey, none of us really know what we're doing, but we are all trying our best. There's so much acceptance and forgiveness I've learnt in that. It's also taught me a lot of patience, and that presence and play is the greatest thing we can offer.
I'm definitely a 'sensitive' soul, for me it's all in the feeling. The Daughters of India garments just FEEL so good to wear! The fabric is soft and light on the skin, they swish and wave and flow with the elements, and I can feel the vibration of every piece has been made with love, presence and quality craftsmanship. The designs are so feminine and versatile, I like to accessorise my dresses with a waistcoat, hat, sometimes a chunky belt or a leather jacket.
My favourites are the Maxi dresses, as I can layer up some thermal tights underneath when the weather is chilly here in the Highlands of Scotland. My go-to's right now are the Kyra maxi dress in Olive, and the Jasmine maxi dress in Lavender, these are two of my favourite colours and I feel like I'm part of the landscape as I dance through the Scottish hillsides of heather and long grasses.
Why do you feel practising rituals of self care is beneficial for women?
Ritual is an integral part of life. We are engaging in rituals all the time, but when we bring conscious awareness to the Ritual it's like we bring a new kind of vibrancy into our life. If you look at the Hermetic principle of 'As within, so without, as above, so below' and apply this to our rituals and self love practices, we begin to see the impact of how we treat ourselves, and how that changes our outlook on the outer-world.
Also Ritual relates to the sanskrit word 'ṚTA' ~ referring to the pattern of creation, and the root word of Art also comes from 'ṚTA'. Therefore, Ritual is an expression of the artfulness and inexhaustible creativity and beauty of the pattern of the universe. So I believe that engaging in Ritual is our way, as human beings, to re-establish our connection to creation itself in this artful universe. As my teacher says, "Ritual connects us to a patterned universe that is infinitely Artful".
Journal by Ella Josephine Archer
