Dr. G (Dr. Giavanni Washington) joins Tekla to share her wisdom and knowledge, and her process of creating The Black Goddess Within Oracle Deck. Dr. G is on an ancestral mission to make the world safer for Black bodied people, and she is doing it through building community, her oracle deck, educating others, and one-on-one ancestral healing sessions. Listen to learn about her Oracle deck as we discuss:

• The power of using oracle decks and how they can be a guiding message in life- to validate what is happening or invite a new perspective.
• When Dr. G was not seeing Black bodies and Black goddesses in oracle decks, she decided to make her own- how she did this and the work it took.
• The research Dr. G did to learn about the goddesses, and how she used her academic expertise to sift through the (white-dominated and racist) opinions of the history and stories of the goddesses.
• To begin the interview, Tekla pulls a card from the deck and they discuss what it means to each of them. Get a glimpse of this beautiful deck through their conversation and how they interpret the card.
• Dr. G is a teacher, and she shares her passion for educating about the roots of racism and especially Black bodies. They discuss the unique course Dr. G created, Liberated Bodies, and how the course showed up different for allies and for Black women who took the class.
• The importance of affinity spaces and spaces that are of mixed cultural bodies, and Tekla's experience being Dr. G's student in Liberated Bodies for Allies (and why she hopes it is offered again- it is a powerful class!)
• Tekla shares a vulnerable realization she had in Dr. G's class about her own white fragility, and how it does not serve, and how she continues to work through releasing the story that keeps her from action.
• They talk the history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and some of the misconceptions many Americans may have about it, and why it is important to unlearn and re-learn history.
• Ancestral healing and how The Black Goddess Within Oracle Deck supports this, for all bodies, not just Black bodies. (Tekla loves the deck and uses it regularly).
• Creating and leading community and being an entrepreneur can be lonely- and where Dr. G & Tekla have found support around this.
• Learn about Dr. G's one-on-one Ancestral Alchemy healing sessions and how she is honoring her ancestry by the work she shares with the world.
• Tekla will have Dr. G return after her Ancestral Alchemy 1:1 session. Stay tuned!

More about Dr. G and how to connect:

Called to the medicine of ancestral restoration, Dr. Giavanni creates healing opportunities to reconnect with lost histories and ignite hidden ancestral wisdom. Dedicated to amplifying Black Beauty, reconnecting to the deep roots of Black Divinity and encouraging the full expression of Black Joy, Dr Giavanni Washington's latest creative endeavor is the Black Goddess Within Oracle Deck. Dr G, as she is affectionately known, is an intuitive healer, mother, speaker and spiritual guide who holds a doctorate from UCLA’s department of World Arts and Cultures and was recently selected for the California Creative Corps Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowship by the California Arts Council.

Website: https://blackgoddesswithin.com

IG/TT: blackgoddesswithin@gmail.com

Learn all about The Black Goddess Within Oracle Deck here- you can even pull a card virtually on the website! Check it out, it is very cool- https://www.drgiavanniwashington.com/deck