Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Christine. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In 2022 I was called to start creating adornment jewelry dedicated to and influences by Goddess Mythology. Handmade pieces that are curated to hold the power and energy of individual Goddesses. How it happened was just a knowing. I was doing my usual reading on different Goddesses and going down the rabbit hole. And I came to this understanding of how powerful the jewelry we wear can be and should be. Many of use are familiar with wearing specific symbols for protection or crystals to harness a specific energy. However what I was coming to fully understand was the POWER that adornments had in the stories of the Goddess. How these adornments were the charms and talismans, shields and swords of the Goddess.

At some point in every story there is a description of the oils and perfumes that she wore. Her clothing and her jewelry, but her jewelry almost always symbolized something or had distinct power. For instance, The Greek Goddess Aphrodite wears this girdle/belt that is said to seduce any man or God and she will lend it out to other Goddesses in order to harness the power of Aphrodite’s seduction. And the stories go on and on. So as a story teller of the Goddess, I called to start creating adornments that would encompass her power and her story.

The first Goddess chosen in the collection is INANNA, the Queen of Heaven. She is a Sumerian Goddess and the oldest Goddess from the oldest civilization, Mesopotamia, specifically Sumer. It is the story of her descent to the underworld that inspired this first collection. The story, which is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) written story someone’s descent into the underworld. Inanna decides she will visit her sister who is the Queen of the Underworld. As she prepares for her journey, Inanna takes her holy power called “The Holy ME” and turns them into holy jewelry and accessories. This action is so powerful that it is repeated throughout the myth about how “Inanna took the Holy Me into her hands and turned them into 7 holy adornments”. It is these 7 adornments that play a huge part during her journey into the underworld. It is a long, beautiful, and empowering myth. If you would like to read it in totality, it is up on our website. The collection is made up of 7 pieces, just as it is in the story. All made with lapis lazuli stones which were sacred to Inanna, and the 8 pointed star which is one of her symbols. The collection is a dedication to the Goddess and a benediction to the wearer.

Amanda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Amanda Christine and I am the founder and facilitator of The Goddess Project Co. which is a Miami based community of WOC on their spiritual journey. Through different events and experiences create safe spaces for women to connect with themselves and each other. TGP (The Goddess Project) evolved from my desire to be in community of other women who were also exploring and living in their spiritual purpose. When I moved back to Miami in 2019, I began to desire community. To be around other women to talk to, learn from, do intentional magick things together and exchange energy. To be in the presence of other women like me and my closest friends.

Finding community in the “spiritual world” can be a journey on its own. Everything isn’t for everyone and you must explore where you feel comfortable and I didn’t find anything that I was looking. So what started as small Goddess Gatherings among a few friends, would turn into the Goddess Project Co.

My intention is to foster moments of connection with self and each other through my events. As women, we hold so much power and energy but it is often stifled in the society and culture we live in today. I believe that looking at The Goddess, (when I say “The Goddess” I mean all Goddesses from all cultures, Goddess Theology) we can re-remember our power. Be reintroduced to OUR divinity. And all I want to do it help women see the Goddess in themselves.

A couple of the events and workshops coming up this year:

– Monthly Full Moon Beach Meditation: We meet monthly on the beach as we watch the Full Moon rise and I guide you through a meditation. Our Full Moon Meditations will resume in Spring starting: Friday April 7, 2023

– Galentine’s Day: An annual celebration of sisterhood and self love. This year it will be held on February 11, 2023

– Cosmic Game Night: An interactive workshop to explore your intuition. 2023 dates coming soon.

– Grow with Intention: A workshop on how to manifest your intentions through growing sunflowers. May 21, 2023

One of the core services I provide is through the spiritual tools I create for my small business, Apothetonica. Apothetonica is the union of an apothecary and a botanica. I create spiritual skincare products to use in your daily and ritual practices. Products we use and routines that we do everyday are often rituals when performed with intention and in ceremony. So by creating products that we typically use everyday such as lotions, oils, and soap and incorporating spiritual elements can turn your routines into rituals on a daily basis. By studying herbs, flowers and essential oils, I am able to pair together a combination of ingredients that will carry the spiritual property that its use is intended for. For example, one of our best selling ritual skincare product is the NAZAR Energy Cleanser or Baño Bar. NAZAR is the Arabic name for what we commonly know as the mal de ojo. The evil eye. That blue eye symbol that just about everyone in Miami has in some form. Our NAZAR is a soap intended to wash away any heavy or unwanted energy that you are carrying. The ingredients in the soap all cater to the spiritual process of cleansing and protecting. The blue color comes the the butterfly pea flower which is used for protection in herbal magick. The scent is a sacred combination of frankincense, myrrh, bergamot and other essential oils that are used for cleansing and purification. This and all of our other products are made in ceremony during specific times of the month to encompass the energies of the Moon. We carry an array of ritual oils, baños, ritual creams, and other tools. All of our products are made with organic materials.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It is really rewarding when my work resonates with someone. There is a difference between when someone tells you something is cool or smells nice, but there is a certain light in people’s eyes that spark when they really understand what my vision is and it feels really good because I take it as a sign that I am on the right path.

Not everyone is going to understand or resonate with my products or my devotion to The Goddess, but those who get it get it and they always feel in community with me and what I do when that happens, it’s the best experience.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

There is no goal driving my creative journey because I don’t really have an ‘end game’ in mind. The mission of my art and creativity to to awaken women to their Goddess Energy. Through my events, through my products with Apothetonica, through my Goddess Adornment Collection, I want to help awaken women to their Divine Power. The Goddess was worshipped for centuries, It is time that we ALL remember.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.apothetonica.com
• Instagram: @thegoddessproject.co

Image Credits
All images were taken my Mitch and Art Direction by Willa Mitch IG @whoshotsameoh Willa IG @freewillafreewilla