SpiritMaa

 Author, Resurrection of Magdalene, Return of the Yogini, Fierce Shakti/Fierce Love  (and numerous other spiritual feminist articles you can find on my "WomenSpiritedResearch" page). 

I was born and raised in the Midwestern United States.  My ethnic background includes Polish, German and Celtic bloodlines, with religious tradition of origin Catholic.  An early interest in social justice turned into an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a Masters degree in Social Work from highly competitive universities.  After 15 years of clinical practice as a counselor and manager in non-profits, a concurrent 15 years living outside my culture of origin in the inner city, the Mexican border and Central America, and a concurrent ten years of personal and spiritual questing, I returned to graduate school for my doctoral studies at a cutting edge integral (mind/body/spirit) institute.  

There I entered a morphic field of transformation via the community, the research, and breathwork/dream/meditation induced altered state experiences. There I encountered vestiges ofthe Dark Mother still present in Catholicism (Mari Magdalene) and her links to the fierce 'inner guru' (Kali Ma) and uncovered names for the path long calling me: Shamanic Shakta (goddess-oriented) Tantric yoga.  Meditation, mantra (chanting), yantra (images) focused on the universal and earth based female power/energy that infuses all. A perspective that honors the magic of incarnational body-centered mystical states. A path that honors the shamanic death/rebirth intensity of my process.  And a nature mystic path that continues to reveal through Q'ero Inka initiations and study of African Traditional Religions.   

The impetus of this website is expand access to this way of knowing - that all sentient beings may benefit from the energy generated on this path.  

Mari P. Ziolkowski, MSW, PhD