Rising Stars: Meet Lauren Wilde

 

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Wilde. 

Hi Lauren, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I feel like I always need to take a big deep breath before I share how I got started today because it’s such a twist and turn story. But I guess all stories must have a beginning, so let’s start there. 

I started pursuing spiritual leadership in 2010 through evangelical Christian pastoral leadership. I had spent my entire college career pursuing psychotherapy, but once I had a life-changing experience with Jesus in 2008 my life took a major turn and I focused all my attention and energy on changing people’s lives through that lense. 

However, in 2015 My spiritual path changed drastically, and I left the Christian church to pursue a more embodied and authentic spiritual path. I become a 500hr Certified Yoga Instructor and Professional Astrologer… so yeah, when I say drastic- I mean drastic. 

I think that it’s important to name right up front that I am a Neuro-divergent, multi-passionate Spiritual Entrepreneur and Creatrix. I see and experience the world through a creative lense, and everything feels spiritual to me. If it doesn’t feel authentic to me, I cannot do it. 

With all that said, leaving church wasn’t for the faint of heart, but I shared my story about its social media, and it became a thing. A thing other people were experiencing but didn’t know how to name. 

Long story short, I ran with it. I shaped and created unique and authentic communities, programs, and experiences to help people deal with the grief and change that comes from spiritual awakenings. From that need, I birthed my school, Wilde Alchemy Modern Mystery School, which is an online school full of targeted spiritual programs to help people rebuild or build their spiritual practices themselves. 

On top of that, I like most entrepreneurs have multiple businesses going on all at once, a school, a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, coven, and collective brick-and-mortar shop in Dayton, OH. 

I think it’s at this point I’ll fill you in the not-so-secret, I am a Witch, and I always have been, even as a pastor in training. 

When I left church a lot people started calling me a witch to hurt me, but I chose to lean into it and let it heal me. 

You see we all have a witch wound. A part of ourselves that we hide and suppress for fear of being ostracized by our communities, for fear that they will burn you. 

It’s always interested to witness how people respond to the label witch. Sometimes demons and ideas of the devil, but I don’t actually know a single witch that even believes in the devil. To be a witch means to reclaim yourself and your own personal sovereignty. 

Personally, I am simply an animist, cosmic shaman, and practitioner of the Olde Ways, but historically when people were afraid of wise women who talked to trees and trusted their intuition like myself, they called us witches and burned us. 

So yes, I call myself a Witch as bold statement to heal that witch wound and ultimately heal myself. 

I am not afraid of my own power. 

I am not afraid of my shadows nor my light. 

I am fully rooted in my wildness and aim to offer that internal peace to others in the form of embodied programs and teachings. 

My story like most begins in the past, but today my story is one of becoming over and over again. 

I hope you’ll come on the journey with me. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has absolutely NOT been a smooth road. 

It has come with a major life change. 

Leaving my spiritual community. 

Being called a witch and backslider by those I though loved me. 

A 2-year $40,000 divorce 

Building a business from scratch during a global pandemic while raising 3 boys. 

The entire things have asked me for all of myself. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a professional astrologer and spiritual teacher. I am a 500-hour yoga instructor and own and run an online School Wilde Alchemy Modern Mystery School. 

I envision, write, create, and birth entire year-long programs nearly every year that include in-depth programing, books, retreats, and life-changing communities. 

I also opened a brick-and-mortar shop this year called Wilde Magick Spiritual Boutique and bought a 200-year-old historic manor on three acres in Sugarcreek Township, OH to run retreats on my land with my fiancée. 

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice is to tell your story as authentically as you can without selling your soul. Find ways to set boundaries around what is too personal, and what is the real deal that people need in the trenches. The entire journey was the medicine I needed. Be willing to evolve with your story and product. 

Contact Info:

• Website: laurenwilde.com
• Instagram: thelaurenwilde
• Facebook: thelaurenwilde
• Twitter: thechurchwitch
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnrkCczTB8PCpiA-dtI24fg

Image Credits
Ashe Photography
Samara Muntzinger