No matter what kind of belief or faith you have, ancient gods and goddesses exist in history and culture. In this episode of Wisdom of the Ages, host Ayn Cates Sullivan is joined by Iva Kenaz. Iva is an author from Prague, Bohemia who wrote several books significantly influenced by spirituality and metaphysics such as The Witch Within, The Goddess Within, The Merkaba Mystery, Alchemist Awakening: An Alchemical Journey Through the Zodiac, and Sacred Geometry and Magical Symbols. Not only does she study Screenwriting at the Prague Film Academy and hold an MA in Creative Writing, she is also an avid researcher of ancient knowledge and a practitioner of tarot, runes, and astrology. Listen in to learn more about the symbols of the goddess and how you can find them in the things around you.

Hello, this is Ayn Cates Sullivan, one of the SuperPower Up hosts. And you are listening to Wisdom of the Ages. So, are you ready to lean back into the wings of wisdom and be carried by a higher source? And if so, you will love the show today because we will be exploring love between the worlds and how goddess symbolism can be found all around us.

So, before I introduce my guest here, I would like to begin with a wisdom quote from a novel by Iva Kenaz called The Goddess Within. And it goes like this, “Your shadow can be used both for good or bad. It solely depends on the intention. If your intention is ill, the shadow eventually overpowers you. But if it’s kind, it can actually support your light.”

So, with that lovely quote, I would like to introduce you to the author and one of my most favorite people on the planet, the mystical Iva Kenaz. She’s an author from Prague Bohemia, a city built on magic, that I was able to visit recently and I fell in love with it. It’s an amazing place. Iva’s a researcher of ancient knowledge and has written various metaphysical novels, including The Goddess Within. Currently, she’s working on a new book about runes, so I hope we can talk to her about both. And The Goddess Within, I’ll just tell you, you might want to pick it up. It’s the kind of book I can imagine that young wizards at Hogwarts would be reading or the priestesses of Avalon. So, if you really like a little bit of a magical read, check it out. So, Iva, welcome to Wisdom of the Ages.

Hi Ayn. Thank you so much for having me. I’m so happy to be here on your show.

I’m so happy you’re here and I love, I absolutely love your book.

Oh, thank you.

Just the whole idea that a young woman might fall in love with the faun and the other worlds. It’s just fascinating to me. But before we get really into it, I just want to ask you… It’s an unusual novel. It’s a little different because you’re in two different worlds, and I’m just wondering how did this idea of a love story between a young girl and a faun, how did that come to you?

Well, I have always enjoyed the Greek and Roman mythologies and all these legendary beings that coexisted with the human race, and perhaps they still do in another dimension. But I’ve especially been curious about the half human, half animal beings because they connect us to the earth element and to the ancient gods and the goddesses, many of which had horns. And they were later demonized because they represent our animalistic side and wilderness, which was generally suppressed.

But I have always found them fascinating, especially the fauns because the fauns were sons of a minor Roman deity called Faunus, who was a Roman counterpart to Greek Pan. And he represented the masculine, fertile powers of nature. And the fauns were really funny beings, they were like these tricksters but also wise teachers and they often challenged humans and taught us about our connection to the earth and the plants, and basically our wild side.

I have always found these characters interesting, and I liked the idea of a love story between a mortal girl and a faun. I guess I was also inspired by the archetype of the Beauty and the Beast, although actually in this novel it’s the beauty who changes, not the beast. But all these things, they just all came together.

It’s really pretty fascinating. And I love this idea that fairy, like this realm of fairy, it’s not a demonic place. It’s actually a place where we can find our wholeness, where we can actually find true love.

Yes, yes. I believe that there are these dimensions and that there are these ethereal, pure beings that just want to avoid this harsh reality that we live in so they are in this world, and I believe that if we are chosen to go there, we can actually permeate that reality and start coexisting with these beings.

I love this. I love this dance between the time and place that we’re in and this other place, the timeless place, the place of dreams, the idea that we can possibly dream consciously with them, that our realities maybe in this day and age are starting to move more into alignment. Maybe we’re coming back into some kind of fairy accord, some kind of full alignment.

Yeah.

So, the main character in your book is Berkana, and I believe that’s after the goddess rune. So, do you want to explain… Just introduce the runes just a little bit about them?

Yeah. Okay. Well the runes are an old Germanic alphabet that was brought later to Britain and Scandinavia, but they’re probably much older and they’re a much older writing system because, for example, there are some similarities between the runes and the symbols of bronze age Europe. Some of the runes are really similar to the symbols. But what I find most fascinating about the runes is that they don’t only offer divination, but they are also magical symbols that help us manifest and heal and they open our consciousness.

And this goes hand in hand, because for example, if we pull a certain rune, it doesn’t only offer us advice but also the possibility to draw in the rune’s energy and actually attract the possible outcome of what we desire. So we can actually do that by visualizing or drawing or chanting the runes. We can also do runic postures, which is kind of like runic yoga they call it. So, there are many ways to work with the runes, but their power is really intense and it manifests almost instantly when we work with them.

Oh, that’s absolutely fascinating. So, I’ve got to take a break here for a minute. So, Iva, where can people find out more about you and your books and your audible stories and your sacred geometry cards?

Yes, I have a website, ivakenaz.com, and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and all the major online retailers.

Okay. So, this is super. We’re going to take this short break and then we’re going to talk more about runes and love between the worlds. So stay tuned and we’ll be right back.

To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.