Feb 16, 2021
The soul is not something outside of us. We carry it within and it is ours to interact with and shape and dance with.
- Theresa C. Dintino in Membranes of Hope
Theresa Dintino has made several plot twists throughout her adult years. A writer, she studied goddess culture and wrote books about matriarchal societies. Eventually she was drawn to study her own ancestral lineage and wrote a book about her great-grandmother who was an Italian strega. Her journey to connect with her Strega ancestry led her to an introduction to the West African Dagara tradition of stick divination. In a plot twist, Theresa pursued divination, a calling that has further deepened her connection to nature, elemental beings, and her ancestral past.
As a stick diviner, she listens, is advised by the elements, and prescribes rituals and actions to those seeking answers or healing. It is an intuitive ritual involving deep focus and play.
Theresa’s explorations next turned to life-systems and their membranes. In her latest book, Membranes of Hope, she considers how everything, even the smallest of molecules is “ensouled” in a membrane. Everything that is a life source is protected by a membrane that lets in, and keeps out, what it needs in order to thrive. As therapists, we refer to these as boundaries. But we like the idea of membrane. It’s more dynamic and porous, less static.
Along with the eight books that she has written, she is also the co-founder of the Weekly Newsletter Nasty Women Writers, and the founder of the Strega Tree Apothecary, an online store offering products for spiritual care needs.
Take a listen to Theresa’s story.
Learn more about Theresa's work at ritualgoddess.com