Maja D'Aoust is an incredibly gorgeous woman of light and prophecy residing in Los Angeles. She resonates with strength and vitality and takes magic to other levels with her wealth of knowledge. DeerWomen touched on a number of subjects with her including motherhood, her new book and magic in today's climate. 

 

 

DeerWomen: Maja, can you describe what you do?

MAJA: I do Witch practices such as divination ritual services and healings and think on things that are alchemical, eternal and perennial to try to find the golden and indestructible truths of the universe through my own experiences and the recorded experiences of human beings living and dead.

DeerWomen: What is your background and how did you get involved in esoteric practices? 

MAJA: I was always interested in esoterica. I grew up on an island in Washington. My mother had lived in Tibet and she collected books on spirituality so I was exposed to many of these concepts as a young child.  My Grandmother, who we lived with for several years was a literature lover, so I was deeply exposed to the humanities through her kind agency where I read her books by Mark Twain, Dostoyevsky, Percy Shelley, Camus, thousands of books of classical literature.  As a teenager, I began delving into research on paganism and witch craft and that was the end of that, (laughs).  I was a witch from then on.  

I never really felt the teachings I was exposed to in churches, but when I read the witch books, I could not tear my eyes from the page.  It enraptured my attention and I began to to meditation techniques and magical rituals by myself in the forest.

DeerWomen: On a personal note, you are so stimulating and a constant stream of knowledge. From your talks at the Masonic Lodge in Hollywood to your book, The Secret Source - what inspires you and where do you get your knowledge from? What well are you tapping the source from? 

 MAJA: Aw, thanks!  Well, I have been very lucky in my searches and have managed to come across a lot of amazing information and teachers who have lead me to incredible information. I take it where I can get it, (laughs).  I guess I am an information slut and opened to many sources which allowed many perspectives to flow into me. By keeping an open mind to truth and knowledge, you never know what form it will take and just float on in!  Don't be closed minded and accept it as it comes.

DeerWomen: What does the word "Witch" mean for you? You've described it as controversial, does this still apply when today's trend seems to be witchery and herbalism? 

MAJA: The word Witch is very simple, it is only complicated through ignorant assumptions. It means 'one who seeks to know, or wise one'.  

I have always had a compulsion to know things, really a bit obsessively. This compulsion lead me to science, to divination, to meditation any tool I can get my hands on that will help me to gather data is not left out.  I have a desire to come into knowledge. I think any true witch is seeking after wisdom. It is an innate desire. Much like King Solomon, who was offered anything he wanted with a single wish, he chose wisdom, I am compelled to investigate and acquire understanding. That is the drive behind all my practices and endeavors. I want to know what is human and what is all this crazy stuff. My sense of wonder is what makes me a witch.

DeerWomen: There is a big depression over the United States right now. What do you think in this current political climate, we need the most urgently?

MAJA: There is always depression and political climates.  That which is perennial truth weathers the storm.  The I ching told it to me through hexagram 47 which shows a tree in an enclosure, and it says, trees can live through floods if their roots are deep enough they are not carried away by the current.  The ones who remain are deeply in the earth.  It said "simply withstanding it all". 

There is a lot to be said about resilience and not losing focus of what is important in difficult times.  The good news is, when you understand nature, you can see how tides turn and evil forces consume themselves as night turns to day, if you don't like something, work hard to shift it to its opposition, or if you are truly powerless, just wait for the tide to turn.
 
DeerWomen: In regards to Witchcraft and spellcasting what is a good way for someone to have a bit of magic in their lives in the modern world?

With the world rushing at such a fast pace, everyone seems to be taking medication just to catch up or slow down. What do the ancient traditions and rituals bring to today's rushing mentality?

 
MAJA: You must go to nature.
Natures time is not the same as people time we impose.  Learn to watch the seasons, learn to feel the wind, follow the leaves as they fall to earth.  Watch the changes in the position of the sun as the earth rolls round its light.  Track the stars in the sky.  You will learn what real time is, no drugs needed, just eyeballs.

DeerWomen: Now, you've created an incredible tarot deck recently, The White Witch Tarot. Who inspired you during the creation of this deck, if anyone? 
Tell us about the Symbolism within it. 
 

MAJA: The Tarot deck is a result of several decades of working with the tarot.  I got my first deck when I was 15 from my mother, and have been practicing professional Tarot readings  for a long time.  

The inspiration for the images came through my meditation practice which was given to me by Dr. Kelvin Delwolfe who combines his Native American heritage with his in depth studies of Chinese philosophy, medicine and practices.

The symbolism contained withing the deck came to me in visions while meditating upon the archetypes.

 
DeerWomen: Are there any easter eggs we should know about hidden?
 

MAJA: The Easter egg is the Dawn of knowledge. ;) Easter means the dawn and the secret to all things can be revealed to a mind open to a larger source of wisdom other than its own limited capacity.

 

 

DeerWomen: You're coming out with a new book, A Witch's Bestiary. What was your inspiration for  this and spark?
 

MAJA: My Bestiary was inspired through learning about my own animal instinct.  I came into contact with my animal through Taoist practices I did with Dr. Kelvin Dewolfe.  The Bestairy is written to explain from a psycho-magical perspective what the beasts truly represent, which are our ancestral lineages and aspect of our nature that largely remain hidden to us because we refuse to integrate them.  The animal soul is deeply part of our existence and the tales of the mythological beasts offer esoteric insight into human nature and are important for anyone who is interested in self discovery.

DeerWomen: Can we delve briefly into martial arts? What attracted you to martial arts?
 

MAJA: Bruce Lee made me want to do martial arts.  I started training in my twenties in a dojo in Seattle where the teacher had trained with Bruce Lee.  It changed my whole life.  I was very fat as a kid so I had never really got into physical discipline until later.  Martial arts made me learn how to change my outer form through discipline and will.

DeerWomen: As a practitioner, what is the connection between martial arts and the magical arts?  ie; In Eskrima, there are often patterns and mystical symbols that are drawn into the air, names given to these patterns and figures taken from mythologies and legends. 

 

MAJA: Martial arts and magic are both about building your will.  Martial arts turns the will into action, where magic is non-action of the will.  You need both, I advise all magiciians to learn martial arts to turn their magic into reality through will and action yolked together.  Everything follows ONE PATTERN and that it the golden mean, it is inescapable in this reality. All symbols are only iterations of that symbol, so it will be everywhere.

DeerWomen: You're also a Mother. We'd like to touch a bit on that subject, if you don't mind... How has the transition been from Maiden to  Motherhood been for you? 
 
MAJA:  It was hard at first, a lot of loss of identity occurs when you enter into motherhood and then you exist to serve the baby, and then you have to re-adjust to being yourself again when your body is yours again after breast feeding and you have to re-integrate as a new thing that you have become.  It is a great ego death and lesson in loss of control being a mother that blows you open to a love that is beyond anything you could ever imagine. For me motherhood has been GROWTH.

DeerWomen: Do you tell your child you do? 
 

MAJA: They know I am a witch, haha.
One of their teachers asked me for a reading ;)
They know everything I do because I tell them
and answer all their questions honestly.

DeerWomen: How do you explain your craft and what you do to non-believers, people who resist truth or have very constricted views? You operate at a very high level of intellect, how do you deflect the interactions with others who operate on a lower level. :) 

MAJA: The best way to go about that is to include their point of view.  No one is to blame for any of their thoughts, which are primarily based on their experiences.  So I try to provide them with a direct experience of spirit through my work so that I don't have to explain anything, they can participate.  No point in talking about something, (laughs) just do it and that is the best way to show rather than throwing around insults and arguments.
I study both science and Religion deeply so am equipped to talk from their side, but they do not study my work, so they often find themselves ill equipped to have an educated conversation with me, whereas I am educated on their perspective and include it in my contemplation, why leave anything out?

DeerWomen: Do you have rituals with your child that you incorporate into your daily life?

MAJA: Yes, we do a bed time ritual every night that we have done since they were little and we say the same prayer together every night to bring in the angels.

DeerWomen: Finally, what is a daily Ritual for you? 

MAJA: Every Breath of every moment I remember I am alive on planet earth. This brings things into perspective.

 

Thank you so much for speaking with us, beautiful Maja. 

 

You can find Maja at her site, Witch of the Dawn. 

On Social Media @witchofthedawn

PRE-ORDER  A Witch's Bestiary: Visions of Supernatural Creatures on Amazon HERE.

Order her White Witch Tarot deck HERE.