Sacred Paris

Inside Déborah Calfond’s Originelles: Les 22 Allegories

Imagine a velvet curtain-lined space privately tucked away in the heart of Le Marais (in the center of Paris) on a weeknight - and within this space you are sitting with charcoal and paper in hand, along with others being guided by a beautiful French artist and her muse for a live nude drawing experience. Between petite sessions the artist shares her poetry and the muse wanders with a joy-filled gaze as she looks at the art that you have created. I feel in my heart of hearts that this might be the Paris dream of many listening today, and this was precisely how I met my guest for today’s episode - living a Paris dream. Last week she invited me to her newest exhibition, Originelles: Les 22 Allegories – a body of work that moves between painting, poetry, and archetype. What began as an intimate artistic exploration has grown into a symbolic language rooted in memory, embodiment, and the lived experience of the feminine body. About Déborah Déborah Calfond is a French artist whose practice weaves painting, drawing, and poetic text. Trained in spatial design and architecture, her work explores the body as a site of memory, transmission, and sacred language. Rooted in her French, Tunisian, and Jewish heritage, she engages symbolism; particularly the Major Arcana and Hebrew letters, as living structures through which image and word become incarnate. Alongside her studio practice, she leads poetic live-drawing sessions that approach the body as ritual space and collective experience. Artist Statement Déborah Calfond’s work explores the body as a site of metamorphosis, memory, and animality. Fragmented and hybrid, oscillating between human, animal, and landscape, the body becomes raw material and reveals our multiplicity. Informed by a reflection on mother-child relationships, transmission, and transgenerational heritage, her work examines the visible and invisible traces that history leaves within bodies. Through painting, drawing, and writing, she seeks to render these ruptures perceptible and at times to gesture toward their repair. Her expressive paintings, combining oils, inks, pigments, and handwritten text, give rise to figures in motion evolving within uncertain spaces, somewhere between landscape and stage. The body becomes a lived territory, at once memory and becoming. I am filled with joy to sit with Deborah in today’s episode to explore where this work comes from, the stories that it carries, and what continues to move beneath its surface. If you liked this episode please leave a comment for us, and if you are enjoying the podcast please consider leaving a 5-star review. Every listener matters to us, thank you for being here. If you feel inspired to share the podcast, it will help us to reach more seekers - thank you! To Connect More Deeply with Déborah: www.deborahcalfond.com [https://deborahcalfond.com] Originelles Les 22 Allegories [https://www.calameo.com/read/007901007807a5f46fbd3] Support Déborah’s Crowdfunding Project [https://www.ulule.com/originelles/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQTk-9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFPU0FCalJ6amUyamJ3WjJpc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHr_VF-FdM6rTB0ywfuXXbRClGCSJIRdKIXYX-spRrHiMEZAW4taRhI6GhGLe_aem_6t41ubT-jAv4j97HIO4iVg] www.instagram.com/deborahcalfond [https://www.instagram.com/deborahcalfond/] To Connect More Deeply with Patricia: www.sacredparis.com [http://www.sacredparis.com/] www.instagram.com/sacredparis [http://www.instagram.com/sacredparis] https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis] Thank you for listening...until next time, may you find the sacred in everything you do

Writing the Heroine's Journey with Catherine Connors

I fell in-love with my guest today on the path, literally, in Sainte Baume last year. We found each other by way of Meggan Watterson’s House of Mary, [https://www.megganwatterson.com/homm] and it was during one of our hikes to Mary’s cave that our love for story, writing and holding space came together in a desire we shared, and this desire came to fruition in May of this year as we co-created and hosted our first “Writing the Heroine’s Journey” [https://www.sacredparis.com/writing-the-heroines-journey-sainte-baume-pilgrimage] pilgrimage in Sainte Baume. For me, it was a delight to spend time with Catherine again, to be sitting at the table with other ‘real’ writers and a celebrity one guiding the magical journey of story…in a place that I feel is the most sacred of all…it was and still is a pinch-me moment in time. . Today’s conversation is a selfish endeavor, I’ve asked here [https://www.sacredparis.com/writing-the-heroines-journey-sainte-baume-pilgrimage]. If you liked this episode please leave a comment for us, and if you are enjoying the podcast please consider leaving a 5-star review. Every listener matters to us, thank you for being here. If you feel inspired to share the podcast, it will help us to reach more seekers - thank you! To Connect More Deeply with Catherine: www.herbadmother.com [http://www.herbadmother.com] www.instagram.com/herbadmother [http://www.instagram.com/herbadmother] www.holydoodlebug.substack.com [http://www.instagram.com/herbadmother] www.sacredish.substack.com [http://www.sacredish.substack.com] To Connect More Deeply with Patricia: www.sacredparis.com [http://www.sacredparis.com/] www.instagram.com/sacredparis [http://www.instagram.com/sacredparis] https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis] Thank you for listening...until next time, may you find the sacred in everything you do.

On the Path: In Secret and Shadows with Author Janet Renu Pullen

I fell in-love with my guest for this episode between the covers of her book In Secret and Shadows.  There are many, many books on the subject of the Cathar, gnostics, and Mary Magdalene in the South of France (and I've read most of them), but I read Janet's book from start to finish the minute it landed in my hands.  And, it was the book that inspired my solo pilgrimage into Cathar country last year. . Join us as we explore the path as pilgrims, seekers, and lovers of curiosity, early Christian wisdom, and of France. . Janet Renu Pullen is an author, psychotherapist, practitioner of Kripalu Yoga and lifelong spiritual seeker. For over 40 years, her life work has been deeply rooted in self-inquiry, mindfulness and a search for truth. An enlightening experience at a mysterious medieval ruin deep in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains of Southern France where Christian heretics were burned at the stake ignited an unexpected mystical adventure. Fueled by the questions, who were these heretics and what secrets of theirs were silenced in the flames, she set off on a quest for answers.  . Janet’s debut book, In Secret and Shadows: Discovering Light in the South of France, invites readers into a powerful journey of personal transformation set against the backdrop of the historical persecution of the Cathar in the South of France. Her forthcoming book, Starry Fields of the Holy Grail, carries readers with her on a continuing quest for truth along the ancient Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Her unexpected initiation along the Camino forces her to confront her fears, unprocessed traumas and false beliefs which leads to a mystical encounter with the lost heart of Christianity, Mary Magdalene.     . Currently Janet lives in New Jersey with her family. She frequently returns to France often leading mystical tours to places that continue to preserve sacred history.  . If you liked this episode please leave a comment for us, and if you are enjoying the podcast please consider leaving a 5-star review. Every listener matters to us, thank you for being here. If you feel inspired to share the podcast, it will help us to reach more seekers - thank you! . To Connect More Deeply with Janet: www.janetpullen.com [http://www.janetpullen.com] . To Connect More Deeply with Patricia: www.sacredparis.com [http://www.sacredparis.com/] www.instagram.com/sacredparis [http://www.instagram.com/sacredparis] https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis] Thank you for listening...until next time, may you find the sacred in everything you do. .

Being in the World Deeply: Through the Eyes of a Modern Mystic with Alcina Ribeiro Hamdi

I fell in-love with my guest for this episode instantly, and I knew in this moment that I wanted to have this (and I hope many more) heart-to-heart conversation with her about being a modern Mystic, about her poetry, and about being in the world deeply.  Taking action when we fall in-love is my invitation to you through this project of Sacred Paris. . Please join me for this episode of allowing yourself to feel and be more deeply in the world, through the eyes of a modern Mystic poet. . Alcina Ribeiro Hamdi was born in 1985, in the heart of the Swiss mountains. After a brief stint at university in Barcelona, where she studied translation and interpreting, she chose to step away from academia to explore alternative and mystical therapies, seeking a holistic understanding of human resilience. For her, both inner and outer exploration, through deep introspection and travel, nurtures a heightened awareness in writing. . She co-founded Éditions À l’Envers, immersing her hands in ink to print exquisite art books using intaglio techniques. After some years, she paused her publishing activities to embark on a long journey, which became the seed for a project of spoken-word videos and poetry, as well as various writings. The publishing house was later reborn as Éditions Larguer les Amarres. . She has published three poetry collections, froissée, followed by aurore and qualia, and is now launching a series of spoken texts. The first release served as a test and is available on Spotify and other platforms. She has also created an online course, La Poésie comme Voie Mystique, which explores poetry as a mystical path. . To Connect More Deeply with Alcina: https://www.alcinaribeirohamdi.ch [https://www.alcinaribeirohamdi.ch] https://www.instagram.com/alcinaribeirohamdi/ [https://www.alcinaribeirohamdi.ch] https://www.hopp.bio/alcina-ribeiro-hamdi [https://www.alcinaribeirohamdi.ch] https://open.spotify.com/artist/3w7VSpcMTjwICY9cJIiFgT [https://open.spotify.com/artist/3w7VSpcMTjwICY9cJIiFgT] . If you liked this episode please leave a comment for us, and if you are enjoying the podcast please consider leaving a 5-star review. Every listener matters to us, thank you for being here. If you feel inspired to share the podcast, it will help us to reach more seekers - thank you! . To Connect More Deeply With Patricia: www.sacredparis.com [http://www.sacredparis.com/] www.instagram.com/sacredparis [http://www.instagram.com/sacredparis] https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis] Thank you for listening...until next time, may you find the sacred in everything you do. .

Being the Song: Sacred Sound, The Dragon Path and The Paris Meridian with Ani Williams

In this conversation, it was beautiful to learn that my guest for this episode, Ani Williams, enters sacred spaces and tunes into their frequency before she finds the chord within herself - and on her instrument of choice.  The result has been years and years of beautifully orchestrated symphony of sacred sound which Ani has been the harmonizer and embodiment of as she shares this "song" with the world. . We also talked about her book "Guardians of the Dragon Path," as a cosmic map for connecting ley lines, stars, and sacred sites on planet earth which led us to a beautiful and serendipitous segway to her new book: a work-in-progress tracing the Paris Meridian.  We chat about the connection that Paris has to Mary Magdalene and many other beautiful things which I trust will touch something in the seeker within you. . Ani Williams is an author, composer, harpist, singer, and sound therapist. For more than three decades Ani has presented concerts of her music, and seminars and trainings on sound medicine across Eastern and Western Europe, Britain, Mexico and the United States. She has recorded more than two dozen albums of original music based on ancient, sacred traditions, focusing on music for the sacred feminine, including Mary Magdalen. She has performed in some of Europe’s great cathedrals, Egyptian temples, and for the United Nations. . She has done seminal research in sound healing and the relationship between musical tones, the human voice and healing. In 1992 she founded Songaia Sound, incorporating ancient sound science and Voice Diagnostics. She is currently offering an online training for this ground-breaking sound work . Her new book Guardians of the Dragon Path is a stunning quest of discovery in the Pyrenees region of Northern Spain and Southern France. Williams traces the ancient history, archeoastronomy, megalithic sites, including the Hermetic traditions that were established in the Iberian Peninsula in antiquity.  Her discoveries include medieval Magdalena sites on the Paris Meridian and on the Camino do Santiago. . To Connect More Deeply with Ani: www.aniwilliams.com [http://www.aniwilliams.com/] ani@aniwilliams.com [ani@aniwilliams.com] https://www.facebook.com/ani.williams.31 [https://www.facebook.com/ani.williams.31] https://www.facebook.com/songaiasound [https://www.facebook.com/songaiasound] www.youtube.com/@aniwilliams8195 [http://www.youtube.com/@aniwilliams8195] . If you liked this episode please leave a comment for us, and if you are enjoying the podcast please consider leaving a 5-star review.  Every listener matters to us, thank you for being here.  If you feel inspired to share the podcast, it will help us to reach more seekers - thank you! . To Connect More Deeply With Patricia: www.sacredparis.com [http://www.sacredparis.com] www.instagram.com/sacredparis [http://www.instagram.com/sacredparis] https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacredparis] . Thank you for listening...until next time, may you find the sacred in everything you do.