Melissa Cynova 
Ok, since then, I’ve emailed Darla and asked if I could interview her with the LFT Questionnaire thing and she said yes! So that’s cool. What I’ve enjoyed most, though, was the homework for this interview (ie reading her entire blog) She has such an interesting story and I really like her perspective on divination (clearing away the bullshit) and dreams. I read that she stopped dreaming when she had her kids and I just stopped. Stopped reading. Stopped breathing for a second, too. My kids are 10 and 11 and I know that I’ve dreamed a little since I’ve had them but I just don’t remember. And when I was younger, I would have the most amazing (and sometimes prophetic) dreams. I’m currently struggling with insomnia and sleep apnea, and both of these are dream killers. That’s so disappointing, really. To lose such a vivid part of who you are without really noticing it.
WELP, I’m starting to stay in bed for 5-10 minutes after I wake up and I’m trying so hard to recall my dreams. Then, I immediately write the scraps of them in my Divina Journal for Magical Babes. I’ve also started to pull a card every morning. Beth Maiden has been talking about doing this for AGES and I’ve been SO resistant to use my gifts for me. Don’t know why. Ok, that’s a lie, I know why, but talking about denying care for yourself is not fun so fuck it. Anyway, I’m doing it now, Beth! You’d be so proud of me. There’s a spot in my little journal for it. This thing is helping me so much, so thank you, Beth and Darla, for drilling this very needed activity into my brain. It finally took! Ain’t that some shit.
Also, one of my friends (you know who you are) said they didn’t want to get the journal because it’s already the middle of January and they’ve missed some days and blah blah. That’s lame as hell. Stop making excuses and do something nice for yourself, wouldja? If I can, you can.
SO – without further babbling on, here you go
Hello! I’m Darla. I’ve been a strong dreamer since I was a child and, like most things, utterly took it for granted, even squandered it, until the sleep deprivation of having two children under two years old stole my dreams and I had to work to get them back. Then of course, I realized I could help other women do the same. I’m a big believer in the one-two punch of dreams and divination. I like to say they help you cut through the bullshit– your bullshit. You can’t hide from dreams– they will tell you like it is. Divination (tarot, pendulums, charmcasting, etc.) does the same. The cards don’t care about your feelings or your wishes or the way you hope to manipulate the situation– they just tell you like it is and then you have to deal with it. THAT is some powerful love right there. I’ve created a dream and divination journal called DIVINA: A Journal for Magical Babes. It let’s you keep our dreams, daily divinations, gratitude list and more in one concise place– all synced up with the moon of course.
It has a companion book, ORACLE: Divination for Magical Babes, which goes through the themes brought up in DIVINA a bit more deeply: energy work, angels, divination, prayer, dreamwork, etc.
I also recently started offering Dream Magic Reports. If you have a dream you just can’t decipher, I’ll look at the astrology of the night you had the dream, your natal chart, and I’ll throw some tarot cards down, tune into my intuition and give you some insight. I also give some practical advice based on the elements to work with the dream. It’s a lot of fun, however I have to stress that it is not a dream interpretation service. Only YOU can interpret your dreams. I can help give you some insight and perspective though.
LFT Questionnaire
1. What you appreciate the most in your friends.
Faithfulness. Every key friendship has happened on the first day of something BIG. I met my soul sister, also named Melissa, on the first day of kindergarten. I met my heart sister, Sarah, on the first day of undergrad. I met my cerebral/soul sister, Whitney, on the first day of my first job as a journalist at a little midwestern newspaper. And my one and only soul brother, John Paul, my first week of grad school. MONTHS go by without talking to these friends (I live in Costa Rica) but we always pick up where we left off and never miss a beat. I had a dear friend break-up with me because I couldn’t give her enough attention. It really hurt me for a long time but now I’m relieved the drama got nipped in the bud and hey, obviously she wasn’t that great of a friend anyway.
2. Your idea of happiness.
I have a lot of ideas of happiness, but seeing as I have a 3-year old and a 1.5 year old, plus we live on a farm and are in the process of building our house WHILE we live in it, I have to kind of zoom in and really focus on the really mundane, attainable forms of happiness– which, really, is a blessing. So every night I ask myself “Is everyone in this house well-fed, clean, well-loved and safe and secure with their place in this world (and my heart)? Yes? I’m happy. Did I get to do something for myself today– no matter how small or short on time? Yes? I’m really happy.”
3. Your idea of misery.
Living someone else’s version of your life instead of your own.
4. Where would you like to live?
I would love to be back in my home state of Washington or back in New Mexico (where I attended grad school). I could be really happy in either of those places. But as it were, I fell in love with a redheaded Costa Rican who is tied to his land more than I am tied to any one piece of land, so Costa Rica is, and will be, our home. But hey, I have 200 acres of farmland and virgin forests plus tropical beaches are two hours away. It’s not so bad. 😉
5. Your favorite colors and flowers.
I love me some turquoise. Blame it on the years in New Mexico. And lilies. Any lily. All lilies.
6. Your favorite poets.
Oh man, Pablo Neruda is just divine. He really understood how most women want to be seen and cherished, romantically. “I have slept with you, all night long while the dark earth spins, with the living and the dead, and on waking suddenly, in the midst of the shadow, my arm encircled your waist. Neither night nor sleep, could separate us.” — excerpt from Night on the Island
7. Your heroes/heroines in fiction.
Nancy Drew and Henry from The Boxcar Children (he kept his shit together and as a fellow oldest child, I have mad respect)– these books helped me fall in love with reading at a young age and later, writing. But, to show off a little, the fiction book that has had the biggest impact on me thus far is East of Eden by Steinbeck. It’s stunning in it’s beauty and depravity. The way it showcases the pure goodness of human nature– and the pure evilness– wow. I don’t know if a single character is my hero, but Steinbeck is my hero and that book as a whole is my hero. It’s a big fat reminder of why I fell in love with writing and it’s the gold standard to live up to.
8. What role does divination play in your life?
I use divination quite frequently and I’m gently teaching my 3-year old a little divination as well. I grew up being afraid of it. This was in part my lack of knowledge and in part, fear-mongering from the small-town church I attended. Eventually, I realized divination is just a way to cut through the bullshit– your own bullshit. Take away all of the emotions and druthers and take away the pros and cons list and get to the heart of the matter. THAT’S what divination does for me and that’s the core message in my book ORACLE: Divination for Magical Babes, which is a sort of introductory guide to all things woo-woo for women girls like I used to be: a bit afraid, not sure where to start, not sure what the point of divination is, but also really curious.
9. Your heroes/heroines in real life.
[No joke, I just had to interrupt this interview to go chase a wayward heifer off my lawn and out of my flowers #farmlife] (That’s the best interruption ever – LFT)
My parents and grandparents. I really got blessed on all sides there. But I definitely put my maternal grandmother on a bit of a higher pedestal. She was from the generation of First Nation peoples who were sent to awful boarding schools to “kill the Indian and save the man.” Most of her life was an uphill battle and I honor it in the My Lineage section of my website.
10. What is your present state of mind?
Very grateful and more than a bit frazzled. I’m balancing a house-in-progress, a marriage, two young children, “baby weight,” life on a farm, and the recent launch of DIVINA, all from a developing country where the internet connection, and my grasp of the language, is fair at best and civilization is two hours away (a curse and a blessing) . . . and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.
11. What is your favorite tarot deck or divination tool?
Hold on, the heifer is back . . . okay. I have a dozen decks or so and go through phases with each one. Right now, The Wildwood Tarot is speaking to me– and it’s about time! I’ve had it for over a year. I REALLY want to start collecting some Indie decks, but that’s not so easy from here. I have to buy them online and ship them to my mom’s house and then wait several months until I go home for a visit– which then feels a bit like Christmas because I totally forgot what I ordered. Last year I learned how to do charmcastings and I love it. We eat all of our own meat here on the farm (giving the heifer the stink eye) and I really want to try that ancient thing where you look at the entrails of the animal? I haven’t had the chance yet, but we have a goat whose days are numbered . . . You can be sure I’ll post about it when it happens. Not for the squeamish, obviously. And don’t worry, our animals are killed VERY gently and swiftly, by my husband himself.
12. Your favorite songs?
I am a multi-Cancerian and I just LOVE the music from yesteryear. Ballads from the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. Same goes for movies. I also grew up with a dad who loved old music so through in some pop music from the 50’s and 60’s and we’ve got a party.
13. What is your favorite word?
Serendipity
14. What is your least favorite word?
Texted. I prefer “She sent me a text” “I sent her a text 5 minutes ago”
15. What sound or noise do you love?
My boys laughing and squealing together. Also we have the sacred quetzal bird on our property and I love hearing them call to one another.
16. What sound or noise do you hate?
That moment when the fun is over and one of them starts crying.
17. What turns you on?
Anais Nin once wrote “There are two ways to reach me: by way of kisses or by way of the imagination. But there is a hierarchy: Kisses alone don’t work.” Yep. Also: My husband’s farm muscles.
18. What turns you off?
Self-indulgent narcissism. I just can’t even.
19. What is your favorite curse word?
Fuck. It’s also the curse word I get to use the least because see previous mention of toddlers.
20. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
I’m going to stick to my Christian roots on this one “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” But of course, in my version God is fully embodies the divine masculine AND feminine.
Thanks, Darla! Good luck with the entrails, dreams and heifers! Thank you for taking time out of your completely full and lovely life to play with us. And thanks for making my book. Truly.
xo! LFT