Sun Moon Healing

Reweaving our connection to the Earth and Sky,

Sun and Moon, the Wild Soul within and without…

Hello, my name is Melissa. I am a Medicine Weaver: an alchemical healer, priestess, ritualist and witch. With great gratitude and respect I live and work in Naarm, Melbourne, Australia, on Boon Wurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung Country. My people are Jewish as far back as I know, from the rivers and forests of the lands now called Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and England. Healers, weavers, rabbis and scholars. Farmers, tailors, hearth-keepers and musicians. I honour the hard work and perseverance of my people as they survived great historical moments in Europe and made their way eventually to Australia. Parts of my family have been on this great Southern continent for seven generations, and I am continually grateful for the privilege of living and working on Country.

I tend to the Wild Sacred within and with-out, paying attention to what is present in the open field of energy between us, listening carefully for where and how this precious intimacy with life wants to emerge.

I have a gift to see in the dark – I walk fearlessly with you into the shadows, holding the lamp of compassion and awareness, to help you reclaim your gold from within. I offer sacred spaces for deep healing and reflection, time to feel into the shadowy, difficult places knowing that you are not alone, and also spaces for excitement and joy to bubble up and be nourished. I offer you spaces to find a life filled with more magic and wonder, more abundance and joy, more intimacy and connection. A space to discover what is your Medicine and how you can best bring that to the world.

Aligning with the Divine, I utilize ceremony and circle, ritual and magic, to invoke the Sacred, to call you back to your greatest life. Reaching down into the dark roots, to the river beneath the river, I call on the magic of the Earth and the wisdom of the Ancestors, to enable a reweaving of the web of life.

From an early age I sought out ways to heal suffering, informed by the Jewish teaching of Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World. As a young person in the Melbourne Jewish community, I learnt the important values of kindness and mutual aid, authentic leadership and dedicated practice. I developed skills in facilitation, deep listening and boundary setting, which have supported me in my later work as a healer and holding space in sacred circles and rituals.

In 1991 I completed a Bachelor of Arts at The University of Melbourne, majoring in Psychology and Philosophy. I then completed a Law degree, specializing in International and Human Rights Law. I went on to work at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, and as a junior solicitor, I was one of seven lawyers running the Stolen Generations cases against the Australian Federal Government in the late 1990s. After a profound encounter with my indigenous clients, I subsequently left the law, got married and travelled alone to India for 6 months.

During my time in India I discovered I was a witch and this knowing has been enhanced by my work with various teachers, healers and Others who walk on the magical path. I have been steeped in the Women’s Mysteries Traditions for the last 25+ years, through shamanic and spiritual trainings, circles and ceremonies, vision quests and beekeeping. As well as this, my personal practice includes 25+ years of yoga and meditation, holding space and sitting in circle, and the wild intimacy of the solo path of the witch.

After birthing my two children, I completed a Bachelor of Science (Acupuncture) whilst living in London for 3.5 years with my family. Upon returning to Melbourne, I established my own healing practice which continues to grow and change.

I have extensive training in many kinds of Traditional East Asian healing modalities across the spectrum of Chinese Medicine, including different kinds of acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, bodywork, nutrition and other forms of healing. I also have training in psychotherapy, counselling, shamanic womancraft, sacred ceremonies and rites of passage.

Most recently, I have qualified as an Ancestral Lineage Healing practitioner with Ancestral Medicine, and I am delighted to be able to offer this beautiful, transformational practice to my community.

I hold space for many different kinds of rituals, from seasonal and cyclical circles, to grief and Rites of Passage circles, to Jewish spiritual spaces to transformational healing circles.

For the last 11 years, I have also been tending to Country by building a retreat centre, looking after bees and regenerating 50 acres of land in Central Victoria.

Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner

Bachelor of Arts (University of Melbourne), major in Psychology and Philosophy

Bachelor of Law (University of Melbourne)

Bachelor of Science (LCTA, Portsmouth University, UK)

Registered Chinese Medicine Acupuncturist (AHPRA, CRMBV, ATMS)

Graduate of 4 Seasons Journey with the School of Shamanic Womancraft, including a 4-day vision quest

Graduate of the 13 Moons Blood Mysteries School, including a 4-day vision quest

Graduate of the Way of the Melissae, Shamanic teaching on the Path of Pollen with The Sacred Trust (UK)

Qualifications in Zen Shiatsu, psychotherapy, and Reiki, as well as extensive training in many forms of acupuncture including Japanese Meridian Therapy and 5 Element Acupuncture

Over 25 years of meditation practice, including numerous retreats mostly with Jaya Ashmore of OpenDharma.

Solicitor with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (NSW)

I have been sitting in circle, alone and with others, since 2000

Acknowledgments

I honour and acknowledge the Kulin Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the Land upon which I live and work. The Land has a spirit and energy that belongs to no one and to everyone. It was claimed without consent or treaty; sovereignty was never ceded. I acknowledge and respect the past, ongoing and emerging traditions, culture and leaders of the Kulin Nation. There is a vibrancy and medicine to this place that has continued for over 60,000 years, and I hope in my life and work to contribute to the health and continuation of this spirit.

A portion of the profits from my work is donated to charities that support environmental and social justice and sustainability.