Her Story

Dark Mother is the embodiment of the Shadow Feminine, the Dark Goddess, the Triple Goddess, the Great Mother, Hekate, Lilith, the Divine Feminine. She encompasses all things holy spirit, deep love and compassion. She is fire, earth, water, air and spirit. Wild. Untamed. Self expressed. Impassioned and in pleasure. She is connected to her intuition, body and ancestors. She is a witch and unafraid.

What does any of this have to do with Women's wellness products? Well, in the darkness, light is found. How? By radically caring for the parts of ourselves that we have been told to ignore, suppress, be ashamed of, we are in fact tapping into our most powerful gifts. So as opposed to the light, fluffy, pink feminine product lines (which are beautiful and also welcome), we aim to shine a light on the 'taboo', the unspoken, and especially the all knowing YONI! We want to give permission to women to dig into their depths and fears and create ceremony with themselves; to honour their wholeness. Through even the most simple rituals; learning our cycle, connecting to our wombs and pleasure, creating sacred space, etc... we can begin the journey of self discovery and true freedom and sovereignty over our own bodies.

How did this come to be? Dark Mother is the result of several deaths and rebirths experienced by its creatrix, Shelley Oak. She became a mother herself and not long after, a single parent, this was the greatest catalyst in her stepping into her most authentic self. First, she had to figure out who that was. She had to leap into the darkness with full intention and unknowing. She had to peal back layers of pain, shame and trauma, and then claw her way back to herself guided by lessons of boundaries, self care, self love, intuition, craft, journaling, a coven of sisters, daily rituals, and radical self acceptance. She began Yoni steaming, using crystal Yoni Eggs + Wands, charting her cycle all in a bid to reconnect to her Yoni post-birth, post-relationship, post-contraception. It was just the beginning of a beautiful journey and initiation. A quest that never truly ends, but has become such a joy. After witnessing and accepting the massive transformation she had made, she wanted to share the wisdom and knowledge gained from her experiences with anyone needing it. The very first Yoni Steaming Throne was born. After many makeshifts attempts to have a comfortable and beautiful steam ritual on some sort of seat/stool/squatting situation, Shelley looked for an alternative. When she couldn't find an affordable, functional, and cute option, she decided to build it herself. Now, here we are! Welcome to Dark Mother. 

 

Shelley is also a sacred circle facilitator and birth doula. You can find her at @Shelley.oak on instagram.