Meet the Mystic - Roka Bella Rose
A new Mystic has joined Temple and the Moon. We are so thrilled to welcome Boho artist, designer and healer Carly of Roka Bella Rose into the collective. We thought we would take a moment this month to shine some light on our newest mystic.
Carly performing Reiki at our New Moon Lionsgate Portal Ritual
‘Sometimes you can forget your power and your worth’, says Carly. As an artist first and a reiki healer next, she wants people to look at her work and instantly remember the power we all have within us. Her pieces take time, are carefully considered, and feature spirituality at their core. The piece she is most proud of, Dancing Alone in a Red Dress, was inspired by ‘strange experiences with deer, then some shamanic journeying and drumming’. In fact, it was this connection to the soul of the piece that first inspired her to create. After graduating from art college, Carly was commissioned to do corporate collections including abstract art pieces for show homes, she found her heart wasn’t in it, ‘It didn’t feel like true art as I was just doing what was asked of me not what was in my soul, so I stopped for years’. A trip to Australia in 2012 found her reconnecting with her artistic roots. During a poignant moment sat on a beach just after a giant storm had swept through, and reading a book about Native American healing called Crossing Into Medicine Country by David Carson, an image appeared to her. ‘I had an idea to make art out of rose petals. As I was on the beach, I decided to make a picture of a surfer as my first piece. I named it ‘Roka’ meaning white crest of the wave in Japanese’. From this, Roka Bella Rose was born.
Roka Bella Rose styling of a sacred ritual space for Lionsgate Portal
Simply put, Roka Bella Rose makes things and makes them look pretty. Along with her husband Luke, Carly designs and makes props and décor for weddings and other events by hand. Their passion is to create something beautiful and turn dream ideas into a reality for people. Many of the pieces created by the couple feature celestial and heavenly bodies. Carly likes to draw inspiration from the natural world in this way. Having felt a close connection to the Moon growing up, it is now sunrise she finds most inspiring. ‘I love watching the sun rise’, she says, ‘that time of the morning feels so still, peaceful and beautiful.’ When she is feeling energised and ready to create, her process borrows from ritual practice. The spark comes from the idea itself, which she muses on over and over until it has developed and manifested into what it is meant to be. She follows this with forest bathing or a bath listening to her favourite music. ‘I practice manifestation a lot’, she adds, ‘I let my art flow through my heart and listen to my intuition’.
Carly’s Dreamcatcher creation is perfect for Manifestation Rituals
Manifesting for the future of Roka Bella Rose, Carly is working hard to expand the brand and take it into a physical space. The plan is to move into a Roka Bella Rose designed campsite and permanent wedding venue. She has it all planned out, down to the very last detail, it's manifested and ready to go. Though sometimes as a mum of two, Carly admits it’s not always easy. ‘The house is a mess, the garden is a jungle, and I need some me time and a lot more sleep’, she jokes. But with Roka Bella Rose as her passion, it is never hard to dedicate the time to work. She says the best piece of advice she was ever given was to ‘do a job you don’t feel you need to take a holiday from and it won’t feel like work’. ‘Say yes to opportunities that come your way’ she declares, ‘see where they go, some won’t lead anywhere, but some will lead you on a fabulous adventure’.
We’re thrilled to welcome Carly to the collective and keep your eyes peeled for her designs at our next live events. To keep up with everything Carly and Roka Bella Rose are up to, follow her on Instagram
Words Holly Westwood
Photography Sam Baggette