If you had asked me at the beginning of this year whether I’d be starting a religious nonprofit, I would’ve laughed. I would’ve said absolutely not. It wasn’t even on my radar. Sure, I’d heard whispers from Spirit before, but I never imagined they were leading me here.
I thought I was headed in an entirely different direction.
I Came to the Retreat to Continue My Writing.
Spirit Had Other Plans.
When I arrived at the writing retreat in July, I thought I was continuing the work I’d already been doin, writing, publishing, creating resources to support witches in recovery. I assumed I’d be spending the week turning The Sober Witch Life into a printable workbook. Something people could purchase, write in, maybe work through at their own pace.
That’s what I thought I was there to finish.
But Spirit had been speaking to me long before I set foot in that retreat center. I just didn’t recognize the voice.
Looking back now, I realize the first clear nudge may have been in February, when I saw a listing for a church property. I wasn’t looking for it. But when I saw it, I remember thinking, how cool would that be? To have a physical space to run rituals and workshops. A sacred space to gather community.
I didn’t know it then, but that was the first breadcrumb.
By May or June, I had received the download: this is bigger than just a business. This is a nonprofit. Something rooted in service. Something that can’t be owned, only stewarded. Something Spirit wants to live long beyond me.
And then came the retreat.
The Wind in Maine Spoke Clearly:
You’re Not Building a Workbook.
You’re Building a Temple.
I remember the moment like a dream made solid.
We were driving through upstate Maine, my partner beside me, his son in the back seat. The sun filtered through the trees, and everything around us felt alive. We’d been on the road for days already, and the world felt open and soft.
I was riding shotgun, staring out the window, thinking about how lucky I was to have time carved out to create. Thinking about what I was going to focus on. I didn’t yet know what was coming, but my body did. There was this subtle, sacred nudge.
Spirit whispered, you’re not building a workbook. You’re building a temple.
That whisper didn’t come with thunder. It didn’t shake the car. It didn’t need to. Because something inside of me cracked wide open.
As soon as I began researching what it would mean to form a nonprofit, and more importantly, a religious nonprofit, tears started to well up. Not out of fear, but out of truth. The kind of truth your body remembers, even if your brain is catching up.
I was crying because I knew. I knew this was what I was always meant to do.
It Wasn’t Strategy. It Was Destiny.
I didn’t suddenly become religious. I didn’t suddenly want to be a founder of a religious organization.
But I remembered something.
I remembered the moment I was told I couldn’t be an altar girl. I remembered how it made me question the very fabric of my belonging. I remembered how that moment, small to others, enormous to me, planted the seed of spiritual exile.
And in that retreat, the seed broke open. Spirit said, This is what you were always meant to do.
And I believed it.
Not because it was easy. But because it was the truest thing I had ever felt.
This Isn’t a Brand. This Is a Birth.
I’ve been a spiritual teacher and entrepreneur for a long time. I’ve created programs. Built platforms. Led groups.
But I now understand the difference between a spiritual brand and a soul-rooted religion.
For exampke, the Unschool of Sober Witchcraft is a place for teaching. For exploration. It offers tools and guidance, and it will always have a purpose in this movement.
But The Sovereign Phoenix is different.
It is not a program.
It is not a product.
It is not a coaching container.
It is not a workbook.
It is a temple.
It is a place where magick is sacred, not aesthetic.
Where addiction recovery is spiritual, not clinical.
Where healing is not a service but a soul assignment.
This is a movement. A religion. A covenant.
I Wasn’t Chosen Because I’m Special.
I Said Yes Because I Was Willing.
I won’t pretend I haven’t doubted it. I’ve had so many moments where I thought, Who am I to do this?
Even recently, I said in a recovery circle, “I cannot believe I’m doing this. I cannot believe I’m starting a non-profit witches’ religion.”
And someone typed in the chat: Way to go. That’s incredible.
It reminded me, this is not mine alone. I may be here to give birth to it, but it is not mine to hold.
This is for the witches in recovery who have been in hiding.
For the psychic healers numbing their gifts with substances.
For the queer, the neurodivergent, the spiritually exiled.
This is for you.
If you see yourself in my story, even just a little, if you’ve ever felt too much, too strange, too sacred, know that this temple is being built for you, too.
The Soul Assignment Is Collective
Spirit didn’t ask me to do this because I’m perfect. Spirit asked because I would say yes. Because I would keep listening. Because I would keep showing up even when it felt impossible.
And yes, it’s transforming me.
Emotionally, I’m still healing. Spiritually, I’m being stretched.
Relationally, I’m learning to welcome the right people into my life.
But through it all, I’m gaining something I didn’t expect: the opportunity to help others heal the same religious trauma I once carried.
We don’t yet have a place built just for witches in recovery.
But that’s about to change.
Because the temple is rising.
And the time is now.
Love and magick in recovery,
Sunshine
About Sunshine
Sunshine is a Psychic Medium, Soul Healer, Reiki Master, High Priestess and the pink-haired trailblazer behind The Sober Witch Life movement. As a recovering alcoholic and spiritual mentor, she helps witches in recovery rediscover their magick and align with their highest purpose.
✨ Explore her transformative work at IlluminateUnschool.com
📱 Download the Sober Witch Life mobile app for free tools & weekly recovery circles available on both iOS and Android
🌙 Join the Free Weekly Recovery Circle for support and a community of sober witches
📖 Get her book Sober Witch Life: A Magickal Guide to Recovery
