MagicHour Origin Story – Join the Club!
I came to Ojai exactly 22 years ago today. It was my 22nd birthday, and today is my 44th. 22 is a significant number for me, as it’s a master number and happens to be my personality number in numerology. But even more, it signifies that I have now lived exactly half of my life in Ojai. Half of my human existence has been spent in the sacred folds of this valley with her moonrises and sunsets mesmerizing me each day and night—reminding me of the magic of life.
They say Montana is big sky country, but so is Ojai, and California in general is the most diverse ecological place I’ve experienced on the planet. It is special in the sense that nature is our ally but also our teacher, for she can burn your home down in one minute here and then inspire you to rebuild in the same fire zone just to be a part of her natural wonders. She can wipe you out then kiss you goodnight with a dusk light so transcendent you don’t care if you’re sleeping in your car or in a mansion on the beach. Ojai especially has a nurturing vibe that holds you dear while cooking you, distilling you in her heat each summer then cooling you in her healing moonscapes.
Like now, the sky at 6:44am is laced with lucid pink clouds in strokes across the sky, the sky itself a blue the color of tropical seas—those of the white sands in the Maldives. The citrus trees are reminding me to not be so relaxed, as their leaves are curled from the decade-long drought and the trickle of water we allow their roots to drink, like prisoners who continue to sing in their cell with little subsistence. They are laden with sweet fruit, true giving trees bent on providing for us by their tired limbs.
Ojai is a magical land, filled with stars both human and celestial. A valley in which one could lose themselves if they aren’t careful, and one that can bore you silly if you’re not working on endeavors of the soul. Ojai is a place and a spirit, a fiery summer Goddess and a sultry winter lover. I remember being single here, my baby boy at his dad’s part time, and me navigating my mid-20’s. I lived in the Mallory Way apartments, an old Summer resort with tiny apartments, perhaps 500 square feet at the most. I was restless and fell in love with visitors I’d meet on long walks or at “Calypsos” which is now The Jester. It was the only place to go for me, on foot, where it was safe and fun to be alone amongst supportive strangers.
I didn’t have any friends when I moved out of my son’s father’s place in Matilija Canyon. He demonized me and made me bad, but we’d been roommates and then had Sage. I was too young to know anything other than Sage was the center of the universe, I was ostracized and alone, the only friend I had was my old neighbor from Matilija, but she was now living in Hawaii. I had a flip phone and an old Mac laptop, I wrote every day as my solace and my medicine.
Ojai nurtured me then, she took me in her arms, inspired me to start a tea company that empowered women and helped end poverty. For mothers She showed me how to give what I myself needed. Giving what we need is the lesson of this valley and also of the spirit. She brought me investors, both good and bad, and eventually brought me the lessons of love that a harsh mentor might teach a young student whose head is too thick about such things. She then brought me women. Tracey, Carol, Jane, Ramona, they came first and supported and pushed me toward building something beautiful in the form of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea. They listened to me, cared, and were loving in the ways only a group of strong women can be. She then brought me Sunne and Allee, Melanie, Rebecca and Henrietta. Ojai brings the women and the love whenever you need it. Try crying at a party and see what happens!
Then, the tea company took off. I’ve always said, “Anything you plant here grows,” and I mean it. The company became a global boutique brand. I was able to bring Fair Trade to mainstream grocery stores all over the Northern Hemisphere and we even took it to Iceland, Brazil, Australia, and the UK. The tins with the dancing Gypsy woman traveled the globe from this magical Valley of the Moon. They were blessed with the beauty and spirit of Ojai. Each product conceived in the wee hours and Ojai’s had an energy that was transformative—people could taste the love and magic and that energy was tasted and felt by millions of people far and wide.
And in any great story, there are forces that wish to steal, control and take such beauty for themselves. There are forces that don’t want to share, they see beauty and magic and want to lock it up and then to cheapen it, live off of it, degrade it, and to squeeze what money they can from it in the name of business. Every protagonist needs an antagonist to grow. New York and its harsh investors were my antagonist, but first they were my friends and lovers, my guides and generous-seeming partners.
Once I’d excitedly climbed into that golden carriage, it turned into a gilded cage. My heart stopped bleeding and then hardened. My defenses became polished by the war going on inside of me. I sold out, not because I was wise, but because I was wounded. I didn’t know danger when I saw it. I only knew possibility. I was naïve by nature, I was not a woman ready to Run with the Wolves. I didn’t have the tools of discernment at the ready. I could have cut costs, I could have stopped launching new products, I could have reigned it in, but the Red Shoes were on my feet and I couldn’t stop the frantic dance toward bigger and bigger numbers. Each milestone we hit was not enough, there was a voraciousness to it all and I take responsibility for it.
I look back, and I was only 25. The 25-year-olds I know now are wiser, older somehow. But I was not. I was ambitious and as I grew the company I kept the upward trajectory at a 90-degree angle—that was my choice. That was the choice of a young woman trying to prove her worth. Then, just as it had begun, it was gone. Disappeared. Poof. The new management team moved the company to a city called COMMERCE. We’d gone from the Valley of the Moon to Commerce. And that was the way they saw it. Magic left then. I commuted to Commerce and slept in the casino hotel by the new office. It was my worst nightmare, I gained so much weight, I ran from my soul, I grew numb and became so depressed I had to medicate to get through.
Ojai is a stern teacher. She is also a loving mother. Who brought me back to life were my sisters here, to women who have risen to support me when I’ve been weak and tired, a groveling wreck and a needy friend. The women of Ojai once again healed and saved me, they came to my support as I held a group in my yurt. Jane, Patty, Kathleen, Terry and Donna, Beth, Liz and Summers. A group I called the New Moon Mastermind. I sent out a call and they all came. Again, Ojai has a feminine edge, she speaks through the feminine which is fierce and loving, kind and firm. We spent two years together, meeting at the Dark Moon each month, setting intentions and growing our visions. I felt home again in my body and my heart. Then one night, I held a ceremony that called for us to remove the blocks to our destinies. We prayed and chanted for Divinity to bring us our destinies and to take away anything blocking us from it.
Within a week I got fired from the tea company. I had never once considered IT was the block to my destiny! I was shocked. I cried for months. I mourned and complained and the women of Ojai held me, comforted me, created space for my brokenness and with their love glued me back together.
But this isn’t where the story ends. It’s where it begins.
Because there was no more block to my destiny, a miracle occurred. I was set free to do what I came to do on my 22nd birthday, write. I got a book deal, and the publisher hired me when she learned I’d been fired. From there I got to be a publisher at Simon and Schuster—in New York—from my little house in Ojai! I spent 4.5 years doing that and was able to publish some of my favorite Ojai people: Deb Norton, Josh Tickell, Jes Maharry and Michaela Boehm. What an honor to connect the greater world with our local brilliant talents! It was fun, hard, and transformative.
As I sit here, the sun has begun its ascent and the sky is now a crystalline white, with powder blue accents, the birds are coordinating their sunrise symphony. I am in the greatest rebirth of my life. At 44 today, I can now see the failures of the last 22 years as an epic journey in gaining absolute wisdom. I can see I am the leader I needed these past 22 years, but there was no way to get here except by the experiences of growth, success, and then loss.
As we heal from the Thomas fire in the valley, as we rebuild still our homes, our lungs, and our resilience, there is a hope that pervades each breath I take on this day. The memories flood me. The walks in Matilija, the soaks in her springs, the nights at Calypso, the days building the company in a little warehouse on Bryant, the women who came to my rescue over and over, the circles we held in my yurt which is now gone, the circles that still happen in living rooms and around fires in the backyard, the teas sipped, the visions had, the dreams made true
And now I’m planting a new garden here. It is from a place though of wisdom and meticulous care. A place of creative concentration not abandon. A place of honoring the women and our rituals, those that saved my heart when it was shattered, and those that make us laugh in guffaws over the absurdity in life. It is a company and a vision, built from dreams and spoken to me from spirit in our Ojai meditations.
It is the distillation of the sunrises that have brought me rebirth and hope, and the sunsets that signify the sensual, still nights of this Valley. It’s a company based on our turning planet, and how we are the passengers in the cosmic scheme of things. It is a series of teachings from our valley’s finest mentors and guides, melded with a monthly delivery of divinity in the form of tea, potions and healing herbs we may sip at sunrise and sunset in order to imbibe the magic of the moon and the sun as they phase our days and our lives.
It is combining all I learned from the tea company and from being a New York publisher the past 4+ years. Taking the best of each and making a recipe for all of you to imbibe, enjoy, celebrate and heal.
The healing teas and potions are both the original recipes I created in my little cabin in Matilija Canyon, and the new recipes I’ve created to move through the journey of life. They are meant to bring us communion with our soul at Dawn and Dusk, where everything is possible. They are meant to signify to the subconscious that it is time to commune with the divine, the cosmos and with each other. They are meant to create a Ceremony of Connection for those of us who feel alone, or want to be more connected from our hearts.
The first batch of beauty will be based on the very very very first highest rendition of the Gypsy Tea Classics. Coconut Chai, Gypsy Rose, Raspberry Earl and a Lychee Apricot Matcha that came to me when I needed renewal called Renewing Matcha. These will be available first as they were and are the blends I miss most, and from the letters, emails, calls and messages they seem to be the ones you miss most too!
They will be available to order on January 24th.
And then on February 14th, we will start the MagicHour ritual club. This is combining the gift of love, support and teaching with gathering and tea. The club will be filled with exclusive content brought to you by Ojai’s greatest teachers. Local Luminaries Gay and Katie Hendricks will teach conscious loving and MagicHour Rituals for relationship. Upper Ojai’s and World Phenom Tantra teacher Michaela Boehm will teach embodiment and rebirth after losing her home in the Thomas. Ojai Native Rikka Zimmerman will teach the self-care techniques she used to heal her body when she only had 4 weeks to live, and who is now cancer free and thriving.
Those are just the first teachers we will bring forth through Club MagicHour. The combination of Tea & Transformation is how Ojai has taught me to heal. Ritual and Connection have been mainstays of how I have healed and grown through the ups and downs of life. It is the culmination and the combo that this Valley has taught me and that it continues to teach me. It is my offering to Ojai and to you. And from our cups and hearts we will transform the world.
The teas are also a testament to the magic of nature. They are Biodynamically grown which means they are planted, harvested and nurtured on a schedule based on planetary motion. They are harmonized with the sun and moon, but also with Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune. This is a method that was distilled by Rudolph Steiner and even our own Theosophists. Harmony with the cosmos means harmony in your life and with nature. They are grown in Sri Lanka where the workers threw my wedding to my beautiful husband. We were married in a Lakshmi temple in the tea fields. Lakshmi is the goddess of fortune, may she rain her fortune on this little town and on each of you.
The teas are also filled with additional surprises for your palate and for your health. But I’ll wait to share all of that with you until January 24th when we officially launch (per my astrologer, the planets will align on that day for us ☺).
Combining Tea and Transformation is back to the original idea of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea—those Gypsy Tea Parties were a celebration of femininity and creativity and even freedom to express. We are now taking it to a place of sacred reverence, honoring Mother Earth and our connection to each other. It is still fiercely feminine and also balancing to the masculine. It honors both man and woman, child and adult, lover and friend. But now through technology has a means to reach people via the robust network of the internet. We can broadcast the magic of Ojai now to the world, and we plan to.
MagicHour is as much my healing and my story as it is yours. MagicHour is our latest Ojai treasure made as an offering to the world. Club MagicHour will allow others to experience the love and caring that got me through and gets us all through tough and lonely times—just like all of you have helped me through, we will now continue that but even more, we will create a means to share it with the entire globe.
I have a vision for the world. That we remember the sacredness of life each day at least twice: At Dawn and at Dusk, where the world turns itself and the sun and moon delight and remind us of our celestial origins. MagicHour and Club MagicHour are the means of remembering.
Welcome home. Welcome to your very own MagicHour. Planted in Ojai, a gift to ourselves and our world.
With Magic and Devotion,
Zhena
Mistress of Ceremonies, Club MagicHour
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