I recently had the pleasure of connecting with Kris Steinnes as she embarks on her Amazon.com launch for her award winning book "Women of Wisdom: Empowering the Dreams and Spirit of Women." Part of what intrigues me about this book besides the obvious fact that it's about self-empowerment, is that it's also multi-dimensional. The book incorporates many different forms of stirring the innate wisdom of the soul, such as poetry and drawings, along with its written teachings of wisdom.  Her book launch officially begins June 23rd, and I'll have more posted here on that day as well. She's put together an amazing package of free gifts for you. You won't want to miss it. In the meantime while we're waiting for the main event, here are some little appetizers for you, as Ms. Steinnes graciously granted me an interview:


1. Kris, please define "empowerment."
Empowerment to me means you are standing in your inner wisdom, confident who you are, and you know what you are willing to support and what you will speak up to change.  You are willing to face your fears and be visible. You will show the world who you are, which will empower others to do the same. What also does it take to be empowered? You need to connect to the universal power, the love and light of the universe that supports us, not personal power. Call it whatever you'd like, God, Source, Love, Allah, etc.  You'll drain yourself fast if you are just using personal power.

2. Please define "wisdom."
Wisdom comes from knowing who you are, knowing your gifts.  You trust what you know from your gut, not your head. So it comes from a deep place inside of you, not from books, and knowledge. It comes from life experiences.

3. What makes a woman wise?
Knowing who she is, being strong and willing to be visible to show the world who she is.

4. Are women less empowered then men, and if so, why?
We are when we're not wiling to speak up, be seen, be heard, and show ourselves as powerful. When we sit back and let others do it, we're not in our power.  Sometimes we take on an attitude of how can I make a change, I'm just one person, so why try. Or we think we have too much on our plate taking care of our children, our home, in addition to working that we don't have any more time, let others do it.  But everyone has an effect on the world. If you can touch one person by sharing who you are, sharing your stories, you are empowering them. If you know this, you are more willing to share yourself and your wisdom, your power to others.

5. Do both men and women have a divine right to create or is it just women?
Everyone has a divine right to create. Creativity is a feminine trait, that is not connected to gender, but is available to everyone.  It may appear women are more creative as we birth new life, An important feminine trait that women have is they are interested in the process, allowing the process to naturally enfold, instead of focusing on the product, the end result. Both are important, but there's not a balance if there's more focus on the outcome, if there's more focus on the masculine or yang in the world. Again that's not a gender issue, but it can be sometimes. When men and women are both balanced in their feminine and masculine we all are creative and can co-create our new world. 

6. How can a woman begin to become empowered? What are the first steps?
One idea I have is to look for people who you see as empowered. Observe them, see what makes them powerful.  Acknowledge if you can see it in them, it's in you as well. So find that in yourself and start practicing being that. Be clear on what you want in your life, be clear on what you want to develop. In order to do that there first is an inward journey to discover your gifts.  It helps to have a circle of supportive friends to then practice sharing your gifts, sharing your voice. Practice using your voices with friends who will validate you for who you are. And be willing to make mistakes, keep finding that strength within to move forward in your life as you learn from those mistakes.

7. What is one secret gift that women have?
Do we?  Shh don't tell anyone!   I feel that women are coming into their power and are glad they have come at this life time as a woman, as we're bringing in a new way of being here at this time. That doesn't mean it's totally new, just means we're reclaiming it, bringing it back to our awareness.

If there was one gift I'd say is important right now it's intuition. Women are often gifted with that ability; it's just a matter of trusting it and learning how to follow it. Another one is we comprehend the value of community, we know the value of friendships to support us. But a secret gift is hard to define.  When I think about that to answer this it feels illusive, like it's on the tip of my tongue, I know it, but I can't define it. It's just an exciting time to be a woman! 

8. How can women begin to transform the world?
Women will transform the world when they share their wisdom, their ideas, their different ways of doing things every where they go. We can talk about change and want others to transform how things are, but it's doing it in our own lives that will begin the real change.  If we're to change the world from a hierarchal world to a co-partnership world we have to manifest it in our personal lives. We have to see where the patriarchy is in our lives and transform those areas to co-partnership as Riane Eisler talks about ,or the feminine co-creator as Barbara Marx Hubbard calls it.

We can't sit back and think we can't affect change in the world, it's too big, so why bother. It starts with what's occurring in our lives. Where we see things that we feel need to change - in our families, our neighborhoods, our schools, any committee we are in - it's up to us bring a new way of being, such as circle leadership, sharing responsibilities, changing the hierarchal model to an inclusive one that involves all voices to be part of the process. As we change that in our personal lives, it'll begin to show up in the greater community, and the world. 

Thank you, Kris for this enlightening interview!

With all Angelic Blessings,

Dyan Garris
www.voiceoftheangels.com/home.html - Free angel card readings online in three languages and phone psychic readings by real psychics and www.voiceoftheangelsmagazine.com - Spiritual magazine for multi-dimensional living