Rikki Van Brackle’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

Rikki Van Brackle shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Rikki, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
Right now, I am actively living inside a Construction Portal — both literal and spiritual. Casa Mariposa, my home and healing sanctuary on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, is in the midst of major transformation. And so am I.

This isn’t just a remodel. It’s a remembrance. It’s a physical and energetic excavation where the dust, the noise, the disruption become part of the alchemy. This land mirrors me, and every nail driven, every wall painted, every vine cut is my prayer. A release and reclamation.

Casa Mariposa is a living altar. A Spirit-built sanctuary for Black joy, intergenerational healing, and radical rest. It holds space for intimate 1:1 retreats — where Black women and men come to soften, exhale, and rise. It was born from a leap of faith. And it continues to expand through divine obedience, grit, and grace.

People see the beauty. What they don’t see is the initiation. The sacred labor behind the scenes. The way Spirit guides every step and how this home is teaching me to hold more with great ease.

This is what I’m most proud of. Not just building a house, but becoming the woman who could carry this vision. Building barefoot, blessed, and billion-dollar aligned — for the Ancestors, for the future, and for the ones who are ready now.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Rikki M. Van Brackle, founder of The Butterfly Hippie and sacred steward of Casa Mariposa, a jungle sanctuary and living altar for healing, rest, and joy on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

Before this chapter, I served as a domestic violence police officer with the NYPD. After a line-of-duty injury and a soul-awakening, I followed Spirit’s whispers and left behind the life I outgrew to choose a path rooted in softness, sovereignty, and ancestral truth.

From soulful rituals like Hula Hoop with Rikki, to 1:1 retreats at Casa Mariposa, to divine offerings like energetic hygiene sessions, Ancestor rituals, The Remembrance Dance + Rise In Power Series, everything I create is rooted in love, intuitive movement, spiritual freedom, and Black joy.

Casa Mariposa is more than a home — it’s a portal. A space where Black women and men return to themselves, reconnect to nature, and reclaim joy as a sacred birthright.

Right now, I’m living inside a Construction Portal — physically and spiritually. As the home expands, so do I. Every design choice, every brushstroke, every collaboration with the land is a prayer. A prayer for freedom, rest, and radical love.

This isn’t just business. It’s legacy work. It’s Spirit work. And I’m just getting started.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that was always available: emotionally, financially, spiritually, energetically – even when I didn’t have the capacity. The part of me that over-explained, over-delivered, and over-compensated to feel safe, seen, or understood. The part of me that used to shrink my joy, my wellness boundaries, or my Black Girl Magic to make others comfortable.

She served her purpose. She protected me when I needed it, and now she can rest in peace and power.

I am no longer available for self-sacrifice as proof of love. I’m no longer in service to survival. I choose myself.

Today, I move with self-reverence and boundaries. I pour from overflow. I create from alignment, and I protect my peace because it is sacred.

Releasing this old version of me is an offering to the altar of my next level up.

When did you last change your mind about something important?
Recently, I changed my mind about love — specifically, my own worthiness to receive it in its most sacred, romantic form.
After navigating a series of relationships that ended in disappointment, I unconsciously began to believe that maybe deep, devotional love wasn’t in the cards for me. I told myself I was “too much,” “too wild,” or “too free.” So I shut that part of myself down, closed the door, and hardened.

But Spirit had other plans. Through ritual, tears, and truth-telling, I’ve been doing the deep soul work. Excavating old wounds, ancestral patterns, and expired beliefs that no longer serve me.

What I’ve come to realize is this: I am so worthy of juicy, expansive, soul-igniting love. I am worthy of softness, reciprocity, devotion. I am worthy of being met — not managed. This isn’t about chasing love. It’s about becoming the version of myself who welcomes it with open arms and a rooted heart. I no longer fear being “too much.” I now know I’m just enough for the right one.

This shift is personal and ancestral. I’m healing a lineage and a bloodline. I’m choosing something new. It’s the kind of magic I’m committed to in life and in love.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
Without a doubt – yes.

The glitter I wear is spiritual technology and a reflection of the stardust I come from.

What you see is what you get – and then some. The way I move, the words I speak, the rituals I share, and the joy I radiate are channeled. This is me. I don’t shapeshift to fit a mold. I shapeshift to stay free.

I believe in radical transparency. I believe in being seen. Not just in the light but in the shadows, too. The rage, the rest, the glitter, the grief. All of it is real. All of it is me.

I’m building a life rooted in love, wealth, truth, joy, and soul-deep sovereignty. My glitter and medicine are real.

The glow I carry is earned, embodied, and Divine. Period.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. When do you feel most at peace?
Peace lives in the moments when I’m swaying in my hammock at House of The Free Woman. My fur babies Carmelo and Jett are curled nearby, and Father Sun is shining through the trees.

That’s when I remember: I am Nature. I am safe. I am in perfect alignment. The jungle sings: the monkeys, toucans, frogs, and even the squirrels nibbling on the coconuts.

Mama Earth holds me and allows me to be ever present. This is where I exhale fully and return to myself.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Elena De Luca

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