How We Got Started

What Grounds Us

The Story of ONYI LOVE

ONYI LOVE began as a spiritual calling—rooted in ancestry, shaped by artistry, and activated through devotion.

Felicia “Onyi” Richards has always been connected to spirit. Raised in a Christian household infused with West African cultural values, her early relationship with the divine was deeply personal, expressive, and grounded. Even as a child, her path was shaped by music, movement, prayer, and a keen awareness of the collective’s spiritual needs. Her way of cultivating faith was informed by rhythm, reverence, and a sense of sacred duty.

For over 15 years, Onyi held leadership roles in corporate America, guiding individuals and systems through major transitions. While excelling in that realm, she was simultaneously pursuing the performing arts and engaging in self-study, elder-led guidance, and spiritual mentorship across esoteric, metaphysical, and ancestral traditions. In 2003, she was formally reintroduced to Traditional African and Afro-Diasporic spiritual systems—a moment that marked the reclamation of her lineage’s wisdom in this lifetime.

Silhouette of Onyi Love, energy healer and model, with her hands above her head at sunset with arms raised and hands pressed together, near a body of water in Barcelona.

The first seeds of her formal sacred work were planted in 2013 with With Love By Onyi—an initial creative and spiritual offering that laid the foundation for what would become ONYI LOVE. In 2018, spirit made the next phase of the journey unmistakably clear by removing the structures that no longer served her—ushering her fully into the healing, creative, and spiritual arts.

Her initiations in 2019 as Iya Osun and Obatala brought crystallization, affirmation, and profound activation. These rites of passage marked a homecoming to her role as a priestess and medicine woman—a guide for transformation, remembrance, and liberation.

ONYI LOVE officially emerged in 2021 as a multidimensional vessel for healing, artistry, and spirit-led service.

It is a company—but also a movement, a prayer, a portal.

During the global pandemic, Onyi received a deep instruction: to focus on healers, artists, leaders, and changemakers—the ones who touch the people. She recognized that supporting their wellness and alignment is key to the evolution of the whole. Her work now spans individuals, communities, and institutions—holding space for those who are ready to remember their power, reclaim their story, and rise with intention.

Onyi Love, healer and artist, wearing orange and gold jewelry and a yellow lace top, holding beads and shells in her hands against an orange background.

From ancestral roots to global reach, ONYI LOVE continues to grow as a sacred offering: bridging tradition and innovation, ceremony and strategy, art and spirit. It is here to help humanity remember who we are—and to walk with those who are ready to live it.

Lineages, Training & Sacred Studies

Onyi’s healing work is rooted in sacred traditions and deep, ongoing study. She honors the wisdom of her teachers, spirit guides, and ancestors, and continues to walk the path of a devoted student. Her primary lineages and certifications include:

  • Initiated as a Priestess of Osun and Obatala in the Yoruba spiritual tradition, Onyi honors teachings passed down through the Adesanya Awoyade lineage of Ode Remo, Nigeria, and Ile Orunmila Afedefeyo in Los Angeles, under the leadership of Awo Falokun Fasegun and Iya Fayomi Osundoyin Egbeyemi.

  • Study, performance, leadership and teaching in voice, piano, Afro-Latin folkloric and contemporary song, dance, theater, and percussion, blending cultural tradition with artistic expression. Teachers have included Angel Luis Figueroa, Lazaro Galarraga, Craig Ramos, Luis Badaro, Mestre Amen Santo, Bobby Wilmore, Kati Hernandez, Ana Laidley, Vera Passos, Paul Larson, Kara Mack.

  • Onyi was certified by the late Zoran Hochstatter as a therapist in the healing modality developed by the late Zdenko Domancic, offering energetic realignment to support physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.

  • Trained and attuned as a Master/Teacher in both Usui and Karuna Reiki by Elizabeth DeVries Ridgeway, in the lineage of Ute Fleishman and William Rand.

  • Trained through the Get Rooted Doula Program (Haize Hawke) and the Integrative Wellness Academy (for coaching), guiding holistic transformation across life transitions.

  • Trained by the late Stan Smith, whose mentorship emphasized unlearning societal programming, honoring the sacred feminine and primal instincts, and cultivating conscious, multi-channeled relationships rooted in truth, tenderness, and self-awareness.

  • Onyi studied animal totem and spirit guide medicine rooted in Indigenous (including Ute), Celtic, and Druidic traditions, along with teachings in astrology, past lives, and multidimensional metaphysics with the late teacher Diana Wilden; stones and crystal properties and healing with Dawn Grzena; numerology, color theory, cartomancy, dowsing, sacred geometry, and other techniques and modalities through self-study. Her exploration also includes the channeled teachings of Bashar (via Darryl Anka), which continue to inform her understanding of vibrational frequency, consciousness, and alignment through the practical framework known as The Formula.

  • Onyi holds a Bachelor's Degree in Social Sciences with an Emphasis in Psychology from the University of Southern California (USC), a multidisciplinary program integrating anthropology, economics, psychology, sociology, and other social sciences to explore the human experience through diverse and intersecting lenses.

  • Completed the Trauma-Informed Care Core Module through the Trauma-Informed Care Academy (Center for Innovation and Resources), strengthening her capacity to support healing in ways that honor safety, dignity, and systemic awareness.

Onyi Love in all white with her Babalawo Awo Fasegun in vibrant colors conducting an Ifa ritual. They are kneeling outdoors next to several natural sacred spiritual icons, items and symbols including sticks, calabashes, plants and ground markings.

Our Perspectives & Philosophies

A Living Reflection of Values, Vision, and Truths in Practice
Below is a revolving reflection of spiritual truth, earth-based wisdom, and energetic understanding grounds the work of ONYI LOVE. These statements are not fixed beliefs, but living inquiries—anchored in reverence, experience, and remembrance. They are here for those who seek alignment, depth, and resonance beyond the surface. Informed by the lineages above, this philosophy is a living reflection of what has been received, practiced, and embodied through years of learning, unlearning, and deep listening.

Onyi Love, healer and priestess, wearing white and orange, playing a metal singing bowl for a group of individuals lying down.
  • Every being, force, and phenomenon—seen and unseen—holds aṣẹ (vital life-force), a destiny, and a necessary place in the sacred web of existence. This is true regardless of how human perception might categorize it. All is part of the Divine tapestry.

  • Human beings are not separate from nature; we are nature. Our bodies arise from the elements and dissolve back into them. The Earth is not only our origin—it is our teacher, mirror, and future.

  • Power is not something we have—it is something we are. It is woven into the fabric of our being, inseparable from our essence. No one can truly take or give us power; they can only act with or without our consent. Even when we defer decisions, suppress our truth, or act in disempowered ways, we are still operating from 100% of our power—just directing it in ways that may not align with our highest self. We are always active from our power, whether consciously or unconsciously.

  • Human beings—both individually and collectively—are not inherently evil, sinful, or flawed. We are multidimensional emissaries of the unseen realms, tasked with embodying frequencies of truth, love, joy, transformation, and possibility in material form.

  • Rituals, spiritual systems, energy modalities, deities, archetypes, plant medicines, prayers, and practices—these are valid tools that function as permission slips to awaken consciousness and help us remember who and what we truly are.

  • Life and spirit are fundamentally simple. Complexity arises through the interplay of simple elements. Much of what we experience as suffering or confusion stems from distorted, outdated, or inherited beliefs that obscure truth and disrupt harmony.

  • Every experience, emotion, or force—whether perceived as positive, negative, or neutral—holds the potential to build character, deepen integrity, and move us toward our soul’s preferred direction. Even what we label as “negative” can serve healing and transformation, depending on how we choose to engage it. Emotions, energies, and challenges are not inherently good or bad; they become functional or dysfunctional through how we relate to, interpret, and utilize them.

  • Healing is not something done to us—it’s activated through us. A healer holds a frequency, presence, or vibration that invites the innate healing intelligence within the recipient to awaken and re-align. Healing is co-creative, not hierarchical.

  • Healing is a journey, not a destination. It may not mean the removal of a challenge, but rather a shift in how we perceive, relate to, or integrate it. Healing is expansion of awareness and presence—not just symptom removal.

  • Nothing occurs without some level of our agreement—conscious, unconscious, ancestral, or collective. If we experience something we do not prefer, the invitation is to explore: What part of me agreed to this? And: How might I transform or revoke that agreement?

  • Contrary to popular belief, spirit is not housed in the body—the body exists within the spirit. You are always full of your own essence. No external energy can “invade” or possess you without your invitation or resonance. You have sovereign power to shift, decline, or transmute any frequency.

  • All our ancestors, regardless of their actions in life, hold the potential to support us from the spiritual realm. With intention and grace, we can connect with elevated aspects of our lineage. The further we go back, the more opportunity we have to re-pattern, receive wisdom, and relate with our ancestry in empowering ways.

Feel called to go deeper? Explore our offerings or reach out to begin.

In Their Own Words…

Onyi is an amazing healer. As soon as I stepped into her space, I felt at peace. The reflections that she has you complete before and after sessions really allow you to step out of yourself and be truthful about what you are feeling and why. I felt an immense energy during and after her sessions... She truly helps you unlock the power within.

— Anissa F.

Onyi is such a beautiful and powerful spirit! On the day of my mother’s Celebration Of Light, Onyi opened up the ceremony with a blessing dedicated to my mother and it was phenomenal!... My devoutly Christian family, although unfamiliar with Onyi’s spirituality, are still speaking of how beautiful she and her light are! Onyi impacted all of our hearts and souls for the better...

—Chefan Hue

Safety & Integrity

Honoring lineage also means honoring the people we serve. Alongside spiritual and cultural accountability, we maintain ethically grounded practices — supported by professional coverage, safety awareness, and discernment in how we show up for others.

Learn more about how we safeguard sacred work.