Rayan Ezzeddine is a third-cultured holistic therapist, wellness consultant and founder of Soullighters from the Levant, bringing over 5 years of diverse experience to her practice. She has worked across Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar, the Maldives, Liberia, and with clients globally online, integrating multicultural insights into her holistic approach to wellness.
Rayan Ezzeddine, Holistic Therapist
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life so we can get to know you better.
Hi, my name is Rayan but everyone calls me Ray, I am a 30 year old Lebanese born Zimbabwean raised. I grew up between Africa (Zimbabwe and The Gambia) and the Middle East (Lebanon) and I have travelled immensely around the globe to around 50 countries throughout my 30 years of existence. I have had a passion for travel since childhood and I believe I manifested this life of an adventurer. Back when I was 13 at an international school, I would memorize every single country on the map, including its capital city and its location. I would tell myself, “I want to go to all these countries one day,” and little did I know I would manifest it all.
I was also considered a weird outcasted child sometimes since I thought and seemed different than other kids and I loved being alone. I would observe the world from my own lens and see sadness, poverty, and injustice at such a young age while writing poems about life from the age of 10.
On the other hand, I have a family background of Lebanese immigrants to the African continent hence my whole family lineage has experienced all types of wars and instability (Liberian and the Lebanese war, Zimbabwe and Lebanon’s economic collapse) and experienced life of instability, being displaced, being separated from loved ones, etc. which have all impacted me and who I am today.
My educational background also comes as a shock to most people once they find out I have a bachelor’s degree in political science/international affairs and a master’s degree in International Law/Human rights. Basically, there is nothing close to the holistic/wellness field.
From the age of 18-26, my life revolved around the humanitarian/development field, where I worked with several different INGOs/United Nations agencies in different countries (Brazil, India, Costa Rica, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Lebanon, Tanzania, and Ivory Coast). I worked in anti-corruption, child protection, refugee counselling, monitoring/evaluating and communications departments. I ended my last UN assignment at the age of 26 when I sent my resignation letter.
Many would wonder why. Why leave such a great career behind you and shift to the holistic world? Well, the answer is many reasons. When I sent my resignation, I had reached a level of a mental breakdown and burnout after experiencing the effects of Lebanon’s revolution, economic collapse, COVID lockdown, mass exodus of loved ones leaving the country, and last but not least, the Beirut port explosion. I thank God till today that I missed being hit by the explosion by 15 minutes when I was so close to it.
Everything all happened right after one another, and as Lebanese, we don’t take time to reflect on our mental health as we are accustomed to keep going, to move on, to be resilient, and to live each day as our last. It’s basically living in delusions while ignoring the reality of the impact of all that happened to our mental health.
My mental breakdown came later in 2020 when I couldn’t handle it anymore and I hated working for the system so much and answering orders of a bureaucratic system and a very criticizing boss. I felt like something was choking me. I felt this wasn’t me and I had to change my career and life. I took a 2-month break after my resignation to just focus on myself and myself. To rest, to reflect. To think about what I really want and who I really am and what was my purpose in life.
And that was the beginning of the shift in my career and life.
What inspired you to establish Soul Lighters Hub, and how did your personal journey lead you to holistic and energy-healing therapies?
Haha, I get awkward when people ask me this question, as the reason is quite unexpected and not the normal answer most would expect. Thankfully and gratefully, I do not have any childhood traumas or any major traumas directly happened to me that got me inspired, but rather a strange online connection back in late 2018 that triggered me.
I had a random conversation out of the bloom with someone who I didn’t know (some would call fate at that time), and I became infatuated with this connection for months. This person was not mentally stable and was not normal or predictable. He was my first complicated psychological case that I wanted to understand, analyze and save. I would see this person switch personalities within minutes (all online) and flip into major mood swings and this whole toxic cycle that I never understood. He introduced me to the meaning of meditation, crystals, angel numbers and this whole knowledge of spirituality that I had no idea about. He even spoke about the concept of twin flames and for a while unfortunately I hate to admit that I believed in this toxic unrealistic concept of twin flames. Until one day, after he had a mental break down and decided to block me from his life as he believed he would drag me backwards in life and said these last words “know your worth” and he disappeared and I never heard of him since.
At first, I didn’t understand. Why is someone telling me know my worth? Like hello clearly I know my worth (so I thought) haha. I was so confused and angry why would someone block me for no reason when I was trying to help them heal and understand themselves and to love themselves? As a rebound I attracted another toxic connection that gave me the biggest slap of my life and that was the last straw for me. I said enough is enough, why am I attracting all these toxic unstable connections? What was wrong with me? I don’t get it. I started seeking answers through Tarot online after seeing so many ads about seeking clarity and funny enough those online card readings helped to give me clarity at that point. I sought a lot of answers about why the first connection disappeared, etc.
I then bought myself a tarot deck and started practicing myself for fun and practicing on my cousins and friends and crazily it helped them too. I was giving people guidance, answers, and clarity, and most of all, during tough times in Lebanon, I was giving people hope for better days. I started the page Soullighters Hub for fun just for tarot and had a flock of requests for readings. So many people were like me, they too were lost, confused, seeking answers, and clarity. What’s next? Why did this happen? Where are we heading? Etc.
I started going deeper into reflection during COVID (being stuck at home) and learning all these holistic courses and certificates and trying to understand myself, my blocks, and my insecurities. And most of all, what was in me that made me attract toxic connections? What was wrong with my energy? I went deeper into self-love, balancing my energy points and connecting them with crystals and my body. I was meditating, I was connecting with nature, I was learning to love myself as no one has ever told us to love ourselves or how to love ourselves.
So then I expanded my page, made it more professional, sold many products and many more services and I was helping my people in Lebanon. On my 25th birthday, I did a very special birthday ritual with a holistic practitioner from Canada who came back to Lebanon to connect with his roots. He told me on that day “ Rayan, you are going to help people, it is in you and Lebanon needs you now”. At that point, I was planning to leave Lebanon for good and continue in the UN field with an international posting abroad. But Frankie the holistic practitioner believed otherwise and he was right. I have to thank Frankie for being a messenger of my life’s purpose back then.
A year later, I resigned from the UN and just focused on this business, opened a center in Beirut and I travelled to many countries since then while offering my services everywhere I go. I manifested this life without knowing it. I manifested a career that genuinely helped others and a career that gave me financial freedom, freedom of time, travel and to just be myself. I loved it.
The journey of Soullighters started in Lebanon and took me to Egypt, Liberia, Maldives, and Qatar physically for work (Morocco was an option, too) and globally online.
What challenges have you faced in promoting holistic and energy-healing therapies, and how have you addressed them?
Agh, what challenges haven’t I faced with promoting holistic and energy-healing therapies? Promoting these therapies in the Middle East is a challenge in itself. We are a very traditional and cultural society, and the majority of the population does not believe in these therapies, especially religious people who claim they are “haram,” as forbidden and sin in religion.
So I dealt with a lot of religious criticism, and you also have the fact that the middle east is a very patriarchal society, so of course, the majority of the men would hardly believe in such therapies as they are raised to be strong, to be resilient, and to focus on being the man of the house and to work. They ignore their mental health and have zero awareness about this because of societal and cultural upbringing. Even many women are not aware of the importance of these therapies also due to societal norms. Especially when there’s not much knowledge about these therapies in our culture, people will obviously resist things they don’t know.
That said, I faced a lot of mockery from family members, friends, and a lot of people whenever I tried to spread awareness during these sessions. Many just don’t believe and don’t even want to try, or they think if magic doesn’t happen in one session, then it’s all a lie.
Would you believe me if I told you when I first started my page, some would message me saying that I was a Lebanese witch and asked if I did black magic or anything like that. Even in Egypt, I was scammed and robbed and then had a huge fallout with my delivery company as they accused me of working with the “dajjal.” The dajjal is an evil figure in Islamic mythology known as the deceitful messiah.
I have been through a lot in these past 5 years with these challenges. Even in Qatar and Maldives, I was not allowed to use sage or palo santo as it was believed burning these things is like witchcraft and wont be accepted by some clients. While I was in Qatar, one Qatari lady had told me “whatever it is that you are doing, it is all undercover in Qatar and not accepted here”. So I had to be careful.
Could you share a success story or testimonial from a client who has benefited from your services?
I have so many success stories over the past 5 years and yes I would love to share some of the stories.
1. A woman had broken up with her man and suggested he come to me to work on himself since, at that time, they had a lot of issues that affected their relationship. He decided to take my self-love 3 months program and I kid you not, this man did every single task for 90 days with love and determination (more than the women who joined the program at that time). He did a lot of self-love and inner work for 1 year and they got back together and they are married now.
2. I once did a random birth chart analysis for someone and we found out why he struggles to make money. I explained all his houses and planets that were affecting his money flow and why he had all these challenges with tips and advice. It was an hour full of analysis, realizations, wake up and solutions. He disappeared for 3 months and came back another person. He settled into a 9-5 job, started his own freelance projects, rented out his Airbnb, and is financially satisfied now. He actually told me that the birth chart session changed my life.
3. I have had some women come to me for a love session where I read their love energies, see where the block is, and give them guidance and the way forward. Months/years later, I got invited to their weddings. They all mentioned to me it was after your session that we were able to shift our energies in love and attract our partners and marriage.
4. Another time, a girl brought in her partner for a couple sessions and we did some energy cleansing and balancing we discussed his career blocks and what was going on and what was the way forward. Years later, I met this man by coincidence as my doctor's assistant, and he remembers me and tells me that after that session, everything changed for him. He is now working a great job and married that woman.
5. I had a client who came to me with a certain illness that wouldn’t go away despite going to many doctors and taking so many medications. We did 2 sessions together, which were an energy reading session and a self-love session, and her illness was gone. It was all psychological, and she just had to balance her energy points and get back on track. She needed to love herself again and to calm down. She started getting work opportunities after our sessions and is now doing really well.
The list can go on and on. However, I customize my sessions sometimes and use different tools depending on each case by case and what I feel the person needs. So many found themselves, their passion, their true calling, their soulmates, their career paths, their abundance of money flow. They’re countless of stories and you can check my highlights on my Instagram page where it says reviews (I have 3 highlights on reviews).
If I weren’t successful with my cases, I wouldn’t be where I am today so I am very confident in what I do and I am very grateful for all my clients, and for this journey and path that I have dedicated my life to.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
It was back in 2018, while I was still working with the United Nations, and I kept complaining to my manager that I wanted to get out of the office and be in the field. I wanted to talk to people, I wanted to see what was happening in the field and to connect with the beneficiaries (refugees) that we were working with. So then, all of a sudden my manager said that she is sending me to UNHCR for 1 month as an emergency assignment.
I spent one month as a refugee counsellor at the information help desk. In one month, I was rated as one of the best counsellors for my communication skills. I knew how to talk to the refugees, to make feel seen, heard, and to genuinely help them get out of the system that was keeping them trapped.
We once had a man come to the help desk area and threatened to burn himself on the spot. he was shouting, and all of a sudden, they brought this man to talk to me, and I panicked as I didn’t know what to do and he was in a very critical mental state. They said, “We know you can talk to him”. I spent an hour talking to this man and just listening to him and giving him genuine advice and he became relaxed, calm and at peace. He looked at me and told me, “Thank you for listening to me and for telling me all this. I got my answers, and I won’t be back here again, so thank you”. He left calmly and everyone was shocked and all came to ask me what I did and what I told him.
It was a shock to all, and since then, all the refugees would stand in line just to talk to me, and they refused to talk to anyone but me. The manager would come and ask me, “Rayan, what did you do? They’re all talking about you, and they only want to communicate with you”. and that was when I knew I was made for something more than just a 9-5 desk UN Job.
I loved my one-month experience there, connecting with the refugees 1 on 1, and when I got back to my normal desk job, I felt something was missing. I stayed working with the UN for a few more years until I felt I couldn’t take it anymore. I had reached rock bottom and I had resigned abruptly and woke up the next day and told my parents, I am done with the UN and I want to focus on a holistic healing journey and become my own boss doing what I love and that is to genuinely help people and to see that difference right in front of my eyes.
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