Hybrasil House Correspondents

Eliza Catherine “Zaelí” Kane

Eliza Catherine “Zaelí” Kane is a multimedia poet, performance artist, and perpetual student of culture, consciousness, and Nature’s sense of humor. 

As part of her selection by Austin’s Emerging Art Leaders program, Kane’s personal art currently explores creative pedagogical approaches to bilingual & minority-language education as an expression of place-based social identities, with specific attention to the promotion of her own ancestral language, Irish Gaelic.

Having spent time in indigenous, alternative, and intentional communities in her native Vermont, French Catalonia, the Brazilian Amazon, and Central America’s Caribbean coast, Kane’s formal studies of social cooperation are complimented by real-life immersion in co-ops, communes, churches, and corporate settings around the world.

Crediting her creative disposition & passion for community to a minimalist childhood on the shores of Lake Champlain, her heritage as a descendent of Ireland’s best known literary community (An Blascaod Mór), her fierce blessing of a daughter, work experience with refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants at both San Diego’s Survivors of Torture, International and Boston’s French Cultural Center, and the diverse education she’s been privileged to enjoy, Kane holds a Masters degree in literature as well as certifications in Permaculture Design and Clinical Hypnosis from Instituto Mesoamericano de Permacultura and the International Medical & Dental Hypnotherapy Association, respectively. 

Kane has presented scholarly findings at the Pacific Sociology Association’s Annual Conference and the Reimagine End of Life Festival, and as an award-winning stand-up comedian hosted her own showcase at Austin’s Coldtowne Theater. Her thoughts on ancestral & postmodern family structures have been published in her own column for Austin All Natural Magazine and lead to interviews conducted by the New York Times, Buzzfeed, NBC’s Today Show, and Ireland’s national television station TG4.

She is grateful for many wonderful mentorships and collaborations, such as with Kathy Scott of The Trailblazery, James Lockridge of Big Heavy World, the Ó Héalaí family of Celtic Consciousness, and Joanne Faryon of Columbia University’s School of Journalism.

Learn more at:

Website: hwww.zaeli.net

Instagram: zaeilkane

Eva Liao

Eva Liao is a meditation teacher and spiritual mentor. In a world made up of both the seen and unseen, one of her soul gifts is being able to make the spiritual feel down to earth and the practical feel very magical. She shares a deep love and appreciation for both the tangible and the esoteric, recognizing that they are not separate and she is bound by neither. She is passionate about helping others on the path of finding Self love through spirituality.

Eva is also the head/only honcho at Eva Liao Coaching, where she has worked with women and men from all over the world, helping them experience more freedom, calm, happiness and connection in their everyday lives. Eva quit her fancy-pants job in New York City to study at the Institute for Integrative Health to get her Holistic Coaching certificate. She’s also studied Herbalism I at Third Root Community Center in Brooklyn, NY, and is trained in Vipassana and Transcendental Meditation. She is currently enrolled in a Mindfulness Meditation Teachers Certification Program led by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, scheduled to be certified by the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley in the year 2023.

You can learn more about Eva at:

Sapphire M. Forrester

Sapphire M. Forrester is the pen name of this aspiring writer, illustrator, and performer currently based in Austin, Texas, living halftime living with her oblivious dog Benny and halftime here at Hybrasil House with her mom and their guests.

Sapphire got her start in the art scene at Austin's most beloved bohemian co-op: Habibi's Hutch.

She's since studied filmmaking at Squishy Banana Studios, designed her own handpainted jewelry line, and delved into the world of folk music, where she is now a competitive dancer and budding fiddler. Currently focusing on her first novel series, Tales of the Seven Earths, Sapphire has storytelling running through her blood, in thanks not only to her mother's Blasket heritage, but also to her father's Armenian roots. 

Some interesting facts about Sapphire: she studies six languages and French was technically her first one, on the tennis court she has an even stronger backhand than forehand, and luckily she knows what to do if a sailboat ever capsizes. 

Sapphire's special dream for Hybrasil House is to make a secret solar-powered elevator up to the attic, which would be a new upstairs to host sleepovers.

"Me and my mother really do love our followers. We hope you subscribe to our web, and thank you for reading." --Sapphire M. Forrester