Plática –A Heart to Heart Conversation With a Curandera

Plática –A Heart to Heart Conversation With a Curandera

By Lisa Martinez

In Curanderismo- (the folk healing and ceremonial practices of the indigenous people of the Americas), we begin with “plática,” the confidential heart to heart conversation held between the curanderx and their client. Plática is done before every private session, ceremony or ritual. It is the time you spend sharing what is “on your heart” and why you have brought yourself to be seen by a curanderx. My intention here, is to have “plática” with community about the importance of seeing and interacting with world through our heart and learning to come into a state of alignment with our thoughts and emotions. It’s this alignment that has the potential to create positive influences of change and healing in ourselves and others.
Whether we currently identify as healers, diviners or magical practitioners of any tradition -or if we provide any type of service to community- it is usually safe to say the work first began with ourselves. Perhaps, something in our life shifted in a positive direction as a result of an experience with a healer or magical practitioner or, maybe we found ourselves returning to our roots and embracing the medicine that has always lived within us. As a result of our experience, many of us became inspired to guide or support others. We came out on the other side and we want others to have the same opportunity. Our personal “war” stories and healing experiences are the very thing that provide us the foundation to do this important work. As I was taught by my beloved elder, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes -the battle wounds turned scars are where the gifts reside. It’s what gives us the genuine ability to relate and see through a lens of experience. During our darkest days we pushed forward sometimes slowly, but always breathing the sacred wind of life onto the glowing embers. As a result, we become illuminated with light from fires we worked hard to create. Our hearts ignite and our practices and interactions with others change. Our personal practices and work serving community is not “textbook”, but instead contains our own rhythms and songs of influential energy allowing us to shine light on the path to change or healing for others.
In curanderismo and many other traditions we are often reminded; what we think and how we feel influences our reality. This lesson is as old as time out of mind! We are taught to align our thoughts and feelings when we do manifestation work. We envision ourselves obtaining, achieving or experiencing something we desire and align our emotions so that we feel “as if” our desire has already occurred. This alignment is powerful, and many can speak to its effectiveness. Modern science supports this. It has measurably proven to us that our thoughts are electric, and our emotions are magnetic. When the two align we have an electro-magnetic effect. Science calls the alignment or harmonization of our thoughts and emotions “cardiac coherence”. There are several biofeedback software applications that can provide you with visual tools to help you achieve this state of coherence-they are quite mind blowing to witness. But now we ask, “what does this have to do how we interact with others in this world”?

Everything.

When we are in a state of “cardiac coherence,” when our thoughts and emotions are in alignment that electro-magnetic wave also has the power to influence the electro-magnetic alignment of others. Same is true when we are out of alignment. We can all recall a time our thoughts and emotions were chaotic and suddenly everything around us started to go sideways. Our environment seemingly became a field of landmines, even if we never spoke a word to anyone about our current state. We might have found it difficult to be at ease doing mundane tasks, we lacked patience with family and friends and our practices supporting others in community became a source of even more frustration because we felt like everyone else was “so irritable, angry or unavailable.” The effect of these chaotic ripples continues, going outwards into the world.
What would happen if we all took the time to look within and ask ourselves, “What’s on my heart? How are the ripples of my electro-magnetic waves influencing my environment and those in it?” What if our thoughts and emotions are aligned with positive intentions? If we honestly take inventory of how far we’ve come and elevate the milestones and accomplishments, there is an opportunity to take personal experiences next level and consciously align them to the thoughts and emotions of being whole, complete, worthy, prosperous and more. When we are in this state of coherence, the ripples continue going outwards in the world...but this time the effects are different.
We can’t change our past, but we can influence our present and our future. WE have the power to influence others every single day. This isn’t about being polite and saying, “please and thank you.” This is about genuine, conscious and intentional alignment practiced daily. I will say it again- practiced. We will not do this perfectly. We aren’t supposed to. But, when we can and when we are present with another soul who is having their own life journey, our electromagnetic alignment-the energetic ripples, can and will create shifts in their heart and mind. This is one of the most important teachings I pass on to my students.
Quetzalcoatl – is the winged serpent god of the Mesoamerican pantheon. On his breastplate he wears a star shaped shell ornament-the crosscut of a conch shell like those used in ceremony to open the roads of the four sacred directions. It’s the symbol of the wind (Ehecatl)-the sacred breath of life (the very breath we ourselves blew upon the embers of our healing process) and the planet Venus- the morning star who witnesses the birth of the sun every day and a reminder of the fraternal love that we must manifest daily for humanity. Quetzalcoatl wore this breastplate over his heart as a symbol of his deep love for humanity. He teaches us “through love, all things can heal.” This can only be done when we expect nothing in return.
All we need to do, is align our thoughts and our emotions.
My hope for you is that you have all you need and more. That you be surrounded by people who honor you and that you recognize the moments of alignment and embody them as gifts to be shared.

 

Lisa

Connect with Lisa on instagram @itzpapalotl74 , or in person through her classes at Ritualcravt School.


Love Letters From a Witch: Lonely Path of The Priestess

Lonely Path of The Priestess

Greetings to the Land and Sky Gods!

I haven’t so much lost my way, but have found a path back to myself by consistently obliterating all the imposed limitations bestowed upon me by old narratives and family of origin wounds. I can’t tell you how to do this or what the best direction is, but when you decide to free yourself from an inherited prison life architecture there is going to be lots of pushback, resistance to the change from the world around you, and learning to rely on your inner compass. You may be met with respect, absolution, gossip, slander, love, worship, and mistrust because of this soul mission. Whatever you do, don’t give up! You are not here to change anyone else, but you can heal yourself, and that can be the gift you give the world. Being an example can inspire them to do their work, and the healing can continue.

Often that means retreating from your surroundings to get to a quiet space to process your thoughts and anything you’ve picked up from other’s projections, family, social media, community, and what have you. You have to navigate the difference between what is solitude and isolation. There is a difference. Taking space is highly necessary when you are a highly empathic, sensitive, or intuitive person. Your emotions can run the show, and your internal compass can become erratic and off if you are always navigating in other people’s energy. To get clarity, you must periodically remove yourself from other people’s energies so you don’t feel confused, or trapped by energies that are not your own. No matter how much energy clearing you do, sometimes the best thing you can do is step back, and get to higher ground, so you can proceed with a clear conscious, and not just be reacting.

We have layers and lifetimes of systemic trauma, learned behavior, assimilation for survival, archaic patriarchal structures, and genocides to process. Nowhere in the history books does there appear to be evidence of working on healing our family and societal traumas. Communities may have tried, but if there was it was destroyed, and we are back at starting from scratch. I have to be direct and honest when saying that this job, this task, this life, and privilege of healing is so painful, and quite frankly sucks. However this is the path that is mine, and some of you have chosen to walk it too. Selfishly, I don’t want to come back again to do this human thing. I believe in reincarnation, but I also believe in evolution and ascension, and my spirit wants to GTFO of this 3-dimensional existence. Being in a body is uncomfortable (for me personally), but being trapped in your mind without hope is probably the worst kind of Hell I could imagine. I still dream happy thoughts and astral travel to beautiful places. There is still hope glimmering from an unknown light source (perhaps it’s the heartbeat of Andromeda, but I digress), but the reality of these moments are fleeting. I wonder if I will ever be happy, received, appreciated, loved by a partner, have a home of my own, and an actual community in the place I reside?

This all sounds so fucking trite and depressing, right? Sorry, these are the thoughts on this plane, in the air, alone in my thoughts to travel to meet my community. The people who support me, appreciate, respect, and receive me. See how funny that is, the answer is always right there is we open our eyes to it. Eventually we full circle back. Therein lies the problem with thinking one is terminally unique. It creates separation and dissonance in the soul. When all my soul wants is to be free and express it’s purpose, which is here to help you express yours and clear out whatever is blocking you from it. So here are three cheers to another year down and the close of a decade. These are my wishes for the collective conscious for the year ahead.

May your spiritual pilot light be lit from your truth.

May you find the soul community, love, support, and connection in the here and now.

May you claim your divine birthright to exist in perfect harmony with your truth.

May the blessings of your existence enhance, inform, inspire, and elevate the world around you.

Last but not least…

May you be seen, received, valued, respected, loved, and cherished in all of the healthiest of ways by those in your circle.

AND SO IT IS!

Love,
Marcella

 

Connect with Marcella

@marcellakroll | https://www.marcellakroll.com/