On Death, Yopo & Other Stories
Wow!
It feels like a very long time since I last wrote that article around feminine & masculine polarities. The truth is, I have been really busy with all the retreat prepping for our upcoming Wise Woman Winter Retreat (we start in 2 weeks now I can’t believe it!), & another part of me has been resisting sitting down quietly & letting the words flow. Now that this resistance seems to slowly melt away, and retreat is ready for take off, I sit on my bed and write this piece to share with you some of my latest reflections from my travels to Michoacán during Día de los Muertos, & also about an upcoming Yopo Ceremony. So here we go…
I’m sure many of you have heard about Día de los Muertos before or “Day of the Dead”, an ancestral Mexican tradition that occurs every 1st & 2nd of November (did you know that this originally lasted 5 days but it was cut down to 2 during Evangelization?). The Day of the Dead has earned the attention from almost every corner on this planet, & this is not a surprise to me when you understand that this is basically a massive party thrown for the dead… Not sure any other culture does this to be honest.
A huge part of this tradition is all about remembrance, mourning, honoring & rituals. Yet another massive side of it is all about celebrating, joy, drinking, laughter & dancing. A total melting pot where the bitter taste of death meets with the sweetness of afterlife. So, the magical town of Patzcuáro in Michoacán is basically the Mecca for the Day of the Dead celebration (if you’ve ever watched the movie Coco, this town is where all inspiration comes from). This small town stops all forms of activity that is Day of the Dead non-related & every single restaurant, coffee, boutique, seems to be fully focused on Día de los Muertos: from the meals that they serve to their beverages, from the music they play to the way that they decorate.
A dear friend of mine from Barcelona took part in this adventure with me, and I’m forever grateful to the spontaneity with which this trip came together… Visiting The Cemetery of Tzintzuntzan during the night of the Dead has truly been one of the most impressive, astonishing, & humbling experiences I have ever lived. I guess I had to wait till I was 26, & fully prepared from an energetic perspective, to be able to navigate the whole scene gracefully & respectfully. I’m definitely a “planner” type of person, but it’s so beautiful to be reminded of the gifts that come when we stop gripping & we learn to flow with the opportunities that present to us.
Anyways, back to the cemetery. This has truly been one of the most special scenes I have witnessed and felt in my entire life. It is a scene that is difficult to describe (which is why I share with you some photos below)... Prayers, live music, dancing, food, families, alcohol, atole, candles, cempásuchil flowers, celebration, mourning, catacombs, crosses. The living and the dead, all together as one, gathered in a tiny town in of name Tzintzuntzan. It is without a doubt, a night I will never ever forget.
Tzintzuntzan Cemetery, Michoacán 2022
Tzintzuntzan Cemetery, Michoacán 2022
As I integrate this experience I consider…
Why do many of us live in this kind of eternal sleep state, like we are waiting for something big to happen to us in order to really start living?
Why do we forget that our time in human shape and form is limited and precious? Why do we take life for granted?
Why do we waste so much of life’s precious time in silly things or playing small? Why do we give so much of our energy to things that are meaningless?
And so I realize that it is by being really close to death that one starts to truly understand the miracle of life. It’s really just like my sister Cat shares in her ancestry programs: “one has to die to fully live”. Seeing all the children, babies, & teens who had crossed to the afterlife at a very young age, I wonder what their messages and lessons would be for us? For me, I felt that a big one was that the most powerful way of honoring the dead is by fully living my life, heart wide open & fearlessly. To stop waiting for something to happen and remember it’s all in the NOW.
In a way, we all get to experience death while we are alive, just like everything else in nature does. Every night when we go to sleep, this is a metaphorical death. Every time you take Savasana in your Yoga practice - metaphorical death again. For us women who menstruate, everytime we bleed - a form of death as well. If you observe nature, everything is in a constant death & rebirth cycle, look at the leaves falling from the trees, look at the night sky under a dark new moon. Nature knows that in order for something new to be birthed, something old has to die. Death is the ultimate release, the ultimate “letting go”. And really the only way for us to be reborn into a better version of ourselves, evolving & transforming, metamorphosis.
That said, I want to share with you about the ceremony that I’m preparing for this weekend. It’s not only our bodies that prepare us for death with every moon cycle, but certain plants also teach us how to die & come back fully into life, and one of them is Yopo. I’m not going to go into the details of this medicine, but what I do want to share with you is that creating these safe containers where we are able to experience this metaphorical death are very very necessary. Just like serpents, we need to enter these spaces where we are able to shed our old skin in order to inhabit our new selves. Nothing in this Universe is meant to stay the same, the only constant is change.
As humans, we are constantly absorbing information, others’ energies, and others’ emotions. We are like sponges. The rebellious act of fully letting go and surrendering allows for a complete inner alchemy, transformation, that makes room for us to truly rise like phoenixes. So why do we cling in unhealthy ways? Why do we accumulate so much toxicity and won’t let go? I invite you to observe what are some old habits and ways of yours that would let you live more fully if you let go of these. And yes I know it can sound scary to experience death, but this seems to be a very effective way for us to fully come back into life, leave the fear behind & live our purpose.
So calling in now the medicine of the Phoenix for you reading this article and for my ceremony, and leaving you with some fun exercises that perhaps help you live in a more fully and present way:
Journaling → What if today is the last day of your life? What would it feel like? What are the things you would do and the things you wouldn’t? Who would you show up for and what things would you let go of?
Manifesting → Write down a small bucket list on things you’d like to do/experience before you die & set an estimated date for each listed point.
Practicing → I invite you to start pretending in your day-to-day as if it were your very last day of your life (I know it sounds a bit dramatic but trust me it works). Notice what you do, how you think, how you feel. You will notice how you will be much more awake and conscious about your decisions.
And finally, here are a few recommendations I’d like to share with you:
If you’re interested in diving deeper into Ancestry Work & Lineage Repair, please reach out to my sister Cat Faith and keep an eye out for her online programs (she’s amazing).
A book everyone should read at least once: “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom
This is all for now & thank you for reading! I’ll come back to share some new insights once I’ve integrated the ceremony. See you all on the other side!
With love,
