The Gift of Friendship and Sage

Early last fall, the University of New Mexico offered a 100% free online course on Curanderismo.  Curanderismo is the tradition of Mexican, Latin American, and indigenous folk magic, medicine, and healing practiced by many throughout the Americas.  UNM offers an intensive class every summer on this same topic at its Albuquerque campus, but 2014 was the first year it offered an extension of the class online. 

It was a great class, and very informative.  We learned about cupping, juicing, herbs, shawl massage, the sacred uses of tobacco, and many other interesting and enlightening topics.  Even though I spent a good deal of my youth in New Mexico, I was (unfortunately) very disconnected from the culture.  It’s something I regret now that I’m an adult, but to make up for lost time I make a point to study and appreciate the culture and heritage now, even though I took it for granted then.

My friend, The Feisty Witch, created a study group for us on Facebook, to help us work through the material and share extra resources.  What started as just a few dozen of my friends and family quickly grew to friends inviting friends, strangers finding their way to our little group and strangers inviting their friends.  And then suddenly, the group had exploded and I had no idea who any of these people were.  But that’s okay!  Because as soon as the class got underway, we shared thoughts and insights, asked questions, and reminded each other of due dates and deadlines for the online course.

Since then, the group has grown in ways I never could have imagined.  What once was a small group of friends has grown to a group of over five thousand people from all over the world.  Some of us are witches and Pagans, others are Curanderas and Curanderos, healers and helpers, nurses and mystics, teachers and students.  The group is active with questions, links, articles, pictures, and videos.  I’m a bit amazed by it, to be honest.  I’m not at all a Curandera.  To be honest, I’m not even a healer and I’m certainly can’t claim Hispanic or Latin American heritage!  I’m just a kid who spent some time in New Mexico and likes to meet others.

 

That’s been my favorite part of the group, to be honest. Sure, I love the information about herbs and magic and medicine.  But really, I’m in awe over the great people I get to interact with each and every day, people who help one another and love one another, people who have wisdom and experience to share, and are more than happy to do it.  Our little study group has grown, and while it’s nearly 5.5K strong, it’s still intimate and familiar.  It still feels like a family.

Recently, one of the members from the group sent me a little care package from New Mexico.  One downside of the Curanderismo study group is that I sometimes get a little nostalgic for the South West.  Sure, I adore living in North Carolina, but New Mexico has its own special charm.  I was so happy when I opened my package of wild-gathered desert sage (and other goodies!).  The scent brought me instantly back to New Mexico, and even further back to my childhood as a kid in Montana.  Holding these lovingly crafted bundles in my hands, I remembered wide open skies, the Milky Way, epic sunsets, rolling prairie, flat and colorful deserts.  I was in, just for a wonderful, brief moment, the places that I once called home.  Because no matter how much time has passed, no matter how far away I am, that soil and those waters are part of me, tugging at my roots in that place.

So, despite not being a Curandera, or Hispanic, or a healer, I still very much enjoy our little (growing every day!) study group.  I enjoy the friends I make and the wisdom that is shared. I enjoy the gifts I am given – gifts of all types.  The sage is just wonderful and very thoughtful, but the gift of such vivid memory is priceless.  I hope I have been able to adequately share my gift of gratitude for the herb bundles, and all of the other blessings this group has given with me.

Curanderismo: Traditional Medicine (study group)

http://www.facebook.com/groups/CuranderismoTraditionalMedicine/

Folk Medicine and Magic Marketplace - buy/sell/trade

http://www.facebook.com/groups/905763112827007/

Arts and Crafts of the Southwest - My friend Andrew, who gathers and crafts beautiful and powerful sage bundles

http://www.facebook.com/groups/147697708897197/

Curanderismo Class at UNM

http://www.facebook.com/curanderismo

Pagan Blog Project – week 37 – S#1 – Simple Self-Love Spell

Pagan Blog Project – week 37 – S#1 – A Simple Self-Love Spell

Here is a little self-acceptance charm I kept with me while I was managing a coffee shop and struggling with depression in a bad way.  Not only is it good for self-acceptance, but it also helps you be patient and more loving with others.  When you can accept yourself, you’re more likely to accept others, and vice versa.  Love ripples and expands, then bounces back and multiplies in infinite ways, so here is an easy way to bring a little more love into your life and into the lives of those with whom you interact.

You will need a bottle of impatiens flower essence.  Impatiens is a good flower essence to use for those who struggle with impatience (naturally), tension, intolerance, and general anxiety and stress.  The flower essence helps you to be calm and more harmonious.  It helps you find a balance and rhythm in your life, and reminds you to be patient with yourself and others.

What is your power number, your favorite number, or your lucky number?  Hold the bottle in your power hand (are you right or left-handed?  Use which ever hand is your dominant hand.)  Shake the bottle of flower essence while reciting quietly or out loud the qualities you’d like to bring into your life.  I would say “by the power of three times three times three, I bring love and patience to me!”  And as you will it, so mote it be, blessed be!

Now, take the essence and drop a few drops into your tea, coffee, or water first thing in the morning.  Working in a coffee shop I’d often have coffee first thing, so into my coffee it would go.  I’d recommend 3-4 drops.  It won’t change the flavor of your drink at all, especially if you only use a little bit. 

Before you take a sip, think of the qualities you’d like to bring into your life that day.  Blow your intentions, your energy, and your breath over the surface of the liquid until it is spinning clockwise.  Take your first sip, and offer a blessings to the Cosmos in thanks for the love and care it has given and continues to give you.  So mote it be!

Keep the tincture into a special place.  I kept mine in a silky, pink pouch along with a tiny piece of pink tourmaline.  Pink stones in general are good for love, including romantic love, universal love, and self-love. 

Pink tourmaline reminds us that to love ourselves is to love others, and to love others is to love ourselves.  (It pairs perfectly with impatient!)  Some use it as a protective stone, but it also promotes love, sympathy, patience, and friendships.  It helps keep you aware of yourself and how you connect to others, as well as how you connect to the Universe.  It helps those who suffer from depression and anxiety to find more balance in their lives, and it helps keep emotions into perspective, balancing the mind and heart.

Remember to be patient and kind to yourself.  If you’re not your own best friend, how can you expect to be a friend to anyone else?  How can you expect others to give you what you cannot give yourself?

Bless!

(I must give credit where credit is due!  The "blowing on your morning tea" spell comes from my Bee-Friend, who taught a workshop on herbal magic at a Pagan retreat I went to many years ago.  The flower essence for impatience was recommended to me from the owner of a local new age shop, who gifted me with the piece of pink tourmaline when she knew I was going through hard times.  Love to both of them for their kind gifts and the lessons they have both taught me over the years.  I am blessed to have kind, generous, and knowledgeable teachers and friends in my life!)