Medicine woman apprenticeship begins
I'm here in Ecuador, outside of Otavalo in the Andean mountains. It's the full moon eclipse tonight and with that blessing I'm starting my apprenticeship with the amazing medicine woman and midwife, Doña Rosita (aka Momma Rosa)
This apprenticeship came as a surprise after I met Momma Rosa on my sister Dani's inagural Seeds of Seva retreat (which was amazing). After our initial connection she invited me to stay with her and learn about her form of shamanism. I'm feeling so excited and simultaneously nervous about this opportunity and can't wait to see how it continues to unfold!
How the opportunity unfolded....
I met Momma Rosa on our first full day of the retreat, when she came to do an Andean cleanse for the group. My energy was low from doing a lot of traveling (Bali - Manila - Tokyo - LA - MIA - Quito - Otavalo in 5 days!) and from processing / integrating my yoga teacher training, the panchakarma, and week of silence I'd just experienced in Bali. As a result I had a VERY intense reaction to the Andean cleans. (nausea, shivering, headache)
Being cleansed by Momma Rosa's daughter in law, Ana Marie.
After the cleanse, while momma Rosa was helping to take care of me, I mentioned that I was planning to study shamanism.. she looked at me and said "muy bien... y los espíritus van a molestarte mucho mucho" (that's good- and the spirits / energy are going to harass you a lot). To be honest it didn't have me feeling so great about my decision to continue down that path.
Momma Rosa giving us all rose water after the Andean cleanse for luck and protection
The next day we were working in plant nursery with Doña Rosita's community and I still wasn't feeling well so she gave me some herbs to make a tea with when I got home.
Me with some of the community members
After drinking the tea I had another really intense energetic and physical experience that knocked me out for almost 2 days, so I was unfortunately unable to go back to the community for our second day of service and plant medicine workshops. So I was very surprised with what happened on our last day together for the retreat.
Momma Rosa gave me a serpent at our potluck
Momma Rosa starting our community dinner. An Ecuadorian potluck
On our last day with the community we volunteered with the local preschoolers and their parents. It was one of the most beautiful days of my life. The little kids had so much life and energy so I loved being around them, especially since I was still not feeling 100%. In fact, when I arrived at the preschool- I had to stay back from the group because my energy was still getting drained.
But as I worked with the kids my energy shifted, then momma Rosa got there for our community dinner and EVERYTHING changed.
I was so really caught off guard when Momma Rosa asked my sister and mom to gather around me during our potluck dinner, because she wanted to present me with something. She said that she had felt the power and energy shamanism in me, and she wanted to present me with the serpent totem of power from the amazon and a blessing to support me on my journey to study shamanism / healing. I honestly don't remember much of the blessing and am so grateful someone caught it on camera, because it was all a blur. I do remember that when she put the serpent to my head I felt heat and a flash of yellow exploded in my forehead. The rest of the evening was filled with dancing and laughing and community bonding and it was truly wonderful.
A photo from my two new best friends after a day of volunteering at Momma Rosa's community preschool.
Then we went to a waterfall for more cleansing
Me and my serpent during our waterfall cleanse
The next day my sister Dani, her co-facilitator / our friend Sharon, and I went with Momma Rosa and Ana Marie to a waterfall for a post retreat cleanse. My energy was feeling much better and I still didn't have formalized plans / a flight booked for what to do after the retreat. In the car on the way to the waterfall I asked Momma Rosa if I were able to make arrangements to stay a little longer if I could spend some time learning about Shamanism from her... that's when she invited me to stay with her in her home and work with her in the hospital to experience being a midwife, and then go on weekends to waterfalls, lakes, and mountains to awaken my Shamanic energy. To which I said... Yes please!!
The cleanse was truly amazing. Momma Rosa is the pure embodiment of "power house" and at one moment she was standing in front of the waterfall with her (much larger) version of my serpent ... and I was sitting above her on the waterfall with my baby serpent and it was as if by osmosis the knowledge of how to harness energy through these totems was beginning to transfer. And so began my apprenticeship with Momma Rosa.
Tonight I moved in
Momma Rosa, Ana Marie and Nester (Ana Marie's husband / MR's son) came to bring me to my new home this afternoon. They wasted 0 time initiating me- 2 minutes into meeting them in the lobby my hair was wrapped in a traditional indigenous pony tail. They taught me that the indigenous women wrap their hair and wear it in a low pony tail at the back of their heads because the hair stores a lot of energy this way.
My hair wrapped in a ribbon that matches my Serpent!
In a flash we were putting my luggage in the car. The 5 of us and all my bags were not going to fit into Nestor's small car- so, naturally, Nestor secured my luggage on top of the roof with Momma Rosa and Anne Marie's scarfs.
I got such a kick out of how Nestor and the ladies secured my luggage- I'm used to bungie chords but here scarves work just as well!
My physical transformation is completed with a new name to match
I arrived to my new home (a very simple home made of concrete with a shared bathroom outside) and one of Momma Rosa's patients was already there waiting for us. I got to sit in on my first consultation, after which Momma Rosa swiftly brought me into her "other daughter"s room and found "proper clothing" for me to wear.
Me, momma Rosa, and Ana Marie in my new bedroom
My name "Marni" is not easy for many Spanish speakers to say... so when my new family asked if I had any other names I gave them my Hebrew name "Michaela". Momma Rosa decided that from now on I am to be called "Michaelita". Adding "ita" at the end of word is meant as a term of endearment... adding it also meant that a name that I'm already not so familiar with using is now even more foreign... eek
In closing...
It's been a very exciting and nerve wracking first night. My brain already hurts from all of the Spanish - and sometimes my new family speaks in a mix or Spanish / Cechua (the indigenous Andean dialect) called "Media Langua" so I can't tell if it's because my Spanish isn't so great or if it's because they're not actually speaking Spanish that I can't understand them. But regardless my new family is so loving and welcoming and I'm hoping that the communication gap continues to get smaller.
So tonight's full moon is all about new beginnings and a lot of change for me. I am genuinely excited for my new name, wardrobe, home, family, language(s), and apprenticeship and look forward to what the next few weeks have in store for me!
*Note that I mentioned a few time about when my energy got low / I wasn't feeling great - and that I've been nervous along the journey . I'm sharing these experiences and feelings because I want to be honest that this path I'm on has ups and downs. In my opinion, they're absolutely worth it... I also want to be very transparent and not romanticize the experience along the way.