Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo: Limpias Espirituales of Ancient Mesoamerican Shamans - Erika Buenaflor M.A. J.D. 2018

Platicas: Ejecting Unwanted Energies from the Body
Commonly Practiced Limpias from Ancient and Modern Perspectives

In curanderismo, platicas are heart-straightening talks, in which a person vocalizes and releases that which weighs heavy in their heart and soul to facilitate a healing, purification, renewal, and/or rebirth. A platica serves as a way to purge toxic emotions and imbalances, enable one to begin to stand in one’s own power, and beseech metaphysical help. The curandera/o sets and holds sacred space for this type of limpia; asks questions to facilitate the purge, realization, and renewal; and says prayers or magical invocations calling for divine aid. A platica can also be a way to determine what other, if any, kind of limpia may be helpful or necessary.

Platicas are different from standard therapy. The latter typically focuses on simply healing the mind or psyche of the client, who may then have to go to another source for spiritual or physical healing. The curandera/o, on the other hand, will address the mind, body, spirit, and soul during a platica.

The ethnographers writing about ancient Mexica and Yucatec Maya platicas often identified them as “confessions” or “rhetoric.” Platicas do resemble the Catholic tradition of confession: both typically involve an absolution of wrongdoings through confession and prayer. The “rhetoric” that is mentioned is indeed graceful and poetic, as Ixtlilxóchitl frequently points out. It is nonetheless more than just poetic rhetoric; it is imbued with sacrality. The context of these ancient platicas reveals that they contained shamanic elements. The shaman held space for and invoked divine aid from different dimensions to facilitate healings, purification, energetic releases, rebirth, and renewal.

THE PLATICA RITES OF THE MEXICA

Platicas for the Mexica could release wrongdoings, emotional or mental woes, and illnesses, and typically involved invoking supernatural aid. These wrongdoings, or straying from one’s truth, were believed to dislocate the heart from its proper place, which could then cause disease, community disdain, or bad fortune. Straying from one’s truth could encompass failing to think good thoughts, laxity in endeavors, or not being diligent in performing offerings of gratitude.¹ Platicas could also serve as prayers or offerings to deities and as eloquent poetic requests for absolution, purification, and aid (see plate 3).

Platicas were done frequently and in many settings, including during state calendrical rites, in households or temples, and as absolutions before death. The cihuatlamacazque (female shaman) or tlamacazque (male shaman) would restore internal order to the individual’s physical being by returning the heart to its proper place, from which it had been dislocated. Repeating the problems out loud ejected their associated energies from the body, thereby curing the individual.²

Two principal deities presided over the platica: Tezcatlipoca and Tlazolteotl. The Mexica believed that Tezcatlipoca, who was invisible and omnipresent, saw everything.³ Tezcatlipoca was one of the four sons of the creator deity, Ometeotl, and was associated with the night sky, night winds, hurricanes, the north, the earth, obsidian, enmity, discord, rulership, divination, temptation, jaguars, sorcery, beauty, war, and strife. Tezcatlipoca, whose name is often translated as “Smoking Mirror,” typically appeared with a smoking obsidian mirror at the back of his head and another replacing one of his feet.⁴ Mirrors were often used for shamanic rituals to see the circumstances concerning past, present, or future events.⁵

Platica rites were a common practice prior to the commemoration of Tezcatlipoca, which took place every four years, and was known as the Feast of Toxcatl. People throughout the Aztec empire began to engage in a general remission of wrongdoings and a call for divine help ten days before the feast.⁶

In Tenochtitlan, the image of Tezcatlipoca was made of black obsidian. Obsidian and pyrite were the materials that were commonly used to make mirrors; this association reinforced Tezcatlipoca’s role as a diviner or sorcerer. In other city-states within the Aztec empire, Tezcatlipoca was made of wood, carved in the form of a man, and completely black from his temples down. He was typically dressed in lavish native garments. Images of him usually had his head encircled with a band of burnished gold, ending in a golden ear painted with fumes or scrolls, used by the scribes to indicate speech. The gold ear in his headdress indicated that Tezcatlipoca heard the platicas of the people.⁷

The people of the Aztec empire prepared for the platicas and the Feast of Toxcatl by dedicating all the shrines of Tezcatlipoca with perfumes, incense, copal, tobacco, flowers, and food. It was also common to abstain from eating and engaging in sexual relations for several days before the platicas and the feast. Fasting was both an offering and a way to cleanse the body.⁸

Ten days before the Feast of Toxcatl, the shamans dressed Tezcatlipoca in his finest attire and accoutrements—all the best that could be given to him. After he had been meticulously dressed, the door or curtain covering him was removed for all to see. A hierarch of the temple, the titlacahuan, set the stage by acknowledging and honoring sacred space before the platicas commenced. He would be decked out as the mirror image of Tezcatlipoca, wearing exactly the same clothes and fanciful accoutrements, and carried flowers and a small clay flute in his hands. He turned to the east, south, west, and north, playing the flute. The flute gave a shrill sound, waking and calling the spirits and ancestors of all four directions.⁹

Next, all those who could hear him placed a finger on the ground, smeared earth on it, and ate the earth that stuck to their finger. This practice was often understood as honoring the deity of the earth, Tlaltecutli, and served as a declaration to the truth of what one was saying.¹⁰ Thereafter they invoked the aid of Tezcatlipoca through speaking out and declaring their wrongdoings. They often cried and humbly requested to be absolved of their transgressions, as well as to have their difficulties alleviated.¹¹ The other shamans at smaller temples of Tezcatlipoca held the physical space for the energy to be released from the troubled stories told during the platicas. Tezcatlipoca and the spirits of the four cardinal spaces also held the metaphysical space for the release of the energy, and, if asked sincerely, would render divine aid for whatever ailment or misfortune needed to be lifted. This elaborate state-sponsored platica ceremony served as a mass purification for the peoples of the Aztec empire and procured their well-being.

Deities were said to reveal themselves through the inspiration of spoken poetry and sacred songs, as well as through cries from devotees. Poetic spoken words and sacred songs were invocations to deities, requesting their absolution and aid.¹² When the huey tlatoani (ruler) had been installed, for example, he invoked the aid of Tezcatlipoca to fulfill his mission through poetic rhetoric.¹³ Caretakers of the sacred songs would issue a summons so that the singer shamans would be taught these songs.¹⁴ The pipiltzin (noble) daughters were told to awake and arise promptly, at the parting of the night, and to speak and cry out to the master, the lord, to him of the night and the wind. It was said that these deities or deity would aid those who called upon them ritually, humbly, and genuinely.¹⁵

Tlazolteotl, the goddess of both restoration and filth, was also believed to remove people’s impurities during the platica, while her earthly diviners were responsible for listening and inquiring.¹⁶ Tlazolteotl, known as the Great Spinner and Weaver or the Filth Deity, was associated with sweeping limpia rites, fertility and childbirth, the moon, menses, the steam bath, purification, sexuality, witchcraft, healing, and sexual misdeeds. She absolved sins, healed illnesses, and forgave.¹⁷

Before death, it was common to summon a tlapouhqui, a shaman of Tlazolteotl skilled in the reading and interpretation of the sacred books, so that the dying person could confess all wrongdoings. If the confessor was a person of importance, the platica would take place at his or her house; if not, the person would go to the tlapouhqui on the day advised. The two would sit on new mats beside a fire. The tlapouhqui threw incense into the flames and invoked the deities while smoke filled the air. The tlapouhqui would call out to the deities, letting them know of the confessor’s request to have a heart-straightening talk to heal and pacify the heaviness from his or her heart. Then the tlapouhqui instructed the confessor to confess without restraint or shame.¹⁸

The confessor touched the earth with a finger, swore to do so, and told of his or her life at length, recounting wrongdoings. The person was supposed to tell all and conceal nothing. The tlapouhqui typically commanded the confessor to engage in penances, such as making restitution to persons harmed, engaging in fasts, and piercing the tongue. Once the penance had been completed, the confessor was absolved and all actions were balanced, and he or she could no longer be punished for previous trespasses.¹⁹

THE PLATICA RITES OF THE YUCATEC MAYA

As with the Mexica, platicas for the Yucatec Maya could release indiscretions, emotional or mental woes, and illnesses, as well as invoke supernatural aid. Wrongdoings were believed to cause disease, community disdain, or bad fortune, such as plagues. During times of illness, plague, and danger, platicas were a critical tool for the people to be purified and freed from these difficulties, and also served to implore the aid of deities. The individual would confess his or her wrongdoings to the shamans. If a shaman was unavailable, then the person would confess to parents or spouses. Everybody in the community was expected to engage in this spoken release of wrongdoings, both during challenging times and on a regular basis. Offerings of incense and prayer typically followed the platica.²⁰

During the elaborate caput-sihil ceremony for Yucatec Maya children, platicas served as a way to release wrongdoings and secure a rebirth. When parents of children between the ages of three and twelve determined that the child had reached an age of social transformation, and could even marry, they informed the community’s shaman, the ah-kin, who would then perform this ceremony. It was intended to predispose the child toward good conduct and habits and an honorable life, and to keep the child free from harm. Friar Diego de Landa identifies this ceremony as a baptism.²¹ But as I say in chapter 8, the manner in which the principal ritual space was set up— mirroring the cosmos and creating a central bridge that connected the mundane with divine realms—makes the ritual more reminiscent of a cosmic rebirthing ceremony than of a Christian baptism. Typically, Christian baptisms are centered on acceptance into the faith. By contrast, the elaborate cosmic staging and performance of the caput-sihil ceremonies suggest that they purified the adolescent and marked a transition into another period of life—a kind of rebirth. Hence I use the terms rebirthing or coming of age to refer to this ceremony. The ceremony typically involved the rebirthing or coming of age of a group of children from the community.

A ceremonial fiesta was given for the rebirthing ceremony. On the day of the fiesta, the children and their families gathered at the house of the host. The patio was meticulously swept and cleansed. The boys and girls were placed in separate lines on the patio, where an older woman and man of the community cleansed them with fresh leaves. Then the ah-kin cleansed and prepared the house for the children’s renewal. The four men who had been chosen to act as chacs,^*13 representatives of the gifts and wisdom of the cardinal spaces or skybearers, then placed white cloths on the children’s heads. At that point, the ah-kin would have the oldest child, representing the whole group, confess any wrongdoings. If there were any indiscretions to confess, they were separated from the others and would confess before the ah-kin. Thereafter the ah-kin began to bless the children with long prayers and to sanctify them with hyssop. The act of confessing, followed by prayers, was a critical component of the process.²² Verbalizing any wrongdoings ejected them out of the children’s bodies, purified the children from these transgressions, and prepared them to undergo a cosmic rebirth into a new stage of their lives.

The spoken word, in the form of poetic recitations, was a means of facilitating the release, and could also serve as part of the offering for divine help. The recitations known as the Ritual of the Bacabs are often sung or chanted to cure various illnesses, such as fever, gout, smallpox, rattlesnake bites, wasp bites, and asthma.²³

The K’iché’ Popol Vuh indicates how the spoken word served as an offering to the deities. According to this text, the creators first created four-footed animals and birds, then told them to praise them by speaking and calling their names. The creators, who had sought to be nourished and sustained in this way, were dismayed to find that the animals could not speak and could only hiss, scream, and cackle. Because the animals were unable to honor them through speech, the creators decided that they would serve as food and would live in the ravines and woods. The creators then made beings from the earth, but these simply melted away. Then they created manikins, beings made of wood, but they too were unable to speak. As a result, the creators killed them with a great flood.²⁴

Figure. 4.1. The breath or spoken word as offerings, from the Madrid Codex, pages 24 and 25. Illustrations by Carolina Gutierrez.

INTEGRATING ANCIENT MESOAMERICAN WISDOM

We have created a society that has been dissociated from the earth, her elements, and ourselves, so it is no wonder that many people suffer from depression and discontent and are unhappy with their livelihoods.

I have gained indispensable insights from the ancient Mexica and Yucatec Maya that have greatly enhanced the effectiveness of my platicas. The platica mirrors a path I encourage my clients and students to take and embody—treating life as sacred, and being in a constant state of awe, wonderment, and gratitude. The more we are in these states, the more we connect with people and are provided with circumstances to be grateful for. Thus I encourage people to engage in small ceremonies and to begin to treat life as a sacred ceremony, especially if they are experiencing any degree of depression.

In a platica, I navigate people through a cleansing and healing, and, if they are ready, a renewal of power. People who come to me with various levels of depression, stagnancy, or confusion begin to have focus and drive again after only a few sessions. They discover and activate new talents, feel renewed vigor, and often step into their power to create their reality. Of course they must do the homework I assign. (I will say more about this homework below.)

PLATICAS AS SACRED CEREMONY

1. Preparing for the Platica

Treating the platica as a sacred practice in and of itself facilitates the healing, clearing, and revitalizing aspects of this limpia. For the session (like any other), I always wear white or light-colored clothes. I was taught that white, as well as lighter colors in general, will not absorb dense energies. I also make sure the healing room in which I perform my sessions is cleansed and ready to receive people. (I discuss how to cleanse rooms in chapter 8, see here). I generally do not fast or ask my clients to fast, unless we are doing the final stages of soul retrieval and a platica is part of this work. I do, however, eat clean, light, non-processed vegetarian meals before my platicas. Is this necessary? Every person’s body type is different. It is critical to learn to listen to our bodies so that we are always focused, grounded, fully aware, and performing at our peak. Eating very clean food has been ideal for me as a curandera.

Whether I am working with the client remotely or in person, before I begin I tune into their energy and prepare a complex blend of herbal teas to make the platica more effective. I am aware of the medicinal and magical properties of plants, and call upon their soul essence to help heal, cleanse, and revitalize my client’s mind, body, spirit, and soul. Of course, if the session takes place in person, I share the tea with my client. If it is remote, I thank the soul essence of the plants to work through me on my client’s behalf. The combination typically involves three to five plants and reflects what I tune into or already know about the person. Depending on availability, I may get fresh plants from my garden, or use ones that I have already dried. I use 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of dried herbs, or 2 to 4 teaspoons of fresh herbs, for 8 ounces of water.

Here are some common emotionally related ailments and plant combinations:

· Depression: lemon balm, St. John’s wort, sage, bergamot, damiana, chives, geranium, echinacea, rose hips, or sunflower petals

· Anxiety and stress: echinacea, lemon balm, basil, chamomile, sage, lavender, bergamot, or cilantro

· Insomnia: chamomile, sage, peppermint, valerian, passionflower, lemongrass, damiana, lemon balm, thyme, chives, or fresh flowers from an orange or lemon tree

· Broken hearts: dandelion, peppermint, rosemary, lavender, geranium, lemon thyme, basil, or red roses

· Anger (either directed at or coming from my client): basil, mug-wort, oregano, lavender, chamomile, or peppermint

· Shock: lemon balm, chamomile, or basil

· Envy (either directed at or coming from my client): snapdragon, crushed dill seed, geranium, chamomile, or parsley

If I feel beforehand that the energy is going to be very dense, I prepare a white fire with a couple of handfuls of Epsom salts, a splash of rubbing alcohol, and dry plants such as basil, rosemary, chamomile, rue, mint, tobacco, and/or parsley to help clear dense energies. (I talk more about how to do a white fire limpia in chapter 8, see here.) The density typically has to do with volatile emotions, such as anger, rage, deep resentment, or grave envy related to the story that will be shared. I usually burn the white fire after the person has shared the story with me in order to transform this energy into a much lighter one. As I indicate below, I may have the client throw something into the fire, or I burn it while I am cleansing the client with a feather fan, rattle, and Florida water.^*14

2. Conducting the Platica

When I commence any platica, I always begin by lighting a charcoal tablet and placing copal, frankincense, and myrrh on it. This is known as a New Fire and is symbolic of creating a new path. (In chapter 5, see here, I explain further what a New Fire signifies and entails.) Burning these resins set the stage for the platica, acknowledging that the space where it is being done is sacred and signaling that whatever is being said is to be treated with the highest regard. The offering is for all of my, and the person’s, divine helpers, inviting them to join us. These resins are also known to clear and drive out dense energies. If people are unfamiliar with these resins, I further prepare the space by explaining their purpose.

My mentors taught me that a platica was a way to help people eject the energies of whatever troubled them. People should be made to feel comfortable to share their story and whatever is troubling them or what they need help with. I was never to interrupt the storytelling; rather I was told to listen and ask questions. I require that the first session be a minimum of ninety minutes, so the basics of the story and the energy connected with it can be more fully discussed and released.

My first question is always open-ended, to see if the person has a story or stories they would like to share, or if they would like me to direct the questioning. The open-ended question may be something along the lines of, “So, love, what brings you here today?” I navigate the platica to have us deal with one story, or interrelated traumas, at a time. I get the client to agree on a core issue and on the related energies they would like to clear. The basic questions I may ask often include: Who was involved? Why does it matter? Why did it happen? When did it begin? Where did it happen? How does it make them feel? What are they willing to do to shift the energy of the story? If it appears that the person has brought up a completely unrelated story or issue, I find out whether it’s related to the core issue. If it’s unrelated, I navigate the platica back to the issue that we have agreed to deal with.

I may also interrupt if I hear people making negative characterizations about themselves, or if they define their circumstances as being determinative or describe themselves as being stuck. Inspired by my ancient ancestors, I understand on a deeper level that the spoken word is sacred and we create with it, particularly when the words are charged with intense energies. I encourage those people to refrain from identifying any situation as unchanging and from continuing to feel bad by saying more bad things about themselves. This is never helpful. I always guide them toward self-awareness with self-reflective questions. People often cry, lament, and sometimes even laugh afterward—all of which help to promote the purging process, and the platica is always a purging process.

I also use the platica to provide further insight into which additional limpias could be used to complement and further cleanse, heal, and renew the person and the situation. After the platica, I conduct another type of complementary limpia; the kind I perform depends on what I have gathered from the platica. These are some typical complementary limpias and scenarios:

Sweep limpia, or barrida, with a feather fan. After the platica, to enhance the cleanse and clear pathways for new beginnings, I often do a barrida (sweeping) with a feather fan, Florida water, a rattle, and a prayer or invocation. I have the client lie down, blow Florida water on them to deepen the energetic cleansing, run a rattle up and down their bodies to shake away residual dense energies, sweep their body with a feather fan, and say an invocation on their behalf, thanking all that is divine to assist them on their path. As I was taught, my invocation is private and is only for the ears of my client. The barrida with a feather fan signals that they are stepping onto a new path, a more prosperous and graceful one. (I explain how to do sweeps with feathers in chapter 7, see here.)

Remote sessions and breathwork. If the session is remote, like the Mexica wind deity Ehecatl, who was known to clear pathways with his breath, I use the breath to clear residual dense energies from clients’ bodies. First, I have the client join me in breathwork. One breath-work exercise I typically do in all of my sessions is the cobra breathing, because it facilitates a trance state for both the client and me. While it is not necessary for the client to enter into a trance state, it can help deepen the clearing, because they are more relaxed and open to it.

Cobra breathing involves having the client place pressure on their temples with their index fingers while using their pinky fingers to put pressure at the bridge of the nose. The temples and the bridge of the nose are acupressure points that, when pressed and complemented with breathwork, help people to become more focused, centered, and grounded. The middle and ring fingers are slightly above their eyebrows. I instruct them to keep their hands in the cobra position and take quick breaths, inhaling from the abdomen, contracting the abdomen, and bringing the breath to the chest. I count silently to 11, 22, or 33, and then we exhale out the mouth. I ask them to refrain from exhaling while while I am counting. I repeat this breathing exercise three times with the same set of counting to 11, 22, or 33. I determine the number of breaths by what the client is able to do comfortably as this exercise requires abdominal strength.

Afterward I close my eyes and request that the client do the same. I scan their bodies and blow away dense residual energies from them.

Egg sweep. I use this type of limpia with clients who have stated they are ready for a fresh or new start, and I sense that any negative energy they have been experiencing has taken a form of its own, manifesting in a series of unfortunate incidents. I once had a lady come in who had experienced, in a period of two weeks, being laid off and finding her fiancé with a woman she thought was her closest friend. She came in feeling very lethargic and incredibly depressed. She was having a very difficult time getting out of bed. The platica and the egg extracted from her body the dense energy that was weighing her down. The day after our session, she e-mailed me and told me that she was cleansing her house with a white fire, had been to the gym that day, and had applied for two jobs. She was feeling like herself again. (I explain how to do an egg sweep in chapter 7, see here.)

Fire limpia with a puro (blessed tobacco in a cigar). I generally conduct this kind of limpia for clients who have had a series of unfortunate incidents take place and who say that someone or a group of people may not be wishing them well. As I explain more fully in chapter 5, I conduct the fire limpias in a series, reflecting the incidences of bad luck. For example, if the misfortunes have occurred on a weekly basis, I request that they come in and see me on a weekly basis for a minimum of three times. This typically stops the streak of misfortunes. (I explain how to do fire limpias with puros in chapter 5, see here.)

Fire limpia with a white fire. If the person has been plagued with bad habits and negative thought forms, I conduct this kind of limpia to expel this negative energy into the fire. I will have people write down what they are ready to let go of and have them vocalize what they are releasing as they are throwing their paper or pieces of paper into the fire. I then hand them offerings for the fire, such as chamomile flowers, and have them state what they choose.

Water limpia with a baño (spiritual bath). If the person has been suffering from severe anxiety, depression, stress, and/or insomnia, I will prepare a baño for them or advise them to do so on their own, with a combination of herbs, such as sage, bergamot, rose hips, chamomile, and lavender. Because of the time involved, I often recommend that they conduct the baño at home. The water and herbs cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, easing the severity of their ailments. I often recommend that they continue taking baños at least once a week for two months. (I explain how to do baños in chapter 6, see here.)

3. Homework

Before the end of the platica, or possibly in the middle of this limpia, I always assign some kind of homework. This is an assignment whereby clients can continue to heal themselves, put a plan we develop together into action, or move forward toward a process of renewal and new beginnings. Many people that come to me for platicas have given away their power and energy on some level, so it is essential to provide an assignment that helps them to step into their power and take charge of their life.

Often when referring to this work, I make an analogy to the Mesoamerican Calendar Round. Coming to see me was the magical, shamanic, and faith-based part of clearing the pathway for something to come into being, reflecting the magical-shamanic 260-day calendar. Moving forward with their assignment is how they bring something into being in this linear, 365-day dimension. I hold the space for a path to open up for them, but they must take the first steps to walk down the path. This process is necessary for the magic to work.

The assignments I give vary. If, for example, the client is choosing to be with their ideal partner and I find out that they have not taken any action to meet this person, I recommend that they begin to engage in more activities they enjoy but normally do not engage in; I may also suggest that they peruse websites like Meetup and go to their events. If clients have come to me with health concerns, I recommend that they try plant-based alternatives and suggest blends in the form of teas and/or tinctures. I may ask them to drink the tea or take the tincture first thing in the morning every day for two to three weeks straight. I also encourage them, before taking this medicine, to connect with the soul essence of the plants and thank them for their healing and magic. This concept may be foreign to some, but I notice a remarkable difference with people that follow through with this assignment. They begin to gain a renewed appreciation for simplicity and nature and generally become happier and more grateful. On various occasions, I also suggest that clients do some magic of their own. Here are some examples.

Sunny and Vic Get Their Ideal House

I had clients who had moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles. When they came to see me, they were living with her parents. Although they were grateful that her parents had opened their home to them, after many months of looking they were ready to move into their own home. They had found one they really liked, but after six weeks, the negotiations broke down. They had not heard from the landlord for a few weeks, and the landlord was no longer responding to them.

After their respective platicas, I assigned them two separate assignments. One of them was to approach the landlord again and propose a favorable resolution to a fence issue that had come up. The family wanted to secure the safety of their family, their current toddler and future ones, with a fence, but the owner did not want a fence around the home. We opened pathways for the landlord to be receptive toward their suggestion for an aesthetically pleasing fence. The other assignment was to do a velación (candle work; I explain how to do this in chapter 5, see here) for their ideal home at the present time. If this was to be their ideal home, it would open up for them.

A few weeks later she e-mailed and informed me that they had moved into the house they really wanted. They approached the owner about the fence again and did their velación, as I had instructed. The platica had opened up a path for their ideal home and for the owner to be more receptive about the fence they wanted. Their work complemented the platica and brought into being what they had chosen.

Susana’s Severe Depression Dissipates

Susana came to me with severe depression. She had been in a long-term relationship for almost a decade, lived with this person for most of those years, and thought that he was “the one.” He broke up with her in a way that seemed out of the blue. Although the breakup itself was rather peaceful, it caused an emotional whirlwind of confusion and depression for her. Almost eight months afterward, she was still very depressed, was experiencing crying spells, had become something of a hermit, and had mild suicidal ideations.

During the platica, I held the space for her to release, and then I began gearing her toward focusing on what she still enjoyed and made her happy. She indicated that she enjoyed nature and the warmth of the sun. While she shared her story, I picked up on the fact that she had given a substantial amount of her sacred essence energy to her ex-boyfriend. Consequently, I told her to spend three to five minutes every day before leaving for work presenting herself before the sun. This was in order to set the intention to work with the sun and breathe back in her tonalli, her sacred essence energy or soul pieces. The sun would warm and recalibrate pieces of her soul, allowing her to gracefully accept her sacred energy back into her sacred heart.

She came to see me again a couple of weeks later. Her energy had almost completely changed. She was alive with life and energy and was even laughing—very different from the first time. For this platica, I helped her to further release energies associated with treating her life as meaningless without him, and with the scars of his leaving her. At the end, I gave her the next homework assignment, which was to leave an offering of gratitude to the nature spirits on her doorstep, stating what she was grateful for. A month later and after another platica, she was completely radiating and felt at peace with completely letting go and moving on. She told me that these assignments gave her something to look forward to and filled her with a greater sense of wonderment and awe.

The ancient Mexica and Yucatec Maya treated the platica as something sacred. They have the power to release energy connected to traumas, sadness, illness, and troubles. The shamans prepared themselves, and the space, to clear these dense energies. They used the power of the spoken word to facilitate the clearing and to invoke divine help.

Like these ancient shamans, I recognize that the word is sacred. I encourage my clients to be mindful of their words and remember that they create with their words. I also intend to inspire clients to create beautiful realities for themselves. The questions I ask are aimed to awaken self-awareness and liberation from dense energies. The assignments I give are intended to continue to seal the healing and to inspire my clients to step into their power by doing something healthy and loving for themselves—embodying the discipline of self-love.

PLATICAS FOR SOLO PRACTITIONERS

It is also possible for solo practitioners to engage in platicas on their own. In fact, sometimes this is the work I assign for my clients. I basically have them follow all of the outlined steps, starting with the preparations. I encourage them to cleanse their space and to dress for the ceremony, preferably in lighter-colored clothes. I recommend that they eat clean and light food beforehand. I request that prior to the ceremony they write down a prayer or invocation for divine aid. This request can encompass any and all belief systems.

When the preparations are complete, I advise that clients start the platica with a New Fire and with an offering in the form of a candle and/or incense. Thereafter I encourage them to write down or state what has been weighing heavy in their hearts and/or something they want to manifest in their lives, and then to beseech divine aid. After this, I have the client declare the actions they are willing to take to change these events or circumstances and to bring into being whatever they are choosing. I also ask them to recognize the activities that lift their spirits and make them feel happy, preferably exuberant. Their homework is to engage in these activities, or to imagine themselves engaging in them, and to allow themselves to feel into this visualization, as well as to take action to manifest what they choose. The platica as a form of release clears pathways, taking action brings something into form from the ethers, and the feelings of happiness are the fuel that realizes the request.

These solo platicas are simple and practical and are an excellent way to promote self-awareness and to manifest what we choose in our lives.