Medicine NM: Finding the Force

Medicine NM: Finding the Force

This series is about Medicine, and the many meanings of that word, especially when capitalized. It essentially means “anything that heals” especially deeply, from the roots. In the sense that I say Medicine, it refers to powerful plant substances, or people who are able to open possibilities of healing.

15 years ago I came to New Mexico because I was sick, and probably dying — a little faster than the rest of you — and was looking for help from a holistic native healer. Well, really I was having bizarre dreams of another place, perhaps what some would think of as heaven, and I thought I was losing my mind. Common illnesses had been ruled out but I was still losing a lot of blood and chasing infections all over my body. With yoga, meditation, and unusually good nutrition I was staying alive.

When I arrived here I was looking to meet a Medicine Man I had seen in those delusional dreams. I was getting more and more wrapped up in mysterious circumstances, unusual objects and opportunities popping into my world. I even wrote a book about it, because I thought it would be all my kids would have left of me.

But instead of dying, I actually lived, and was so fascinated by the cosmology and culture of the Medicine Man I met, that I eventually studied with him. He’s a somewhat disbanded Pueblo from the Mesilla Valley, who came to bring Medicine to Albuquerque. He dubbed me the Urban Shaman, and allowed me to begin performing limited Ceremonies after 7 years of intense training.

I only made it because I had spent years training in Herbalism, Martial Arts and Sustainability. Fortunately I had some university background in Culture and Latin American Studies, because my life became a strange novel, full of magic, power, Medicine and vast sea changes. After I healed through working with native and natural medicine, I would never be the same.

Spending so much time travelling back and forth to the Spirit World, both while dying, and while coming back to life, I have an unusual perspective. Nothing is quite like we’ve been told, about spirituality, or the texts we read that deal with religion. Few are even close to what I have seen and heard from others…Reincarnation, Karma, interconnected multiverses of consciousness and light. Its vast, and deep and wide. And beautiful.

I’m here to share about our Ceremony Community in Albuquerque, and to provide you with fun stories, info and opportunities. We are growing, and strong, and we pray for miracles every day, and receive answers to many prayers. Best part is we have each other.

As much as I respect that Ayahuasca came from South America, consciousness has its own desires, and I believe that Grandmother Ayahuasca has her own powers and volition. She is part of a tapestry of interconnected threads of light, the intelligence of the Feminine Matrix. This is not something that anyone can own.

Our Kiva and our Temascal are round like a mother’s belly. There are legs that open at the doors of the lodges so we can crawl into the earth, and lay together like kittens in the warmth and softness of mother earth, and journey into our hearts. We sing, we share and pray and journey, and we make family. A Kiva is also not something that can be owned, and if it could, it would be through lineage, and we certainly have that.

You can join us through pictures and stories, through songs and Podcasts, and maybe someday through direct experience. The magic of New Mexico is powerful, and some even call it the Land of Enchantment (Entrapment!?) Bienvenidos. This is a very ancient place full of ruins, and is the old connection between Mesoamerica and Turtle Island.

We will go to Chaco Canyon, Bandelier, Ojo Caliente, and many more places, as well as taking you into our hearts and our stories. The goal is to share information that will assist you on your journeys, no matter where you are. We have many aspects as Hu-Man beings, our Purpose, our Health, our Feelings and our Mind. The Medicine Wheel is a system that’s been used all over the world to balance those four aspects, and we will share our experiences and practices with you, so you can step into your own Medicine too.

Beauty and Blessings

Courtni StarHeart

Albuquerque, NM Jan 2020