I feel so much love, gratitude, and respect for the opportunity to sit in a powerful cross-cultural indigenous exchange of ceremony, medicine, and stories with Quiché Maya Nanas, and Quechua Andina guests Nina Kuntur & Yaku Amaru - as the full moon kissed us all.
Listening to them share in colonial Spanish, a second language for them and myself, I received many transmissions of wisdom, inter-generational trauma, and hope for humanity’s return to our true nature. Still integrating, I feel called to share a few learnings that I believe will benefit us all, with utmost appreciation.
💚To be in right relationship or reciprocity with all life, we must learn to first give & offer of ourselves and our abundance, before seeking to take. The Quechua of the Andes call this harmonious flow of reciprocity ‘Ayni’.
💚Western & colonialist society has become cut off from our inherent relationship with Mother Nature and a strength of connection that was based in feeling, listening, and experiential understanding. We’ve gotten trapped in our power struggles of ‘intelligence’ and materialism. We’ve lost our sense of spirit.
💚There are two key ways that colonialism across the world has sought to disempower indigenous cultures: 1. Forced systems of education (by the oppressor), 2. Religion that shames and oppresses any earth-based spirituality. Sadly, many indigenous societies have lost their voice and their connection to ancestral wisdom for these reasons.
💚As colonizers, it is our time to listen and make space to truly hear and value the voice of the indigenous. Because there’s also a lost piece of us in their stories.
💚Beneath the colour of our skin, we all share the same colour of blood. We all come from and return to the same Earth. While our stories may appear to differ, at the core they are all the same. If we can remember this, we can move forward with greater compassion.
🙏🏼Maltiox, Añay
~ Stephanie Kittell
Creator, RISE & THRIVE Holistic Empowerment
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