Spotlight: Spirit Medicines, Metztli Healing, and Pa’lante Consulting
Sharing las ofrendas from members of Ofrenda’s Community Marketplace.
AS WE WRAP up the year and head into the holiday spending season, we’d like to encourage you to explore Ofrenda’s Community Marketplace: a place we allow advertisers from our community to share their ofrendas. We invited a few vendors to go a little deeper into their work and practices through the short interviews below. Get to know the people behind the ads and what inspires their work. Let’s support each other this season and through the next year!
Images courtesy of Xochi Quetzalli.
Xochi Quetzalli of Spirit Medicines
Eureka, California
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your ofrenda, Spirit Medicines.
My name is Xochi Quetzalli, and I own Spirit Medicines. Spirit Medicines was born in 2008 as a small art business on Etsy. In the past decade, it has transformed dramatically—just as I, too, have grown and changed. As an artist, I offer Native American sacred tools, art, and regalia, and as a healer and practitioner of curanderismo, I offer classes, healings, and ceremonies.
What's the story behind your business? What was the inspiration for getting it started?
In 2015, I was initiated by my maestras in Guatemala as an Aj’Qij (a spiritual guide) and keeper of the ancient calendar system. Over the past seven years, I have slowly built Spirit Medicines from an art business into a folk healing center, one that now focuses not only on art but on classes, healings, and ceremony as well—all based in ancestral medicine and curanderismo. As my healing practice grows, I still find time to make art, as I love offering medicine tools used for healing, such as rawhide hand drums, ceremonial rattles, feather smudge fans, and much more.
What's your favorite Ofrenda Magazine issue, and why is it special to you?
Issue 02: Nepantla speaks to my heart on all levels, as I, too, feel like an “in between.”
What are you looking forward to in 2022?
At Spirit Medicines, we look forward to offering new classes and more healings in 2022. We also hope that we can safely gather once again for community ceremony.
What would you like Ofrenda’s readers to know about you?
My name is Yoshabel Shay. I was born and raised in Las Vegas. I earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a minor in art history and then a master’s in education with an emphasis in school counseling. I’ve been working as a high school counselor for about seven years now. I’m also enamored with learning about my indigenous roots. My parents migrated from El Salvador in the 1980s and are descendants from the Maya-Nahuatl people. Though history has been lost, my passion is to redefine what it means to be Maya-Nahuatl and share her knowledge with my son. I’m married to a Diné photographer and have a silly little dog called Milo.
Image courtesy of Yoshabel Shay.
Tell us about your business.
Metztli Healing focuses on spiritual guidance through holistic practices including tarot reading, natal chart readings, pláticas, and more. The inspiration behind Metztli Healing came from an idea of bridging spiritual and mental healing together. I have been doing spiritual work for about eight years now and came to the conclusion that our spirit and our vessel need to function as one in order to operate in the physical realm. The use of folk healing and astrological information can mend the two.
What drew you to Ofrenda Magazine?
I really enjoyed the first issue of Ofrenda Magazine. It set the intention of the magazine and encouraged the readers to plant the seed of prosperity in the year of 2021.
Tell us about your plans for next year.
I’m looking forward to more community building and personal growth in 2022.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your business.
My name is Cameron Navarro. I am a licensed social worker working with communities to improve systems in an effort to promote justice for all people. Pa’lante Consulting is one avenue for this work, as my business partner and I work with organizations, businesses, and individuals to improve their environments in a way that promotes our humanity alongside our creativity.
Image courtesy of Cameron Navarro.
What was the inspiration for getting your business started, and what do you hope your customers will experience?
The business was born from an intersection of a few paths: mindfulness, neutral facilitation, self-care, and community collaboration. The name “Pa’lante” was inspired by the song of the same name by Puerto Rican artist Hurray for the Riff Raff. My hope is that our work provides an opportunity for people and groups to tap into the unlimited resource of compassion for themselves, their communities, and our world.
What’s your favorite Ofrenda Magazine issue, and why is it special to you?
The Nepantla issue was particularly inspiring for me, as I have long occupied a space in the middle of two worlds. The concept itself invited me to submit my own testimonio, but all of the submissions in that issue really connect me to something that I’m still exploring and getting curious about.
What are you looking forward to in 2022?
After the unexpected interruption that the pandemic brought to all of our lives and systems, I am hopeful that we can begin building a little momentum again as some new opportunities are unfolding. Specifically, I am teaching a few more Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MSBR) courses, and those are always quite an adventure!
IF YOU’RE INTERESTED in posting an ad for your business, check out the details on our advertising page. Online advertising is free for those who sign up in 2021. We’re also offering paid print advertising in 2022, and you can request more info when you sign up.
Xochi Quetzalli practices Curanderismo at her centro de sanción as an Aj’Qij, Maestra, artist, and healer in Eureka, California. Her passion is to empower womxn by guiding them to heal their birth stories and sustos through rebirthing themselves to their cosmic identities. One of her special offerings is a 9 Moons Cosmic Rebirthing Series, which is a trauma-healing journey with soul retrieval. She also offers traditional limpias, Mayan fire ceremonies, and much more atwww.xochiketzalli.com.
Yoshabel Shay (Indigenous) was born and raised in Las Vegas. She earned her bachelor's degree in fine arts with a minor in art history. Her parents migrated from El Salvador in the 1980s and are descendants from the Maya-Nahuatl people. Though history has been lost, Yoshabel's passion is to redefine what it means to be Maya-Nahuatl and share her knowledge with her 18-month-old son. She is a wife to a Diné photographer and has a silly little dog called Milo.
CAMERON NAVARRO is a white Xicanx social worker working to create purposeful, sustainable healing-centered (trauma-informed) change in our community by challenging and dismantling systems of oppression. He is the co-founder of Pa’lante Consulting, LLC and the co-host of Life is Work podcast, available on all platforms. Find him on IG at @palanteconsults and @lifeisworkpod.
