Our first documentary trip

Connecting with the women of San Juan Del Lago, Guatemala

In June 2016, the idea for Soul Seed Gathering was first conceived, and 5 months later we were able to travel for our first research and documentary trip to Lago Atitlán in Guatemala with the intention of sharing indigenous female elder wisdom, and offering a platform to share their important messages with the world needed at this time.

We were not sure what we would find, and while I had spent several months in Guatemala previously, I’d not directly connected to any medicine women or indigenous female wisdom keepers at the time.

However, the vision for this work had been so strong, and the call to return to Guatemala as the starting place for this work, led the way.

I reached out ahead of time to a local based non-profit, and connected with one of its directors, who also traveled with me to a highland village they worked with. This experience felt completely misaligned. First, by speaking with this director, they acted surprised when I shared my belief that indigenous people had as much to teach us (if not more), than what we could offer to them. Arriving to this village, the power dynamics felt very off, as a young woman pleaded with the director to gain access to scholarships, and the matriarch of the village seemed to have benefited herself but not shared the riches with her community. I left even clearer that these were not the kind of relationships or connections we wanted to build with our own work.

Alongside Lazarina, a friend and videographer, I travelled to Guatemala with, we decided to just simply immerse ourselves in local life at the lake and release all expectations for who, or what, we may find. We visited San Juan Del Lago, and spent several days with the female weavers there - learning their hardships, struggles, and incredible resilience and empowerment through forming female collectives where they could support one another.

One particular meeting really moved us, as we met Micaela, a community leader and master weaver, who immediately invited us to the ‘International Day Against Violence Towards Women’, an event taking place the next day.

As we joined a huge basketball court, the next day, filled with local Maya Tz’utujil and K’iché women, we were incredibly moved by their fierce determination to speak to their rights. Later, as Micaela invited us back to her home, she lent over and said “I believe you need to meet my sister, Maria - she’s a shaman.’

The next day, we visited Maria Feliciana Opal Mendoza, who invited us into her healing center to sit down and talk. At first, it was clear she was taking us in and deciding whether we were trustworthy to open up to further.

In Western culture, we can get a lot of up-front smiles and politeness which doesn’t always mean very much, as the interactions can be still quite limited and on the surface. With many indigenous societies and wisdom keepers I’ve sat with, I’ve found there’s a natural reserved nature which only softens once they know who you are to open to.

We shared the vision of this work, what had called us here, and that we’d also conceived of the idea of holding a women’s gathering to invite more women to learn from these lands, these cultural traditions, and our shared Herstory.

It didn’t take long for Maria to relax in our presence and embrace us with a warm smile. She indicated that she’d like to talk and share her story and messages on camera but first we would need to sit in ceremony.

And so, I was ushered into her garden to sit on the ground where she called to the spirits of the land to welcome us, and to begin this work together here. She shared her ritual fire ceremony and then came to my body and mapped my energy and spirit. It was in this ceremony that I learnt I was pregnant just a week after conception. Her rattle kept being pulled towards my womb and my first inclination, that a life was forming there, was felt.

After the ceremony, we came to sit and talk again, where just as much was shared directly to us, as it was to camera. We learnt that María first received the message, that she was to become a healer and lead fire ceremonies, in her dreams. She was then initiated into this ancient Mayan wisdom tradition, by her Grandmother who had also been a healer.

She told us that she had resistance at first following this path, with fears of what it meant. She expressed how it isn’t always easy to see, hear and feel so much, but she is always guided and never truly alone. María reminded us that spirit is in everything, from the mundane to the modern, to the ancient. She held up her phone as said “even in this”.

She shared that we are all able to find our gifts and purpose by paying close attention, listening to the messages and clearing away our distractions. Alongside, many other messages.

The below clip offers a message just as important now as then:

We were incredibly fortunate months later to return, and have Micaela and Maria both join us at our first women’s gathering where 49 women came together to learn from one another, alongside local weavers and medicine traditions, ceremonies and our shared Herstory.

As a special gift to all our paid subscribers we are sharing our full interview with Maria below that has sat inside our Soul Seed House Library.

We’re working to bring the library back! For now, we will share more of its contents with you here…

Thank you as always for being here & supporting our journey.