1. Water Spirit / Oil Pastel / April 2022
While receiving my initiation into the element of water, this vision of a water spirit came to me while I was submerged in a pond.
2. Ancestors Visit the Water / Oil Pastel / September 2022
This vision came while I meditated by a stream. Like a flash in my mind’s eye, I saw my ancestors in a procession entering the water. Color and light represent each ancestor.
3. Semis - Taino Rock Spirits / Oil Pastel / September 2022
This vision came while meditating on a boulder in Puerto Rico. I felt the rock rumble beneath me! These Semis – Taino rock spirits – showed themselves to me.
4. Raven / Oil Pastel / April 2023
I stumbled upon a dead raven on the road, dried and flattened into this shape. I brought him alive again with oil pastels. When I see animals in nature – dead or alive – I believe they communicate a message to me on this plane. The message raven delivers is of mystical protection and increased intuitive sensitivity.
5. Huracan Spirit / Oil Pastel / April 2023
In Taino culture, the Huracan Spirit is the spirit of the hurricane meaning the spirit of heavy rains, strong winds, and torrential downpour. This vision came to me during a rain storm in Puerto Rico.
6. Kontomble Climbing to the Moon / Oil Pastel / May 2023
Kontomble are beings of love, sweetness, and joy in the Dagara cosmology. They revealed themselves to me during an initiation into communication with them.
7. Plastering the Earth Pit / October 2021
The Earth Pit is located at the Earthlodge Center for Transformation in Long Beach, CA. As their spiritual groundskeeper and a skilled union trades person, I participated in the construction of the ceremonial Earth Pit. It is built by filling earth bags, layering them, laying chicken wire on the surface, and building a wooden support system for the entrance. This Indigenous construction technique is called – superadobe.
8. Painting the Earth Pit / December 2021
I worked in collaboration with Earthlodge leaders to create a plan to paint the Earth Pit. I led the volunteer crew to complete the painting, as shown in this in-process photo of our community painting.
9. Completing the Earth Pit / December 2021
The completed painting of the Earth Pit.
10. Leading Honoring the Land as a Collective / September 2023
Held at Somos Espejos in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. A photo of a collective project I led, where we did a procession in honor of the land. For this procession, we made offerings of small, handmade statues at key locations in order to acknowledge, protect, and have reverence for the land.
11. Leading the Creating of Offerings to the Land / October 2023
Held at the Earthlodge Center for Transformation in Long Beach, CA. Under the guidance of my elder Queen Hollins, I facilitated community members in creating platters of food, tobacco, honey, and other offerings to show gratitude for, honor, and acknowledge the land of the Earthlodge.
12. Community Procession / April 2024
Held at Somos Espejos in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. A photo of myself participating in a procession done in honor of the land. For this procession, we made offerings of song and sound to the land on a set path through the fields, jungle, and waters of the land.
13. Creating Walls for the Casa Ceremonial pt.1 / April 2024
These photos show my involvement in constructing a Casa Ceremonial (house for ceremony) at Somos Espejos in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. In this photo, I’m preparing to lift a bucket of earth to pour into the white plastic tube.
14. Creating Walls for the Casa Ceremonial pt.2 / April 2024
After every bucket of earth is poured, we must shake and manipulate the plastic tube in order to compress the dirt down into a consistent level of compaction. Not only was I key on the construction team, but I also helped facilitate the opening and closing of work times together using guided meditations, dance, and sharing song. We did this construction in a fully embodied and ceremonial way to honor the land we’re on and to create the intention for the structure to become a place of healing.
15. Creating Walls for the Casa Ceremonial pt.3 / April 2024
In this area of Puerto Rico, the earth has a high clay content making it perfect for this form of construction. We did the work in reverence for the land we’re on. We’re so excited for the healing that will be inspired within this structure!