An Inspired Chat with Jah Bruja of Long Beach

We recently had the chance to connect with Jah Bruja and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Jah, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What battle are you avoiding?
The battle I’ve been avoiding isn’t conflict with others… It’s accepting my growth without clinging to what I’ve outgrown. The grief that comes with realizing certain people, places, and dynamics I thought would be foundational to this chapter of my life are no longer in alignment with me or my business. I’m not a fan of, spiritual “level-up” narratives that turn growth into ego or paint everyone from the past as the villain. More often than not, that kind of language feels like placing the shadow on a pedestal and declaring “I do no wrong.” Growth, at least for me, has been far more honest and humbling than that.

As last year has come to an end & I reflect on where I started, I’m reminded of old friends, mentors and haters who all played a role in shaping who I am now. Some supported me, some challenged me, and some lied on me but all of them contributed to the path that led me here. It’s hard not to miss’s the good times. Sometimes they show up in dreams, sometimes through music that carries me back to a time when things felt simpler and more carefree. Other times, the past surfaces through lingering energetic ties, old doubts or projections that once held weight. There are moments when I feel the echo of being underestimated, misunderstood, or subtly opposed, whether through external resistance or internalized voices that once questioned my truth while refusing to respect my boundaries. For a long time, I believed the solution was as simple as closing doors or cutting ties. What I’ve come to understand is that these things return in waves not to pull me backward, but to remind me of the growth. I see now how often I put myself on the back burner, how I made myself smaller to preserve connections that never fully saw me, how I accepted dynamics that thrived on my silence or convenience rather than my wholeness. I recognize the bitterness in others that emerged when I chose myself, my boundaries, and my calling over their expectations or agendas.

I’m not claiming to be perfect. There are things I could have handled differently, and I take responsibility for my part in every situation. But I can also see clearly where things went left, where my self-abandonment became a pattern, and where being told I was “too much” slowly taught me to shrink. That conditioning followed me into adulthood until I finally took the time to uncover my soul’s truth without anyone else’s projections layered onto it. Now, I know who I am. I know the space I operate from, the intentions I hold, and the integrity behind my work. The distance between where I started and where I am now isn’t just measured in success or visibility, but in understanding. Choosing growth didn’t mean erasing the past… it meant honoring it without living there. And that acceptance has allowed me to share my gifts with the world in a completely new way.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Jah Bruja. I’m a spiritual baddie and all that simply means I walk my spiritual path without harming or taking from others, while always giving homage to those who have guided and blessed me along the way. I’m a rootworker, practitioner, and psychic offering divination services through tarot, spiritual baths, intentional oils, and herbal cleansing waters for the public.

I’m currently based in Long Beach, reading and teaching at The Elemental Shop on Elm Ave and 3rd Street, and hosting pop-up markets at Good Time Coffee Shop. Community is at the heart of my work. I genuinely enjoy showing up for people and helping clients move through the adversities life throws at us with spiritual guidance and ancestral insight.

What I believe sets me apart in my field is how raw and honest I am about my experiences… the shadow of it all, the lessons, the good, bad, and ugly. I’ve never been ashamed to admit when I’ve made mistakes, fallen short, or wasn’t my best self during certain periods of my life. Every one of those moments became a point of growth, something I was able to transmute into the work I now do to help others heal, reflect, and reclaim their power.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
The relationship that most shaped how I see myself is the one I built with myself. Learning how to set firm boundaries, speak my truth radically, center my needs, and say no without guilt drastically changed my life. I took two years to step back and deeply examine who I was, what I wanted, and who I was becoming. During that time, I isolated from family and friends to put the pieces of my life into a perspective that actually served where I was headed.

That period became a crucial foundation for Jah Bruja as a brand and how I embody my work. It forced me to practice what I preach and truly decode the guidance I was receiving from my spiritual team, rather than just channeling it for others. Before that, my introduction into adulthood had been rough. I had been on my own since I was seventeen, working to support myself, staying at friends’ houses, and trying to graduate high school while figuring out how to survive. Although I had people who helped me along the way, we were still kids raising each other. I grew up feeling like a burden, constantly needing advice on how to function in a world that expected me to know how to be an adult. That experience taught me early on to rely solely on myself, creating a level of hyper-independence that became both my greatest strength and my biggest challenge. My mindset became “figure it out,” no matter the cost.

For a long time, I didn’t give myself grace for learning in real time. I expected myself to always be more put together than I actually was. Escapism eventually turned to solitude when I grew tired of being self-destructive, and that shift allowed me to take an honest look at how my environment and experiences shaped me—and what no longer served me as I grew. Building a relationship with myself meant learning compassion alongside accountability, and that continues to shape how I move through the world today.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I stopped hiding my pain and began using it as power when I moved to Long Beach. That move wasn’t just about a new environment, it was a public, intentional commitment to my spiritual team that I was ready to listen, trust, and allow myself to be guided. Starting over in a new city where I only knew two people forced me to show up differently. If I wanted to be known as a practitioner within in the community and build true abundance, I couldn’t stay hidden. I couldn’t make myself small. I had to be seen, speak openly, and allow people to truly know me. That moment marked the transition from reflection to embodiment. I took everything I had learned over the past two years every lesson, realization, and hard truth and put it into practice. Accountability became non-negotiable. I learned to work with my shadow instead of avoiding it, to stop overcommitting, and to listen to myself even when it felt uncomfortable. I allowed spirit to show up for me where I would’ve tapped out. From that point forward, I refused to let my past define or overpower the work I was building. Every experience, every wound, every moment of pain became something I could alchemize into my business and into my testimony. My pain is is at the foundation of why I do what I do, and it continues to push me to grow, have more understanding, patience and acceptance of what is not in my control.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
More black and brown bodies need to decolonize their relationship to indigenous spiritual practices and understand the demonization of said practices have been placed on us by the white oppressor.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people tell my story as Jah bruja, the queer spirtual baddie who spent their time on this earth trying to understand who they are and what ancestral gifts have been waiting to be discovered while sheding light and insight to those along their own path on this earthly plane. The stories that help feed into that narrative will definitely change from person to person, but ultimately i hope this is how people remember me at my core..but who knows, everyone has their own perception of who i am or who i was at a certain point in time hopefully the good outweighs the bad.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jahbruja.setmore.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaahbruja

Image Credits
Steve Rosa