Inspiring Conversations with Michelle Mojica of Mariposa Ancestral Practices

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Mojica

Hi Michelle, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I would like to start my story as a pre-teen, when I was in Middle school. I grew up in Wilmington, Heart of the Harbor, and during the 90’s, there was a lot of gang activity, drive-by’s, and it was an unsafe community. More than that, life at home wasn’t the best either as we grew up poor and had a lot of financial struggles. Hearing my parents talk about their financial difficulties & work conditions would leave me feeling sad & powerless, after all, I was just a pre-teen. My parents were immigrants from Mexico and undocumented at the time, so there was that added layer of fear of them getting deported.

This is when I began cutting myself. I was lost, felt alone, with no one to relate to. I didn’t feel anything, and all I could think was “no one understands me, why am I here, what’s the point of living, and I need to feel something.” So I focused on writing, writing my stories, my fears, my insecurities, when no one was there to listen to them. I focused on my school-work, because I knew I wanted to get out of the hood and BE SOMETHING.

And when I was in high school I applied to college and got into UCLA. I left home at 18 to “make something of myself” and little did I know that I would once again feel alone as I quickly discovered that UCLA was a racist institution, with mostly white students & professors. I experienced depression & anxiety (again), until I found a community. A community of first-generation Xicanxs who understood me, who listened to me, who looked like me, and motivated me to pursue my dreams, my passion, my medicine. I joined the student organization MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztan) and this is where I began my own healing journey, by reconnecting to my Mexica roots, my indigenous ancestors, through ceremony & danza. I learned to love myself, my identity, and fight for justice through organizing and activism.

I​​ began my Spiritual Journey 18 years ago, through Danza Mexica and attending Indigenous Ceremonies, which was when I began to feel WHOLE. To re-connect to my roots and indigenous ancestors has taught me so much about who I was, who I was becoming, and who I am today. My spiritual journey helped me feel balanced and am now wanting to return the wisdom and knowledge that has been passed down to us by our ancestors.

I also have a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and have 12 years of experience working in the mental health field. And this is where both my Spiritual Journey and my Therapist journey have come together to bEarth Mariposa Ancestral Practices, a space committed to creating events and gatherings for BIPOC that teach how to connect with their ancestors using ancestral medicine/healing practices and creating connections within community for support.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I didn’t start creating healing spaces rooted in Indigenous/Ancestral healing practices until 4 years ago, when the Pandemic hit.
Up until that point I was working at a Community Mental Health Agency that really overworked us and underpaid us. And when the Pandemic hit, we (mental health providers) were first responders, we didn’t stop working & we were working from home. So imagine having to hold space for others who were feeling EVERYTHING during the Pandemic, while at home, trying to raise 3 semillas (seeds – children) 1 in Middle school, 1 in elementary, and a toddler. Having to juggle being a Mother, a Therapist, the Pandemic, and where was my well-being?
And the agency that I was working at that time, began giving us more and more work, without a raise, without assistance, and it wasn’t until I began to freeze, when I would sit at my desk, open my lap-top, and my body would be FROZEN. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do the work, I had no motivation to do the work for an agency that didn’t value or cared for my own mental health, my well-being in the middle of a Pandemic. This had never happened to me before. The way my Body was responding to the stress, the way my Heart was grieving, and the way my Spirit didn’t feel joy anymore. That’s when I knew: “this is not ok, I need to listen to my body.”
And that’s when I began hearing a voice telling me: “you have to create a space for us, you have to create a space for us, you have to create a space for us.”
I began listening to that voice. I sat in meditation, I prayed to my Ancestors, to Spirit & Universe. I kept asking: “what do you mean, what kind of space? What does it look like? what’s the Intention?”
And I received all the answers, and that’s when I bEarthed Mariposa Ancestral Practices, first as a healing space specifically for Therapists of Color to process & address the struggles/difficulties we were going through, by re-connecting to our Indigenous-Ancestral Roots. And then it began evolving to what it is now.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are committed to creating events and gatherings for BIPOC that teach how to connect with their ancestors using ancestral medicine/healing practices and creating connections within community for support.

My medicine is bridging the gap between Western Mental Health and Indigenous ways of healing, in order to guide BIPOC find their inner strength, by re-connecting to their roots, to release what no longer serves them, and move from a place of uncertainty to self-empowerment. This is what sets us apart, as an LCSW “trained” in Western Mental Health, being able to navigate the mental health system & bringing-in Indigenous ways of healing has led to the creation of many healing spaces that most firs-generation & second-generation Latinxs can relate to.

I am a space-holder, ancestral practitioner, Circle-keeper, Ceremonialist & a breaker of Inter-generational cycles that no longer serve us. Via Ceremony, workshops, & healing sessions rooted in Mexika Ancestral Practices I guide folks to reconnect to their indigenous ancestors, to listen to their intuition, to get out of their head and connect to their body, heart & Spirit. This is what I am most proud of, that when we return to our Roots, we begin to feel WHOLE and empowered in our lives, which leads to Healing, to holistic healing.

Our Ofrendas (offerings) include: CEREMONIAS (ceremony) • WORKSHOPS & HEALING SESSIONS for INDIVIDUALS & GROUPS.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me, success means being able to do what I want, at the time that I want, and how I want.
It has been soo liberating getting to do the work that I love to do, without having set expectations or deadlines from an employer. To me success is and has been: being free to have my own schedule, to b present for my own healing, to be present for my familia, my semillas (seeds-children), and not having to worry about “work hours.” Success is getting to live the life that I always dreamed, connected to the Earth, connected to my Spirituality, and connected to the community that I wish to serve.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mariposaancestralpractices.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariposaancestralpractices/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MariposaHolisticServices
• Other: http://bit.ly/list-serve

Image Credits
Myself & Karissa M. Raya