Lovely people, today it's time for a little throwback to Ibiza since wanderlust kicks in heavily at the moment. I would like to introduce you to Amaru, a medicine woman who is walking in her authenticity and is greeting you from Brazil, where she currently resides.
Though I prefer to have some reference when it comes to finding new protagonists, I also love to just trust in being introduced to the right person to the right time. I found Amaru online on Instagram. I have no idea how I stumbled upon her but I just knew that I wanted to meet her and learn from her. It felt great to plan the shooting so quickly and that she was interested in "creating some magic together" as she put it. "It's gonna be in a very special place, in the forest, in a wonderful medicine womans' house. There will be women from all over Europe, so I would love for you to come."
And since also the ideas to film with Diana and Melisa worked out so easily, I booked tickets and off I went to Ibiza, a place that is so dear to my heart since my childhood. I joined Amaru and five other ladies on the indeed beautiful finca and temple called Amma Nacer, a hideaway in the countryside which you shouldn't miss when being on the Island. It is led by a Spanish medicine woman, an elder woman of wisdom, the beautiful Margaluna Jimenez, who has travelled the world and brought with her to Ibiza the Incan healing tradition. What a stunning place to film, my aesthetic heart was dancing with all the beautiful colors.
But back to Amaru, or Agnieszka, which is her worldly name. She is a whirlwind - high energy, open heart, open mind. I think she speaks six languages and all of them sound so original.
Soft and radical, just in the right balance. An Aquarius from the book. My moon is in Aquarius and I definitely have noticed that I am having an easy time with them. We had a special bond from the beginning, especially because she was so open for my filming and inviting me to be a part of the group. All the women there were, so I felt safe and well. I do have the part in me that is comfortable being busy behind the camera, shying away from contact to new people - so it was healing for me to be so welcome to be part of their circle. I did for sure give them enough space and time off camera but I also filmed many scenes that are so beautiful - it looks as if it was staged, with costumes etc. I am so looking forward to show you the magic we indeed created together. Amaru also gave me a small healing treatment with Rapé (dried and powdered tobacco from the Amazon) which you can see on the pictures below. Also, I was stunned by the amazing voice of Aiwu Rivero, a good friend of Amaru, who held an ancestral voice workshop. You will be so enchanted listening to her in the film.
I have learned from Amaru, that a deep grounding soul retrieval can also happen in the place where we come from. A couple of months before coming to Ibiza I did go back to my roots in Munich, my hometown, to check where I was running from in the first place. And then after the trip to Ibiza, I reconnected to my Polish lineage. Amaru herself is from Poland, my father grew up there. A bit later, I met my girlfriend, whose mom also comes from Poland. I felt it was the time to investigate what these messages would mean. I have taken up Polish language classes since and have made a journey through the country. A small but significant one and we will definitely go back once it is possible again, hopefully this year.
Going into a sweat lodge - Temazcal
After the retreat was over, I got invited to join a sweat lodge with Amaru and the women - plus students of Margaluna who attend this special ceremony oftentimes. I think we were about 30 people. Covering the hut (you see on the pic below) with blankets to create a womb of Mother Earth, making fire and heating big stones in them, preparing soup for afterwards, setting up the moon hill in front of the lodge. This sweat lodge - or Temazcal - was really a moon lodge. Women on their moon were asked to give a bit of their blood into a cup. We were four women, all of us asked to go from one person to the next, all lines up in a circle, showing them the cup, presenting them our blood. The others praised our blood and blessed us. Then us four women offered the blood to a tree nearby. Presenting my blood to everyone in the circle, men and women, all unknown - it was definitely a crazy experience, but a very respectful, special one. I felt shame at the beginning because my blood was so dark and bold. The other women had mixed their blood with a bit of water and so it looked lighter, like strawberry juice. I wondered why I had shame about the darker blood. Like it was too much, too intense for people to look at, disgusting even. But everyone in the circle accepted me and my bloody dark blood in such a sweet and respectful way that I could relax into it and I felt I was stepping over a threshold into a deeper form of womanhood.
When the stones had heated up enough and the fire had burned down, it was time to crawl into the hut that was now very dark inside, due to the blankets with which it was covered. Stones were carried into a little hole in the middle of the lodge and we were sitting in two rows around the hole. Each new stone heated up the space more, and even more. I don't know how many degrees were in there, but I assume around 70 degrees. Plus, the June heat outside and the many people in the small lodge. Not much space to move, a few centimeters here and there. Sitting in a sweat lodge is always a challenge and even more so with many people. I get claustrophobic pretty easily and had some freak out moments before. But not this time. There was a great vibe inside. Margaluna and her students sang many prayers to all the spirits around. It was hot and dark but safe, Margaluna could hold the space very well.
Baked after what seemed an eternity, I crawled out of the Temazcal, onto the now refreshing ground from the evening breeze. I lay on my back, sweaty, covered in sand and my wet bandana towel, staring at the stars. And thought about my aunts, my mothers lineage. All women who were so strict on themselves, about their looks especially. So concerned about a slender physic, a small body essentially. Concerned about being too much, to be in the spotlight, to be too this and that. And it made me so sad. This beautiful feeling I was just having, coming out of the oven into the fresh air, feeling my body so alive and as a part of me, being so grateful for it, loving it just how it is. So many times also I had completely shut away the sensation of being in my body, simply because I wasn't liking how it looked. Feeling numb, just living in my head. It was then that I once again understood how important it is to embody the body and feel into it, into the ground, letting it consciously connect with the elements and spirits around. And I knew even more that I wanted to bring about change so that we can embody ourselves again collectively and definitively.
Much love, Laura