MysticMag chats with Marita, One Who Catches Lightning & Keeper of the Thunder Stone. Marita is a multifaceted healer, artist, and spiritual guide. With a diverse lineage and training across multiple spiritual traditions, they combine their expertise in metaphysical healing, fine arts, and mentorship to support individuals on their journeys of self-discovery and shadow work. Founder of the Path of IX, Marita empowers others to embrace their inner strength and harmony, drawing on a lifetime of experiences and profound personal transformation.
Marita, Jaguar Medicine emphasizes radical self-love through shadow work. How does integrating the shadow lead to a deeper understanding of oneself and the world around us?
In your teachings, you mention that many modern spiritual practices are escapist and disconnected from indigenous roots. What are some key differences between these practices and the grounded, indigenous-based path you advocate?
In answering both of these questions, it’s essential to recognize my indigenous roots, as every interaction becomes a form of cultural exchange. Even the language we use aims to bridge the gap between modern spiritual concepts and ancient understandings. For instance, “radical self-love” and “shadow work” take on profoundly different meanings in an indigenous context than in mainstream culture.
According to one indigenous story, humans are born with a kind of amnesia; our journey of self-realization is not linear but circular, a path of remembering. This path includes bringing down from the tree those unresolved parts of ourselves—much like frightened cats that scurried up a tree in past lives and now need gentle encouragement to return. Here, humans are inseparable from nature, with all our traits seen as natural, not something to fear, conquer, or sever from ourselves, but rather something to reconnect with and honor.
In Western society, however, the journey of self-discovery and healing is often more fragmented. Disconnected from nature, the Western mind frequently leans toward division, conquest, categorization, and exploitation, making the journey toward wholeness more challenging. Indigenous wisdom, in contrast, is not centered on humans alone. When we speak of “all our relations,” we include everything on this Earth—rocks, rivers, animals, plants, and even beings that may seem insignificant. We see ourselves as interconnected, both in the present and ancestrally, which broadens our community and support network and deepens our sense of responsibility.
We do not heal just for ourselves. Our well-being affects all our environments, so we strive to bring balance not only for personal peace but for the harmony of all our relations. Humans, like all of creation, embody duality—both creative and destructive forces, or yin and yang. Knowing oneself means understanding our capacity for both harm and healing and everything in between. Life is not binary but ever-evolving, an interplay of elements in constant creation.
Accepting ourselves in this way is to see ourselves as a natural expression of Mother Earth. By embracing all our aspects as part of nature’s continuum, we come closer to balance and wholeness.
You speak of the jaguar’s ability to “see in the dark” and stalk hidden parts of ourselves. How does Jaguar Medicine guide individuals in uncovering and embracing these repressed aspects?
In Western society, results are the measure of worth. This focus means that in therapy or self-help, the methods are rarely scrutinized as long as the “desired” outcomes are met—outcomes often shaped by societal standards rather than individual truth. Here, few genuinely seek to become their unique selves. Instead, Western culture emphasizes conformity over individuality, a legacy of colonialism that discourages personal authenticity and creates a system where “healing” often means becoming a curated version of the same societal ideals. People in the West are conditioned to seek change that aligns them with the accepted mold rather than transformative self-discovery, which leaves many feeling unwell and unfulfilled.
Stepping into an indigenous circle, however, is a profound departure from these norms, inviting one into a way of being that embraces entirely different versions of success and connection. In indigenous traditions, the goal is a deep reconnection with the whole—a return to unity with nature, spirit, and community. Jaguar medicine, for instance, aims to dissolve the illusions in one’s life, exposing everything that blocks genuine self-realization. This path dismantles Western constructs of worth, value, and even community. The two mindsets—Western and indigenous—are often in conflict, with contradictory goals and values, forcing a choice in how much one wishes to “be in the Western world but not of it.”
For non-indigenous people, this journey is especially challenging, as it requires more than ego death in the Jungian sense; it calls for a re-examination of the entire cultural framework they’ve inherited.
Can you elaborate on the role of indigenous plant medicines, like cacao and tobacco, in the healing process? How do they help restore the sacredness lost through colonization?
There are no simple answers because medicine meets us at the depth we are willing to engage with it. Indigenous practices hold multiple protocols around medicine, and a core principle is what we call “right relationship.” To “restore the sacredness lost through colonization” isn’t about merely taking or using these medicines. The approach is foundational—we first ask for permission. Only after this do we listen for permission to plant, gather, harvest, prepare, or take the medicine. This relationship is never on our terms but based on a mutual respect that flows in both directions. We always give back, honoring Earth Mother and the plant kingdom, asking them what they need rather than imposing our assumptions.
In engaging with these plants, we connect with our ancestors, as medicine is not solely about consumption or ingestion. True learning and relationship begin here. For the rest, one must come to a circle—that is where these teachings belong, as they are meant to be shared in community.
The concept of slow medicine is central to your work. What does “slow medicine” mean in the context of Jaguar Medicine, and how does it differ from quicker, more commercialized spiritual practices?
In the Purépecha tradition, there is a deity invoked to honor the passage of each life cycle, shaping an entirely different relationship to time. Here, time is not something to resist or control but a companion in our journey through life’s many cycles. This approach embraces patience, growth, and coexistence, where life’s progression requires time and genuine relationship. Western commercial culture, however, operates on a sense of urgency, rooted in the notion that “time is running out,” driving individuals to “repent” or “fix” themselves. This pressure of scarcity compels people to “take control” of their lives, rarely acknowledging the costs of doing so on other beings, creatures, and natural resources.
In indigenous circles practicing slow medicine, time is woven into the fabric of the seasons, each bringing its own relationships essential for coexistence. Healing in these ways involves both taking and giving back. Here, seasons are not just environmental; they encompass all cycles of growth, development, and transformation, and carry natural rites of passage within them—a richness that Western society lacks and deeply suffers from.
If you would like to find out more about The Path IX, please visit https://www.thepathofix.com/
