It’s a great honor and privilege to welcome wisdom keeper and ceremonialist Nana Mariana Cruz to NYC the Tz’utujil Mayan nation of Guatemala. As we prepare to live in such a way so that everyday is earth day, we have the great opportunity to bring our minds and hearts together to sit in ceremony with Nana Marina who will be offering a traditional Cacao ceremony to empower the residents of current day NYC who are called to protect Mother Earth and support humanity through this challenging and opportune time. All who feel called, to experience the blessing of being together for this very special evening to pray to harmonize all of our relations.
Nana Marina Cruz and her family have been on a mission to recover the ancestral sacred sites of her people, and to restore the equilibrium of the local ecosystem. Proceeds of this event will go towards Nana Marina to support her in accomplishing her mission.
Energy Exchange
We ask that you please offer an exchange for participating in this gathering. Our suggested pricing is:
Early Bird-Regular: $35
Regular: $45
Uplift/Support: $55
Unemployed / Underemployed $25
If cost is an issue for you and you’d like to come, please don’t hesitate to reach out to miriam@miriamswellness.com
Other details:
Please do not drink alcohol or any stimulants at least three hours before and after the Cacao Ceremony.
FAQ
What is Cacao?
Cacao has been known through the millennia as a very important source of physical and spiritual nourishment. It was a measure of exchange, and its value is increased by sharing! In the Mayan tradition, cacao has been used for millenium as a sacrament of Love and is known as the “Food of the Gods”, and an “Elixir of Love”. Sacred Cacao is a very gentle heart opening medicine. Cacao allows you to connect with yourself and others in a deeper, more loving way.
Cacao is a tropical fruit, rich with antioxidants, known to contain an amino acid called tryptophan that the human brain uses to produce the neurotransmitter Serotonin, which can increase feelings of overall happiness. When consumed, cacao stimulates the brain to release endorphins, lower our stress levels, and give us a general sense of wellbeing.
What is a Cacao Ceremony?
A Cacao Ceremony is an ancestral way of prayer in MesoAmerica where all participants drink the sacred food as a symbol of communion to oneself, to nature and to the creator.
Nana Marina Cruz is Maya Tz'utujil. She is Ajq'iij also called a Nana or spiritual guide, in Tz'ununya San Pedro la Laguna, Guatemala. She is a ceremonial leader and conducts fire and cacao ceremonies and is also a teacher of the Mayan calendar and the Mayan cosmic vision. She is the daughter of Tata Pedro & works not just as a healer and therapist with natural folk methods, but as a ceremonial leader of fire, tobacco, cacao and sweat lodge, and teaches native Mayan languages. She emphasizes the importance of being truly connected in body and spirit. She believes that everything has a meaning, everything has an origin, every emotion, every disease has an origin. By finding the origin, you can truly heal the spirit and body. @naan.marina.official
Web of Life Community in NYC:
We are a creative and diverse community of human and more than human beings, joining our intentions together to awaken from the nightmare of exploitation and wake up into co-creating a dream of harmonious inter-relatedness. We create sacred spaces in NYC where we somatically activate a living memory in our bodies of how to commune, co-exist and co-create in harmony in the ecosystem of the living temple.
We come together to honor the creativity of the human body and spirit and embrace ancient and new modalities of song, dance, and sacred storytelling and worship that re-enliven the dream of living in respect and reciprocity with all of life.
Web of Life Community NYC Organizers:
Miriam Rubin (she/her) is a Somatic Healer & Educator, Ritual Artist, Interfaith Minister and youth Rites of Passage Guide. She weaves original music, storytelling, nature connection, and ancestral wisdom to re-story the times that we’re living in, and assist the awakening of the creative potential of the human soul. Miriam transforms her own relationship to her body, story, and soul, through the Somatic Listening and Storytelling modality that offers to her clients. Miriam finds great joy and meaning in listening to the body of the earth, and helping other bodies and souls to access somatic safety, resource and connection to the web of life which brings about positive transformation in body, soul and purpose. Miriam is a 4th generation New Yorker living on unceded Lenapehoking Territory. Learn more about her work here: www.miriamswellness.com
Farez Hernandez (he/him) is Farez Hernandez, born of Lenca (Native MesoAmerican) and of European descent, grew up among the tropical forests of Honduras. Shortly after the assassination of his father, Farez faced threats to his own life, and decided to move to New York. Connecting with the wisdom of his ancestors and gaining knowledge from many other traditions, Farez co-founded the Shamanic Community Gathering NYC in 2017 to bring ancestral wisdom and to create community through a vision of a new humanity in harmony with Mother Earth. He’s convinced that honoring and respecting the ecosystems where we live is key to having inner peace and harmony in life. Farez is a Cacao ceremony facilitator, artist, storyteller, healer, and builder. He offers Shamanic Energy Healing, Pagamentos (payments to the spirits) Reiki, Egg and Candle cleansing & readings, Sound healing, Soul retrieval, Cord cutting, Home cleansing and much more. His calling in this life is to live in harmony with Mother Nature and assist others to remember that we are divine beings, children of the Earth. If we wish to live happily we have to connect and live in harmony with her.