We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mariana Beltran. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mariana below.
Mariana, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?
Curandera Collective was born as a way for us to connect modern humans to the healing energies of the earth. My mission as a modern medicine woman was to develop a “Spirited Living Botanical Apothecary” for the mind, body, and spirit. Healing deeper than the skin, connecting us to our roots, and awakening our potential. In 1996, I was born in the ancestral lands of the Yaqui region of Sonora, Mexico. I was born from a long lineage of farmers and medicine keepers. To be a “Curandera” is to come from ancestors that have passed on the wisdom of herbalism and curative rituals that have healing powers. I am a mystic, mother and herbalist that inherited the wisdom of my ancestors. I began formulating my own herbal products after formally studying Herbalism, Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda in Oregon. After establishing a collection of products, I began selling at local farmers markets and now we sell online internationally. We set out to create truly one of a kind compositions that would allow others to experience natures greatest gifts, in a natural wholistic way. We believe self care is a true act of intimacy. Which is why we have created a line of products that are crafted by hand and Intentionally curated. We wildcraft as well as cultivating our own medicinal herbs bio-dynamically on our 5 acre farm in Sisters, Oregon. We spend a lot of our time outside connecting with the earth to birth products that are energetically charged with the frequencies of the earth. A lot of our work involves being outside in nature, infusing flowers and herbs, distilling hydrosols and formulating body care products.
Mariana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
The “Curandera” is a medicine woman; a healer who uses folk remedies. Connected to spirit, and rooted in love. She embodies the creator, the magician, and the alchemist. She is connected to her heart through a harmonious connection with Mother Earth, she possesses the ability to heal and empower those around her. She walks the land gathering plants, dancing; singing with the trees, and connecting with her self and the world. She is grounded, yet flowing, rippling waves of wisdom into every thread of her being. Able to embrace both the light and the dark, she becomes a channel for all living things. A channel for Mother Earth.
We are a visionary and heart centered collective, curating healing products for the mind, body and soul. Specializing in energetically profound wild plants, organic luxurious skin care, and life enhancing essences. We craft and formulate through alchemy and intuition. Everything is made by hand with love and intention, under the moon, sun, and stars. Working with our hands is a benediction, a true act of love. As channels of Mother Earth, We hope to illuminate natures beauty, to open your heart to the beautiful reflections of nature living upon your skin and caressing the spirit with each touch.
We spend our time cultivating medicinal herbs and gathering plants, learning with nature, to formulate mystical intentional products. Our collective is a mycelial network of creativity, spreading ripples of healing energy through our craft around the world. Our ultimate mission is to reconnect with the plant realm on this garden planet. Our work is based out of the belief of awakening the dormant healer within. Through self care rituals, we radiate love to ourselves and to the planet.
All ingredients are organic, biodynamic, wildcrafted plants, herbs, and resins. Sustainably grown and ethically harvested/sourced. We believe in nature and allow her to do most of the work, assisting her along the way.
We appreciate a wholistic approach towards life, our bodies, and our skin. Understanding the interconnectedness of everything. How taking care of your skin and body can lead to far greater things. Self love is wholistic. When you begin to take care of one part of yourself, it will lead you to another. The skin is the largest organ of the body; the main protective barrier between you and the world. We believe taking care of our skin and body is vital. To feel comfortable and healthy in our skin is empowering and beautiful for ourselves and the world around us.
The purpose of our creations is to connect us. To empower us. To set ourselves free, and transform our modern perception of beauty and self care. To reflect the beauty of nature within us.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
The most helpful things for succeeding in my field of work is to connect deeper to other humans. We are all a part of nature, interconnected and interrelated. My greater mission is to be the channel for other humans to connect with the plant realm. Something as simple as a sensory experience of smelling a new flower essence, or tree resin can bring us into relation and connection. To succeed in my field of work, I not only have to work with botanical ingredients but also with people. I have found that I have to seek my community and meet them where they are. For example, online groups or local farmers markets where I can find people to connect with that are in a similar vibration or location. Everything we do in this life affects the greater whole. When we heal, share or embody the frequency of healing and ritual, it ripples through the hearts of our community. When people connect to us or our products, they are connecting to the mycelial network of the consciousness of the earth. It is an honor to walk gently upon this earth alongside plants, animals and humans alike. We find that success is rooted in connection and opening to the possibilities of the vast networking that is readily available at anytime if we so choose to connect, listen and share. Success in my field of work comes from the linking of all living things that live upon this earth.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
As seen all throughout history, a “healer” is someone who has been wounded and healed in order to be initiated as a healer. My initiations started at a young age, constantly getting sick throughout my childhood. Getting ill frequently, planted the seed within me to want to learn more about the human body system and its functions. I wanted to heal myself and heal those around me. So to start helping those around me, I began volunteering at hospitals, and studying Physiology at The University of Arizona. However, I still had my own health issues and decided to listen to my heart and change my educational career. I moved to Oregon and began to study other traditional forms of wellness that would allow me to heal close to nature rather than in hospitals. After being exposed to multiple varieties of toxic mold from a water damaged building, I was put through the darkest moments in my physical body. I felt like I was going to die, I did not feel safe in my environment or in my own body and nobody believed me. I visited the doctor and all they gave me was an inhaler and steroids. I knew I had to get to the root cause of what really was going on because I was doing everything right to be “healthy” yet things were not getting better. So I took control of my own health and I ordered my own lab tests. My results proved that my intuition was right and that Penicillium and Aspergillus (two types of toxic mold) had colonized my body. The results showed were so extreme that I basically broke the scale. There is no “standard medical treatment” for mold so I began to rehabilitate myself. I got rid of all my belongings and slept in a tent for months out in nature while I regained my strength. This was a profound initiation for me as I was closer to nature than ever before, I became one with nature as I harvested herbal medicinal plants and buried my prayers awaiting for the germination of the truth to come to light. This journey forced me to shed all of the hidden and suppressed darkness in my body, to give up my physical possessions to then return to the most important thing I have in this life, my health. What I learned from healing from toxic mold is that my sensitivity is truly a gift. My body is tuned in to the most microscopic and invisible toxins in our environment. I am here to shine the light on the dark, and illuminate my body with things that bring it to life. To write this today, means that I survived and healed. I am a healer because I healed myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://curanderacollective.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curanderacollective/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curanderacollective/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@curanderacollective?lang=en