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Books by Erika Buenaflor

Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo

Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo: Limpias Espirituales of Ancient Mesoamerican Shamans explores the essential tools and processes used by ancient Mesoamerican shamans, when conducting limpias—practical and incredibly effective shamanic cleanses that heal, purify, and revitalize people and spaces. People who are interested in developing their holistic healing arsenal, will find this book invaluable.

Offers step-by-step instructions for the practice of limpias

• Examines different types of limpia ceremonies, such as fire rites for transformation, water rites for cleansing and influencing, and sweeping rites for divination 

• Delves into the sacred stories behind limpia rituals and traces these curanderismo practices to their indigenous roots 

Exploring the essential tools and practices of Mesoamerican shamans and curanderx, specifically the ancient Yucatec Maya and Mexica(Aztec), Erika Buenaflor, M.A., J.D., provides a step-by-step guide for conducting the most common practice within curanderismo: limpias. These practical and incredibly effective shamanic cleanses heal, purify, and revitalize people and spaces with herbs, flowers, eggs, feathers, fire, and water. They are also powerful tools for self-empowerment, spiritual growth, soul retrieval, rebirth, and gracefully opening up pathways for new beginnings. 

Drawing on her 20 years’ experience as a curandera and her graduate studies focused on Mesoamerican shamanism, the author traces modern curanderismo practices to their indigenous roots. She outlines how limpias work holistically to enable one to let go and cleanse the body, mind, and spirit of limiting beliefs, traumas, and broken stories; heal acute and chronic illnesses such as depression, insomnia, and anxiety; and revitalize and activate sacred spaces by renewing their essence and clearing negative energies.

Sharing the story of her own complete healing from a catastrophic injury with limpias as well as inspirational testimonies from others who have experienced limpias, the author provides a personal and thoroughly practical guide to the ancient shamanic method of limpias to promote healing and personal transformation in our times.

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Ritos de Purificacion del Curanderismo

Basándose en sus investigaciones sobre las herramientas y prácticas esenciales de los chamanes y curanderos mesoamericanos, en particular de los antiguos yucatecas, mexicas (aztecas) y mayas, Érika Buenaflor nos enseña, paso a paso, a realizar la práctica más común del curanderismo: las limpiezas. Estos ritos chamánicos de purificación sirven para limpiar y revitalizar tanto a las personas como a los espacios, usando hierbas, flores, huevos, plumas, fuego y agua, además de constituir una poderosa herramienta para el autoempoderamiento. Gracias a sus veinte años de experiencia como curandera, así como a sus estudios universitarios sobre el chamanismo en Mesoamérica, Érika nos revela las raíces indígenas de las técnicas del curanderismo, explora los relatos sagrados en los que se basan los ritos limpieza, analiza en profundidad sus distintos tipos de ceremonias (agua, fuego, adivinaciónà), describe las propiedades curativas de las plantas que se utilizan en las limpiezas y nos enseña a realizar los cánticos que utilizan los curanderos. El libro, además, nos revela el efecto holístico de las limpiezas que nos ayuda a dejarnos llevar y eliminar del cuerpo, de la mente y del espíritu todas esas creencias que nos limitan, así como nuestros traumas y nuestras historias inconclusas; nos permite curar enfermedades graves y crónicas tales como la depresión, el insomnio y la ansiedad; y sirve para revitalizar y activar los lugares sagrados al conseguir renovar su esencia y eliminar las energías negativas.

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Curanderismo Soul Retrieval

Curanderismo Soul Retrieval delves into a very dynamic shamanic healing tradition that is grounded in ancient Mesoamerican principles. Curanderx believe that the soul is sacred essence energy that is concentrated in certain regions of the body, and can leave the body as a way to cope through a challenging situation, or an intertwined cluster of them. Unfortunately, the loss of sacred essence energy typically manifests in diverse negative ways, including experiencing: analogous difficult patterns over and over again, physical ailments, various states of depression, insomnia, and other misfortunes.

Curanderismo Soul Retrieval reveals how people can effectively heal from various forms and degrees of traumas, move forward with substantially elevated clarity, become more self-aware, empowered, and experience greater depths of authentic self-love. It inspires a return of sacred essence energy aka soul pieces, which are essential for greater happiness, exuberant health, and to be able to manifest with impeccability. Rather than simply assume that the first trance journey or session will result in a soul retrieval, as most soul retrieval modalities do, it provides a more fluid approach that can encompass various scenarios, and types and degrees of traumas. It treats soul retrieval as the dynamic process it should be, and most importantly promotes a lasting retrieval and development of sacred essence energy.

It guides the soul retrieval journey into the ancient Mesoamerican gifts and lessons of the sacred cardinal spaces: the South, discovery and understanding; the West, death and releasing; the North, ancestral guidance and medicine; the East, new beginnings; and the Center, the space that acts a portal into the non-ordinary realms and the cardinal spaces. It also reveals how the ancient Mesoamericans conceived the soul, the non-ordinary realms: Underworld, Middleworld and Upperworld, and the associations of the cardinal spaces to give context, depth, and understanding to this soul retrieval practice.

It contains step-by-step instructions as to how to go into a trance journey, and navigate into the non-ordinary realms and cardinal spaces, as well as how to connect with soul pieces, animal guardians, and animal co-essences. The book also offers many different shamanic breathwork and shamanic dancing exercises, as well as mudras (hand postures) to facilitate trance states; sound/toning and acupressure point exercises to stimulate the areas of the body that store the energies of certain types of traumas; and contemplative exercises that continue to help people to integrate soul pieces outside the trance journeying states. It also includes inspirational stories of people, their struggles and triumphs, when working with the medicine and wisdom of the Mesoamerican cardinal spaces.

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Sacred Energies of the Sun and Moon

A practical guide to ancient Mesoamerican solar and lunar rites for healing and transformation

• Details shamanic rituals and practices for each period of the day, including dawn, sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight, to best harness the energies of the sun, night sun, and moon for specific purposes, such as divination, journeying with animal spirit guides, or spiritual wisdom

• Incorporates shamanic breathwork, dreamwork, mantra chanting, mudras, dancing and movement, toning, chakra work, crystals, herbs, and limpias (shamanic cleanses)

• Explores how nighttime energies are affected by the phases of the moon, offering specific practices for each phase

Ancient Mesoamerican shamans and modern practitioners of curanderismo–a Latin American shamanic healing practice–divide each day and night into distinct periods based on the sacred rhythms of the sun and moon, with each time offering opportunities to connect with specific celestial energies for healing and transformation.

In this hands-on guide to working with the sacred energies of the sun, night sun, and moon, curandera Erika Buenaflor details the rites, rituals, and deities for each part of the day and night and explores the sacred tools and techniques used by ancient Mesoamerican shamans for harnessing solar and lunar energies. She explains how the sun is the source of soul energy that heals, animates, strengthens, and revitalizes us on many levels, while night energies are transformative and conducive for connecting with nonordinary realms. She explores rituals for dawn, sunrise, and midmorning to harness the energies of creation and new beginnings; for noon and afternoon to promote peak strength and spiritual wisdom; for sunset and dusk to bring about transformation, perform divination, and journey with animal spirit guides; and for midnight and predawn to facilitate shamanic dreamwork, connect with the ancestors, make offerings, and regenerate at the deepest levels. She also explores how nighttime energies are affected by the phases of the moon and offers specific practices for each phase.

By intentionally tuning our activities to the rhythms of the sun and moon, we can invite in their sacred energies of abundance and healing for more healthy, creative, mindful, and happy lives.

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Animal Medicine

A guide to connecting with animals and their spiritual wisdom through ancient shamanic practices

• Includes an alphabetical guide to 76 animals, explaining each animal’s spiritual gifts, shapeshifting medicine, the realm they are associated with, and their symbolic meaning when they appear in a dream or vision

• Details the trance journeying techniques and shapeshifting practices of ancient Mesoamerican shamanic traditions and modern-day curanderismo

• Explores how to strengthen our connections with our spirit animal guides

In this guide, Erika Buenaflor explores the animal mythologies, spirit journeying techniques, and shapeshifting practices of ancient shamanic traditions and modern-day curanderismo. She examines how indigenous Mesoamerican peoples used animals in their ceremonial healing and divination rites and explains the innate gifts and powers that different animals embody. She explores why certain animals are associated with and provide access to the non-ordinary realms: the Underworld, Middleworld, and Upperworld, wherein deities, ancestors, supernatural beings, and medicine could be connected with or obtained. She details how to enter into a trance journey to go into these nonordinary realms, be guided by or shapeshift into an animal associated with that realm, and access the sacred gifts and spiritual medicine they offer. The author explores shapeshifting practices in detail, and the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual benefits we can gain by engaging in shapeshifting practices. She also explores how to strengthen our connections with our spirit animal guides.

Offering an alphabetical guide to 76 animals most prevalent in ancient Mesoamerican legends, ceremonies, and medicinal rites, from Armadillo and Bear to Hummingbird and Jaguar to Puma and Woodpecker, the author details each animal’s spiritual gifts, shapeshifting medicine, the realm they are associated with, and their symbolic meaning when they appear in a dream or vision. Providing multiple methods to connect with animals for spiritual guidance, self-empowerment, and healing, Buenaflor reveals how each of us can enrich our lives with ancient Mesoamerican wisdom for working with animal guides.

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A guide to connecting with your ancestors and healing your lineage

• Shares traditional veneration rites and practices to connect with your ancestors,
including limpia rites, trance journeys, energy work, and sacred gardening

• Explores ancestral altar-making practices, sacred tools for altars, and how to
invite your ancestors to take an active role in intervening on your behalf

• Describes the deification process of esteemed ancestors and how this opens
access to special powers for those sharing that ancestor’s lineage

Exploring the diverse and dynamic ancestral veneration rites of the ancient Mesoamericans as well as those practiced in contemporary curanderismo. Erika Buenaflor shows how we can draw from these traditions to reconnect with our ancestors, deepen our healing journeys, and shape our lives. She explains how ancestors contain a sacred energy that can continue in their direct physical heirs, be reborn in the landscape at sacred sites, or manifest in other beings that inhabited the same lands. She describes the deification process of esteemed ancestors and how this opens access to special powers for those sharing that ancestor’s lineage.

Buenaflor examines the sacred offerings and ceremonies used to invoke, renew, and strengthen an ancestor’s soul energies, which in turn ensured their aid, guidance, and intervention, as well as their well-being and comfort in the afterlife. She shares numerous veneration rites and healing practices to strengthen your bonds with your ancestors, including limpia rites, ritual craft-making, trance journeys, shamanic breathwork, energy work with past and present lives, sacred gardening, and ancestral altar-making. She introduces you to nepantla spirituality, the path of reclaiming sacred liminal space, and shows how you can heal your ancestral lineage and reclaim your esteemed ancestors, those who anchor you with a feeling of belonging to something greater, divine, and beautiful.

Whether you are able to create a long and detailed family tree or have no knowledge of your grandparents or even parents, this book offers many ways to connect with your spiritual forebears, heal your lineage, and receive spiritual aid as you reclaim your ancestors and welcome them into your life.

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Una guía para conectarte con tus ancestros y sanar tu linaje

• Comparte ritos y prácticas de veneración tradicionales para conectarte con tus antepasados, incluidos rituales de limpieza, viajes de trance, trabajo energético y jardinería sagrada

• Explora las prácticas ancestrales de elaboración de altares, herramientas sagradas para los altares y cómo invitar a tus antepasados a tomar un papel activo para intervenir en tu nombre

• Describe el proceso de deificación de antepasados estimados y cómo esta práctica abre el acceso a poderes especiales para aquellos que comparten el linaje de ese antepasado

Al explorar los diversos y dinámicos ritos de veneración ancestral de los antiguos mesoamericanos, así como los que se practican en el curanderismo contemporáneo, Erika Buenaflor muestra cómo podemos aprovechar estas tradiciones para reconectarnos con nuestros antepasados, profundizar nuestros viajes de sanación y dar forma a nuestras vidas. Ella explica cómo los ancestros tienen energía sagrada que puede continuar en sus herederos físicos directos, renacer en el paisaje en sitios sagrados o manifestarse en otros seres que habitan las mismas tierras. Ella describe el proceso de deificación de los ancestros estimados y cómo esto abre el acceso a poderes especiales para aquellos que comparten el linaje de ese ancestro.

Buenaflor examina las antiguas ofrendas y ceremonias sagradas utilizadas para asegurar la ayuda, guía e intervención de los antepasados, así como el bienestar y la comodidad de los antepasados en el más allá. Al llevar el conocimiento a la actualidad, comparte numerosos ritos de veneración y prácticas de sanación para fortalecer los lazos con sus antepasados, incluidos rituales de limpieza, elaboración de artesanías rituales, viajes de trance, respiración chamánica, trabajo energético con vidas pasadas y presentes, jardinería sagrada y altares ancestrales. Ella te introduce a la espiritualidad de Nepantla, el camino de la recuperación del espacio liminal sagrado, y te muestra cómo puedes sanar tu linaje ancestral y recuperar a tus estimados ancestros, aquellos que te anclan con un sentimiento de pertenencia a algo más grande, divino y hermoso.

Ya sea que puedas crear un árbol genealógico largo y detallado o no tengas conocimiento de tus abuelos o incluso de tus padres, este libro ofrece muchas formas de conectarse con tus antepasados espirituales, sanar tu linaje y recibir ayuda espiritual mientras reclamas a tus antepasados y les da la bienvenida en tu vida.

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Realize Your Bliss