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Every month blood flows and there is no injury, every month blood flows and there is no violence, every month blood flows and there is regeneration, rebirth. Art by : Maa-Mariaa

I open in gratitude for all the individuals connecting with the natural wisdom of their organism. Thank you for overcoming conditioned fears, aversions and judgement about the body and its cycles...

This nourishes a collective evolution in which we reclaim our natural rites...

Our natural rite to feel pleasure and give pleasure, our natural rite to grieve and transform, our natural rite to witness death and accompany the process of decay, our natural rite to give birth at our pace in our space, our natural rite to heal in connection to the land with the aid of plant relatives, our natural rite to chose consciously if we want to make any of the aforementioned a medical procedure or not.

The majority of the worlds people still exist within conditions that obstruct a connection with self and environment. Meaning most people don’t have a direct experience of listening, receiving and responding to a communication of their own bodies, much less to that of the natural environment around them. Other people do have this inherent connection, they do feel and receive the communications of their organisms, but do not feel they have the resources, means, education or power to respond beneficially.

What I am currently realizing is that as I deepen sacral regenerative practices I am met with its opposite- people who express disgust, discomfort and rejection of their bodies and its cycles. Hearing things such as, “why are you so interested in those things, it’s weird”, “I hate my period, it’s so gross and uncomfortable”, “she’s so annoying when its that time of the month”. “I just take a bunch of tylenol”, “Women bleeding is the biggest turn off” I begin to understand I am being called to develop my ability to witness such distortions without judgement, without taking it personally and without trying to force change in that moment.

Change will come naturally, as we relax, release and receive... like an orgasm ;)

Invoking the powers of this web that connects us through its social technologies, I come to share something that has  transformed me… It wasn't until three years ago that I began to truly heal with the Sacral Cycles of my body, and so I extend the harvest from my journeys here with you now...


The average length of a Menstrual Cycle is 28 days, this is the time span from the moment you begin bleeding, then into the following month when you begin to bleed again.

It can vary between 24 -36 days depending on the individual. Within this time, what is normal or healthy is very much unique and dependent to you, which is why its so beneficial to map our cycles and understand our rhythms.

On average the bleeding time lasts 3 to 6 days. From what I understand and have observed within myself, anymore or less than this usually indicates something is out of balance. My personal bleeding averages 5 days. Day 1, I begin a gentle flow. Day 2-3, I peak at my highest flow and Day 4-5, my flow reduces and darkness until there is no more sign of bleeding by the end of Day 5.

{Energetically during this time I am neutral, at times feeling heavy, other times relieved and light and other times just still. I do not have much desire to be very physically active, however I am mentally very engaged. I tend to write a lot during this time and find it very easy to focus while reading. When I can, I sit on the earth and create sacred time and space to allow myself to flow into her. I massage my feet, my legs, and often my partner gravitates toward my womb space and gently caresses and massages me. Emotionally I am sensitive and aware, feelings surface that aren't pleasant but I recognize them to be opportunities for me to see clearly what tends to lurk in the depths, they are unconscious frequencies that drive my behavior in other moments. For example, Shame, Insecurity, Jealousy, Comparison and Escapism come up a lot for me cyclically. They are ancestral wounds. Just as there is spiraling evolution, there is also spiral healing, higher planes and finer frequencies of 'the shadow' to move through. In recognizing that my physical bleeding is a cleaning release I engage my emotional body to clean and release. This doesn't mean that just because I want to release or transform an emotional pattern of insecurity that it will all leave my being during this time, rather it's like a muscle that I am working to make stronger and more flexible, I work with it every month. Spiritually I am in deep connection with my guides and the archetype of the Wise Woman Elder. I feel the presence of my paternal grandmother who has ascended and receive guidance through her personification. At times this looks like me sitting in front my altar in song, breath and prayer and through this engagement receiving transmission and other times I am doing the daily 'mundane' things of life and something like a surge of clarity, revelation or simple warmth permeate me and I am reminded of the powerful force that I am vessel of.}

I am going to be referring to this map as I continue writing - I encourage you to use it to conceptually to understand the more physiological information I am sharing but to remember your cycle is unique and whether it looks like mine or not is not important. What is important is that you feel capable of observing yourself and creating your own with this as a foundation and guide. After our last day of bleeding we are in the FOLLICULAR PHASE of our Ovarian cycle. We are developing Follicles, which are 'pre-eggs'. There is a rise in FSH which stands for Follicular Stimulating Hormone, that stimulates the Follicles in the ovary to mature in order to become an egg aka Ovum that will be released at about day 14 of the cycle  during Ovulation. During this time there can be more cervical fluids present and the PH of our Vulva and Vaginal canal increases as this creates a better environment for sperm to survive in.

Days 10 - 13 tend to be Fertile Times. Sperm can potentially survive up to 72 hours in a woman so it is VERY IMPORTANT as you begin mapping your cycle and getting familiar with recognizing what phase your body is in to not play around with receiving sperm during potentially fertile times if your are not ready to possibly become pregnant.

{Energetically after bleeding I tend to feel completely rejuvenated and excited. This is a time for me to be a pollinator, I am social and feel very capable of expressing myself clearly and fluidly. I enjoy feeling my body in all of its expressions I dance a lot, work with my nani eggs aka yoni eggs, bike, sing, and enter full on creative mode. This is usually a time I have realized where I complete things that have been in process, it's also a time I've noticed when I present things, for example curiously when I have performed live or presented work in public it tends to fall during this time of my cycle. I am also very sexually active. I am in a committed, monogamous relationship and energetically we are very attuned to connecting and exploring during this time. Emotionally  I feel very clear and balanced. After the deep cleanse and release of bleeding I am in bloom with my feelings, knowing that they are rooted in deeper practices and not just whims of the moment that might be easily disturbed later. I notice that during this time I am especially able to hold space for other people, to listen deeply and support in their needs, feeling strong and rooted myself allows me to then extend myself in this way for others. Spiritually  I am flowing, its as if prayer and life are seamlessly one. There isn't this need to 'create space' to honor spirit, rather every action is imbued with this offering I am living and it is in service to the collective.}

Day 14-15 OVULATION This is an incredible moment - I am in awe of how intricately masterful our bodies are. During ovulation a mature follicle is released from the Ovary, the Uterine tubes which have tentacle like fingers begin to beat, creating a vibrational pulse that suctions the Ovum in and there it will remain waiting for a Sperm friend to fertilize it for up to 48 hours.

{Energetically I am ready to receive! literally. My body wants to be touched, smelled, held, loved, admired...and I can do this for myself through giving myself fully to the craving of my being. For example going to the ocean and feeling the pure life force of the waves, or going for a walk through the woods and allowing my feet to feel the pulse of the earth as I eat straight from the environment that I am in. Of course I also want to unite physically, sexually, sensually my partner and I practice tantric disciplines and so we do engage in connection during this time but we focus on the energetics rather than physicality since at this time we are not trying to conceive. Emotionally I feel passionate. My thoughts and feelings are very alive and faith filled. It feels as if I am living my dreams, very little distinction between waking life and dreamspace. Deep appreciation is present in being during this time, I am in awe, ecstatic, and instinctual. I am very receptive to others states of being and can absorb their frequencies into me and just as easily allow them to flow back outward to their source. I am mother and mothered. Spiritually I am harmonious, I am pleasure, I do not deny myself anything.}

During Ovulation we are biologically sprung and yearning to unite  - this is an excellent time to connect to these creative energetics and channel them into art, writing, dance, music, cooking....whatever fulfills you and brings joy into life, or if you are ready it is the moment to connect with your partner in the most deliciously mysterious co-creative journey of the two becoming three . (Literally as in baby or in same sex relationships nurturing that third force that is born from the union of two)

Days 17-28 (or the remaining days until you bleed again) You are in your Luteal Phase of the Ovarian Cycle, (Unless you are pregnant) The Corpus Luteum which means 'yellow mass' temporarily produces high levels of progesterone which stimulates the uterine lining to thicken in preparation for a fertilized egg to implant, however if the egg is not fertilized hormone production will be shut down and after about 10 days the Corpus Luteum will have become scar tissue that is to be released during Menstruation along with the build up of the uterine lining.

{Energetically I am winding down from high charge of physical activity, but with just as much charge I am activating into the inner realms, the night. I spend my time weaving, painting, singing, making medicine. My energy is erotic, I notice during this time I am very appealing to people, there is an air of mystery around me. I am up to something. Emotionally  I am feeling it all. Pleasure and aversion. I am the tides of the ocean swelling and receding. I notice a lot comes up surrounding self-worth, timing, and integrity. I can see my power to manipulate, control, or destroy and I realize that this is nature too, so I dive into my practices to guide this energy wisely. This is also a time when I grieve the pain that I have from my present lifetime and that which I am in connection to via bloodlines and lineage. Spiritually this is a time when I am most psychic, my dreams are prophetic, after logging them for a few years I see how so many of them have 'come true'. I also see how the things that I am not quite able to identify within myself, crucial to my evolution reveal themselves through my art and in the dream world. I am with KaliMaa during this time, acknowledging rejection, pain, violence and allowing it to course through me.}

So... PMS .... to dispel some of the stereotypes and misconceptions its important to understand that women are not plagued with a syndrome, folks who bleed are living within a global culture that is so disconnected from the Sacred Sacral Cycle of Menstruation that basic information about what is going physiologically/hormonally is unknown to the average person, much less is there an instilled sense of reverence and respect for this process.

I encourage everyone to begin mapping their cycles. Take notes on your emotional, mental, physical and spiritual states during the different phases so you can see when you are most vulnerable, sensitive, empowered, energized and inspired. With this greater awareness of how we behave and feel during different times of the month we can make informed decisions about how, where and with who we engage our energy.

I have created a Sacral Cycles Printable Coloring Book  that you can purchase for $2.00 with invitations to map your cycle and express creatively by coloring illustrations that I drew during my personal cycle mapping.  I invite everyone who purchases to take an image of their coloring/painting and send it back to email@example.com so we can create a collective archive of the diversity of expressions during these universal experiences.

I will soon be expanding on the archetypes and phases of the moon as they relate to Sacral Cycles, as well as creating an Anatomy Coloring Book -

My intention with sharing all of this is that all who read feel inspired to tap into the well of their exquisite power. That all who read have more information on the cycles of their bodies and continue to research and explore as feels natural. That all who read this realize that beyond feeling a personal, individual benefit from this we are co-weaving a stronger matrix of conscious, vital and coherent individuals harmonized with earth wisdom.

Many Blessings

- MaaMariaa This year has been a year of putting into action years of dreaming up how I can impact the world in a way that embodied my dreams for a thriving society. My vision of Herban Cura came into fruition, while it is just a baby it has been born and is slowly being molded and evolving through the collective intention.

I am currently learning to slow down, this year has been non stop, but as I reflect back on my life since high school it has always been that way. My ambition and my inspiration to make the world a better place makes it so that I rarely stop. It has become a common routine to have at least three workshops in one weekend after working a week of full time work.

This year I have organized and lead a total of 40 workshops. I have taught workshops at Miami Art Basal, Kiskeya Libre in DR, The New Museum, Bard College, Mayday space, Global Kids, NYC community gardens, galleries like Picture Room, Situations, and Changes and many workshops from my collective home. I have also organizing the Brujas Halloween Party and Winter Informal as well as brought to life the MAGIC MARKETS with Earth Arts Initiative.

I have been grounding more deeply in my role as a mentor to my young people as I create and teach environmental justice curriculum. I caretake a community garden and teach POC youth about urban gardening, herbal medicine and environmental justice. I share with them what I know about plant medicine, while also meeting them where they are at.  Being a mentor is one of the most difficult roles to grow into.

Now that it is springtime, I am putting into motion the garden with them, by putting in medicinal plants and annual vegetables.

I can feel that this garden is healing, when I arrived to this garden the soil was full of glass and plastic, but now after a year of sifting the soil, putting down mulch and ground covers there are worms in all parts of the garden. This land is now breathing, I feel it. I can see where soil still needs to be grown, but as I put these perennial medicinal and biodynamic accumulators into the ground, I can see how this soil will be at the end of the summer. The garden as well as my body and all relations are constantly teaching me to observe and accept feedback.

It feels so exciting to know that this NYC lung now has a medicinal garden to be a harvesting and learning space for young people as well as community members. Some of the many plants we currently have are Black Cohosh, Valerian, Marshmallow, Comfrey, echinacea, strawberries, asparagus, raspberries, rosa rugosa, grapes, hops, solomon's seal, lovage, bee balm, juneberry, peach, pear, lady's mantle, tarragon, lavender and many more.

Many seeds and plants have been planted this year, in the community garden, as well as the Herban Cura garden and my parents garden. Knowing that three territories are now home to medicinal and soil regenerating plants feels so inspiring.

As I move into this new solar cycle of this project and my life I am keeping the words discernment and discipline close to my heart. I am continuing to set the highest intention for my well being. I understand now that it is only through me being healthy and balanced that I can show up more fully for my community.

I need to heal. That is what my body, mind and spirit are asking for.  Some of my imbalances were recently brought to light; hashimotos, hypothyroid, lyme, bartonella and a TBD infection. The past few months have been the hardest since my heart was last broken, but as I move through it all,  the fears, pain, projections, I feel it as the deepest blessings. The blessings to learn myself more deeply so that I can let go of what no longer serves me and move into closer alignment with my path as a healer

Healing is certainly not easy and emotionally, physically does not feel good. I am learning to listen to the language my body and spirit uses to communicate, to listen to my dreams that are very prophetic. To allow myself to cry and scream and to take my time. We are our greatest healers, and we need to make the choice to care of ourselves, people that are around us can support us, but no one can make the decisions for us.

I feel grateful to be supported as I move through these challenges. I feel proud of myself for each pattern that I recognize and each change that I make, for going to sleep early and cooking all of my own meals, for taking risks and speaking my truth.

As I work on my foundation, I am continuing to work on the Herban Cura Foundations. This summer I will be trusting my intuition of where I need to be, spending time in the Herban Cura garden, caretaking the plants, making plant medicine and being in spaces where I can rest. This year I have become more lunar. The sun rays stroke my cheeks at noon, I lick my warm my lips and recognize myself a child of this gold.

I feel the penetrating presence of a radiant father,

blood circulates to warm by body, the touch of my lover, I exhale an orgasmic sigh.

I allow myself.

La Luna has reminded of the tides within me, she rises at the oceans horizon, colors swirl the dance of those who birthed, those who birthed, me,

– La Luna has witnessed it all and her consciousness grows, we.

I know how to bleed, I know why I bleed, I am mother and seed, I feed all that need, nourishment.

This year I have learned to give what is meant, to climb up the steep slope, muscles do ache, to reach the edge of the headwater, that breaks into stream,

a water fall sings, all that is dreamt, I am flying as I swim. I relax.

My belly knows the way the earth breathes, my spine elongates, high, like the tops of trees,

Free is when I breathe deep, clean weep, medicine steeps.

& the train cart rattles, over the bridge as I learn to be multiple, in worlds,


Dimensional yells, of all that wants to be heard but can hardly be felt.

I swallow the light and usher out night,

This year has been a harvest of wild honey from the void & the heights.

Last August I left NYC after calling it home for eight years. I closed cycles, gave thanks, cleared debts, and flew to LA to meet Juan Gabriel, a pampamisayuq of the Q’ero Nation and his daughter-in-law, Carolina. We would begin a two-month journey of supporting Juan as he shared his wisdom and teachings at international ceremonies, gathering and conferences. The three of us sharing a big tent we visited medicine folks in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon and Utah.  A year prior, I had received the transmission that I am here, incarnate, for the regeneration of the generations. Here to reimagine and regenerate family, and so I was holding a prayer to connect more deeply with my native territory in Colombia and its wisdom keepers, to nourish and deepen my womb healing, and I was calling in conscious partnership. My ancestors started guiding me in ways I hadn’t experienced before. They were moving and speaking through me. This opened portals that led me to be in divine timing, meeting Kogi, Muisca, and Yanacona elders of Colombia, and birth workers and womb healers…and as the moon aligned with the sun for a total solar eclipse on August 21, I found myself in the woods of Oregon at a gathering of elders & 40,000 people, being held by David Ali, my now partner, feeling the surge of life force elevate us into a timeless space.

Since then I have been with Kogi, Muisca, Matsigenka, Q’ero and Shipibo family, coming together to celebrate, to heal, and to co-create solutions and alternatives to socio-economic, ecological and spiritual issues present.

I have been almost entirely surviving off trades, and work exchange as I move about, somewhat free from the “system”. I have been caring for myself in a whole new way, tuning in to the wisdom of the moon and the way her cycles reflect in my body and through my womb. After many months of traveling I am now finally settled in a new desert land, creating home, family and entering the world of formal midwifery studies. I am currently supporting my mother-in-law Dr. Adela Felix who is an MD and has a clinic on both sides of the US/ Mexico border, serving those without access to healthcare. I see that by formalizing my call to accompany, a most supreme of creation ceremonies, the ceremony of giving light, I can serve any community or territory I am ever invited into. To Herban Cura I now bring the potential to expand into different territories, integrating different plant medicines for our healing products, as well as streaming the wisdom of the territory I am now in and its elders’ messages. I am also soon to start offering Womb Weaving and Sacred Blood creative services online based on my personal experience and evolving relationship with Kogi & Muisca sexual/creative cosmovision and Tao Tantric Art principles. I feel infinitely grateful to see the way in which the universe conspires to support you once you surrender to your highest calling, it may not look like or be where you ever imagined yourself, but I find it most enriching when I give myself to the mystery. I have been thinking about time recently. I can only read a certain amount of books in my lifetime and if I actually calculate it, it's such a tiny amount. I can only be very close to a limited amount of people, my heart will only beat a set amount of times, by body is going to loosen, I can only learn so much before I leave this body. I stay up at night not wanting to sleep, envious of people who feel good on a few hours, wondering if that extra time makes them feel more alive. When I am still, I feel time moving across my arms and I get scared. I want to pause in moments where I feel happy, strong, beautiful and connected, exist in them until I am ready to move on. Then time and the fear pass across my shoulders and I begin thinking about something else.

This May marks two years since my dad died, grieving and healing have been a constant. I feel ready to move, to focus on joy and work, to meet new people and go dancing, but my body is not ready. It feels like the end of a cycle, but to move on and digest all that came up, I need to heal from parasites, Epstein Barr, and Lyme disease. It sucks. There's a lot to learn from all of it, but I still just wish I was healthy.

Since I graduated from Bard's MFA program in August I've attended five births as a doula, learned hypnobirthing and comforting touch, but I've had to take a break while my body is exhausted.

In February, for my birthday, I drove from New York to LA to Portland, OR and back to NY on my own. As long as I can remember I have been terrified of sleeping alone, checking closets and under the bed multiple time before being able to fall asleep. I hiked desert mountains, swam in hot springs, slept on the beach, in a boat, in a cabin among chaparral and wild tobacco, I drove in silence for days, wept when I hit a cat crossing the road, screamed as huge mountains appeared after 500 miles of flat dry land, slid down white sand dunes, danced and sang to herds of cows, saw friends I hadn't seen in years and came back to a freezing east coast to spend ten days of silent meditation in three feet of snow.

I've been able to recommit to being in my studio and have become much less afraid of what it means to be an artist, to make sculptures, to make what's inside and invisible outside and seen. I think of all of the work I do through Herban Cura, teaching, healing my body, and making art as ways of creating a home in myself. I don't want to look for homes in others or outside of myself, but to have my own to share when I find others who have one too. I've been working hard at saying "no", speaking the truth, and creating boundaries so that I can love and nurture only when it feels good.

At Herban Cura I've been making balms, butters, teas, and smoke blends. I've been working on product and website design as we build a strong foundation to continue working through. May 1st has marked the last day of frost for the Hudson Valley since I was a child, it is the day my mom and I start to put seeds and plants in the ground. This year wehave had the pleasure of starting our Herban Cura garden, the sprouts of tobacco, tulsi, chamomile, ashwaganda, madder, catnip and so much more have begun to grow.