Finding a shamanic cleanse in Mexico City sometimes requires being in the right place at the right time. You can put yourself in the right place; time, however, might be up to the universe.

While visiting Mexico City, I had a few shamanic experiences. Two of these experiences were unexpected and occurred near the historic site of Teotihuacan. Here, many native families still live in the area and practice shamanic rituals.

How to Find a Shaman in Mexico City

I’ve had a few shamanic experiences. For me, they’re usually random and unplanned. But none was more random and unplanned than this time.

I’d been on a tour, visiting the pyramids of Teotihuacan. The guide, a local, had taken my group back to his home near the pyramids after the tour.

I learned from him that the historic site’s tour guides, merchants, and workers are locals. Many have deep religious roots and shamanic backgrounds. This would be an excellent place to speak to people and inquire about shamanic experiences.

Mayan Cleanse, or Limpia

At our guide’s house, he had us drink Pulque, an ancient drink made with corn and cacao. Then, he lit copal and led us to a nearby underground cave for a cleansing energy meditation.

I’d seen the shaman woman before I went into the cave, though, then she was only a woman to me.

Sometime later, when the group of us crawled out of the cave, squinting in the light of the day. There, waiting for us, was the shaman woman who offered us a shamanic cleanse in Mexico City.

Before, from a distance, I only noticed her long white floral dress and that she was old. Now I saw she was shorter and stouter than she had appeared on the porch. Her dark skin is more wood-grained, and her hair is mostly gray. Branches she’d freshly clipped from the pepper tree in her yard were in her right hand.

The Shaman’s Pepper Tree

Our guide translated for her from Spanish to English as we followed her through her yard for the shamanic cleanse. The doors on her house were quilted blankets tacked to once-white stucco walls. Several rooms encircled a central, open yard dominated by the pepper tree. Chickens roamed freely but smartly avoided the house.

Inside, an assortment of chairs and worn love seats surrounded the room. Rough wood tables and shelves held many bottles and jars. A pile of fresh-cut pepper branches filled one corner. Everything felt surreal.

We sat in a row, one next to the other, and looked around nervously. I’d had a Shamanic cleanse before, so I was probably less nervous. However, this one would be nothing like my last.

Without intending to, four men sat in a row nearest the door. We, the four women, sat together furthest into the room. It balanced the room, she said and grinned, pleased with equilibrium.

She started with the man nearest the door moving clockwise, which seemed essential.

I watched as the men received their shamanic cleanse, one by one.

Shamanic Ritual: Smoke and Fire

The Shaman spoke with her hands, eyes, and body like someone used to communicating in many forms. Her face was always animated and easy to read. We watched as she put a clear liquid accelerant into a metal bowl, struck a match and threw it in. A big burst of fire sprang out with a loud eruption. I thought of the volcanoes surrounding us.

Next, she collected a spray of pepper branches covered in leaves and dipped them into the fire. The leaves crackled like electricity.

She explained that sometimes the branches made a massive crackling and sometimes were quiet. Likewise, sometimes the fire was extensive and sometimes it was small.

A small fire and little sound meant there was not much bad energy around you. Big fire meant a lot of energy. A lot of noise meant many spirits.

What a Shaman Does

She began to beat the man animatedly with the flaming branches, which crackled and bowed like a lash. The touch of the branches was quick and harmless. She walked a clockwise circle around him.

She hit him with the branches at the front, back, and sides until the flame went out. Once the branches were extinguished, she dipped them back into the flame bowl and continued her circle.

I could smell the spiced scent of the pepper branches burning. I’d feel the wisp of heat as she flicked them. The room became warmer and warmer with each cleansing.

As she completed the circle, she whispered a prayer. She told the spirits to leave, her flaming branch shooing them off.

To end the cleansing, she wrapped the still-warm branches around the man’s head like a headband. She chanted another prayer and put the branches under his feet. Standing on the branches locked any remaining spirits in them and prevented them from following us out.

A Shamanic Cleanse with Negative Energy

The ritual worked the same way until the fourth shamanic cleanse. But with the fourth man, she threw the match toward the bowl. She missed, and it fell to the ground. The match extinguished itself. She drew a sharp intake of breath and looked at him accusingly. We, observers, chucked and looked at each other.

She struck another match and missed again. She said, Dios Mio. Her glare deepened.

The third and fourth matches would not light at all. She made the sign of the cross. Then she scowled at the man. When it finally lit, his flame was large, and the branches crackled wildly, heating the room.

We watched in fear, but the man—a corporate patent attorney — was calm and undisturbed. Seemingly little affected him while the rest of us trembled.

The Shaman danced around him and spoke more animatedly. He hit him harder than the others. She gave him a few seconds of extra attention. It wasn’t enviable.

A Shamanic Cleanse in Mexico City

Soon, it was my turn. I hesitated. Thankfully, my fire lit immediately as intended, and the shaman breathed a sigh of relief. The branches had little sound, but my flame was big. She said my energy was strong. It felt strong after a day in the ancient land.

She spoke animatedly, explaining that’s what the fire was supposed to do. Not what it had done with the lawyer. Still, she kept glancing at him as if waiting for an attack.

I felt the whoosh of fire and the heat of the flame as the branches landed across my body. A warmth and tangy-sweet scent enveloped me as she held them at each end and wrapped them across my head.

Speaking to Spirits and Altering My Energy

She spoke to the spirits and told them to go out the door. I stepped on the spent branches to implant the negative energy in them. This allowed me to leave this place without them.

The ritual was finished. She sprayed a fragrant mint oil into the palms of my hands. The right was for money, and the left was for family. I wiped them, as instructed, through my hair and across my body.

She took another spray from the shelf behind her; this one was floral and woodsy. Going clockwise again, she walked around me, spraying and speaking to the lingering spirits, shooing them off.

The Shaman Deflects Bad Spirits

I wondered who they were, those spirits she cast out, and where they would go without me?

She asked me, “Como te sientes?” How did I feel? She held her hands on my shoulders and smiled. Her eyes glimmered with purity, power and wisdom. Her belief made this real. The energy of passion and the power of sacred land gave this ritual meaning. It was that and my belief in it. And I did believe.

I felt transformed and reborn, like I’d crawled out of a womb. I’ve been to a place with a culture and a people where I had no home but was welcomed anyway. I went back in time. I’d traveled the universe and rid myself of negative energy. I found new energy that is more hopeful and filled with meaning.

I felt good, clean, and inspired. “Muy Bien,” I answered. Very well. She smiled and then she released me.

Cleansed by a Mayan Shaman

I would leave my negative spirits in the sacred land of Mexico City. They would haunt the ancient places of dead things where they belonged. I felt lighter and could tell I lost something undefinable, but I’d also gained. Something awakened I would keep forever.

How to find a shamanic cleanse in Mexico City is the third part of this story. Read related stories at the links below.

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