Hola
My name is Victoria, I am English-Australian living in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. It is my heart's mission to share this plant medicine with you and create a ripple effect of healing and heart opening around the globe.
I work with Horses and Cacao, my two loves. Both these animals and plants have been my biggest teachers. I offer Ceremonial Cacao Teacher Training, Crystal bowl sound baths with horses, Power Animal Meditation Journeys with horses and Shamanic Reiki.
My horses offer beautiful Caribbean beach rides and we work together to create unique equine experiences at Spirit of the Horse Costa Rica.
I hope that you will join me for an incredible week of heart opening self discovery, connection to soul tribe, nature and the re-learning of indigenous ways. Let's share this medicine adventure together!
@spiritofthehorsecostarica
@medicinacacaocostarica
Marcelino Figuera Lopez
I first met Marcelino at The Living Library in Tinemaste where he was offering cacao ceremony. His open heart and child like energy instantly made me feel at ease.
His wisdom and desire to share the teachings of the BriBri indigenous culture and lost traditions are priceless. A natural story teller, Marcelino is a 4th generation Awa medicine man and it is an honour and a privilege to sit in circle with this master teacher.
Marcelino is dedicated to building a culture centre to share with visitors the power of medicinal plants, and at the heart of these teachings, of course is the sacred cacao and her ceremonies.
He has been present at Envision Festival as a respected elder and keeper of the fire, bringing his wisdom and cacao ceremony to the masses.
Today we work together to bring people back to nature, to understand some of the ways of the indigenous culture and to open our hearts together in cacao ceremony.
If you would like to donate to Marcelino's project or visit the culture centre as a volunteer please find the links below
www.gofundme.com/f/assist-awa-bri-bri-elder-to-save-his-culture?qid=e760e6acd5537f90ccf9e6d033d34b09
www.workaway.info/en/host/241361358651
My Story
Yes, I have been eating chocolate for a long time!
But my connection with plant medicine came to be in Byron Bay Australia, my home for almost a decade. Here almost 11 years ago my journey with plants took a turn with a Wachuma (San Pedro cactus) ceremony which allowed me to connect fully with plants. I could always speak Horse, Horse speak came naturally when I started riding at 6 years old, but I had never spoken or listened to plants before.
So I came to Costa Rica to study Herbalism in 2019 and the country cast it's spell. It was magical and the jungle promised me more time. I studied Wachuma first, then I studied Cacao, ignored her call and returned to Australia, working as an Equine Nutritionist. But then came COVID and I knew I could not stay. Spending my last year working with Shamanic Earth Medicine, assisting in retreats and ceremonies. I sold everything and moved to Costa Rica. My dog and my horse, my drums, my crystals. Going through customs was interesting.
My new life in Costa Rica was about following my bliss, my heart and my horses. And cacao kept speaking to me. OK I'll do ceremony. Not enough. OK I'll sit and study with the indigenous. Not enough. OK I'll travel to discover the Mayan traditions of Cacao. Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua. Not enough. Pft.
She really wants to be shared. BUT the message is really important. The medicine is for everybody and has to be authentically delivered. What do you want from me!?! So contact was made with Abuelo Marcelino, an indigenous elder of the Bri Bri to guide me and work with me. So now I train teachers in Ceremonial Cacao and she is happy. For me the connection to land and the teachings of the indigenous people are sacred and central to this work. They are the wisdom keepers and their relationship with nature and plant medicines are the keys to the New Earth.
The thing about horses is that they are extremely grounding. You MUST be present. Cacao wants this too. Horses are also a heart opening medicine. Cacao knows this too. Actually horses and Cacao have a lot in common; you need to be truly authentically yourself. Thats what I want to dig into.
Sit with her. Sit with me. Learn her and connect with her spirit as well as her science. Do it with us. We are creating something really special here, in the land of Bri Bri, the traditional custodians of the land. They have always listened to nature.
