Psychic medium & Curandera Carolina Gutierrez has been hearing her spirits since the age of 4, Carolina believes in living a grounded life that is lead by spirit. She guides clients and business owners alike on the importance of intuition first, challenging you to think about work and life from the inside out. 

Her mission is to help people reconnect to their own internal guidance by building their intuition and trusting themselves  to live their life’s purpose.

In this episode, Carolina shares her personal journey as a Medium and Curandera and we have a chat that flows through several areas of spirituality and practices! By the end of the episode, here are a few of the things you’ll learn:

-What is the ONE THING you can start doing right now to supercharge your practices?
-What is the difference between Manifesting the Life you want and Living your Life’s Purpose?
-What is your Spirit Court and how can they help you?
-How can you start working with your ancestors right away
-How and why should you be bringing your spiritual practices into your daily life?

Show notes:

curandera   [koo-rahn-de-rah], noun
Spanish. a female folk healer or medicine woman who uses herbs or psychoactive plants, magic, and spiritualism to treat illness, induce visions, impart traditional wisdom, etc.; a female shaman

Meet Carolina Gutierrez:
As a medium that has been hearing her spirits since the age of 4, Carolina believes in living a grounded life that is lead by spirit. She guides clients and business owners alike on the importance of intuition first, challenging you to think about work and life from the inside out. 

Carolina is a psychic medium that practices in an evidentiary way. Formally educated in social work, she is  registered with The Ontario College of Social Workers & Social Service Workers. As a counsellor & hypnotherapist in private practice for more then two decades; Carolina’s relationship with her spirits is at the core of how she serves. 

Carolina also a consulting medium with Consejo Cultural Yoruba en Canada. Her spiritual practices and ancestral roots combine her Indigenous, West African, Sephardic Jewish and Southern Eurpoean Catholic heritage which weave the thread of her magic.

Her mission is to help people reconnect to their own internal guidance by building their intuition and trusting themselves  to live their life’s purpose. Leading with spirit, compassion and warmth, Carolina offers a familiar and welcoming touch when working with a diverse set of clientele.

Connect with Carolina Gutierrez:
https://curandera.ca/
https://www.instagram.com/curandera.ca

Get Joy's Free "Sign Magnet" 3 Day Mini Course HERE https://www.joyfulmedium.com/sign-magnet
Joy's Website: www.joyfulmedium.com
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YouTube: Psychic Medium Joy Giovanni

Episode Transcript:

Hey beautiful soul Welcome to Spirit Speakeasy. I'm Joy Giovanni, Joyful Medium. I'm a working psychic, medium energy healer and spiritual gifts mentor. This podcast is like a seat at the table in a secret club, but with mediums, mystics and the spiritual luminaries of our time. So come behind the velvet ropes with me and see inside my world is I chat insider style with profoundly different souls. We go deep share juicy stories laugh a lot, and it wouldn't be a speakeasy. Without great insider secrets and tips. You might even learn that you have some gifts of your own. So step inside the spirit speakeasy. Our conversation today is going to be with an incredibly special soul. Carolina Gutierrez, I'm gonna launch into her bio in just a second here. But in this episode, we are going to cover everything from her gifts as a medium as a coach on data, which you're going to learn about in just a minute. We're also going to talk about how she's been able to transform her journey with ADHD and use it as a superpower in her life. We're going to talk about honoring ancestors and how you can do that and her tip for the number one thing that you need to be doing right now if you have any intention of developing any of these gifts and abilities, even in a casual way. Plus, she's going to share some additional information about your spirit guides your team or spirit core, as she calls it, what that means what you need to know and her beliefs on all of that and so much more. I can't believe we got all this conversation in just about an hour. So without further ado, I'm so excited to share my conversation with Carolina Gutierrez welcome to the Spirit Speakeasy. Hey, beautiful souls Welcome back or welcome in for another episode of Spirit Speakeasy. My guest today I cannot wait to have this conversation. Her name is Carolina Gutierrez as a medium that's been hearing her spirits since the age of four. Carolina believes in living a grounded life that is led by spirit She guides clients and business owners alike on the importance of intuition first challenging you to think about work and life from the inside out. Carolina is a psychic medium that practices in an evidentiary way you guys know I love that formally educated in social work. She's registered at the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers as a counselor and hypnotist in private practice for more than two decades Carolina is relationship with her spirits is at the core of how she serves. Carolina is also a consulting medium with the consejo cultural Yoruba and Canada. Her spiritual practices and ancestral roots combine her indigenous West African Sephardic Jewish and Southern European Catholic heritage which weave the thread of her magic. Her mission is to help people reconnect to their own internal guidance by building their intuition and trusting themselves to live their own life's purpose leading with spirit compassion and warmth. Carolina offers a familiar and welcoming touch when working with a diverse set of clientele. Welcome in Carolina Gutierrez.
Joy. You made my biography sounds great.
It is great. I mean, it's those I was so like, it's so delicious to read those things about you. And with each thing. I was like, Oh, my gosh, you practice Yuruba as well. So I feel like we have a lot to talk about. So you have been aware of some of your gifts since you were four ish. Is that right?
I can still remember the very first time that I heard a voice guiding me. Oh, we should do something. Yeah, it was really interesting, actually. So we lived in a small apartment, I was raised by a single mom and I was watching a show and it was like boring Sunday afternoon. Like it was just horrendous, right? Like you'd watch infomercials type of stuff on those Sundays. And it was about it was a small little segment on therapeutic touch. So kind of like the precursor to when or actually no Reiki came in, in the 40s. But it's along those lines. It was energetic and was talking about how like people would hover their hand over somebody's body and you know, they're going on and on my eyes were just like, why don't like Oh, wow. But then of course, they came no one should do this. If you're not trained, you know, like they gave all this like fear afterwards. And I was like, oh, okay, I can't do this. And then I remember kind of hovering my hand over a plant right next to the TV, thinking about doing it. And I heard this voice a to try it. Go go and I remember it so clearly because it was so separate from But I was hearing it in my head. And I was like, not knowing what it was took me years to understand what that was. But yeah, that was that was the first moment that I heard my spirits.
That's pretty incredible. It is interesting. I love that you highlight how that little layer of fear is often layered in there for us and makes us even at such a young and open age, like hesitant of like, Oh, am I going to be bad? If I do this? Is this scary? But I love that you have that internal voice was that? I know, it's probably a long time ago for you to remember. But was that internal voice in your own voice just separate from you? Do you remember it being like a different voice? How was that.
So at the time, it very much felt like it was kind of like turning around like. But as I got older, and when I say older, I'm talking about like maybe 10 or 11, that voice very much meshed into my own. So I didn't recognize it as this external thing. But like I remember journaling, when I was really young, and seeing my writing change on the piece of paper, depending on the voice that was coming through. So yeah, you know, definitely there's an evolution, I think somebody that, you know, I know that I read your stuff. And I know that you teach about developing to the the intuition development that I teach, I always talk about that. I'm like, listen, there are so many conditions out in the world that are that block us from this, right. And it's really peeling back those layers. And you know, fear is one of them, trauma, anxiety, conditioning, social conditioning in school, and our parents religious beliefs, like the list can go on and on of all the things that we need to kind of sift through to have that that openness that that four year old had when that first introduced itself to me.
So how did you go from I agree with everything you just said, by the way. And the other thing for me is like I feel like sometimes through whatever group of those life experiences we have, right there are these emotions that if we don't process they also kind of color and define our experience? Yeah. How did you go from kind of for being aware, doing journaling? 10, being aware to like, I mean, did you did you share that with anyone in your No, absolutely
not?
That's a secret.
Yeah, it was absolutely secret I didn't. So again, when I was journaling at that age of 10, I didn't, I just thought it was my own voice. It already had meshed into sounding like it was just me, talking to myself in my head. And I absolutely did not grow up in a home nor an extended family that would have welcomed me sharing this internal experience and kind of figuring it out, right. So it wasn't until I was in my early 20s. And I was learning hypnosis is my first love and kind of foray into this alternative world. And there was a medium in the in the workshop. That was it that was taking the class with me or an open medium, let's put it that way. And so we were out to lunch, and everyone's like, give me a reading, give me a reading. Everyone was getting theirs. And then it came to me. And she literally turn around she goes, honey, you're more intuitive than I am you have to be doing this for a living. It's like you need to be paying attention to these voices and those stories that are playing in your head when and those images and stuff when you're when you're around people, right or when you start to think about somebody. And I was like, Huh, what? And I remember that day because I literally went home when I was thinking about it. And my spirits, the voice came again, right? It's always been there. But the voice came again said great. Now you understand it, now we get to work. Right? And so it really that's where I really started. And I started doing readings very quickly. Like I would probably say within a month of that. I was I was practicing like I wasn't charging, but I was practicing because, you know, unlike other people, and I'm not against people learning, I think everybody needs to learn. But the learning that happened for me and that has really dictated my entire journey here has been for my spirits. My spirits are like, this is what this is what we're gonna we're gonna practice today. And this is the technique that we want you to use in this client. And this is and so it's really been a schooling of an internal world of mine that then I'm able to bring up people are like, how do you do that? And I'm like, I It's hard to explain because if you don't have that same experience, how do you translate that? That wisdom over? Yeah.
That's pretty amazing. So you're in this hypnotist or hypnotherapy development program. You finished that obviously you've said you practice that for two decades. Is it really just all braided together in your work at that point through those apps? 20 years? Yeah. So it's fascinating to me Oh, sorry, on the social work side, too, because I know so many social workers, therapists people in that genre that are so intuitive and gifted, but obviously can't talk about it in an overt way. Most of the time, if you're registered with more of like, official,
I am registered with an official college. So I've actually taken the opposing stance. So the way I present myself is that I present culturally informed and culturally appropriate mental health support. Because the reality is, is if you have any, any listeners that are in the Latin community, or that love someone in the Latin community, they're going to know that, you know, therapy and mental health isn't exactly easily spoken about, it's not something that people necessarily seek out. But they will seek out the help of a Curandera, they will seek out the help of maybe a medium or a tarot reader. And so I, I decided that I would combine my gifts, along with my training, so that I would be able to offer that because as somebody who's been in therapy for many years for my own stuff, traditional therapy, I've tried everything you name it. It really is a disservice that we provide to clients, when we don't allow them to speak about this rich and deep understanding of our spirituality. And so we're, we're holding space for these people to open up and share their deepest darkest stories, their hurts and their pains. And they might have a rich belief in God or an Angels or in whatever that flavor looks like for you. And the fact that we don't acknowledge that, or we don't recognize that or hold space for that, or even not even hold space, because I'm sure there's therapists that do that. But that we're like, I understand that. And I work in that, in that, in that belief system as well. To me, that felt like there was just something missing. And I said, I'm not, you know, COVID definitely helped me with that in, I'm not gonna hide in the shadows anymore. This is the reality that I live, and that I've lived my entire life. And if there's anybody out there that I can help with that, then that's what I'm going to do.
I think it's such a beautiful way to blend your gifts and your education and your own cultural backgrounds. I really believe that this is the direction that we're going. Collectively, I think it's slower than then all of us would like to see it be. But I mean, how can you to your point, it's like how can you help someone if you can't take into consideration all of their experience as a person? Apps, whatever that might be? Absolutely. You used a word that you use on your website, you identify as a Curandera, which I'm going to read the definition that you gave on your website, and then I would love it if you would talk about this because I think this is just the coolest thing. It's a Spanish word for a female folk healer or medicine woman who uses herbs, psychoactive plants, magic and spiritualism to treat illness and use visions and part traditional wisdom, or female shaman is that I know it's a tiny little definition. But how do you
that's Webster that how do you? That's Webster's definition. Yeah. So I took it directly from yours. But I wrote an entire blog posts about it. So if anyone's interested, there's a link there. But at the end of the day, Curandera is a spirit intermediary. Because the belief that any type of illness whether it's mental, physical, emotional, it starts at the energetic level, it starts in an in our energy body, and then it eventually will transfer over. So culturally, and it's not only Latin culture, you hear a lot of people that talk about, you know, centuries ago, they died of a broken heart. Right? Or she's gotten scared, there's a there's a fear that she's caught. And then it might end, this child might no longer talk, right? We have a lot of explanations and a lot of definitions in in the mental health space for that, right. But it didn't just all of a sudden start happening in the last 150 years when psychology and psychiatry and all that stuff came into being these are problems that have existed for us since since the beginning of time. And so it's very much about combining that ancient wisdom. So I couldn't data you know, people will see on my Instagram I say I walk between worlds because I do like, as much as we're having this conversation right now, as a medium Joy, you know that you might be having an internal conversation with your spirits in regards to what is she saying? How she What's the next question that you ask? That shows up very much in my counseling sessions like where do you probe stay quiet a little longer things like that. But and there's three ways that usually they couldn't they to develop it is either the spirits select you and And when they say like, do you have no choice? That is kind of the path of the shaman. It's a very uncomfortable one because it's like, come hell or high water, you're doing this. And, you know, I stopped practicing for many years because I was going through some personal stuff and they dragged me back in. You know, I say that lovingly now, but it did not feel loving at the time. You can either be initiated into it, or you can be born into it through through family, right? So mine was the spirits elected me they do, I did not go seeking for this, they kind of showed up and they're like, here we are, let's, let's get going.
on what's funny is I feel like sometimes if it is our natural calling, or we're selected, the more we resist it, or push against it, the more discomfort we experience in our lives all the way around your
experience. Yes, yes, very much. So they made it. So initially, it was great. Like I embrace it, I, you know, it was wonderful. I had my practice. And then some personal issues started to come up. You know, I started an infertility journey that just kind of suck the life at me. And I was like, I don't have the, the wherewithal and the strength to hold space for people, right, because I'm like, I can barely hold space for myself going through this journey. And so very much I pushed away. And then I started, you know, like, I have a lot of business too. So, you know, but the hustle doesn't disappear for me. And so I started a different business. But that calling was always in the background, always in the background. And when I was close to hitting 40, like just about 39. It was, it started getting really loud, really, really loud. And infertility journey was absolutely going nowhere. It was taking a toll on my personal relationship with my partner. They was just a lot of things going on. But I could hear this. And I'm like, how am I here? Like, I have so much other stuff in my life, I can't believe how much this is kind of increasing. And when I cracked the door on that, again, it was like, they came storming through, and they're like, You can't run from this anymore. And they pretty much really took my other business down. Because I said, Okay, I'll practice on weekends. I'll do like a part time thing. You know, like, I'm here negotiating because I, I know what it's like from before. And they're like, sure, sure. And it was just like, week by week, my I had a I had a thriving technology implementation business, I had a staff of six, I had retainer clients, and that just crumbled bit by bit by bit, as this just increased exponentially again, and they're like, You can't run from your purpose.
That's pretty amazing. I think that's how it is. I mean, it's not for everybody, but certainly for some of us, it's like, we think, Okay, I'm going to make this pivot, I'm going to make the shift. And then spirit, our own soul, you know, has a different, a different plan for us. Absolutely. What was there a final straw? Or was it this gradual turning over, you know, back to fully facing into this work that you serve the world with? I would
like to say it was a gradual, because that's the plan that I had in my head. But it was like spirit taking a machete and just like chopping down the weeds in front of me and be like, No, this is happening, right? So, you know, it was like, you know, had a thriving practice I had, I was close to 20 retainer clients on top of projects. And one by one every week, one week, I had three people call me and once I'm retiring, my partner saint, like all these, and I was like, you know, there's no salvaging that when that happens, right, and I was just like, and every time I just hear them, say, to surrender, you know, you can fight it and make it harder. Or you can just surrender. Right? And so I'd say about halfway through that I just said, Okay, I have enough wisdom now to know that I just, you know, it's time to give up the fight and take on my calling again.
Had you been doing your could Indiana practice privately, like within your own life? Or had you like, abandoned it
completely about I had abandoned it about 90% By that time, so the spirits kept talking to me, right? And, but it was like, it was almost like, there was a sabotage going on in my life, like everything that everything was 10 times harder in business and in life. And what I've noticed since that shift, it's like now it's like I touch something. It's like boom, because it's very much on the path right? And I know everybody's experience isn't like that. But But yeah, for me, it's always been quite traumatic.
What is Is that surrender that fully shifting over back into your spiritual practice? What does that look like for you in business? And then in your personal life? Because I'm guessing, I mean, just reading your website alone in this brief conversation we've started having, I know that you're a person who practices, what you preach who, you know, totally lives, the work that you are sharing with others. How does that start to change for you? How do you embrace it more? Can you talk a little bit about that of your journey, so
I hadn't, that hadn't disappeared. For me, even though I wasn't publicly practicing, I was very much with working, I consider myself to work at a high level of integrity. If I couldn't help somebody, I'm not going to drag you along. And you know, kind of say that, especially in business, right. And it was interesting, because it started off where so I did, I had a virtual assistant agency, and I also did technology implementation and strategy. So I would go into the small businesses, and I would see behind the kimono, I would see everything that was going on. And I had luckily done that as a counselor before because I, you know, before I went into counseling, I thought, everybody, I messed up, and everybody has it together. And that was an incredibly healing awareness. For me that is like, No, we all we're all struggling with something. So then I had the opportunity to do that in business, because I would see the back end of everybody's business. And I was like, Oh, wow. Okay. Everybody's holding on by hoping a prayer, right? And I would say, not everybody, but a good chunk, right. And I kept seeing these people that would put on this facade for the world, right? Because no one wants to work with a business owner that isn't successful. And that does it. Of course, you
have to put that face out
there. Absolutely. Right. But you would see the pain behind. Right? And I would, I was like talking about technology, then it's close my book. And I'd be like, how do you feel, you know, like, the therapist never went away that that healer has always been present. And as this journey continued, I started saying, you know, there really should be something for entrepreneurs, because it's really detrimental to our health in so many different ways, emotionally, spiritually, physically. And so I started kind of really exploring that while doing this stuff. And, and I think that really kind of started to open up my heart, again, to the possibility of helping people even though I was going through this, you know, an infertility journey, something that I don't wish on, on even my worst enemy. And so I was like, okay, and really recognizing that part of my healing in that was actually what I was hiding away from, which was being able to hold space for others.
That's pretty incredible that you were I mean, I know what it's how it is, for many of us, in our own circumstances, were able to use the challenges that we personally face the the, the really difficult and I, I'm so sorry to hear that you went through that journey. It's not my experience, but I know lots of people that have done that fertility journey, and it really is on so many levels. Just an uphill climb. Yeah. I love that you were able to kind of take that struggle, that pain that you experienced and use it to serve, I think it's, you know, we can't make pain go away or heal it completely in that way. But we can transform it. Absolutely.
Just like energy, right? Yeah, exactly. I
mean, after all, it's it's emotion. It's it is an energy of a situation, right? Absolutely. What are the other things that you share? And just for everyone listening, of course, I will link your website in the show notes. So they can go and find those blog posts just to like really read the more in depth parts of the journey. You also talk about experiencing ADHD and how you've transformed that experience into like a superpower. I know, so many people are challenged with that, especially people who are female identifying who those you know, the symptoms they're looking for, I think appear differently in females. So it's kind of new for a lot. Absolutely. Yeah. Talk about your journey.
Sure, so ADHD, you know, when I got diagnosed, it's like, somebody says something to you, and then all of a sudden your life makes sense. Kind of like when that medium said, You're so intuitive. And then I'm like, oh, you know, like you put your life into perspective that you never really had considered that stuff happen to me. Oh, I was in my surrounding it, were you. So I was yeah, it was it was late. So what happened was was I was gonna go back for my master's in social work. And I was like, school had always especially like later High School and returning to university. That always been a real struggle for me. And I was like, listen, something's off. I know something's off. I thought maybe I had like an undiagnosed learning disability. And I said, I'm going to do this right. I'm gonna go and let's just get tested, see what comes up. And it wasn't for ADHD, I just wanted to, like, help me. Like, there's something off and I don't know. And it was a psychosocial assessment is what they called it here. And it was six hours long, I had to pay out of pocket for it. Wow. And I came out of it. And I was like, like, You're shocked, right? Because you're like, well, it's not supposed to appear this way. But, you know, I can remember in my childhood, I've said, I've mentioned this in other podcasts. laughingly, my mother used to find my keys in the freezer, when she would come home and goodness, cuz I would come home first, I was a latchkey kid. And whenever I, you know, I wanted a popsicle or whatever was in the fridge, and she would find it there. So, so that diagnosis actually very much spawned the beginning of that technology business that I have. And that I still have, like, I have some clients that like, I still have occasional projects on that. Because I can speak tech and feeling. So when I'm dealing with somebody in the spiritual business, they're kind of like, I don't know what to do. And I'm like I do. And, you know, kind of, really, I believe in automation, I believe in making sure that you your tech does the heavy lifting, so that we can be present for our people as much as possible. So everything that I had learned from my diagnosis and how the tools that they taught me in returning back to school because of the diagnosis, that was very easily translatable into the business world, because the reality is, is that ADHD is very high in, in the entrepreneurial community, right, because they don't fit into the model of these established workplaces.
So true. And I think a lot of spiritual practitioners have different layers of these things. It's pretty incredible. And just for people listening, who are thinking, okay, maybe something's not quite typical in my learning, I love that you already were a practicing hypnotherapist social worker working in these spaces. And then as a result of wanting to go back for more education, you were like, okay, hold on. So it's beautiful the way you said, like, everything made sense after that.
But I struggled greatly, like, don't get, I don't want people to get the wrong idea. Like, for me when the diagnosis came through, and they sat me down with something called the learning technologist at the university. So how do I apply technology, understanding the type of ADHD that I have, because not everybody's it's the same, it doesn't show up the same. And I'm not just talking about whether you're male identifying or female or not, it's, it's just everybody has, like different little quirks with it. And so that assessment was very useful, because they're like, boom, boom, boom, these are the things that I'm like, Oh, my God, you just made my life like 100 times easier, in just an hour's worth of a conversation. So you know, the very Catholic and may still lights candles to that learning technologist because she really, really changed my perspective on how I could use this. And even though I felt fell out of love with my program, and I did not finish my master's in social work, I started this business based on that understanding, because for years, I had tried to get myself organized to get myself my act together. So I had all this knowledge. But I didn't have the recipe of how to apply that knowledge for me in particular. And that's what the diagnosis very much did.
That's pretty amazing. So then you took those tools and strategies that you learned and tested and translated it into this tech business? Is that how that happens to then help other like you said, a lot of entrepreneurs maybe identify this way, too.
Yeah, my tagline for that business was I help you find peace, time and profits in that order?
That's amazing. And then once you so that you get have that established, like you said, you still have a few clients that you work with and support, then you shift your focus back to your individual client practice. You're teaching that piece of it. That's right. Yeah. How do you so do you identify as a Yoruba priestess as a practitioner of Yoruba because I know that you belong to that society as well in Canada?
Yeah, so. So I have your route by ancestry like I took way before coming to e phi and understanding For more West African practices, we had done a DNA test because my husband and I are this is this is a love spiritualities a love that we share. And so we had very much started the process of bringing our ancestors into our practice. And we would do an ancestor dinner on, you know, on All Souls Day, and we had little ancestor altars that we would have and have pictures of kind of a departed loved ones and stuff. But that was kind of it. And we had wanted to greater understand, like, how do we take this practice, because if I can encourage anyone, if there's one thing that you can do to supercharge your practice right now today, is to bring in your ancestors, because it is it is such an underlooked part of spirituality in the West. And it is such an integral part of our, of our spirituality period as people. And so we're kind of like doing all this stuff, we're meditating, maybe we're like developing our gifts, maybe we're trying to connect with how your rounds or whatever that looks like for you or prayer. And then we have this whole team, the same team that a medium connects into when you're getting a reading, or part of what they connect into. And we're like completely overlooking the fact that they're there, they are the closest of the Spirit team that you have. So it's your ancestors, and you go to your guides, and you go, and then it kind of goes out like that. So you're putting petitions out to the universe, but your ancestors are right there. And they can help with that as well. So we were we really wanted to start to enrich our practice. So we had gotten a DNA test done, and we realize how much African ancestry I had. I know it doesn't look like it, I have pink cheeks. And you know, but when you look at your How does it make America ology, right? Yeah, yeah, the transatlantic slave trade, slave trade was very makes up very much of the ancestry of people in the region. And so my, my partner had decided to get a particular reading, that's regarding your ancestors in something called the Spirit cord, kind of those were those spirits that walk with you. It's very much done in the traditional SPDT stuff. A tradition, that is part of how ephah, which is one of the practices or the practice that the Yoruba people of Nigeria, and really the region, it's not just Nigeria, and it's known as a derivative of Fa FA. And it's really this form of divination that is meant to help you live a great life, right? And help you in understanding, what are the challenges that you have coming up? Are you imbalance? Are you out of balance? How do you get back into balance? How do you maintain that balance if you're in there, and it recognizes the the forces in nature, and how they play a role not in our life, but also internally, right, and those qualities that they bring forward. So that was kind of our first foray into that. And let me tell you, my ancestors woke up during that reading. And they're like, like, I could almost hear the cheering in the background. They're like you've you've, you've come to recognize us, you've come to understand, what are some of the gifts that you innately carry and where they come from?
Yeah, that's beautiful. You said that if someone wants to do one thing, the most important thing to incorporate this focus on their own ancestors? Would you we talked about that actually, kind of quite a bit here, where you share just some ways that Oh, I didn't know I didn't do that. Yeah. So you know, there's so many ways to I would say, incorporate it, do you feel like there's certain ways or do you feel like it's any, any way that resonates with that person.
So I would say, everybody is different, and your aunt, depending on where your ancestry is, it's going to be a very different approach. And I say that because my partner, part of his ancestry is Eastern European. And man, those ancestors show up very differently than mine do, because I have not nothing of Eastern Europe, in my ancestry, and they just feel different. So it's very important to kind of, and I know, there's a lot of controversy with like DNA tests, and people don't want to give their information. But that really was a big turning point for me, because it really showed to me the timeline of my ancestry when different ones came in the percentages, all of that stuff. And so, what I would say is for anybody, regardless of the tradition that you're in, or that your ancestors practice, one is you just want to open up space for them and it might just be a handle, and then sitting in quiet inviting them in. Okay. The second thing that I would recommend, and I cannot say this enough is, when you start to work, please invite your elevated ancestors in, not the whole bunch. It's just safer that way. Because we all have some ancestors that might not like each other, they might not have led the best lives. You know, they might have done things that they're not proud of whatever that looks like, right? Each one of us has this progression that we're on saying with your ancestors. So for safety reasons, I always say, work with your elevated ancestors first, and kind of see where that goes. And there's other tips I can give you, I don't want to take over all the time. It's
great, I love this. So going, the other thing
that I would recommend is once you start working with the elevated ancestor, and you start kind of getting a feeling, because it's, it's not necessarily if you're not a medium, and even for mediums, you might not be able to put your finger on exactly what that feels like. So my kind of safety mechanism with anything as a medium, but, and specifically with with working with my ancestors is, I always say that I want to work with the ones that my main spirit guide approves of. Because depending on the tradition, if you look at a West African tradition, or even an indigenous tradition, that is also mixed into my ancestor, how we practice, ancestors are very elevated, they are very high on that totem pole. Of. So it's kind of like, if your spirit guides are like, I'm not going to help you at this time, I want you to struggle. My tip is go to the ancestors, because the ancestors from it through their compassion, and through the the reality that they were alive, they had this physical experience and the struggles, they will sometimes pass you a cheat sheet. And oh, and kind of over. I don't say overlooked, but like, override your main guide.
Oh, I like that. That's interesting. Do you feel like is this a practice to be done? Kind of multiple times a week, once a week? Once a month? What do you think?
I think you need to do it, however you're called to do it. And if you make a commitment to do it, you keep that commitment. So if you're not great at commitments, right? Don't do don't say I'm going to talk to you daily, or I'm going to light a candle to you daily, like I serve coffee tomorrow, I'm not gonna I'm gonna say that if I can't keep it right. My practice is daily, I'm 45 minutes minimum every morning that I am connecting with my guides, connecting with my ancestors, getting my spiritual to do list for the day sitting in prayer and meditation. I know that is not for everyone. And not everyone is meant to work with the public either, right? Like, these gifts are there. And maybe they're there to make your life better and to help your family. But I think that there is a different calling when you're like out on the front line. I don't know what would you say that to joy being? From my
perspective, personally, I agree. I haven't just about an hour of practice that I do every day. And it really does assist with my work as a practitioner. But I just what you said it's depends. You know, what your intention is what you're trying to do with this work? If it's for some people, maybe it's five minutes of acknowledgement. For me, it's about an hour.
Absolutely. And I really do notice a difference. And when I say that, like people are like, Oh, really, every day and that was like a 365 days, I probably it's probably take about 20 days in total off over the entire year. Right. But not everybody's like that, right? Like my spirits wake me up in the middle of the night. They're like we need to talk get to you and my husband like it's four in the morning. Like, they're not gonna let me sleep. So I might as well just get this done. Right. I can
imagine you with the bathrobe and messy hair just like shuffling shuffling your feet out. They're like, okay, here
and my poor dogs half asleep. And they're like, We got to keep your company funny.
I actually have in the notes section of my phone computer, like late night inspirations. And like you said, sometimes it is just because I'm zoning out and watching TV or kind of in that in between space, I'll suddenly get an inspiration about sometimes it's something I've been racking my little human brain about that. They're like, well, let's give you like you said, let's give you the cheat sheet on that. Yeah, and help you out a little bit. If someone doesn't know, their their lineage, their heritage, you feel like just doing that some version of like a DNA assessment. And
even if they don't want to do it, let's say you don't want to do it. You don't want to go that route. I respect that. Then just start to open up space for them. Right? What I like about the lineages Um, you start to understand what are what is this the court of ancestors that work with you? Right? You know, I would have never guessed the amount of West African and African descendancy that I have never in a million years would I have thought that that's the majority or a good chunk. I'm not gonna say the majority, but a good chunk, right? So you can take some of that, because you have to understand your ancestors paths a long time ago. And so their practices were really important to them. Right? And so when you're going on a date, are you going to take that first date to the, to the Italian food that She despises? Or you're going to take her out to have sushi? Which, which they love? Right? Think about it, I always say use that discernment that we have in physical in your physical life. It applies to the spiritual life as well, right? And so, you know, you can bring in elements of that, depending on how you're, you're building this relationship. And I know people are gonna say, I can't hear I can't feel I don't have those gifts. How do I do. And I'm like, the intention, the fact that you are taking the time out of your day, to simply do that. pays you pays you back in spades with the ancestors.
Yeah. And to your point, we just talked about this a lot here, too. It's, for most people, some people have a different experience. But for most people, it's it's an incredibly subtle sensing. It's not, I believe me, I always joke in my readings and say, I wish they would just stand next to me and talk in my ear and wear a nametag, but it's not how it works. It's very, very subtle. So like you said, it might just be sitting and holding that open space, and just getting a sense that you're not alone. It's it's so subtle, it's like the shadow of a whisper almost, is sometimes how I say it. And even if you're not aware, it doesn't mean it's not happening, right.
And even as a medium, even as somebody who has these gifts, and yeah, you know, I've had mine too, since very little, I still have had to work to understand them and to refine them. Like I've had clients that I've coached with their mediumship when they're frustrated at six months, where and I was like, Honey, it's like, it's, it's yours, because you're learning a new language, you're learning to understand each other, you also have regular life and all of the adulting that that comes along with that and the myriad of responsibilities, right? And so, you know, people want this quick fix with this stuff. And it's not you have to put in, in the, you have to put in that effort and ephod talks about something that is at the core of the practice is called the nibble. And really what it means is it's a sacrifice. What are you sacrificing? In order to achieve this? Right? Is it the sacrifice of time, effort, energy, money? What is it, but you can't expect this to just show up? And go with it?
Yeah, one of the interesting things for me on this journey has been kind of what you said, to understand that even if we're a spiritual practitioner, we are required to do this, like human life. And this, we can't just isolate away from it. And I always have said numerous times I try to encourage people to understand it's it's not a light switch, it's a relationship. It's not just like open my third eye or turn on my you know this or that. It's like, oh, no, this is a relationship that you're developing, and nurturing just like any other relationship with anything else. We don't create a business and then just say, like, oh, I turned on the switch of that business. I'm
everybody shows up, I have to do nothing else that doesn't work that way. Yeah. I think a lot of times we have people have this idea of kind of like the Oracle of Delphi, where they just sit in a cave. And people come to them, and they and they pass the messages of wisdom along to them. And, you know, that's why I talk so much about living a grounded life that's led by spirit, because we live in this 3d world. We have to pay bills, we have taxes, we have responsibilities, we have health issues, you know, we have to like go replace the socks that have a hole in it. And we have to, you know, prepare our food and we have arguments with our family. And all of that comes into play, right? And if we really want to live a life that is good, in in good, I mean, where we want to go that we feel at peace with what we're doing. We have to learn to combine spirituality with this 3d world. Because we get a lot of people like I know, I do fairs all the time. And, like I would say 90% of who I see at a fair They're not in their body. We're just bringing them into their body. And they're like, but I have to connect with spirit I'm like, but there's different ways. Everyone thinks that they have to go up to connect to spirit. But by you being grounded in your body, you can, you can call spirit down in a healthy way, without getting yourself in trouble.
That's so it's so true. And I love that you even offer a lot of this work as one on one sessions. So if someone is interested in working with that you touched into for just a second there a little bit ago, I saw on your website. This I call them the spirit team, you had a different word for it, the the counsel the court, will you talk a little bit more about that, and I think people often don't understand that, like everyone has this team of I call it the team of guides and inspirers. But I would love to hear a little bit more about because I know it's something you offer and something you do in your practice. So I'd love to hear your take on that. So
spirit cord is it's that team. It's that team of helpers that walk with you every day that some I say to people that come in for a season or reason or a lifetime. Right? Some of them, you have ones that you are born with, when you take that first breath are right there with you. And they assure you over to the other side, when you take your last breath. That doesn't change. Do you hear them differently? Sometimes, depending on the circumstances. Yeah. And I say that personally, like when I wasn't following my path, they were horrendous how they treated me because it was like, and I say that now understanding, right? Because they're like, We need you to get on task and you're not on task. That is not that's not the relationship that I have now. Right? But it's understanding definitely that these people are here to guide you to your purpose. Whatever that purpose is. I apologize. That's my dog, somebody's
sorry, but that's a real experience. We love dogs.
Okay, but understand that you're at least the understanding that I have, and the way they shows show up in the readings and stuff is your spirit team, their sole purpose, your court, their sole purpose is to get you to fulfill your purpose. Whatever that purpose is, that's a different story. But their job is to get you to fulfill that purpose. And you get a lot of difficulty with this. When you rub up against, not against but when you rub up with the New Age system of you can manifest everything. You know, you can create everything that you want. You just got to think and and believe it and I'm like That's true. I believe. I do believe that until it rubs up against what you're here to do. Yeah, right. So you know, and some people aren't comfortable with that. But I say to a manifester that I can manage. I'm like, Okay, how do I get taller? I'm five, one and a half. And I've been fine one and a half since forever. I'm 45. Now I feel right. Right. I'm like, how do you manifest yourself out of jail? In a life sentence? Right? Yeah. If you don't, because now, can you make that stay? Maybe different? Probably. Right. Can I make magic with my five one and a half minutes? Yes. But that doesn't change. And so the spirit court is very much above taking you where it is that you need to go. Okay. And my understanding and what's been shared with me is the original way that this was presented to me was that they've all had a human existence. That being said, I have read people that have non human guides in the court, right? I have read ones that it might be an elemental being, it might be et and I like I can't exaggerate to you how grounded I am. I am open to that. But I'm very much like I like if you come for reading with somebody, you should be getting details. These should be changes that you can make immediately in your life. You should not be kind of grasping at straws to have this very, like abstract picture that they're painting makes sense. You should be like, boom, boom, boom, okay? Right. My readings evidential sister absolutely right? My readings all people come in. And the first thing that I say is not a word. I don't want to know a single word, because it's going to taint then my mind will start to get in and I know myself. So I'm like You stay quiet until I tell you that you can speak. And then you can ask all the questions you want. But spirit has messages that I have to get through here. And my job is to make sure that the channel is as clear as possible, and that the integrity of the message remains the best that it can. And I kind of went all over the place. I apologize. Oh, this
is great. Because actually, as you're saying it i It's funny, because you're the first person that's called this out that that a lot of us won't work mediums or sensitives. Or what however we identify, we have these additional conversations or things like, oh, yeah, highlight this, or we need to talk about this. And I am so curious to get your take, I believe I've come to the belief over the years through my time with my team, that we as souls, before we come into this incarnation, we actually have meetings with at least some of the members of this team and select them ourselves and understand as a soul, you know, obviously, when we come into human form, we don't have access necessarily to like that information and a top of mind conscious way, but I think we choose or have a part in, like, we're on the team, too. It's not like this, you know, militant force that's bossing us. It's like, no, no, no, our selection for the job. Absolutely.
And I say that, like I said, you know, there was a period of time where it wasn't gentle for me, but they know exactly how I am. And they know exactly what they needed to do, and what they needed to say, to push me into the direction or to guide me into the direction that that I needed to go into. Right, these are specialists on you. And that's why it's so important to understand that core teen, right, and what they help you with, because different guides might step in for different things. One of the things that I when I read people that have not had a child, and then they're gonna, then then they have a chat, there's a new one that kind of steps in there for parenthood and what stage you're at with, with that child. Right? So they know you they know your resistance, they know your weak points, they know what makes you giddy and happy. And it's all tied into how they love us. Right? And it's a very different love. Right? Because I think we think it's a soft law. And it's a very tough love almost right. I always tell people, if you really want to open your intuition that you need to start to prepare yourself to hear things that you don't want to hear. Because when you start it's usually
Yeah, yeah. Or it's like the here's what we're here's what you need to address look at revisit in order to kind of move forward. It's, it's a Yeah, I mean, love is sometimes soft and gentle and affirmative. But think about I guess we can think about anyone we love in the world. And the emotions are so much different at that spirit level. But anyone we love in the world if we knew this is their plan, and this is what they've asked us to support them with. Wouldn't you tough love them sometimes, if that's kind of the mission you signed up for? So it's like,
it's like the parent, right? You know, that your I would think that most would think that their job is to make a productive, healthy, balanced. person for the world, right? So is it tough love because they're saying no, you can't have ice cream for dinner? Because they're like, you're not gonna be able to sleep. You know, like, there's so many consequences, but we don't always see that. I think it's, it's very similar that relationship with our, with our guides,
and it's such an interesting relationship to with our with our guides, because from my perspective anyway, they're not going to, like usurp your freewill choice and force you to make a choice, they will like us, they'll make it incredibly uncomfortable sometimes, or we're trying to like move through quicksand with one direction that's not the highest and greatest for us, but they're not going to, like, make the choices for us. Otherwise, we wouldn't need to be here. Absolutely.
Absolutely. Right. And I think I would say for myself, the realization that I've come to this is where the surrender has really been. For the most part, and I'm not gonna say happens 100%. But I try and have it happen often is, I surrender my freewill to them. And I say, what do you need me to do today? What is this list? And that's very like, Listen, I'm not sitting here on a mountaintop saying that that's easy to do. Because there's days where I just want to give them the middle finger with what they tell me. I love that. But when you start to recognize the peace that comes with you following that wisdom, it's almost addictive. Yeah.
Well, and we still have free will choice all along the way. So you could surrender in the morning and then buy lunch? Yeah, it'd be like,
tapping out today. Let's take it back.
I don't want to go to that store. It gets. It's funny. So you actually do sessions with clients that help them understand this team, right?
Absolutely. It's called the Spirit cord reading and my husband's a medium as well. So depending on the client and kind of the where they're at, we they could call both of us in to do the reading at the same time.
Wow, that's so cool. And what can someone expect to walk away from a session like that with? So
number one, it's understanding some of the members because usually we don't get through the entire one and just one hour, or one session. Yes, that's a lot. That's a lot, right. But you understand how to address them. Now, I'm not great with names, my husband's a bit better with that. But I might get like the the first letter, like a ma, you know, something like that I sometimes I'm, I'm improving slowly with the names, you'll understand how they present. They might show me one of their lives, like one of their lives here on Earth, and kind of like, were they dairy farmers, or were the belly dancers or, you know, whatever that looks like for them. And they'll tell me what it is that they are specifically in charge of helping you with, right, so if you're, if you're a medium that is meant to work with the public, then there'll be like, This is how I help her. This is how I want her to honor me. You know, sometimes they give me like a little symbol, like, it might be like, a cup, let's say, right, and they're like, if she can put a small cup, this color on her altar, and, you know, just fill it with water on a regular basis. That's, I want her to recognize that that's the symbol of how I present. Depending on the stage of development of who I'm reading, we might go into what I call the secret handshakes. I don't know if you've have that in your practice story.
Who I don't know, talk more about that. What does that mean? So the secret handshakes
are how do you know that you're talking to your guide? Right, because as a medium, your windows and doors are open. And so I know for me, if I just let every like, I'm walking down the street, and I might hear the tree, right? Like it again, I have an animistic worldview. So that makes sense to me, right? Like I think everything has a spirit. Right? I walk into the grocery store, and there might be somebody standing there, right? So it becomes very, very important, especially when you're not only for working with the public, but with your safety as well. That you recognize who is your guide? And who is not because people are gonna be like, Yeah, I'm your guide. And my guidance talk was, you know, and there's a kind of a frenetic anxiety when you get these like wayward spirits that are talking to you, with your guides usually don't show up like that, unless it's like an emergency, like life or death type of thing. So I'm like, Okay, let's, let's, let's find out what their secret handshake is. So that every time that you start to get these impressions, you have a way to check to see is this right, guys? That's exactly,
yeah. And again, it's relationship building. So you're building a relationship to kind of know how they feel or know how they're going to show up or what their secret handshake is. I love that idea. I forgot to tell you, when we started chatting, but on our interview episode, we always close out with a quick four question. We call it spirit speed round. Are you okay with that? It's fun. And it's easy, and there's no pressure and any answers fine. Will you quickly though, before we do that, just tell people how to find you? What's the best way to connect with you? And of course, I'll link everything in the show notes. Awesome.
Yeah, so my website is Curandera.ca, C U R, a n d e r a.ca. And only information you'll you can book directly from the site. I'm not great at social media, but I'm trying, you can find me @Curandera.ca on Instagram. And yeah, I
follow you so they can find you through my page too. And if you can't remember how to spell that, just look in the show notes and links there. Okay, here is our spirit Speed Round, will you share one thing that really shocked you or was unexpected about your gifts as a Curandera?
How much how much clearing I have to do for my clients when we're doing energy work? The reality of we live in a haunted world. We really do. And, and, you know, a lot of more than expected more than expected and a lot of when you start into this 48 People don't tell you that.
I like that one. If you got to spend a day in the spirit world on the other side, you got the full tour, you got to spend time with everyone you've ever known who's crossed over, it's almost time to return to your life and your guide tells you you have one hour left and you could spend it with anyone who's on the other side. Who do you choose and why?
I choose it with my ancestors that gave me my healing abilities. I find them I find them fascinating. I find them. They were a people that struggled and that the world did not recognize what enormous gifts that they could bring. And so I would definitely want to spend it with them.
That's a beautiful answer. Even though we have spiritual gifts, we have very human lives. What's one quirky thing about you that people might be surprised to learn?
I would say my love of technology, I've kind of I we share people always kind of like, what you see disappear. And I'm like, yeah, it you know, I think both can coexist. And that yeah, how much technology actually plays a role? And and, and how I use it throughout. So I'm like us almost like the techie psychic.
I think that's great. That's a cool, that's a cool one. Will you leave us with a pearl of wisdom? What's one piece of advice that you wish you had earlier on in your understanding of your gifts?
Don't let other people question what you know to be true. And it's your internal experience. So they have no opinion on it. It's always you. And you know that.
Wow. I love that. Well, thank you for all of your time and wisdom and for being here with us and sharing your life. Thank
you so much for offering to have me on your show. And this is really a joy. I love speaking with other mediums. I don't get to do that as often.
What an exciting conversation with Carolina, what did you guys think? Are you having your curiosities piqued? Right now, I actually have been thinking about doing an ancestry test. And this is really maybe pushing me to that next level. I don't know if I talk about this here on the show, but I do some ancestral practices and honoring of my own and my private spiritual work as a practitioner. And I'm so curious to know if you think this is something you're going to incorporate. And what do you think about the way she was talking about our spirit guide our teams, I just love how through different I don't know regions and different peoples and different ancestral lines and different modalities of practicing but so much of this information is so similar in different practitioners and in the information that we receive, I really feel like it's been such a treat to have this conversation with Carolina Gutierrez, if you want to find her website. Again, it's in the show notes, but it is curandera.ca because she is in Canada, my neighbor to the north. And you can connect with her that way you can also find her on Instagram, under @curandera.ca. She's also I follow her through my Instagram if that's easier for you. And I'm just so curious to hear your feedback on this episode, so make sure to like leave a comment. Let us know what your takeaways from this episode we're and lots of love and thanks to our new friend Carolina Gutierrez Big hugs bye for now from inside Spirit Speakeasy