Mētztli is a BIPOC Psychic Medium, Hoodoo Rootworker, Astrologer, Paranormal Investigator, Podcast Host and Botánica Owner.
Bex Carlos is the host of the podcast, Tu Tia Bruja. Contact Bex @tutiabruja on Instagram and Facebook or find her and the podcast at her website, BexBeCasting.
Her interview with Mētztli is below:
Bex: With growing up and becoming a witchy individual. When was the first time realizing, “Ok, I have a gift not everyone has.”
Mētztli: Hmm, when was that first time? You know, I think it was noticing the little differences in how I responded to my environment versus how my friends did. I remember what the adults would always says about me was, “Oh, they are so sensitive, my goodness.” I was always really quiet and introverted and slept with the hall light on.
I was very sensitive, it made me a scaredy-cat. Even at 5 years old, I sensed things no one else could see. Being around my Grandmother and Great Grandmother, one is Indigenous and one is Mexican Indigenous, but it’s all indigenous, you know? I remember talking to them and a particular dream I had once, and they realized from my description I was talking about my Great Grandfather.
Then I told them I would see him in a rocking chair and their jaws hit the floor.
From their expression, I could tell this wasn’t an ability everyone else experiences. It was kinda weird, cause no one told me it was ok or safe to be different. So I grew up a little bit, a lot a bit actually afraid of the way I was and people knowing. I still kinda get that way sometimes, meeting someone I don’t know. I worry they are going to ask, “Well what do you do?” It opens a whole can of worms.
B: It kinda makes sense. The shame of having a gift not everyone has is challenging because as a kid you just want to be like everyone else. However, do you think that this tarot deck has been your opportunity to be seen?
M: I think one of the important pieces of that whole experience is that being this way is very counter to the colonial world we live in.
Everyone expects colonialism and therefore whiteness, and a psychic kid doesn’t really fit into that. So seeing this tarot deck is a moment I am choosing to be like, “Hey look at me and what I do.”
In the beginning, I wasn’t thinking about that, but once I started sharing the images and talking about it on Instagram; after a while, I realized, “I feel really vulnerable right now. The internet isn’t a safe space.”
It’s just difficult for witches of color and marginalized people to self-publish, I just think we have to work so much harder. Preparing for being under the colonial lens is difficult.
B: No one really prepares you for this sorta thing. I mean we know of the scary outcomes that can happen, but I think that anxiety of worrying about that makes it so much worse. This deck just truly is beautiful, I haven’t seen a deck in a while that portrays animals in the way you do. What was your inspiration?
M: My Inspiration comes from my lifetime relationship being an animal communicator. I have this picture, I was like 4 years old sucking my thumb sitting in a rocking chair with a puppy.
The energy of the image is so peaceful and healing, animals have always been my sanctuary growing up in colonialism; they don’t carry the energy like we do. Nor do the plants. Whenever I had a puppy or kitty growing up, they were so close to me, I didn’t realize that isn’t normal. I had a dog named Pepper and she was my best friend, my Mom had to really nudge me to go outside and play with the other kids, and I didn’t really like that. ‘Cause they were where I got bullied, but also hanging out with Pepper and books were so much better.
Then I became a root worker and working with plant spirits took on a whole new meaning. My house for example has something for plants and animals everywhere, like bird feeders, and a squirrel chair. Like idk, they are our relatives. Something I hate about Western Culture is the belief that humans are above all else, and that animals are beneath us. I was actually talking to my Assistant, Jenna, about that, and she mentioned that belief comes from the Bible.
It just feels so detrimentally wrong in my spirit. I am actually tearing up as we speak and thinking this way has landed us into the place we are. So with this deck in even a small way, I hope to shift the lens and make people realize we are all the same and we can connect with them and identify with them, and we should. Connecting with the animals and plants always takes me out of a heavy situation. We are so focused on using Web MD to know what is wrong with us, instead of sitting under a tree and connecting with it. Does that make sense?
B: Yes, 100% and this comes at a timely time because I was currently reading about John D. Rockefeller and how he switched the business of medicine from being focused on plants and herbs to be more petroleum-based medicine, and anyone who promoted herbalism was deemed unstable to uneducated and basically blacklisted. This is all to say, I am hoping this deck will make people focus on plants and animals spirits instead of just spirit guides and spirit teams. Animals are the only ones that are truly forgiving.
M: You are touching on something I feel from them. Whenever I come back, even if I have only been gone 20-30 minutes my pack is just so happy to see me. It’s so powerful it can take me out of the worst mood, I get kinda grumpy going into the world and having to see everything. It’s that reminder that to your pack, you are always innately enough, always. That colonial idea makes us feel with have to be better, stronger, etc. I just wish there was more of that loving energy in the world.
B: The cards are just so cute. How many have you finished 19?
M: About 18 of the Major, I am working on the Wheel & Strength. Well, technically 20, two of the Minor.
B: So with this project, when is the last day for the Kickstarter?
M: March 23rd at Midnight.
B: You’re going to do this, stay positive and stay focused. It’s quite the undertaking of 78 cards give or take. Don’t stress over the time restrictions set by colonialism, you have time and options on how to print.
M: I’ve been giving myself the opportunity to rest. Having the openness of knowing there are options is nice to print is nice, I have that Aries Sun, Capricorn Moon thing going on where I want everything right now. But that isn’t how creativity works and it isn’t how channeling works. So I force myself to take breaks, I’ll work on a card for days. So if I am working on a card for 4 hours I’m like, “dude, go to the garden for a little bit.”
B: I always like to keep in mind our Ancestors didn’t always get the option of rest. So if the option for rest is available we should always take advantage of it. So if you feel like you need a nap, this is your reminder to take one.
M: There is actually a nap on the agenda. I am caught up on enough work, and I have been looking forward to this. I think today, fingers crossed is the day I will get to have one.
