PASSION FLOWER

Two Thousand Twenty will be remembered as a year of transformation, an outside and an inside, a before and after.

The reason why the Eleusinian mysteries inspire this collection is that they were a “festivity in which any woman, man, citizen or slave could participate. It was an initiation rite, where previous preparation, a walk to Eleusis was made -a kind of pilgrimage- to end with the intake of KYKEON, a concoction of wine and ergot (entheogenic substance of the Greek civilization) with the purpose of find THE VISION.

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To transform ourselves, one must be willing to take a journey, walk through the door of the temple and carry out a rite of passage. 

“IF IT IS TRUE THAT THE MYTH BECOMES BEHAVIOR; THEN, THE RITUAL TRANSFORMS.”
Raúl Motta

This is the story that gave birth to this collection. I want to thank all my women. Because thanks to them, I recognized the importance of friendship and my own worth. 

Silvia, Berenice, Isabel, Lorena, Helena, Raquel, Topaz, Angeles, Yolanda, Blanca, Denice, Cristina, Yarid, Greta, Danna and Elizabeth.

I wrote this short text recapitulating three difficult years in my life, which have transformed me.

Thanks also to that human being who deeply touched and transformed my existence, Fabián. 

And to all the people who, through Maria Mariscal, let me earn a living with each piece of jewelry they carry with them.

This is an offering to all of you.

During the summer of 2018 I bought three passion flowers to weave a vine at home, when I transplanted them, they bloomed shortly after and I was filled with happiness to see their flower and smell the perfume that they gave me, so I decided to tattoo one of them on my chest, for the On September 4, 2018, the rattle of the tattoo machine filled the room. The sharp itching of the needles incessantly penetrating the skin of the chest at the level of the heart also filled my whole body, the experiences that accompanied that summer and winter, - now I can state them as the equivalent of Persephone trapped in the underworld and of her mother Demeter crying inconsolably over the loss of her daughter - set the tone for sitting down writing this text today.
In the symbology of the Rider Waite tarot, the journey to the underworld is represented by a red pomegranate, and curiously, the fruit of the Passionflower is a tropical version of it.

The Separation -speaking of the Rapture of Persephone- always brings with it a birth, because if autumn and winter are times of seclusion, darkness and cold, we must not forget that by March, spring will arrive again, inevitably accompanied by buds and flowers.

During that autumn and winter, I took refuge in the arms of my mother, my sisters and my friends, in the classrooms of the San Carlos academy and at work and on December 18, 2018 the death rattle sounded again. 
Now on the left arm, Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Lilith. Nobody agrees exactly who that figure represents. For me at that time it was Lilith. Adam's first companion.

I returned with broken dreams, to my mother's home, I think we have all felt like this at some time because of things of the heart. However, I did not throw them away. I kept them in a box and got ready to get the necessary materials to make kintsugi for my life and waited for the arrival of February and March with the invitation of one of my magical women, to walk to the mountains and climb their peaks. 

I prepared myself physically, training hard, to give my lungs the necessary breath to take me to those peaks. 
I walked along the slopes of Xitle, the snow-capped Toluca, Malinche and finally Iztaccihuatl. Each walk was a kind of pilgrimage ritual, that ancient human exercise to get closer to heaven and the divinities that live there. 

“The path is arduous and strewn with dangers, because, in fact, it is a rite of passage from the profane to the sacred; from the ephemeral and illusory to reality and eternity; from death to life; from man to divinity.”
Mirce Eliade, "the myth of the eternal return"

Those mountains were my rite of passage. I abandoned many things in its skirts and on its peaks as well as I also discovered treasures that I carried within me: The strength of my legs, my abdomen, my arms, the sharpness of my eyes, my balance and my center of gravity, the agility of my whole body to carry me and the strength of my heart to pump blood to this machine of meat. 
Iztaccihuatl did not allow me to reach its peak, -but he gave me three things
An epiphany, discovering that my strength had been deposited out of the reach of my hands and that was the reason for my misfortunes. 
The medicine of the healing laughter of the Baubo that comforts Demeter and that only the friends of the soul give away. 
And the beautiful views of which to date, -if I close my eyes- inevitably paint me a smile. 

Something happens when you get that high: you see civilization in the distance, and you think “How did I get here? -the body feels the blow of the wind, the sun, the vertigo of the great rocks that inhabit the peaks; and hopelessly after the dream; you realize that this is only half the way, and all that remains is to deal with the gravity of the situation, literally, you have to readjust the axis of gravity, and bring it a little closer to the ground, thus transforming the lumbering walk from the ascent in a kind of trot to the descent.

-And it is that the top projects you so insignificant, that when you return; your dimension below is never the same again. 

In all ancient civilizations, there is a flood, a high land that is not swallowed by the fathomless depths of the dark ocean - which represents the darkness of the human psyche. 
So, you have to make a pilgrimage to the top so as not to drown. And then return when the waters have receded; and it is during this period that the being is transformed.

This is the story of the passion flower. This flower is the symbol of transformation and the myth of the Rape of Persephone, justifies the conduct. 
This collection is a reminder that no matter the situation, you have to make a pilgrimage, rediscover yourself, discover that strength, collect it and be patient, because the waters always recede and on the surface, the seeds will always turn back. in flowers.

I appreciate the support of SPINOFF for the beautiful media campaign.