In the Balanzu Way, we work with seven sacred beings, some of whom directed the founding of our tradition. These were the Aztec/Mexica deities Quetzalcoatl and Xilonen, known as the mother and father of the Balanzu Way. Quetzalcoatl literally means ‘the feathered serpent’ in Nahuatl; he was a powerful god across ancient Mesoamerica. He was connected to the wind and the higher realms; in our tradition, he is concerned with helping apprentices honor authority—their own, and others’—and teaching skills of oratory, ritual leadership, storytelling, and doing things in a proper way.
Xilonen is our loving corn mother, black jaguar mother; she has endless love to offer, but she can also be fierce (she is a jaguar after all). As our corn mother, she is connected to honoring ancestral foodways, and rituals of planting and harvesting. Her energy brings soothing and nourishment; she supports us with forgiveness, self-care, inner child work, and honoring the feminine wisdom she carries.
We also work with Xochi’ixchel, Xolotl, and Chalchuitlicue (don’t worry, if you work with us, you will learn how to pronounce these correctly) who are of Maya or Mexica origin, and Trickster and Thunderbird, who are pan-tribal beings across the Americas. These are not gods we believe in or venerate, these are real beings we talk to and work with in the realm of Spirit, who bring their direct assistance, guidance, and teaching to those initiated into the Balanzu Way.
In addition to working with this team of sacred beings from Jai’s heritage, each student also begins to cultivate or deepen their relationships with the real sacred beings of their own ancestry. Over time this means that the Balanzu Way has also included sacred beings and practices of various cultures that are part of students’ ancestry, and that they have offered in right relationship, including: Celtic, Viking, Yoruba, Australian Aboriginal, Chinese, Ancient Mesopotamian, and more.
By learning to work deeply with a holistic team of spirit beings who hold our tradition, apprentices learn how to do this for beings from their own background. In that way, the Balanzu Way is a meta-tradition that is deeply specific and grounded in one ancestral way, but also expects that students will stand with one foot in their own unique ways and practices taught by their spirit guides and gods. This allows us to be united in one Way, but also richly and uniquely different. It expands and brings through learnings and teachings of the ancient ways of all peoples, but without doing it in a culturally appropriative way by people for whom it is not their heritage. This allows the wisdom and ancient shamanic and magical practices to come forward from all peoples in a good way.
Balanzu Way School of Shamanic Arts 