Your Hosts

Cihua Mazatl & Itzcuauhtli

Cihua Mazatl

 Founder & Facilitator

There is a Nahuatl saying: In xochitl, in cuicatl: flower and song.

To me, it speaks to the many ways human beings create and find meaning. We paint, dance, write, sing, tell stories,tattoo, weave, drum and we gather around fire.  By right of being a human being, we are artists first. Extensions of creation. Long before I had words for philosophy, I understood making. I watched my ingenious mother find solutions big and small through her creativity. She inadvertently burned her desire to create within me, whether she herself continued to follow it or not. 

Creativity extends beyond self-expression. It has been a way for me to discover the answers to my deeper questions such as: How do we become more fully ourselves?

That question has guided my life because I’ve never liked to be defined or constrained to definition or any other likeness. My early childhood life was tumultuous, constrained, lonely, and marked by fear. I sought liberation from needing a reason to exist while simultaneously and ironically never asking why I had an unquenchable desire to create.

Consequently I studied psychology and studio art, later continuing into graduate studies in expressive arts therapy because I wanted to understand not only how I could heal, how people heal, but also how creativity itself participates in that process. I spent years working with children and families, where I learned that transformation rarely happens through explanation alone or as my formal studies had taught me to believe. It happens through relationship, play, story, symbol, and experience. It was the children that taught me that. 

Alongside those studies, I spent more than two decades practicing tarot and intuitive work. Thousands of conversations with people from every stage of life taught me that beneath our different circumstances, many of us are asking suprisingly similar questions. We long to understand ourselves, we seek purpose,  search for belonging and ultimately want to know how to live with integrity.

Those experiences taught me to listen because some of us just want to be heard and witnessed.

As an artist, my work continued to evolve through painting, writing, jewelry, tattooing, sewing, and ritual.  I never experienced these as separate practices as each became another language through which to explore what it means to be human.

Years later, about a decade ago, my ancestral reconnection journey began through dreams and arts based research.  Following the cosmic breadcrumbs lead me back home after years of western mysticism, I returned to my Yoeme roots. I traveled home to Mazatlan Sinaloa, where i’d been returning to all my life, and turned to my elders to ask questions.

I’d already begun my Danza Azteca journey when my studies brought me into deeper relationship with the Mexicayotl and the Tonalpohualli after many intensive studies in Teotihuacan, Mexico. As different as these teachings had been to what I’d always thought I knew, it connected me to something I had already been reaching toward: a relational understanding of the world.

One that asks us to move away from domination and toward participation. I came to realize it meant that even within these “decolonized” spaces they too were moving through the same lessons at the same time. I entered into medicine circles and spaces that added dimension to the facilitation process I had long ago begun with my grad studies. These medicine circles as beautiful as they were also taught me about shadow, ego, and reflected the work we had yet to do as a collective. It taught me about the importance of integrity in not only the work but how we embody it in our lives. My biggest lessons came from liberating myself from those that were determined to use my gifts and extract from me for their own gain. 

These teachings continue to shape my life, but they are not something I claim to possess. Like any meaningful relationship, they continue to ask things of me. They continue to teach me. I remain a student.

Over time, I realized that everything I had been doing (the artwork, the writings, the readings, the gatherings, the journals, the retreats, the teaching) was not a collection of unrelated projects. They were all expressions of the same philosophy.

That philosophy became Cihuateotcalli.

Cihuateotcalli is an evolving body of work based in relationship, creativity, observation, and lived experience. It is an invitation to approach learning without the lens of it being something to conquer or master, but as something that unfolds through participation. 

People often ask me where I learned these things. The truth is that I have been shaped by many teachers, by professors, books, artists, psychologists, elders and communities who entrusted me with their teachings. By children, ceremony, rivers, mountains,  mistakes, years of practice, and by the land. None of us arrive here alone.

If there is one thread that runs through all of my work, it is the belief that transformation happens through relationship to life. I don't believe these relationships can be rushed, downloaded or purchased. They must be lived.

Cihuateotcalli is my way of continuing that practice. Whether you arrive through a painting, a retreat, a tarot reading, the Tonalpohualli, or simple curiosity, my hope is not that you leave with more answers, but with better questions and a deeper relationship to your own life.

Itzcuauhtli, Heriberto Sanchez

 Steward of Place

For more than twenty years, Itzcuauhtli has returned to Puerto Escondido first in relationship with the water as a surfer. Over the years he has cultivated lasting friendships with local families, guides, and community members, earning a level of trust that can only be built through consistency, respect, and time.

Working alongside two native to Puerto Escondido business partners, he has helped create non-extractive experiences based in reciprocity. At a time when rapid development and tourism have transformed much of the region, he is committed to ensuring that our presence contributes positively to the communities that receive us. Every effort is made to collaborate with local businesses, artisans, chefs, guides, and families, recognizing that the knowledge and stewardship of this place already exist.

His knowledge of the region extends far beyond logistics. Years of listening, showing up, and building trust have created relationships that cannot be replicated through an itinerary alone. These relationships allow us to introduce participants to Puerto Escondido as respectful guests.

Together, we believe that hospitality is more than logistics, it is a practice of relationship with the land and it's inhabitants. While I hold the philosophical and educational container of Cihuateotcalli, Itzcuauhtli holds the relationships with place and community that make this gathering possible. Our shared intention is simple: that everyone we encounter participants, neighbors, collaborators, and friends is better for having crossed paths with us.