Cristina first met Atava Garcia Swiecicki in a Curanderismo course in Los Angeles in 2014. This pivotal time in Cristina's life, guided her into a dream that would inspire her to name her child "Jaguar," and the time with Atava and other healers continues to encourage Cristina in her own healing practices. Atava's The Curanderx Toolkit is now a key text in Cristina's classes! Truly, inviting Atava to come share with our listeners is such a special honor! Atava is guided by her dreams and her Mexican, Polish, and Hungarian ancestors. She received a BA in feminist studies from Stanford University and a master’s degree from the Indigenous Mind Program at Naropa University in Oakalnd. Atava has studied healing arts extensively for over thirty years and has been mentored by herbalists, curanderas, and traditional knowledge keepers. She works as a clinical herbalist and teacher. She is the founder of the Ancestral Apothecary School of Herbal, Folk, and Indigenous Medicine on Ohlone territory in Oakland, and she currently lives in unceded Tewa Pueblo territory in the Southwest. We trust this episode will inspire and encourage you! Atava's personal website is ancestralapothecary.com, and the website for her school is ancestralapothecaryschool.com.