Ana Del Rosario Murray, AMFT, Spiritual Provider & Clinical Herbalist Student I am Salvadorian/Pipil Indigenan a Latina woman, born and raised in South San Francisco California. I am a mother to three wonderful young boys. I am the first generation in my family to graduate from college with a master’s degree. A Therapist by profession, Clinical Herbalist (student) by tradition, and I have been practicing and participating in spirit work and herbalism for most of my life. Through my family and community teachings I have learned and stayed a humble student within herbalism and spirit work; taking the teachings of my family, and spiritual workers within my community and using these teachings within my life. I have been actively engaged in Candle work/spiritual work and consultation for over 15 years on my own. I am heavily influenced by indigenous practices passed down by family (mother and grandmother), Catholicism, and Santeria. Although I am not a member of the Santeria community, I have been educated by ordained madrinas on their practices, and I have woven those teachings into the spiritual work that I do today. My family is of Salvadorian descent where they lived a very humble life applying their indigenous teachings taught to them by our ancestors around plant medicine, ritual work, and spirit work. My family at times barely being able to afford the most basic of needs utilized plants and rituals/ceremonies as medicine, because that’s all they had and needed; the land and our ancestors always provided with what was needed. I grew up hearing from my mom and grandmother, “doctors don’t know anything, here now, take this tea”, which is why I have always approached healing through plants (for the physical form) and candle work (for my spirit). So, I was taught the power of plant medicine from a very young age, being taught its power in treating illnesses, and their magical properties/wonderous ability to be used in spiritual work and healing rituals. I learned about candle rituals from a young age as well and was taught that you can use infused oils and herbs to increase the potency of candle rituals. When I moved away from home, I began to really dive into candle work as a way to continue these practices on my own, and hand these traditions to my children. I am very passionate about candle work and herbalism, and my hope is to aid in the education of others in this form of healing and pass on teachings that instill strength, increase well-being/ wellness, aid in a general understanding of the work and culture, and create deep respect for the traditions being taught by people who came before us. My goal is also to increase safety as this work is real and one should always take extreme caution when participating in spirit work. Most importantly one must always approach all spirit work as humble students willing to engage in a deep process of the understanding of other people’s cultura/culture and cultural beliefs and always paying homage to those who came before us.
