The archetype I most value and want to embody in this world, is that of the Mother — a giver of life, a nurturer, a homemaker in the purest sense, and also, a force to be reckoned with — just look at our great Mother Earth who epitomizes this energy ever so purely, ever so unquestionably. 

When I set out on this path it felt important to choose a name that reflected my highest calling. Last spring, away for the weekend with my husband, I was jostled awake one morning with the name MADRE echoing through my head. It felt so entirely right. It felt like a message from some other place, or perhaps that place of all knowing and intuition that resides in each of us. It fit. And so it was, MADRE she would be, this endeavor whose mission was to celebrate the deeply feminine, the soft work that nurtures all of us to do other important work. 

MADRE also harkens back to my ancestral roots, my Mexican heritage that fills me with tremendous pride. I am a 4th generation Chicana and while assimilation was forced upon my family here in the US, I have been working to reclaim all that I can during this lifetime.  MADRE feels like a deep bow to my Latina lineage that we will continue to honor and explore together. 

We capitalize MADRE because she is larger than life. She takes up space unapologetically. She knows her worth and her strength and she never shrinks from her power. While I might still be working to harness the full power that MADRE inspires, what I know is that I believe there is not only great healing to be found in honoring & celebrating the energy of mother, but possibly even more, that a profound shift awaits us when we invite in the material and the metaphysical of the deep feminine. 

With gratitude for our mothers. And theirs, and theirs. 

Un beso,

Shay

*image is of my great grandmother Mariquita Casaus