Indigenous Wisdom with Julia Carmen

This month in our archetype series, Julia sits with Mother Earth.

Julia explores what it actually means to carry this energy—the gift of it, the weight of it—and how Grandmother Dragonfly shows up as a companion for this archetype. She talks about the difference between nurturing from fullness versus nurturing from depletion, the "spaghetti dinner" moment when you realize you're running on empty, and why soul care isn't selfish—it's essential.

If you're a Mother Earth archetype, you'll recognize yourself in these stories: how people trust you without knowing why, how your presence shifts a room without needing to announce yourself, and why you keep saying yes to everyone even after you've said yes to yourself.

Julia challenges those who lead with this archetype to ask themselves: What would it look like to let yourself be held the way you hold others?

Learn more about The School Without Walls and the Dragonfly Guides:
Production assistance from Podlad.com and Daypack Digital. Artwork by Olivia Dancel. Dragonfly art by Soul Creative Design.

What is Indigenous Wisdom with Julia Carmen?

Indigenous Wisdom is about opening yourself up and getting to know yourself better as a Human being on this Earth. In this podcast, Julia shares messages, channeled wisdom, and more to support your wisdom journey.

[gentle music]

Welcome back to the Indigenous Wisdom Podcast. Yo soy Julia Carmen. And this month, our archetype series, we're sitting with Mother Earth. This one's big,

and yet quiet at the same time. If you carry this archetype, you already know what I mean.

You've probably spent a lot of your life being the one people come to. Mm-hmm. You know, that pers- like you. [laughs]

The one who holds, the one who steadies.

Mm.

Today, we're going to look at what that actually means, the gift of it, the weight of it,

and how Grandmother Dragonfly shows up as a companion for this energy.

Just a little reminder here,

we all carry multiple archetypes. Most of us lead with one to three.

Mirale. Archetypes are not labels. They show us how energy naturally moves in us and through us. The Magical Papers Workshop is where listeners can discover and understand their own archetypes. So let's get into this. Okay.

Mother Earth archetype. Mm.

Big in energy, meaning huge in energy.

Amazing energy. Huge.

Did I already say that? [laughs] But check this out, small in movement.

This archetype doesn't need to be loud to have a presence.

They are the ones others gather around, not because they announce themselves, mm-hmm, but because something in the room shifts when they arrive,

or when you arrive into that

big energy.

Earth-based, grounded.

They process through the body, not just the mind.

Mother Earth archetype has a deep capacity to n- nurture,

mirale, people, projects, community, and Earth itself.

People trust them without knowing why. I had a really good friend, her name's Dana,

and

there was really... You know, when you talk about, uh, projects,

she had a, a business that you would think, "Oh, that's like numbers," right? Yeah. She worked with numbers.

And I remember when I was working with her,

there was this presence of herself that

she just didn't work with numbers. She actually

would breathe life into those projects and those movements. And I actually got a little spoiled because she was part of my team at one point,

and I knew that she was doing more

than just looking at my numbers. Mm-hmm.

She saw the all of a project.

She didn't need to be the project. She didn't need to run the project. She held that space, big in energy, small in movement.

She would look at the big project itself, and then she would go in there, and she would just say or suggest, boom, boom, boom. Yeah? And I thought that was so cool.

Mm-hmm.

I think, uh, mamas are like that, grandmas are like that, yeah, big in energy.

Mm-hmm. I remember, um, a, uh, some folks that I know, they... I'm, I'm sure you've seen it, right? You know, there's movies, Big Mama, you know, or...

And my, and my, um,

cultural is Abuelita. Abuelita didn't mean somebody that walked into the room and, and kind- and, and went ooh, shrinked up. She would walk into the room, and there would be this big, huge presence, right?

Huge, right? Did I say that again? Mm-hmm. Because they, they had this energy of being and this knowing of being, they would notice, not... They would notice the small little things and the small little things of the movement, not because they, let's say grandmothers or great-grandmothers, right? Not because they've been around for a long time, because they had this really cool thing,

sh- sh, this soul listening of being. And that's how my friend Dana was. She really listened. Yeah? Mm-hmm.

And when they're in the room, there's this sense, actually, yes.

There's this sense of, "Hmm, I know I could trust this person."

That's when you know you're in the presence of an archetype of Mother Earth.

It's really c- pretty interesting. Like, the Earth replenishes itself, yeah? It does. No matter what we do to it, it, Earth, she replenishes. She figures out how to do her thing, right?

The Mother Earth has to learn that, too.

The difference between nurturing from fullness versus nurturing from depletion. Oof, chihuahuas. Let me say that againThere's a difference between nurturing from fullness and nurturing from depletion. Have you ever tried that?

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Have you ever heard...

I'm going to make it very short, right? A little story here. When I was raising my kids, and they're adults now, right? They're in their 50s, pushing 50 or whatever, right? They're pushing 40, the youngest, as of right now.

I used to hear this story. A lot of mothers, we're talking about just human mothers, right? Having all these babies. I was in a community where having a lot of babies was like encouraged, which is not a bad thing. It's just saying that. So

I had these children and the mothers would kind of go, oh, I've had that day. And I would go, what kind of day? And they said, you know. And I go, no, I don't know.

They would go, you know, the spaghetti. And I go, oh, what? What's that? They said, you know, you're like, that's it. You know, you had a full day, right? You could take this as a metaphor. Let's say you don't have any kids, but you have a bunch of clients or you're running a business or you're looking for a job, whatever. You know, you're full. You had a full, full day. So I'm just going to use this because that's what I'm familiar with is raising kids, right? And nurturing. And I've nurtured from fullness and I've definitely nurtured from depletion. Yeah. Yeah.

And so the gal, I said, okay, tell me the story. Tell me, tell me, tell me, you know, because I thought she had like the golden ticket, right? And she says, well, you actually don't want to like, anyway, she told me the on and on, Julia. So she says, okay, let's say you have 10 kids. And that was not uncommon in the company that I was in at that time. And so you're making spaghetti. You've had a long day and so on. So the first kid comes in. Remember, you're exhausted. You're depleted, right? The first kid comes in and says, hey, mom, what are we having for spaghetti? And the mom goes, we're having spaghetti. You know, what are we having for dinner? Excuse me. I'm having spaghetti, right?

And maybe you might get it. So the second kid comes in and says, oh, mom, what are we, you know, the first kid didn't tell the second kid, right? So mom, what are we having for dinner? She goes, we're having spaghetti. Third kid comes in. What are we having? Spaghetti. Fourth kid, spaghetti. Fifth kid, spaghetti. Sixth kid,

spaghetti. What? Spaghetti.

Seventh kid. I think I lost count. What are we having for dinner? Spaghetti.

Eighth kid.

Through

really tight teeth, spaghetti. I think we're to ninth kid, right? What are we having for dinner? You know, like I'm struggling. Barely. And the tenth kid, I can't do that. I'll blow your ears out.

Screaming at the kid. She didn't say the bad word. And the poor little guy's walking away like nobody told me. That's what I'm talking about.

It's a metaphor.

Yeah? So

that is why self-care,

soul care is so critical. Mirale. That we see that which we need to do and to nurture ourselves, right? And to that being of self. To take in that time.

If you move, if your archetype is Mother Earth,

okay?

You definitely have the capacity. That's why I think we're

folks where they really lead with this Mother Earth. And what I see a lot of the times in the human realm

is that they almost always get depleted because they're giving, loving folks. They don't even think about not giving.

And if some of you are new to listening to this podcast and this is the first time you're listening and you kind of go, I can really relate to Mother Earth.

I'm not a mother, but, you know, at work, everybody comes to me. You know, the spaghetti thing. Mm-hmm. And on most days, I'm good. The 15th person asking me or the 100th email or the text or the whatever. Yeah? I'm pretty good. And there are days that I'm like, oh.

Yeah?

So it's a really good idea to get in

what I call chichi soul care. To get in that. Mirale. Your chichi soul time, soul care, your soul doesn't need any care. What it's asking you to do is to go back home to the soul self of being. Find your medicine. Find that which nurtures you. Yeah? You're nurturing everyone else. Nurture self. Whatever that might be. Think about what that would look like for you. What does that look like? I had one of, somebody said, oh, I'm so busy. They're working and they're doing a lot. They have children. This person has been. And she said, you know,

when I wake up in the morning,

I do 10 breaths. And everybody does meditation different, right?

And that's what I get. When I feel overwhelmed, I do the 10 breaths. I remind my nervous system that I got it. Mm-hmm.

I would like to read to you.

Actually.

So

Grandmother Dragonfly

that is paired with

Mother Earth.Dragon, uh, the dragonfly guides pair with the archetypes

because they carry a specific knowing.

Grandmother dragonfly is the one paired with Mother Earth.

So here we go.

Grandmother dragonfly, Earth wise of the power of itself.

I am big in energy and small in movement. I nurture you and those around you. Know that you are mine to hold, to bring to my breast of love.

The one we seek when we feel alone. Know that I am with you in the suckling of life. Amen.

Grandmother dragonfly,

I mean, uh, um, this is, it pairs with this so well, right?

Mother Earth archetype.

If you look at the infinity sign, that's how the energy goes. Instead of it being, you know, like side to side. Yeah. It's

sky to Earth.

So if you can see, just flip that

infinity sign.

If you're finding yourself,

like getting agitated at folks because they're asking you the same question over, not the same person, but you know, people, metaphor again, right? Yeah. And you're frustrated and you're annoyed and you feel depleted.

Then know this.

This is so cool about Mother Earth archetype.

It's like the Earth.

The replenishment of you is so automatic.

The challenging part, I think, for Mother Earth archetypes

is that as soon as you feel a little bit, you know, nourished and juiced up, yeah, kind of deal,

you just keep saying yes to everyone else. So I want to challenge you folks

to say yes to yourself more often. If this is one you lead with, yeah,

Mother Earth,

infinity sign from the galaxies of the all to inner Earths and beyond. The connection is there. It's constantly nurturing. If you could look at a default, yeah, that is your default. Isn't that cool? Mm-hmm.

So

what would it look like to let yourself be held the way you hold others? Oof. Let me say that again. What would it look like to let yourself be held the way you hold others? Mm-mm-mm.

The Dragonfly card deck includes the Grandmother Dragonfly.

If you folks want to work with this guide directly, that's a great place to start. See?

That's Mother Earth Dragonfly, big in energy,

present without needing to announce itself and held, even when it doesn't ask to be.

If you want to explore your own archetype, mírale, the Magical Papers workshop is where that work begins. And you can find that at theschoolwithoutwalls.net.

And if you want to connect with Grandmother Dragonfly directly, she's in the Dragonfly card deck, and you'll find her episode here on the Indigenous Wisdom Podcast.

Next month, we continue the series. Until then, mírale, cuídate, take care of yourselves in your own beautiful way.

Don't look at others and how they take care of themselves. Only you know how to do that. And then guess what?

Then,

if

Mother Earth is your archetype and you love being there for other folks, oh my gosh, know this, a capacity of loving and being there for others. If this is your archetype and you lead with this, ooh, my chihuahuas.

But you come first. Mírale, right? Gracias for joining us. Muchos abrazos y amo. Yo soy Julia Carmen, and this is the Indigenous Wisdom Podcast. And thanks for joining us. Otra vez. Amen.