Hello,
My name is Batul True Heart. My pronouns are they/them/& aapo. Aapo means she, he, & they in our Yaqui language. I am Yaqui, Chicane, & Panamanian-American identified. I have Native American ancestors, African ancestors, and Spanish & English ancestors. I'm a traditional medicine practitioner, community herbalist/medicine maker, and death companion living on Ohlone Land in Huchiun, aka Oakland, CA.
Last December I made a prayer on my knees. I was in a place where I needed guidance for the next steps in my life and for my role within community. In that questioning yet meditative moment, I heard my well ancestors ask back to me, "so what is that you want, exactly?, what is it that you really need?" It was in that moment that it became crystal clear to me that my people and I, a mostly Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC) community, needed a place. We needed somewhere to safely gather to learn how to live life and prepare for death, together.
It was then that I carefully began to curate my prayer. I said I wanted the space to be in my neighborhood, walking distance from my home and my gardens, where I've been growing herbal medicine these past 15 years. I said I wanted it to hold at least 20 people in a circle, have lots of light, and ideally have an outside space that we could utilize.
That very same week I was driving on a main street near my home when my heart skipped a beat after seeing the cutest little boutique that I'd driven by ten million times before, now empty. Though I felt concern for the folks who had to leave, I also felt excited at the possibility of what was next for the place. My ancestors quickly guided me to stop the car, pull a piece of paper outta the glove box, write a note about my interest in the space, and slip it under the door.
Almost 2 months went by (along with much of my hope:) before I randomly received a text from the landlord saying the space was now ready and available. I would be the first one to view it if I was still interested. I immediately ran to see the place and all its potential.
As soon as I walked in, it was easy to imagine us circling up there. I was thrilled to see that the space had been renovated with a new floor and a fresh coat of white paint on the walls. I was ecstatic that there were so many windows in the space and that so much natural light came though. I was even more excited to learn that there was a private area outside that was also included!
It wasn't long before the landlord called to tell me that I got the place. Everything went so fast yet so smooth. Even the money for 1st & last month's rent showed up when I didn't initially have it. Soon I was off getting my City of Oakland Business Tax License (the City deemed us a "school/place of assembly"), Fictitious Business License, & Zoning approval. I also purchased my first items for the space...20 back jacks, chiavari chairs, seat cushions, window curtains, rugs, cleaning materials, etc.
We call our space the boutiQue!
The boutiQue space is stewarded by me, Batul True Heart. It currently hosts Floripondio End of Life Planning & Services' classes, circles, and ceremonies brought to the community by Melissa Reyes (Remedios Birth & Healing) and myself.
This space also provides a place for my Maaso Medicina: Flower Medicine for Ancestral, Generational, & Personal Pain... herbal medicine, consults, classes, and healing services including limpia treatments as well as the work of other dedicated facilitators and practitioners who are on the path of Curanderismo (traditional Latine healing). Currently, on Saturdays from 10-2, Sylk Rodriguez offers massage, cranial sacral therapy, and ventosas (cupping) at the boutiQue. You can learn more about Sylk and their Sylk De Luna Bodywork here.
This is all a prayer. It started as a prayer, and continues as a prayer.
Since April, my friend and Floripondio End of Life Planning & Services colleague, Melissa Reyes, and I have held 2 rounds of Herbs for Endings: A 3-week Intro to 9 Herbs & Flowers for Support in Times of Loss, Death, & Endings at the boutiQue! 28 QTBIPOC served.
Melissa and I held 2 rounds of Embracing Endings: A 6-week Decolonial & Ceremonial Death Companion Training Course that Weaves in Aspects of Curanderismo at the boutiQue! 24 QTBIPOC served.
Melissa and I also offered two Community Self-Limpia Ceremonies at the boutiQue that were organized by the Healing Clinic Collective! 25 QTBIPOC served.
This fall, Embracing Endings student, Raquel Bernaldo, started a QTBIPOC Bookclub at the boutiQue. Folks gathered and read Mexican Curandera Estela Roman's book, Nuestra Medicina. "This bookclub acknowledges that as QTBIPOC, the languages that we have access to and have been severed from, are intertwined within our histories of oppression and colonization." 15 QTBIPOC served.
Ceiba Flores offered 'Flogging with Plants' a Qommunity space to explore Kink & Indigenous healing traditions of the global diaspora. 25 QTBIPOC served.
Caro Acuña-Olvera, offered 'Sound Waves and Meditation' an 9-session morning meditation series that guided QTBIPOC to sonically tune their body temples via breath and vibration. 10 QTBIPOC served.
And on solstice weekend we offered a QTBIPOC Pop-Up Healing Fair that included 9 herbalist and maker vendors, multiple healing practitioners (offering by-donation massage and reiki), tarot readers, ancestral foods, and a raffle! Over 70 QTBIPOC served!
As you can see, this has all been a prayerful, grassroots effort. Along with our already established QTBIPOC courses and community offerings, we'll be providing grief groups, community prayer circles, pet loss support circles, cultural knowledge shares, music & movement classes, and MORE at the boutiQue.
I'm currently raising $24,000 to fulfill our Oakland rent for the next year, plus help pay for other overhead costs of running the space.
Our people are some of the most marginalized. We keep our prices fair, give sliding scale options, provide payment plans, and offer scholarships. At the same time, it is imperative that QTBIPOC healers and space holders be well-resourced. Please contribute to the boutiQue!
I'm hoping to gain enough community support that we keep the space going next year, and for years to come.
If you're able to give ANY donation amount now, it is so appreciated. If you're not able to give now, but this work touches your heart and you would love to give later, please do. And if you can give now and later, know that we are always out here ready to receive your financial support so we can continue serving our QTBIPOC communities.
And just to say it out loud here, if you know of any organization or person who can help us pay our rent on an ongoing basis, please do let me know. We are traditional life-workers/ death-workers/ healers, not a non-profit, or capitalists. We need community-driven, financial support do our work in this world. Of course, you are welcome to contribute to the boutiQue on a monthly basis too. Feel free to reach out to me about any of this.
Or maybe there's a particular item that you want to purchase for the space? Some items we are needing next are an outdoor farm table, cabinets, book shelves, screen projector, herb press, vacuum, small ac unit, wood barrels, soil, outside plants, etc. Let us know if you want to give a gift!
And lastly, feel free to share! Please send this email out to anyone you feel may want to contribute to the boutiQue, a community space where Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC) & Comrades can gather for ceremonial and decolonial life and death studies.
Chiokoe uttesia! (thank you!),
Batul True Heart (they/them/aapo)
Traditional Medicine Practitioner, Community Herbalist, Death Companion
To see more about the work that Melissa Reyes & I do at Floripondio End of Life Planning & Services, you can check out our website here...https://floripondioendoflife.com/
To order my Maaso Medicina: Flower Medicine for Ancestral, Generational, & Personal Pain, go here: https://maasomedicina.bigcartel.com/
