The moon dance prayer is about expanding our own consciousness, honoring life and all that is part of it. It supports the empowerment of women so they can be more centered, connected, healthier, have more clarity and an open heart for their homes and communities. The moon dance also assists on balancing the female and masculine energies in women and men, so each one can honor each other as much as themselves, honoring and taking them to their own place on earth, so we can nourish all life from a beautiful and balanced heart and spirit.

The Moon Dance is a four-night and four-day ceremony that unfolds in a natural setting, providing a sanctuary with the appropriate measures to facilitate our prayer and our inner personal work in balance with nature. To be part of this prayer and path, it is required to be willing to have discipline and commitment, respect and humbleness. During this ceremony we will acknowledge our power of will through food fasting (we eat very little), sleep fasting (we sleep very little), offering our steps in our dance (freestyle) and our breath and mind through singing (medicine songs), praying and looking at our own thoughts, as well as attending the 8 temazcal/sweatlodges (2 doors during the day and 2 doors during the night) and completing the 4 nights inside the dance circle.

The moon dance will be accompanied by the grandmothers guides of this Moon Dance from México, the smoke of copal and traditional chants with the beat of the big drum, as well as the sacred fire on, during the 4 nights, and all the elements that are part of it, and sustained by a great mystery that it is beyond the understandable. During our dance we will create a bond of strength and a web of prayers for humanity, balance, health, peace, where each participant dances in accordance with their own deep personal intentions and prayers too, maintaining a spirit of goodwill, love, unity, and respect.

In this shared journey, our growth deepens, as does our understanding of ourselves more fully, harmonizing our being and reflecting in our connection with all that is related to our walk on this life and its cycles. This is not about becoming shamans, etc. It is more about grounding, connection, alignment, love and personal growth.

The History of the Moon Dance

The 1st moon dance came during the 80’s by the Grandmothers from the Red Road in México, unifying a sacred vision with ancestral ways of the Red Road from México. Through a sequence of visions that came during a vision quest to the medicine grandmother Patricia Guerra, who later shared her vision with other grandmothers and grandfathers and together they created a mission of making that vision to happen. After much researching into the old sacred codices they founded a code in which we can see a yearly ancestral ceremony that used to happen in ancient times in México, guided mainly by women. This ancestral ceremony had been related to the vision of the grandmother Patricia, however the certainty of this code as a representation for the moon dance is still under discussion.

In October of 1992 the elders supported the 1st Moon dance and from that very first circle later in the future the prayer of the Moon dance had been extended throughout the world and the main grandmothers who had been pioneers and warriors to awaken this prayer and spiritual path, spreading this wisdom and traditional work in the 90´s are the following: grandmother Patricia Guerra, grandmother Isabel Vega, grandmother Tonalmitl, and grandmother Mallinalli (In the picture). Later on the moon dance had been flourishing around the world by women who had felt the commitment to support more women into this path. The first moon dance circle was named Coyolxauhqui (guided by the grandmother Patricia Guerra and grandmother Isabel Vega), the second moon dance Xochimeztli (guided by the grandmother Tonalmitl) and then the 3rd moon dance Ollintlahuimeztli (guided by the grandmother Malinalli), and from there many other moon dances that have spread around the world, becoming now a worldwide net of prayers, growth, and connection.

The moon dance was created to reclaim with love the respect for all the feminine in a healthy balance with the masculine. In this perfect duality, we can make our home, Earth, a better world for the future generations, feeling our love and gratitude for this planet and passing it out to our children. Rooting ourselves in our origins and walking the path of our hearts taking good care of our precious planet, embracing all races, all colors and religions, unifying the heart of all beings, opening our hearts to a memory of ourselves as wise, intuitive, guardians of the medicine of love and compassion.

How the prayer of the Moon Dance came to Finland

Honoring the grandmothers who had walked before us, respecting those who have
paved the way for us and opening the way for future generations, so we can
continue this beautiful work in service for life.

For the moon dance it is required a total of 13 years of dancing and working before you can plant (create) a new circle. The first 9 years of dancing along with being in service with our communities are the bases to become a good leader of a Moon dance circle. These dances are the base to start the next 4 years full of the guidance, preparation, and initiations from the grandmothers in the new circle to have a good leader and we can make of this prayer a beautiful, rooted, respected and deep work, in service for a major purpose, which is the main call for this new circle Ollin Metzcitlalinicue guided by Brenda Miquiztli and planted by the grandmother Lupita Itztlixochitl.

The following is how this story started:

The moon dance was a call I already felt when I was in México in 2008-2009 when I was very active in the Mexica dance and red path (Red road of Aztec, Chichimec
and the toltec culture), but before that, I already met with the grandmother Malinalli and grandmother Tonalmitl in the Mexica dances and ceremonies. In 2011 I moved to Finland while I was pregnant and it wasn’t untill 2016 that I went for the first time to the Moon Dance in Teotihuacan, México with the grandmother Malinalli, also my godmother and guide of the moon dance Ollintlahuimeztli. During my second moon dance I committed to do 9 years and I asked grandmother Malinalli to come to Finland to plant the moon dance with me once I finished my first 9 years of dancing. She said that it would be beautiful to make it happen and visit the north and it was a “Yes” if the great spirit gave her permission (good health and long life) and sadly and unfortunately grandmother Malinalli ascended to the world of spirits at the end of 2020 due to health issues, leaving such of an emptiness, sadness and deep feelings in the hearts of many of the people who had followed her teachings and steps.
After the grandmother ascension, new groups were born with the permission of the grandmother Malinalli: Ollinmalinalmeztli and Tlazolteotl Xochimetzli and I was dancing for the next years in both groups (sometimes in one, sometimes in the other and sometimes in both) deepening my path in this prayer and preparing myself for bringing the Moon Dance to Finland by the hand of the grandmother Lupita Itztlixochitl (guide of Tlazolteotl Xochimetzli) to whom I asked formally at the beginning of 2021 to be the grandmother planting the moon dance in Finland when I finished my first 9 years of dance to which she accepted happily. Later I asked my dear sister Adriana Citlalinicue (Drum leader in Ollinmalinalmeztli and part of the council of Ollinmalinalmeztli) to come to support the planting of the moon dance in Finland in the drum and she said yes:). Last year grandmother Juana Itzpapalotl (The leader of Sahumadoras in Ollintlahuimeztli and Tlazolteotl Xochimetzli) confirmed her support as well and it’s like that, that Ollin Metzitlalinicue will be lead by Brenda Miquiztli and comes from the lineage of the grandmother Malinalli, Ollintlahuimeztli and will be planted by the grandmother Lupita Itztlixochitl from Tlazolteotl Xochimetzli and the support of grandmothers and sisters from the three moon dance circles.

I would also like to mention my dear moon dance sisters: Annukka Tlahuimeztli from Finland, supporting this vision and prayer from the beginning and
supporting the work with the Sahumadoras (from Ollintlahuimeztli, Ollinmalinalmeztli and Tlazolteotl Xochimetzli), and also our dear sisters from USA Daniela Soulux,
Jaki Rose Totchli Acatzin and Brenda Cuevas (from Ollintlahuimeztli and Tlazolteotl Xochimeztli). All of them have more than 9 years of experience in moon dance, supporting so beautifully the planting of this new circle and prayer.

This is how the main base of the dance has been taking shape. I would also like to mention the support of our dear brothers who are the fire eagles (fire keepers): Manuel and Eerik. There are many more dear sisters from México, Estonia, USA, Norway and Sweden traveling to support this prayer bringing with them experience in this spiritual path and the ones here in Finland, especially my dear moon dance sister Vilja Kettu helping with all the management of this prayer and Zsofia helping with the cocreation of the Pantli: The face that represents the energy of this dance (banner) Ollin Metzitlalinicue.