(pronounced Mih-toe-tay)
Q. What’s a Mitote, and why do we do them?
Imagine that you wake from a dream, heart pounding, cortisol pumping through your veins. It was a terrible dream, and you are undone. Until you realize that you were dreaming.
Now imagine that you awaken from the dream of your life – the dream you thought to be true, which isn’t - you have the realization that you can dream another dream – your dream, free from the constraints of what you have been taught to believe in ways that have limited your life. Imagine that you can break free!
A Mitote has been described as ‘chaos of the mind’ or more literally, the word comes from the Nahuatl word mitotiqui, which means dancer. A deeper meaning, however, refers to a ‘sacred dance’, similar to the Divine Dance of Creation. https://mastay.netlify.com/posts/2/mitote-the-dream-of-reality/
During a Mitote, we are faced with our mental chaos, or that which distresses us, and through the night we continually gather around a sacred fire, transmuting the old dreams that no longer serve us, in order to weave a new dream of our own creation, for ourselves, our loved ones, and our beloved world.
Q. Do people sleep during a Mitote?
Yes, people do sleep, but not all night. One method is the dreaming practice, which seeks to assist people in catching their dreams, by moving through the liminal states of consciousness, through waking and sleeping.
Q. How is this waking and sleeping done?
In a workshop format, the group is divided into smaller groups. Each group has a time frame in which to sleep and awaken, waking the opposite group up when it’s time, before going to sleep. This process goes on throughout the night. When the Mitote energy is closed, participants sleep uninterrupted for a few hours.
Q. What do participants do during the periods of waking?
There are stations specifically set up, typically for the four elements of fire, water, earth and air. Silence is kept during these hours so people can wander through the gardens, fountains, or fire. They meditate, observing what is coming up for them in the process.
Q. Are plant medicines or recreational drugs used?
We do not use plant medicines or recreational drugs. Though we believe that sacred plant medicines have their honored place, the Mitote energy is very strong without them. We encourage the use of breathing and open hearts to open the spiritual connection!