Dragon Letters #61
In the Mayan Cholqāij, as 1 Imox (crocodile), I have Toj in my destiny placement. My dog Hugo is also 1 Imox. Toj energy for me has been about making reparations for my familyās past actions and repairing ancestral relationships so that I can bring forward their wisdom and healing. (Get the most accurate Mayan energy here using the Google translate tool and let me know your energy.)
One ancestor that I am doing this work with is my Grandpa Jack, who is 12 Imox, also with Toj. My abuelita always called us dragons. We Imox are all very warm-blooded and have skin issues. She said we breathed fire.
Jackās family roots go way back to Scotland via Ireland. They were one of the earlier settler colonists, coming to the Americas in the early 1700s. My 14th great grandfather William, the earliest known to date, was born in 1500 in Glasgow, Scotland and lived to be 88 years old!
Being the oldest granddaughter in a family of sons, my grandmother passed on the responsibility of being a lineage bearer and record keeper to me. Being someone with Toj, this also includes reconciling and repairing the harm my ancestors caused.
As a mixed Indigenous person, this is quite complicated.
My grandfathered married a Brown woman and had mixed Brown and yt passing children.
After WWII, Jack was allowed to marry my grandmother because he learned Spanish and feel in love with MesoAmerican cultures. Learning Spanish was a requirement of my abuelitaās mother Lola.
While they were supposedly married after the war and my dad and his twin brother were born in 1947, I have been unable to find the marriage certificate from Nevada where they supposedly eloped on a motorcycle trip from Los Angeles.
When I run into dead ends like this, I usually turn to history and news to discover clues or context. In this case, nearly 20 years before Loving vs Virginia was decided, the āAnti-miscegenation lawā of California that was expanded in 1943 to include additional mixed-race people.
Californiaās first miscegenation statute (Stats. 1850, ch. 140, p. 424) was enacted at the same time as two other statutes concerning race. It has been held that these three statutes were in pari materia and therefore to be read together. (Estate of Stark, 48 Cal.App.2d 209, 214 [119 P.2d 961].) The two companion statutes provided: āNo black or mulatto person, or Indian, shall be permitted to give evidence in favor of, or against, any white person. Every person who shall have one-eighth part or more of Negro blood shall be deemed a mulatto, and every person who shall have one half of Indian blood shall be deemed an Indian.ā (Stats. 1850, ch. 99, Ā§ 14, p. 230; repealed Code Civ. Proc., Ā§ 18, 1872.) āNo black, or mulatto person, or Indian, shall be permitted to give evidence in any action to which a white person is a party, in any Court of this State. Every person who shall have one eighth part or more of negro blood, shall be deemed a mulatto; and every person who shall have one half Indian blood, shall be deemed an Indian.ā (Stats. 1850, ch. 142, Ā§ 306, p. 455; repealed Code Civ. Proc., Ā§ 18, 1872.)
The Supreme Court struck down this law in 1948. But where is their record of marriage? Time will tell if it even took place.
Maybe they realized they werenāt allowed to marry because my abuelita was at least half āIndianā[sic] and the famous elopement story was their cover?
So, in one sense my grandparents were very radical for their time.
And yet, I would also come to learn my grandpa was also very racist of Black people and harmful to Central and South Americans. He was an avid member of the John Birch Society. He was a huge supporter of Oliver Northās Iran Contra campaign in Central America. And he helped translate the Chilean constitution for āPresidentā Pinochet. More of this story is included in my forthcoming book as it pertains to revolutions and repair.
My decolonial work is in part to repair his actions, and the actions of his settler colonial ancestors. And it is to repair the epigenetic legacy of trauma of my abuelitaās ancestors that I carry in my myelin sheaths, bones, and blood.
This week Jack kept appearing in my ārandomā Apple photo of the day widget. So on Thursday I sat down during meditation to work with him.
He wanted me to remember a close family relationship which sent me on a wild-goose chase down the inter webs. I landed in FB looking for a son of this close family friend and ended up seeing a house rental listing in Chiapas where weāre moving next month. It was the one I had swooned over in June, but it was too soon for us then.
This house checks off all the boxes.
I reached out to the owner. Her name is Paz, she is from Chile (my Grandpa Jack loved Chile and visited many times), and the house is on Baja California. š¤Æ
Because Iām very structured with my FB time, My grandpa knew that if he told me to go on FB, I would have chalked it up to dopamine craving. So he sent me on a random request instead.
And the naming synchronicities are just delicious.
La Paz (Paz = peace), Baja California is where my great abuelita Lola was born and where my family had property until the laws in Mexico made it impossible for my 1st Gen Californian abuelita to keep due to zona prohibida (forbidden zone) for nonāMexican citizens to own land in Baja California.
After her mother Lola passed, the land would have had to go into a real estate trust. My abuelita decided it was too complicated, and would release the land to the caretaker instead. At the time I was about 10 years old, I was so sad that this land my ancestors had was lost. I wanted to go there. Somehow, even then I knew I would rematriate to Mexico.
My ancestors have helped me find places to live on a number of occasions. Iām truly grateful for their intervening. Weāve been blessed to borrow and tend the land of some really beautiful and peaceful places.
Next place to get rooted: Casa Paz on Baja California road, at the base of Cerro Huitepec, an extinct volcano that is sacred land to the Tzotzil Mayan people of San Cristobal Las Casas.
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Photo by Alexander Montes on Unsplash
TikTokās Iāve enjoyed
(This is a curation, best to watch them in order. If these donāt get you on the decolonial side of TikTok, I donāt know what will!)
If you;re wondering about all the celestial bodies in retrograde, book a reading with me here. Chris Brennan with Chani about the cycles that move through our lives in this snippet about why the rising sign is so important to personalizing our stellar imprint.
Settler colonialist are returning (drained swamp turned farmed) land to original people for restoration.
Joffre Lakes Provincial Park closed for a month by original people for traditional ceremony. Settler colonialists complain their weekends are being ruined SMH
The FaƧade of Optimal Living under Capitalist Individualism
Aboriginal stories of major planetary shifts like water levels, the Great Barrier Reef being dry and volcano eruptions that havenāt happened in 38,000 years!
This video on Indigenous food sovereignty reminds me of how plentiful the jungle is in Nicaragua. Go plant a food forestā¦
Barbie is Peak yt Feminism, an Indigenous perspective
Canada issued a travel warning for LQBTQIA citizens not to travel to the United States, due to the huge increase in anti-LQBTQIA laws now on the books
How to know if neo-Nazis are dog whistling in comments. In the early 1990s days of the internet I used to catalog hate group websites and content for a browser plugin that would block sites for parents. I learned a lot about how these groups present. This video is helpful for knowing the difference if some uses certain terms that seem āniceā.
If you think Covid is over or you donāt need to worry about getting re-infected, please go watch this video about why Biden is negotiating certain drugs to reduce costs and improve access. Thank you for wearing a mask.
5 Books about autism (especially for people that are not on the spectrum). Two were new to me!
The joy of this guy watching the ocean from a drone is delightful! (Also, reminds me of the flying toaster screensaverā¦)
How disinformation has been working against Appalachians. And this is related to the opiod epidemic that began in the Appalachians, which is covered in a great interview from Ezra Klien with one of my favorite authors Barbara Kingsolver. The targeting of Appalachians to hook people on opioids was systematic, as she exemplifies in her latest 2023 Pulirzer Prize winning book Demon Copperhead.
Thank you for reading Dragon š Letters from Ixchel Lunar. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Stay wild, love fiercely. Your presence is golden.
With stardust and celestial love āØšŖš«
xo Ixchel
P.S. Citing is a feminist and decolonial power move (/ht to Kelly Diels for making that an anthem). If youāve gained insights and shifts from my work, please remember to cite me and share Dragon š Letters with a friend. Not citing is a form of epistemicide.
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I was raised and bore children on the traditional, unceded, and stolen lands of the Coast and Central Valley Miwok (colonized as Petaluma, CA) and Nisenan (colonized as Sacramento and Fair Oaks, CA), past, present, and future. I also write, work, and live in the highland forest of the traditional, unceded and stolen lands of the Totonac, Nahua, and Mexicah, past, present, and future, in what is known as Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico.
P.P.S. I do not live or consent to the colonial impositions regarding the construct of Time. I also practice honoring rhythms of work, play, and rest so that I can serve you with embodied presence and with loving care. This means I may take several days to respond to your requests and questions. (h/t Eva Glamaris)
P.P.S. A mention is not necessarily an endorsement of someone. Itās an acknowledgment, a citation, of the origin of information in my process of understanding. (h/t Kelly Diels)
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Copyright Ā© 2026, Cheyenne, WY, and Veracruz, Mexico, All rights reserved. Sharing your lineage of knowledge is decolonial. When iterating, please cite me. Not citing is epistemicide.
