Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Acosta.
Hi Alyssa, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Since a young age, I have always been able to see, feel, hear spirits. Though was often told to not acknowledge those gifts, so I stopped but they never went away. They got stronger in fact. It wasn’t until 2018 when I began my own healing journey through therapy and began a nine months ancestral healing cohort with Xochtilcoatl Bello that I began to understand that what I was experiencing was quite normal. It was in this cohort I was able to step into my power and honor the gifts that were gifted to me from my ancestors and Creator. In 2019 I had an idea come up to start dabbling in divination through oracle cards so I bought a deck and began practicing with it at my altar every morning as a check-in with my spirit team.
Pretty soon, I felt that same urge to start dabbling in tarot but was so intimidated to start because of the different meanings each card had and questioned if I could retain all of that information. At this time, I was connecting with my maternal great grandmother who was a curandera (medicine woman) in her lifetime and she came through a mediumship session telling me—very bluntly I might add— that tarot is where I needed to put my focus into. So I bought a deck the next day and began to work with it. I didn’t start reading for anyone else until later in 2019 when friends and some family members asked me to read for them. I had planned on taking classes but I couldn’t find any teachers that felt like a good fit so I just let my intuition really guide me for the first year of me reading. Then once the pandemic hit, I felt so called to offer assistance to folxs so I thought “well, I can make medicine boxes” but that didn’t pan out. So I asked creator “how can I serve my community at this time” and a deck that was gifted to me fell from my altar shelf. Stunned I asked “am I even ready to read for others?” And just left it there. Then while mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, I saw a post by someone I followed saying that she would build a website for free for five people so instantly, I messaged her and to my surprise, I was one of the five. So once I had that up and running, I began offering free readings to those who identified a BIPOC via zoom. Not really expecting to get too much traffic for this but I was wrong.
Pretty soon I was reading up to five times a day from people all over turtle island (North America). Then one day after a reading a client says to me, “you need to be taking donations for these readings.” So I began making them donation-based because I wanted my services to be affordable to our marginalized communities. After having read for a year via zoom, I figured out that I wasn’t known locally so I reached out to Yarrow and Sage in Jan. 2021 asking if they had availability for another reader. It was here that I was able to meet people who were part of indigenous+reconnecting+ decolonization community here in Austin. So I began working at markets such as Tianguis (created by Andrea Calderon of Colectivo In Situ) making lifetime connections with land stewards, water protectors, herbalist, healers, Danzantes not only in Austin but also in San Antonio which has been truly beautiful. And because of these connections is how Platicas came to life which is a monthly community circle where we share sacred space with one another, learn from folxs in our communities while we grow and heal together.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all. A lot of the struggles I faced was my own self sabotaging, needing to always be in control of how everything “needed to go.” Also letting my past unhealed traumas control my life.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I like to call myself an “Ancestor in the Making” because it’s so easy for the ego to get hung up on titles but I do intuitive readings, mediumship sessions and group+individual platicas (heart-healing talks) rooted in traditions of Curanderismo which is the ancestral healing modality of my ancestors.
What makes me different is that I prioritize affordability for marginalized communities. I want to make sure everyone can afford to work with me not just those who have disposable income which is why I offer discounted rates for BIPOC folxs. Also, I offer this work with humility that I am not here to be your healer but to help you find the healer within yourself.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Be patient and have humility to know that the right mentor/community is already on its way to you and it will align when spirit knows you’re ready.
Pricing:
- Intuitive Card Readings $50-130
- Mediumship Sessions $65-95
- Platica+Energy Balancing $50-80
Contact Info:
- Email: santossuertehealing@gmail.com
- Website: www.santossuerte.com
- Instagram: @santos.suerte
Image Credits
@mijaofthesun (Jade Sanchez) @earthcommons (Brandi Perkins) @corazonverdeyerbas (Leighla Molina)
