Anita Marie Mechler: Psychic Medium and Bruja
"One way I give back to the earth almost daily is to refill the hummingbird feeders on my back porch ... This is all a spiritual practice to me."
This is the first in a new series: The Radical Soul Questionnaire (adopted with respect from Sari Botton’s Oldster questionnaire). In this series, radical souls respond to questions about their spiritual identity, practices, and beliefs.
Anita Marie Mechler is a generational psychic medium and bruja who receives messages from spirit guides via clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, and claircognizance, using the tools of trance meditation, tarot, crystals, chakra reading, and auric energy work.
Can you loosely define your spiritual identity? (We won’t hold you to it)
I consider my spiritual identity to be ever-evolving, shifting, and changing as I learn, grow, and am exposed to new-to-me modalities. I work to be engaged in decolonizing spirituality to empower fellow healers connecting to themselves as spiritual beings, their spirit guides, and their ancestral lines of the past, future, and non-biological.
At the moment, I identify as a psychic medium, bruja, hopeful curandera/healer who believes in communicating with oneself, the human dead & other non-human beings, and the universal source of life and knowledge as a transformative daily practice.
I am radical because I believe that I am forging my own path into the unknown, gathering up the supplies that I have gathered from disparate places, taking what resonates with me and leaving behind colonialist standards, white supremacy, or anything limiting my growth in an ethical way.
Who has challenged and evolved your beliefs?
My husband is my biggest spiritual advocate and challenger; he has this unique trait of asking me one-line questions so beautifully and succinctly that they completely blow my perceptions out of the water. Once I’ve recovered, he helps me find resources to further support my spiritual explorations. He is also an excellent listener and holds space for me when I inevitably need to talk it through. I also have a whole support network of living guides beyond those in spirit including a therapist, healer, oracle, and animal communicator that help me learn so much more about the spiritual world. Lastly, people who come into my life beyond my close relationships can have the power to unexpectedly shift things for me as well.
Do you have any spiritual practices?
I see daily living as a spiritual practice, heavily influenced by the principle of reciprocity as defined by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, which is “recognizing that we humans do have gifts that we can give in return for all that has been given to us.” This looks like: waking up each morning and giving thanks for another day of life, being grateful to the water that washes away my sleep and sweat, finding joy and pleasure in my cup of tea, being in present company with my partner and cat. One way I give back to the earth almost daily is to refill the hummingbird feeders on my back porch. And I celebrate the beauty around me in my visual art and writing as well. This is all a spiritual practice to me.
What is one way you see yourself as radical?
I am someone who has rarely fit into the social groups around me, starting with my family and out to all of the activity groups of friends around me. I am radical because I believe that I am forging my own path into the unknown, gathering up the supplies that I have gathered from disparate places, taking what resonates with me and leaving behind colonialist standards, white supremacy, or anything limiting my growth in an ethical way. I am radical because I often rail against the compulsory things we have been taught growing in American society like heteronormativity and capitalist dominion. I utilize discernment in all parts of my life and especially in my spiritual education. It is not always easy, but it is always the right thing to do.
What grounds you?
In addition to the daily practices I mentioned before, I also do things that are grounding to me like journaling, pulling a single tarot card for the day, doing specific grounding meditations, calling my life force energy back into me, dialing into my chakras, connecting to Source, creating intentions with every ritual, cleaning/cleansing/raising the vibration of my space with incense or a singing bowl, holding certain grounding crystals, visiting with my ancestors and guides at my home altar, putting my bare feet on the ground, and saying hello to the dedicated trees in the front of my home.
What gives you hope?
I maintain hopefulness when I feel connected to my body, spirit, mind, to my partner and my loved ones, to the earth and nature from what is below my feet to above my head and everything around me, to my spirit and living guides. I am the most hopeful when I’m creating art or writing, sharing these things with other people.
What’s one lesson you keep having to relearn?
Oof! This is a hard one, but it’s really about self-care and not giving beyond my capacity on any given day. I am an Enneagram 2 (The Helper), a recovering “people pleaser”/perfectionist, and the unofficial “mediator” in my family. For decades, I put aside my own needs because I was afraid that I would never be loved if I ever said “no,” wasn’t “perfect” in every way, or didn’t give my everything to every relationship or job I came across. It has taken years of therapy, meditation, and work on building up self-worth and love to get to where I am today, and I am not perfect! I still struggle with being “good enough” to be loved in all aspects of my life including money, career, friendships/social standing. I’ve gotten much better, but I often need my partner to remind me to “breathe” and take breaks. I don’t have to do everything or “be everything” to be worthy of rest or love!
What advice do you have for others struggling with what to believe in?
We are all spiritual beings having a human experience as one of my favorite mediums Kim Russo says. We are all on our own paths unlike anyone else (as cheesy and trite as that may sound). The only constant in life is change and we will all shift as we age and evolve. This isn’t an easy lesson and can sometimes be very lonely and often confusing (speaking from experience!). But oftentimes, our paths will cross with others who will help us along the way, who will help us untangle some of the mysteries that lay within and without. There is no “one-size-fits-all” take on spirituality or beliefs. Have fun with it! You don’t have to make unchanging definitive decisions on anything or commit to any one thing! Experiment, read, visit sacred places, go to what you are attracted to and examine it with loving curiosity. Get quiet, contemplate, go out into nature, breathe, listen, connect. Write, make art, sing, dance. Do what you can to care for yourself, heal old wounds, release what you don’t need, and make room for what you want your life to look like.
Anita is offering Radical Soul readers 33.33% off her regular pricing ($40 for an hour reading). To take advantage, use this secret exclusive link to schedule time with her.
Thank you again for this opportunity and all the good work you put out into the world. Proud to know you!