Decolonial Wisdom in Desert Ecosystems
In early 2024 I was fortunate to lead an interpretive hike at Mission Creek Preserve for community at the invitation of Dancing Through Prison Walls and Dancing DHS. This short film highlights the conversations that were shared in community which covered themes on land relations, grief, abolition and community care. Video taken by Alessia Zanobini, edited by Thomas Tsai and artistic direction and facilitation by Suchi Branfman.
“What the Winds Say” - Guest Writer for the Sierra Club
“What I look forward to is an integration of traditional ecological knowledge and cultural practices that are being born every day due to a growing interest in ancestral healing, mutual aid and remembrance.”
The Sierra Club invited me to contribute an essay and art for their "2030 Landscapes: Visions for California's Nature and Communities," which showcases community perspectives on how we can protect 30% of lands and waters by 2030.
Dream Embodiment: An Interview for Many Moons Studio
In January of 2022 I was interviewed by Sarah Faith Gottesdiener to speak on behalf of my dream practices and the programs I offer to the greater community. In our conversation, I shared about the possibility that exists when we embody our sleeping dreams through ritual and art.
Guest on the Desert Lady Diaries Podcast
Thank you Dawn for interviewing me for your podcast! Desert Lady Diaries is a weekly 30-minute podcast profiling women, femmes and nonbinary folks who live in the desert; why they came, what they do and why they stay.
You can listen to Dawn and I chat about my first memory of a desert, how I came to live in the Mojave desert, my experience building community in a rural + politically red area, my practice as a cultural worker and why I believe dreams are potent medicine.
Dreamwork & Shifting Cultures
I was recently interviewed by Platform Magazine for their Humxn Voices Project, an online blog that highlights the community work of Black, Indigenous and Folks of Color. In this interview, I chat with Kelly Lam about my family, dream practices as ancestral knowledge, my work as volunteer backcountry guide with Signal Fire + more. You can nominate a BIPOC community member to be highlighted in this blog by submitting to Platform Magazine here.
Guest on the Embodied Astrology Podcast
“There are many ways that our guides, ancestors, and intuition assist us on our life’s journey. The tingles we get when we feel love and joy. The feeling in our gut that tells us something is wrong. The symbols our dreams bring us. Our intuition and dreams serve as paths of communication between our bodies on Earth and our spirit beyond. In this month’s special guest episode, Blanca Villalobos shares how they have cultivated relationships with their spirit guides, ancestors, and dream-body and how they assist others in learning to listen to their own intuitions and the messages that come through their dreams.” - Renee Sills of EA
Guest on the Herb Rally Podcast
In this episode you'll hear from cultural worker Blanca S. Villalobos on the importance of reclaiming the dream realm and supportive plant allies.
“Blanca has been facilitating dream classes and workshops to all ages in homes, art galleries, community centers and conferences since 2016 and couldn't be happier. They have been an avid dreamer since they can remember and was called to share this work now as an adult.” - Herb Rally
Ajo Oxymel, a Plant Exchange With Conduit - 2020
~50% of proceeds go towards two BIPOC led land sovereignty projects~
“Have you ever received plants in the mail? A bottle of elixir made by the hands of someone you admire or love? This exchange expanded on the ways in which the care of plants fostered community and from it, more medicine emerged. In July of this year, I sent Blanca several bulbs of garlic and with their expertise and experimentation, it is now available for sale. I imagine this garlic tincture carries essences of the desert where Blanca lives, mixed with the affections of Stephanie Juris’ bees’ honey, which is mixed into the medicine, as well as stories of the organic matter and loamy layer of soil the garlic was grown in. To me, this tincture represents friendship and communion and exploration and honors this important allium in a way I hadn’t experienced before. Blanca’s label for this tincture reads: Heart, Circulation, Immunity, Antimicrobial, Magical, and I interpret that as a poem which sums up how I feel”. - Jade Novarino from Conduit
Guest on Living Open Podcast
From Living Open:
In this episode, Eryn and Blanca talk about:
Their journey with their dreams
Experiences beyond what is verified by academic research
Their creative expression as intertwined with their dream practice
Dreamworld as real, just as real as waking life
What they believe dreams are/what dreams are to them
Do we have a responsibility to try to understand our dreams?
Choosing which dreams to make space for and work
Healing dreams & relationship dreams
Sex dreams & dreams about crushes
Holding space for dreams with people you trust
Dreams as trauma work
Guest on the Rise Up! Good Witch Podcast
Corinna Rosella interviews Blanca S. Villalobos, Iruka Maria Toro & Kara Wood on their plant origin stories. Hear me share my relationship to roses through my connection with my mother, who’s name I am honored to share.