26 Interview with Mezdulene!

What a way to start my very first interview on the podcast with the incredible Mezdulene! Even if you already know this dynamic woman, I'm sure you'll learn new things and be inspired by this interview. Mezdulene takes us on a journey through her spiritual upbringing from an early childhood in vastly different Christian churches to her unique blonde-haired-girl on a Native American reservation adolescence. It's a fascinating story that helped to shape Mez into the Spiritual Leader she is today. 

Transcript

 Hello, I'm Laura Pallatin. Welcome to the Practically Spiritual show, where we support one another as we break with restrictive cultural and religious indoctrination and create our own personal spiritual path.  

I'm really excited that you've joined me for this episode of the podcast, I'm interviewing my friend, Mezdulene, who I've known for a few years. She's a mentor and a friend.  While I've heard part of her story, I'm really excited about hearing the whole thing and sharing it with you. So let's listen to the theme song and then I'll see you on the other side.

 Welcome to the Practically Spiritual Show.  Together we will learn, laugh, and grow. Break indoctrination.  Rise above our nation. And so, oh. Welcome 

to the Practically Spiritual Show. 

 (Laura) Mezdulene is a important mentor in my life, personally and professionally, and fortunately, it's one of those reciprocal relationships where we help each other. I'm just thrilled to have her as my very first guest. Mezdulene is an author, a podcaster and mystic who found her connection to the divine feminine through her passion for belly dance. Her mission is to help women experience empowerment and transformation through their relationship to their sacred selves. Welcome to the Practically Spiritual show. 

 (Mezdulene) Thank you, Laura. I'm so happy to be here. 

 (Laura) As I've said before, you know, we're focused on religious and cultural indoctrination. And the reason that I talk about cultural is because originally my thought was about religious because that was my experience.

That's what damaged me as I was growing up. And Mezdulene is the person that said to bring in cultural indoctrination and boy was she right. That's just a, such an important part of my. Of my podcast now. 

Mezdaline story is especially interesting for me because it's so very different than what I experienced growing up.

So let's just jump right into it.   How would you describe your religious and spiritual early life?

(Mezdulene) Well, as a young child, I was raised as an Episcopalian  and I had my mother's mother, my maternal grandmother was Episcopalian, and that's the religion that my mother followed. And my father's mother, my paternal grandmother, was a, what we called a Holy Roller preacher.

And so I had the opportunity to see really two ends of the spectrum of Christianity. One where it was very serious and we knelt and we prayed and we stood and we sang and we sat and we listened. And then the other one. Where it was all, oh, and in the first one, the Episcopal Church, you're very quiet and you listen to the minister in the  Evangelical Church.

It's all very loud and people are yelling hallelujah and praise Jesus when the minister's talking and the songs are all really upbeat and, but it's also a scary thing because when you're a little kid. And everybody is being really loud, and then they introduce you to the congregation, and you just want to crawl under the, the pew.

Whereas in my grandmother's church, nobody calls anybody out. My, uh, my Episcopal grandmother's church. It's all just very, you know, solemn. So I liked, I liked the ritual of the one, and I liked the joyous nature of the other one. But they were also very contradictive when it came to the actual religious doctrines, explanations, if that makes sense. 

 (Laura) It makes perfect sense. I have experienced the Episcopal church. I've heard it called the frozen chosen.   So it's a lot different than the, um, the very lively evangelical.  

(Mezdulene) Jumping up and down, rolling in the aisles, literally rolling in the aisles, and speaking in tongues, yes. 

 (Laura) How exciting and interesting. 

 (Mezdulene) Yeah. 

 (Laura) Oh my gosh.  (Mezdulene) And scary when you're a little kid. 

 (Laura) So how old were you when you stopped going to church with your grandmothers?

 (Mezdulene) Well, I only went to church with them when we visited them. 

 (Laura) Okay. 

 (Mezdulene & Laura) So, it, It wasn't like every Sunday. Right, it wasn't every Sunday. So just you had an experience to see one. And then the experience of seeing the other one. 

(Mezdulene) Every Sunday was the Episcopal Church. But the, the visiting was when I got to the Evangelical Church.

(Laura)  so, was there a turning point for you at some point in your life when you realized that neither one of these paths was your path? 

(Mezdulene) Yeah, I would say probably when I was six and got kicked out of Sunday school.  And I was just asking questions because what they were telling me sometimes didn't make sense.

And so the answer I got was either if God wanted you to know the answer to that, you would know the answer to that. But the one that got me kicked out of Sunday school was I asked about, they said when, when somebody in your family dies and they go to heaven, then when you die,  In at some future point you get to see them again you get to  Join back with your family is is together again in heaven and so my little friend her mom had died and gone to heaven and She had a new mom and a new little brother from this mom And so I was all excited and I raised my hand and I said so Susie When she goes to heaven she gets to have two moms, right? 

That wasn't The question they wanted to try and answer so they  Asked my mom to maybe find something else for me to do during the church service  So that was kind of, kind of the first turning point. 

 (Laura) At six. At six. So you were an early bloomer. 

 (Mezdulene) I was like, because it didn't make sense to me what they were saying.

Some of what they said just made no sense at all. And the contradictions and so forth. So in my brain is always going, trying to figure it out because I was really strongly pulled towards spirituality. So I wanted to know, you know, I wanted to know more.  

(Laura) Mezdalene and I have been friends for a long time, and I know at some point in your life, you lived on a reservation. How old were you when you moved to the reservation? 

 (Mezdulene) I was 11. And so, you know, those formative years, and that would be my second turning point  as far as my spiritual path.  

 (Laura) And so you  started interacting with the Native American spiritual tradition? 

 (Mezdulene) Right, so 

 (Laura) what was the tribe? 

 (Mezdulene) It was the San Carlos Apache tribe. I just feel really blessed that I was able to experience that during my childhood and see the  the their spirituality how Connected they are to the earth how connected they are to the elements how? they They  are such an amazing community that they all help each other, they all love each other,  if  one person can't, is maybe sterile, can't, uh, get pregnant.

Um, I saw this happen. Her sister had five children and when she had her sixth baby, she gave it to her  infertile sister to raise. 

 (Laura) Wow. That's amazing. 

(Mezdulene) And so, yeah, it was just like, it's such, such a deep. Connection and Sense of community and and then if for instance  in our culture if your car breaks down You're you're stuck until you can get someone to come and tow you or someone to come and check you out if you're on the reservation and you're part of the You know, which I became part of the community, uh, people, they  stop. 

And if I was walking by the road, they would stop  and I learned to not walk by the road because everybody would stop and offer me a ride. And they, everybody takes care of each other. If somebody's family doesn't have money for groceries, then someone else feeds the kids or even if they spend money on alcohol or whatever might be going on.

The kids are part of the, you know, they all, you know, it's that saying, it takes a village. It's a true thing on the reservation. And the other thing on the reservation that I got to witness, which was so phenomenal, was they, I can't remember the term for it, but if something happens It's  miles away.

Everybody already knows about it. It's a psychic thing. It's this, this connection. So they're connected physically and emotionally, but they're also connected psychically.  And I've seen it.  Um, people might doubt that, but I've seen it more than once where I got bucked off of my horse in the middle of nowhere.

There was no houses within miles and miles around. And by the time I got on my horse, got back home, people are saying, are you okay? Are you okay? Um, we heard you got bucked off your horse. And I'm like, I'm fine. How do they hear that?  So that's an element, that that spiritual element where they're so there's that connection between people.

And it was just, it was amazing. And I feel really blessed that they welcomed me as part of that community. 

 (Laura) Yeah, that's fantastic. 

So you had these two spiritual experiences.  You had Christian religion and you had the spirituality of the Native American tribe that you were living with. Do you remember a moment that you really kind of crystallized for you? Which path was more a path for you? 

 (Mezdulene) Well, while I was living on the reservation, the reason we were living there,  was we owned a trading post that had been passed down through my family since the early 1800s and So I was able to meet a lot of people and seal and Also, it was kind of like gossip central for the reservation.

And so I got to hear a lot of things. And one of the things that really stood out strongly for me was all of the missionaries that came in. There was Lutherans, Catholics, Mormons, Pentecostal, Methodists, all different Christian religions came to the reservation. And then they would try and,  convert the Native Americans. The problem was each one of them said you have to believe my way or you won't go to heaven  and so again You know, I'm a teenager and I'm hearing this contradiction and I'm also hearing them  tell the Apaches that their crown dancers, which are part of their ceremonies  and are a very spiritual aspect of their belief system, um, are from the devil.

 (Laura) Interesting. 

(Mezdulene) Yeah. And they, they wouldn't, they didn't have any idea how the Apaches believe they just. Assumed that they were heathens and didn't, you know, didn't believe in a single God and they didn't even look into it. And in reality, the Apaches have a story of a man in white robes with a beard. And if you know, uh, Native Americans, often they usually don't have beards.  They don't grow a lot of facial hair. A man in a white robe came and gave them these teachings. And so, the Christian people didn't honor any of the beliefs that the Native Americans already had, which were very similar to Christianity. 

And so, it was a very confusing thing when I'd hear them say, Well, you have to believe our way, or  You're not going to heaven and so then the Native Americans are, they're being told that their way is wrong and then ten different, Christian groups are giving them a different, you know, each a different thing.

 (Laura) Ten different. Yeah. 

(Mezdulene) Ten different, um, expressions of, of the Bible, of the doctrine.  And so I just was like, I, Christianity is not for me. It's not for me. 

(Laura) Yeah. I understand. 

(Mezdulene) I, I believe that even then I, so I read the Bible myself and decided I wanted to read what, read the Bible and see what it said to me.

 (Laura)  Sure. So you gave it a fair hearing. 

 (Mezdulene) I gave it a fair chance and it  didn't work. 

 (Laura) Well obviously I feel ya. So uh, tell me about how belly dance came into your life and that sort of um, transition.

 (Mezdulene) So that was the third turning point as far as my spiritual path and belly dancing is a divinely feminine dance and  It,  one day while I was belly dancing, I felt my heart chakra just open right up, only at the time I didn't know what a chakra was, I just felt my heart in my chest, just kind of like,  it just felt like it opened up, I just felt this really powerful feeling happen, and it It, it really stopped me in my tracks and I, I didn't know what was going on and it took me a moment to process that it was, it was like my heart was opening. It was an amazing experience. 

 (Laura) And then from there  you developed a path in life that includes belly dance and spirituality  and has enabled you to grow. Your own spirituality? 

 (Mezdulene)  Right, so I follow, my path is a path of the Divine Feminine and when I go back to  my childhood on the reservation, I, the Apaches were a matrilineal tribe

so when they started their menses, they Celebrated and  was a huge celebration 

 (Laura) so no shame about that. 

 (Mezdulene) No, shame 

 (Laura) the opposite how amazing 

 (Mezdulene) right. It was celebrated that these that a girl was now a woman and it's it's a very long and involved ceremony that lasts days and fascinating and I was I was so lucky to be able to see that.

And so there I learned about matrilineal, lineage at that time, but really didn't understand what that meant. And then when I started researching the divine feminine and  after I became a belly dancer and  understood that, first of all, belly dance is the most ancient dance form. It dates back to the time of mother goddess worship.

And what does that mean? That means thousands and thousands of years ago, they didn't know that men had anything to do with childbirth. And so women were worshipped because they brought humans into the world. They made, they created new life. And there's a lot of archeological evidence to back this up, and I'm doing a lot of research around this right now.

It was very exciting to me that I am in this lineage, the belly dance lineage for me is I'm doing movements that women were doing thousands of years ago. eons ago and will be doing thousands of years into the future. And so I'm in this spot time space continuum with women throughout time. And it's just, to me, that's remarkable.

 (Laura) Yeah. Amazing. 

 (Mezdulene) It's exciting. 

(Laura) It is exciting. And the fact that you share belly dance with people is, is just, um, it's been a blessing in my life. I'll say that. So. Would you say that your spirituality is a part of your everyday life? How does spirituality integrate into your everyday life? 

 (Mezdulene) It's, it is definitely part of my everyday life. I like to  start my morning with a meditation  and then just during the day, for me, if someone asks me, what's your religion,  I tell them my religion is love  because I believe That love is the most powerful force, the most powerful healing force in the universe. Also, just the most powerful thing there is, period.

And so my,  intention and mission in life is to be as unconditionally loving as possible. And so that's something every day that I focus on, being loving to people, coming from a loving intention, being grateful, and you know, having gratitude. I call it an attitude of gratitude. And so that, yeah, that's every day, all day long.

I stay in that. And  if I'm having trouble making a decision, I meditate or pray, ask for guidance from my From the source, from, you can call it whatever you want, God, Goddess, Great Spirit is my terminology and so yeah, it's a constant thing. 

 (Laura) Integral?

 (Mezdulene) Exactly. Mm hmm. 

(Laura) So this is a question I already know the answer to, but um, it's on my list of questions to ask.  So do you feel that you have a mission in your life and, and what does that mean to you? How, how does that work into your daily life? 

 (Mezdulene) |So I feel like It's, my mission is to help bring a balance back to spiritual realm, I might, I don't know how else to say it. And by that I mean we have been indoctrinated by the divine masculine for centuries now, many centuries, thousands of years. 

 (Laura) Millennia. 

(Mezdulene) Millennia, exactly. And so we've gotten out of balance. We have, uh, you know, humanity has definitely gotten out of balance. The Divine Feminine has been overlooked, or stepped on, or pushed down, or silenced. And so my mission is to bring A higher awareness back to the divine feminine, which is empowering to women and to help women connect with their sacred selves so that they can feel more power and purpose in their lives and find more peace and serenity as they connect to that unconditional loving essence that is their sacred self. 

 (Laura) Cool.  

 (Mezdulene) Thank you. 

(Laura) I'm excited about this. Another thing I'm excited about is that  you are putting together a podcast. 

(Mezdulene) I am. I am very excited about that and it will be called Divine Feminine Rising with Mezdulene and so I'll be putting this podcast out and it will be focusing on that uprising of divine femininity.

(Laura) So, I know, like I said, I know Mezdeline pretty well, so I know you've written books and you have a website, Mezdulene.Com. 

(Mezdulene) Right.  

(Laura) What other ways can people find you and learn more about you? 

(Mezdulene) On Facebook, Mezduline Bliss is what I have on Facebook. I also have a page called Mezdaline's Musings where I'll post more about my podcast.

 (Laura) Is that mezdalinesmusings. com?  (Mezdulene) No, that's Facebook. 

 (Laura) Okay, so you've got a page on Facebook  

(Mezdulene) and then I'm on Instagram under Mezdulene.  My website is Mezdulene. com,  instagram. Tik Tok, I'll be doing more Tik Tok . And if you want to email me anytime if you have any questions or just want some feedback on something Mezdulene@Mezdulene. com 

 (Laura) Right on, it's very Mezdulene,  (Mezdulene) right. 

 

(Laura) And that's M E Z D U L E N E and you can get more information about that through my channels, which I will be mentioning in a moment. 

I want to wrap this up by asking you if you could share one thing, one phrase or message with the world, what would that be?

 (Mezdulene) I would If I could have one message for the world, it is that you are love.  I just believe that everybody is an expression of love and I want them to know that, that they are just beautiful and perfect and divinely loved just because they exist. 

 (Laura) That's beautiful. Thank you so much for being my guest.

 (Mezdulene) You're welcome. 

 (Laura)  it was really fun and what a great, tie in for your. Brand new launch of your podcast, which I can't wait to listen to.  This brings us to the end of another episode of the practically spiritual show. I hope you enjoyed it I hope that you enjoyed my guest Mezdalene.

Yay If you know someone that you think would be interested in the practically spiritual show and the topics that I talk about I would be so honored if you would refer them to it. Also, Mezdulene's brand new podcast, I will be adding a link everywhere as soon as she gets it launched. There's lots of ways to reach out to me.

I've made a website just for this show, thepracticallyspiritualshow. com. And I have a website for my artsy stuff, laurapallatin. com. I'm on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and threads. I'm working on putting together a mailing list  My goal is to create a community and to start that off, I'm going to use a newsletter.

So if you're interested in that at all, just reach out to me on any of the platforms. And until next time, take care of yourselves. And remember, there is no them, there really is only us. 

  Thanks for listening to The Practically Spiritual Show.  Thank you so much for sticking around to the end. It means so much to me. I love you. See you next time. Bye bye.