Koa : Mikaelah

Koa Mikaelah (she/her) is a third generation Latinx Medicine Woman of Indigenous Arawak Venezuelan and Taino Cuban ancestry currently living on occupied Wixárika land in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico. Her teachings come from elders in the lineage of Curanderismo, Shamanism and Breathwork. She focuses her offerings on what she calls “Spirit Medicine” and believes that self healing is an act of radical activism. She combines her Arawak earth medicine roots with her studies of healing modalities from around the world to curate deep + beautiful healing ceremonies around the US. Koa’s spiritual practice has been featured within Vogue, Well + Good, MindBodyGreen, Spirit Weavers Gathering, i-D Magazine, and Nylon Magazine to name a few.

An artist by nature, Koa also curates lifestyle experiences for brands and individuals to connect in a heart rooted way. Her recent clients include: Free People, WhoWhatWear, Levis, Wrangler, The National Park Foundation, Auberge Resorts Collection, and 1Hotels. For event curation portfolio please visit Space + Ceremony.

Lineage

Birthed into a long lineage of Arawak Medicine Womxn from South America + the Caribbean, and being raised in a Spiritist community, the healing arts has been a walk of life for Koa since the day she was born. This work is not learned it is remembered and passed down through the generations of womxn in her family. This work is rooted in Indigenous resistance, resilience, and sacred ancestral medicine.

Koa’s grandmother Maria Lourdes Morillo, known spiritually as "La Montes" lived her life traveling the world as a chamana. She began her medicine path at the age of seven and became famous throughout her life in Latin America, Europe and the US during her career, having a book written about her work as a vessel for spirit. During her life she mothered nine children, six of them women. Among the youngest of the nine was Koa's mother Rosie. Rosie, a folk herbalist + land steward raised Koa in the traditional way, teaching her the ways of Spirit + the plants.

Helios + Solene and Buen Camino

In 2016, Spirit asked for the container that is Helios + Solene to be created to share these offerings with the collective.

Helios + Solene; the initial name of this healing container, was originally named after the Grecian Sun God and Moon Goddess, celebrating both the shadows and the light, the masculine and the feminine, the birth and the void, of life’s journey. It is Koa’s intention for this space to be a safe, decolonial, intersectional, and welcoming container for radical self truth + growth.

In 2022 Helios + Solene was shed as we delve deeper into our practice of decolonialism and after a retreat into the jungles of Palenque, Mexico Buen Camino was born. Buen Camino is the latest evolution of Koa’s offerings to the collective.

*Note: Koa Mikaelah was previously known as Emily Mikaelah, before the name Koa was gifted. In some instances in press or testimonials you will see both names referred to.

Gratitude

to my elders, mentors, teachers, and guides