We recently had the chance to connect with Jordan Deer Heart and have shared our conversation below.
Jordan, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Watching old Bob Ross episodes! I love popping into the weekend livestream marathons on Youtube. You really can learn a lot and the show lives you to its name – The Joy of Painting.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the founder of Deer Heart Apothecary, based on Lenape land in Brooklyn, NY. I began my practice nearly 10 years ago, under the name Ostara Apothecary, In 2021 I felt the calling to change my business’ name to reflect the medicine name my abuela Irma StarSpirit Turtle Woman gave me – Deer Heart Ix Mazatl Ol-si.
In my work, I create plant and stone medicine to heal on multidimensional levels. My offerings draw upon my Yaqui and Puerto Rican heritage and connection with the natural world. I am also a Reiki Master, a 13th Octave LaHoChi Master, and also practices Pranayama Breathwork, Shamanic journeywork and limpiezas, and Tarot as tools for soul transformation.
I have taught courses and facilitated healing work for humans all over the world. I am also the artist/creator of the oracle deck Oracle of the Constellations, which I self-published this summer!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I love this question because this is one I ask of my clients in our work together. It’s one of the most important questions to consider and live in.
I grew up in a high-control Christian religion, where everything was about the Church. How we dressed, what we ate, what media we consumed, who we talked to and how we spent our time. Church demanded all of it, and self-expression was not encouraged. Because everyone was expected to fit into a narrow, homogenized way of being, there was no space for heritage, either. So while I always knew I was Yaqui indigenous, Puerto Rican and Mexican, we practiced no part of any of those cultures.
The denial of self and heritage is a pain that most people have experienced in one way or another, and much of the healing journey is unlearning all the repression and returning back to self before the world told us how to be for love and acceptance.
So who was I? It is who I am now once again – who I always was underneath it all. An Artist, a Creative, a Healer and Intuitive Seer. It took a lot of work to get here and I am so grateful to Be Here Now,
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I’d say the one that every creative child has heard – that you can’t make a living being an artist.
I was pushed really heavily into going into business or tech, where the money and security are. And I was miserable. So I tried to compromise – Okay, I won’t get a fine arts degree in drawing & painting, so I’ll get an Arts Management degree instead. It’s still in the Arts, right? Or, okay, I want to be an artist but I’ll do it digitally and go into graphic design, since that’s the direction we seem to be headed.
I still hated it, even though it was bearable. But it prevented me for making art for 15 years and that hurt me more than I knew. But I know now.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
Time. And discernment.
Fads are flashes in the pan. There is no staying power, so when something gets really popular and you want to do it, look at who’s been around. Who was offering it before it took off in the mainstream. Especially in healing work, you want someone who is experienced and knows what they are doing. Just like you’d want the most practiced physician treating you.
Healing has become trendy in the last decade – for all the reasons. And social media has made it easy to present oneself any way they want. So we must be discerning when taking their word for it and receiving their offerings.
Unfortunately the only way to tell if it’s a foundation shift is to see if it lasts!
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
Yes! I am happy to say that I am now, after about 15 years into my working life. I spent those 15 years working in the non-profit world, first doing work adjacent to my real passions, and hoped it’d be enough. Several jobs later I was nowhere near doing what I loved. A $40k salary was making me miserable, and taking all my energy. And I was getting sick – later I realized it was my body’s way of telling me to stop. It was very hard to “throw away the stability” and it horrified my parents, but when i finally quit I began improving in a week.
Now, after having just published my first oracle deck, I can finally say I AM doing what I was born to do. I have never been happier and while it took 15 years, I am so thankful to be here now. Better now than spending a lifetime doing something that weighed me down, as so many others have.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://deerheartapothecary.com
- Instagram: @deerheart.ixmazatl.olsi, @oraceoftheconstellations
Image Credits
these are all my photos
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
