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Raw, tender, and profoundly honest—this episode peels back the layers of maternal relationships that shape not just our lives, but the stories we tell.
"I was raised by women who loved me and hurt me, and that's who I wrote." With these words, I invite you into the emotional core of "The Ordinary Bruja," revealing how Josefina and Mama Belén emerged from my own experiences with the complicated women who raised me. These characters aren't villains or saints, but something far more authentic—wounded healers carrying both damage and devotion.
Josefina's character holds the weight of maternal regret, including my most painful memory: being told by a professional to stop speaking Spanish to my young son. That moment of misguided protection still aches years later, even as I've learned the advice was wrong. Meanwhile, Mama Belén embodies those tough Caribbean matriarchs who rarely say "I love you" but demonstrate it through unwavering presence. These women taught strength and resilience but sometimes at the cost of emotional expression—patterns I unconsciously absorbed and had to consciously unlearn as a mother myself.
The transformative truth at the heart of this episode is that while ancestral trauma is real, so is ancestral healing. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is recognize the cycle and say "this ends with me." Whether you're navigating your own complicated maternal relationships or seeking to parent differently than you were parented, this conversation offers validation, reflection, and a path toward healing. Join me in exploring how protection can become projection, how love manifests in unexpected ways, and how our most painful experiences often become our most powerful stories.
Take a moment this week to write to one woman who shaped you—with love, anger, grief, or whatever truth lives in your heart. Healing starts with honesty, and motherhood's messy glory deserves nothing less.
Support the show
If today’s episode hit you in the chest the way it hit me, don’t just walk away—walk toward something that reflects you.
Subscribe to the podcast, hit that YouTube channel for the behind-the-scenes, and if you’re ready to read a story about what it really means to come home to yourself—
👉🏽 Preorder The Ordinary Bruja.
https://haveacupofjohanny.com/product/the-ordinary-bruja-book-one-of-las-cerradoras-series-j-e-ortega/
It’s about a Dominican-American bruja who’s been running from herself her whole life until ancestral magic, generational wounds, and a haunted-ass hill force her to face the truth.
If you’ve ever felt “too much,” “not enough,” or like you don’t fit anywhere, you’re exactly who this story was written for.
🎙️ Subscribe.
📺 Follow on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2SRDePbyy8M85Wbf25VUCg
📚 Preorder The Ordinary Bruja. https://haveacupofjohanny.com/product/the-ordinary-bruja-book-one-of-las-cerradoras-series-j-e-ortega/
Because becoming who you are is the bravest kind of magic.
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By Johanny Ortega
5
11 ratings
Send us a text
Raw, tender, and profoundly honest—this episode peels back the layers of maternal relationships that shape not just our lives, but the stories we tell.
"I was raised by women who loved me and hurt me, and that's who I wrote." With these words, I invite you into the emotional core of "The Ordinary Bruja," revealing how Josefina and Mama Belén emerged from my own experiences with the complicated women who raised me. These characters aren't villains or saints, but something far more authentic—wounded healers carrying both damage and devotion.
Josefina's character holds the weight of maternal regret, including my most painful memory: being told by a professional to stop speaking Spanish to my young son. That moment of misguided protection still aches years later, even as I've learned the advice was wrong. Meanwhile, Mama Belén embodies those tough Caribbean matriarchs who rarely say "I love you" but demonstrate it through unwavering presence. These women taught strength and resilience but sometimes at the cost of emotional expression—patterns I unconsciously absorbed and had to consciously unlearn as a mother myself.
The transformative truth at the heart of this episode is that while ancestral trauma is real, so is ancestral healing. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is recognize the cycle and say "this ends with me." Whether you're navigating your own complicated maternal relationships or seeking to parent differently than you were parented, this conversation offers validation, reflection, and a path toward healing. Join me in exploring how protection can become projection, how love manifests in unexpected ways, and how our most painful experiences often become our most powerful stories.
Take a moment this week to write to one woman who shaped you—with love, anger, grief, or whatever truth lives in your heart. Healing starts with honesty, and motherhood's messy glory deserves nothing less.
Support the show
If today’s episode hit you in the chest the way it hit me, don’t just walk away—walk toward something that reflects you.
Subscribe to the podcast, hit that YouTube channel for the behind-the-scenes, and if you’re ready to read a story about what it really means to come home to yourself—
👉🏽 Preorder The Ordinary Bruja.
https://haveacupofjohanny.com/product/the-ordinary-bruja-book-one-of-las-cerradoras-series-j-e-ortega/
It’s about a Dominican-American bruja who’s been running from herself her whole life until ancestral magic, generational wounds, and a haunted-ass hill force her to face the truth.
If you’ve ever felt “too much,” “not enough,” or like you don’t fit anywhere, you’re exactly who this story was written for.
🎙️ Subscribe.
📺 Follow on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2SRDePbyy8M85Wbf25VUCg
📚 Preorder The Ordinary Bruja. https://haveacupofjohanny.com/product/the-ordinary-bruja-book-one-of-las-cerradoras-series-j-e-ortega/
Because becoming who you are is the bravest kind of magic.