SpiritShellsCaribe

¡Hola y Taigüey from Boriké, Puerto Rico!

Daka Taino. My elders named me, “The Sea that Knows Itself.” I am a certified cultural artisan in the archipelago of Puerto Rico. Each piece is made in relationship and with permission from the ocean and creatures that created these beautiful shells. I am so grateful to each purchase, like or favorite and happy to be here. Let me tell you a bit about my journey.

By trade, I am a writer and storyteller yet these fields required years at a computer screen far from ancestral lands and in New England libraries. I made the decision as an adult to rematriate to the archipelago of Puerto Rico and find my roots which led me back to the sea, surf, and land.

In 2023 I had a near death experience during a severe C0VID infection. It took me 11 months to recover my strength. One day I went for a walk with my dog when I was discouraged and asked the ocean, “What do I do now?” A few days later I had found the most incredible and rare pile of shells in Rincón after a tropical storm.

I took these shells home and remembered the words of a medicine woman I had once worked with in California/Mexico who said, “Your gifts are meant to be shared,” and while staring at my growing shell collection I could feel the question, “Are you going to share your gift?” rise in my awareness.

It was in this moment Spirit Shells was born as a way to not only share beauty but also the protective qualities of shells. The first collection of Spirit Shells launched in June 2024. It is hard to convey in text how much prep and intention goes into these pieces I post for sale. That is because Spirit Shells is not only design but a living relationship to nature.

For more poetry / prose and intention, join me on Instagram @spiritshells. Each purchase support an artisan with a big hear and sensitive immune system.

With love,
💓