ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF WE CARE SPA
Left : The colorful lobby is a gathering spot for guests ; right : We Care ’ s beautiful grounds
CAMP COLONIC
THE LUXURIOUSLY REVAMPED WE CARE SPA IN DESERT HOUSE SPRINGS IS A MIND , BODY , SPIRIT DETOX THAT MAKES CLEANSING FUN .
BY JUSTINE AMODEO
We Care Spa Founder Susana Belen
The porcupine first makes an appearance on a card in a cozy , softly lit yurt at We Care Spa in Desert Hot Springs . Ronda MacNeil , a numerologist , animal spirit guide and life path reader , tells me the card I draw means I am protected with a coat of armor ( she also deftly renames my procrastinator an “ energy surfer ” and makes it clear this “ old soul ” needs to play more ). The next day , my quilled messenger appears again in a 60-minute spiritual healing session when AJA — a spirit guide coach and medium who is in residence at We Care to lead a week-long Guided by Spirit Retreat — transmits the porcupine ’ s tough love : She sees me sitting on a muddy bank of a river with spikes coming out of my back . The porcupine , she explains , has a soft underbelly that needs to be able to feel safe to show it . But instead , there is fear . My guides tell her the spikes are a cloak that I can drop . That at some point , I felt the spikes were protection , “ but they slowly began to seep into your skin . The promises you make will help you unzip this cloak and drop it . If you can move into a zone of forgiveness , you will be halfway there .” My guides say they ’ ve been frustrated with me for ten years . “ We offer you riches and you walk right by , picking up the dirty plate instead of the golden ball .”
58 SUMMER 2024 | LATITUDE33MAGAZINE . COM