Las Ruedas, The Wheels, are a divinatory system made by Rica Gudiño inspired by Western and Mexikha astrology to inform 64 new archetypes. This divinatory system has six wheels representing time, fire, water, air, earth, and death. Sancta Maria embodies the energy and message of each symbol within la Rueda del Tiempo, the Wheel of Time, using two-dimensional digital collage as their medium. All aspects of concept, performance, and digital collage by Rica Gudiño.  

Sancta Maria performs as the Initiate, the first archetype within the wheel of time. This archetype is inspired by the western astrological sign Aries and the Nahua day sign Ollin (earthquake). She is born from the abyss, from the depths of the earth, surfacing where it breaks. Every inch of her body vibrates with the anticipation of earth shattering movement, and her heart is aflame with a burning love that is true and just. She lives in the time of fire, where all is melted down into one to be reshaped into new earth. She calls for truth with her conch, beckoning forward a paradigm shift with clarity so sharp that it pierces the hearts of the willfully blind. Every step she takes raises the ground to dust, levelling the structures of ignorant men attempting to play god, and her footsteps leave lessons from the past in her wake. You can follow her tracks all the way to the beginning of time, to the origin of movement. Her voice is a bellowing cry, and those that hear it are brought to their knees with soul shaking realizations of their own nature. She inhales chaos and exhales order, bringing about new visions, new life, new timelines, new worlds.

Sancta Maria performs as the Student, the second archetype within the wheel of time. This archetype is inspired by the western astrological sign Taurus and the Nahua day sign Tecpatl (flint knife). She is a truth chaser, and she spends her days and nights digging deep into the earth to uncover stories untold and secrets buried. She is a being without sight, and yet she can see beyond what the naked eye can in moments of utter stillness and silence. She crawls slowly with her body close to the ground, absorbing every movement and vibration, every whisper, like shock waves through her four limbs and her belly. She can hear every heart beating on the planet as she sharpens her knife that digs to the bone of truth. Her body is her medium, and she uses her sensitivities like a finely tuned instrument that hones in on each collective frequency. She is a powerful sorcerer, tempting mortals down the self-destructive path to discover the knowledge of good and evil. If you are brave enough to dive in, she is also capable of cleansing the guilt and shame of those who follow her as they face their fate. She bears the reminder that fear is part of the body’s natural wisdom, and those who run from her are only running from themselves.

Sancta Maria performs as the Creator, the fourth archetype within the wheel of time. This archetype is inspired by the western astrological sign Cancer and the Nahua day sign Xochitl (flower). She is the great multiplier, and she reproduces herself by reflecting upon all her surroundings in all timelines. There is starlight at her fingertips, and she uses her light to sort through the past one feeling at a time. She labours over this work tirelessly, she is infinitely indefatigable, and she takes great care to mourn the past while weaving its truths into the tapestry of time. She is a collector of memories and ghosts, she accrues collective emotional debts, all that has been cast away in the shadows, breathes life into the dead, and commemorates it all with the gift of light. Bring her the bones of your past, all the love and loss from other lives, and lay it down at her feet. She will unburden you from the belief systems you have made while carrying the heavy weight of that which no longer serves you, that which you have claimed as yours, and that which you inherited. She reminds you of the power of stories, to never forget your own creation story or the myths you tell yourself, and whether you carry that narrative with the intention to create or destroy.

Sancta Maria performs as the Destroyer, the fifth archetype within the wheel of time. This archetype is inspired by the western astrological sign Leo and the Nahua day sign Cipactli (crocodile). Her stomach is on fire and her skin burns with an insatiable need for limitless growth. She cannot be contained by her own body as she follows each and every impulse conceived within her and  internal twitches push the boundaries of her very existence. She honours this divine discontent by ripping free from the limitations of her current form, destined to expand beyond her own imagination. Her self creation is violent by nature as she gives birth to her own divinity with a primal force that shatters the universe to open the portal to new realms. She is all powerful, and those that look at her cannot turn their gaze as they witness this brutal birth of worlds, as they become painfully aware of their own ability to indulge in impulse and follow the pull of their spirit to fulfill fate. She bears the difficult reminder that destruction must occur before creation, that honouring the death of our past selves is the only way forward into new life.

Sancta Maria performs as the Seeker, the seventh archetype within la Rueda del Tiempo. This archetype is inspired by the western astrological sign Libra and the Nahua day sign Calli (house). She was born on the day of rest, and the noise of thunderstorms fade in the distance because she exists at the heart of the mountain. She maintains her balance at such heights by remembering the metaphysical rule “as above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul.” And so she is rooted as deeply as she stands tall. She is perfection of the present moment, despite her knowledge about grief of the past and fear of the future, because she can look back and forward at the same time while holding truth in her hands. She no longer searches for her other half because she has found it in herself, in her heart, in her emotions that run deep like the caves of a mountain, and in the breath that fills her lungs. She is fully alive with every inhale, and fully dead with every exhale.

Sancta Maria performs as the Trickster, the eighth archetype within the wheel of time. This archetype is inspired by the western astrological sign Scorpio and the Nahua day sign Cuetzpalin (Lizard). She is a belly crawler and mask wearer, she is never as she appears to be. Her shape is constantly shifting to reflect her environments, and mirroring is her power. She exists in a place where all timelines converge, and she sits with all of her past, present, and future versions of herself. She is constantly reconstructing and reproducing herself, and this steady regeneration can cause reversals of fate. She bears the reminder that what goes around comes around, that without explicit intention, rapid changes can bring about the resurgence of familiar patterns. She reminds us that healing is not linear, but cyclical, that we are meant to learn our lessons one chapter at a time and not the whole book at once. You can only let go of control once you have it. Those that look upon her are mesmerized and transfixed, and that is her lesson of the hunt. That we do not need to stalk prey to satiate our hunger, that we can express the patience of nature and wait for the offering to be made before striking.

Sancta Maria performs as The Catalyst, the tenth archetype in la Rueda del Tiempo. This archetype is inspired by the western astrological sign of Capricorn, and the Nahua day sign of Miquiztli (death). She carries the message of endings and beginnings, the space between sunset and sunrise that is total stillness of time and space. She exists at the moment of wholeness in the dark before an earth-shattering birth into light. She reminds us of the fear of the unknown and limitless possibilities, all that remains outside of our control, and that growth requires discomfort. She is part axolotl and goat, part divine cyborg, and she offers up the rabbit to the moon to provide light during this transformational time.

Sancta Maria performs as the Teacher, the thirteenth archetype within the la Rueda del Tiempo. This archetype is inspired by the western astrological concept of Lilith and the Nahua day sign of Atl (water). She exists in shadows where the air is still without trees and the water is thick like an oil spill. Her eyes cannot see and her mouth cannot speak, and rage is the fountain of her tears. She is yearning personified, desperately seeking for herself, not knowing where she is lost, and incapable of recognizing the light she holds in her own hand. She is haunted by the ghosts of her past, driven by an urge to exist in a heaven she has no concept of, and never present in the waking moment. She is her own greatest enemy as she drowns herself in lessons rather than learning them. She will forever be relentlessly restless, her skin itches and burns in the water despite her endlessly insatiable desire to swim in it. It is all she craves and she will slowly give herself away to the water until she no longer has a body, a willing sacrifice to escape her own fear in the face of the unknown.