Today we’d like to introduce you to Elijah Durham – Madrid.
Hi Elijah, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
How I got to where I was today and where I started are still very much embedded in the same foundation, my shadow. In spirituality we refer to shadow as any response based out of triggers, traumas, and fears. I was living deep in my shadow for a very long time.. I didn’t have much of a childhood, my parents raised me to be very independent and with that came adult realities at a very young age. All of my childhood is blacked out, I remember certain places, or feelings but I don’t remember much of anything other than negative experiences. Coming into my teenage years there wasn’t many places that were safe emotionally for me, I had a door to shut and a room to call my own but my home wasn’t a home by any means. A lot of things were going on with me, I was an openly feminine gay young black man living in Temecula, California… Things were not progressive or friendly. I was ostracized, hate crimed, with as much as racist remarks thrown at me everyday by peers, adults, strangers and people who even pretended to be friends. All because I was different or couldn’t hide who I was. So naturally by this point in time we start doing drugs and drinking heavily because it’s Temecula and there’s nothing else to do but be blown outside of my mind in this suburban privileged area. Unbeknown to me this would be the origin story of my self destructive behaviors that would ultimately carry me into my early twenties. Now, I wasn’t an addict. I never lost jobs, friends or family due to my alcohol usage or drug usage. I just very much liked to not be present on earth because I was unsure of how to heal from all the pain and fear I’ve endured over the years on my own. Some time in-between teenage years and early adult hood I was diagnosed as bipolar Type 2/ major depressive, had a 51/50 and did an out patient program. So mental health is now in the picture and I’ve gained a lot of tools and more insight to how my mind works. I had started healing and digging into my pain of what truly affects me and things that I can now shift my perspective on, but life got ahold of me and I felt like I had made big steps so I was “done” healing my childhood wounds and I was a full adult now. Wrong. It was around my 25 birthday that I had reached a breaking point. Things were going really well for me, I moved, gotten my dream job as store manager of a coffee shop, I was laying down the path for me to become a district manager of this company. It just wasn’t filling my cup. I enjoyed what I was doing but it didn’t feed into my soul like I thought it would. At this point in time I knew I needed to make changes to my life and I had been experiencing abnormal situations more frequently, so I wanted to dive into spirituality. I had tried everything under the sun by this point. The only thing I hadn’t tried was unwavering faith. I ended up finding a teacher who I studied under for almost a year and then I broke off into my own practice.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not, anyone in spirituality who says it’s easy or “love and light” all the time is lying to you or not putting in the work. The work that I do will be for a lifetime and it will not stop. Learning yourself does not stop, learning how to control your reaction to things does not stop, watching the energy you put out does not stop, these are daily things that are required of me to live in my highest alignment. There are some days where I cry at every little thing, other days I am questioning my very existence and should I even be doing this. I was blessed to be in an environment with so many healers and teachers with incredible gifts that I felt like I had imposter syndrome at times, was I truly a psychic? Should I be offering advice? How do I know this is my calling?
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My name is Elijah Matthew, or as some know me Jah Bruja I am a Psychic medium and Tarot reader. I am known for being a former hot girl turned spiritual baddie. I specialize in offering insight for those who are curious about messages they may be missing from the divine, spouses who are wondering if their partner is cheating, young entrepreneurs not sure on the next business move, or someone feeling spirituality/energetically attacked. I am able to peek into a little bit of everything and if it’s not currently happening it’s in the works, trust me. What I believe sets me apart from other readers is the fact that I don’t like to let anyone walk away without feeling like they got a resolution to their question. There is no such thing as a bad reading, when done right a reader should be able to identify the energies at play, what to be aware of, and where things can go if on the current path but remember nothing is permeant, the future is always changing.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I would love to see myself somewhere as a part time practitioner or if not full time living in my path. Right now I’m just allowing spirit to guide me, I still have a lot of information to gather and more time to develop my skills so I am in no ruse to make big changes, what’s meant for me will be.
Contact Info:
- Website: jahbruja.setmore.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elijaahmatthew
