What I Stand For

For thousands of years, the shamans of the Amazon rainforest and the Andes mountains have counseled their people on matters of community, health, and spirituality. Existing in a time and place before mainstream doctors and information technology, medicine men and women turned to Nature to teach them how to help their communities. Incredibly, these resourceful individuals managed to not only develop complex systems of knowledge, but also to pass them down from generation to generation.

Today, the modern world has arrived at the villager’s doorstep; religion, deforestation, and economic pressures have all converged to displace the shaman. Tragically, young people are no longer interested in learning the ways of their elders. Seduced by technology and the promise of economic gain, they have moved away from the villages, leaving the old masters with no apprentices to teach. Each and every year, as old shamans die off, knowledge about dozens of plants and their associated practices perish with them. Much of this knowledge is likely permanently unrecoverable, but we can still strive to preserve what remains.

And so, with this urgent crisis of knowledge unfolding at this very moment, I humbly present my personal mission to you.

Objective #1: Show the world that the shamans are as relevant today as they have always been. The primary job of the shaman has always been to heal the sick. Today’s prevailing scientific models view illnesses in strictly material terms. Modern medicine has accomplished a great deal, but it has failed to address the spiritual components of illness. Doctors today heal with medication, and the shamans of the past healed with plants. But what truly sets the shaman apart from the doctor is that the shaman understands that it is not just the chemistry of the plant that does the healing, but rather its spirit. And a well-trained shaman has developed a strong enough relationship to these plants to the point that they can open the patient’s energetic body to Nature. Today, more than ever, we need this connection to Nature in order to heal ourselves.

Objective #2: Support other practitioners and aspiring practitioners in their pursuits. Shamanic practices are available to anyone who is willing to put in the work, regardless of their background. I hope to create a hub here in New York City where others like myself can exchange ideas and techniques with one another in order to continue breathing life into this ancient tradition.

Objective #3: Heal, Heal, Heal! Talk is nice, but healing through traditional medicine is even nicer. I am happy to let the medicine speak for itself, send me a message today and discover how Amazonian and Andean medicinal practices can help,

If you would like to learn more about my mission, find me on my Contact page.