THE GUIDES
A Lantern in the Dark
While there are times when we are called to walk alone, journeying with the support of guides can help us find safe passage through seemingly impenetrable peaks, offering the wisdom they’ve learned from experience and a helping hand.
We were blessed to have a stellar team of diverse guides shepherding the journey of ACOSC, sharing the nectar of multiple spiritual lineages and their soul infused artistry to catalyze the metamorphosis of each voyager and the tribe as a whole.
At their best, a guide is a lighthouse calling us home on a cold and stormy night - one who embodies love and illuminates the path of the heart.
Brian Dunham
Brian is an emerging founder, explorer, guide, and artist whose greatest passion is to weave elegant chrysalises for the evolution of human consciousness with a great journey embedded in the heart of the experience.
He is the founder of Evolutionary Journeys, a social enterprise startup that brought to life A Celebration of Sacred Convergence, and migrates between the ecosystems of the Bay Area, Mt. Shasta, and Latin America. In response to his love for our planet and the intertwined ecological and social justice crises facing humanity, Brian has made one unifying commitment to serve as his north star: the Regeneration of Life on Earth in One Generation - by the year 2050 when he turns 70 - and is calling in all allies who share the commitment to this dream.
Santiago Ayala
Santiago is a highly respected Shaman and a gifted healer. He has learned sacred teachings from many ancestral traditions. Santiago carries the blessings of his tribal chiefs, family and many indigenous elders. He is a Sun dancer, carrier of the sacred Chanupa (sacred pipe), and holds space for Vision Quests.
Santiago devoted his life to the shamanic path at age 26 after overcoming a serious illness. He is the guardian of one of the last San Pedro and Willka trees forests in southern Ecuador, preparing it in the traditional way to be used for healing purposes. His medicine songs, prayers and blessings carry a powerful intention to heal the heart with the sacred spirit of San Pedro.
Ximena Morales
Ximena is a mother, vision seeker, and co-founder of Casa del Sol. Her childhood was spent during the bloody internal conflict that occurred in Peru during the 80’s and 90’s, which profoundly marked her spiritual search from early on. She has lived in nature since the age of 21, next to rivers and mountains which feel like family for her in the Sacred Valley of the Longevity, Vilcabamba. Here she welcomed her children into the warmth of her home. Becoming a mother of four was her most sacred spiritual INITIATION, both challenging and sublime.
Ximena is initiated as a Pampamisayoc (Andean Priest) within the Andean Q’ero cosmovision and in the Turpo lineage -guardians of the relation with the Apu Ausangate- in the high Peruvian Andes. She also walk the red path of the North Native traditions such as Sun Dancer and Vision Quester.
Alonso Pilla
Alonso is master artisan of traditional Incan weaving, leader in the indigenous community of Salasaca, and seasoned guide with over 30 years of experience. He specializes in the magical art of weaving mama chumbis (sacred belts of protection) with the prayers of his ancestors and the blessing of the Apus (holy mountains). He learned the highly complex art of weaving from his father via an eight year apprenticeship as a youth and is dedicated to protecting this ancestral heritage from the forces of globalism and modern capitalism.
He has guided over a thousand voyagers through the Andean highlands of central Ecuador, sharing the wisdom of the plants, trees, mountains, and sacred sites. A native Quechua speaker and life long learner, Alonso is always open to receiving new friends from abroad and sharing the traditions of his culture with a generous heart and radiant smile.
Yana Bartova
From the Shuar tradition she received her name Tatzimoi - "bird that accompanies families in their homes and orchards with its song". From Czech Republic, she shares medicine of Ayahuasca in women's circles in South America and Europe, She is a co-creator of the Women of Water Collective, expanding ancestry through song, medicine and art. She walks this path next to her husband Mira Jempe with whom they have been walking for 10 years taking care of the altar of this master plant at the service of healing and divine consciousness from our Almasana home in the mountains of Vilcabamba, Ecuador and traveling to different parts of the world.
Mira Jempe
Mira's path started more than 20 years ago with persistent knee problems from intense sports. This led to an arthritis diagnosis, pushing him to seek a different way. Leaving behind Bohemia, Czech Republic, he embraced Ayahuasca in Spain under Peruvian and Ecuadorian guidance. Mira's journey took him to the Amazon, where he communed with Ayahuasca's spirit and engaged with shamans. Miguel Chiriap, his Ecuadorian master from the Shuar lineage, became his mentor, teaching ancestral wisdom. Years of dedication and plant communion healed him, enabling him to walk, work, and sing once again. Mira now embraces various plant allies and evolves as a healer, a hopeful path lit by the light of Ayahuasca's guidance.
Mateo Buki
Mateo has been close to shamanic medicines and ancestral practices from a young age as the son of Ximena & Santiago. He assists the shamans with his beautiful healing gifts of heartfelt songs, mantras and prayers. His presence brings a playful, caring and brotherly energy to each ceremony.
Mateo has been given blessings to share the medicine of the sacred Kambo frog in ceremony. The Kambo is harvested from responsible sources of the Matse tribe in Peru. Between ceremonies, he leads voice workshops, yoga practices and meditations. Mateo is a seeker of knowledge.
Lalita Vega
Lalitā is a yoga, meditation, and mindfulness teacher. Her spiritual inclination started very early on in her life and later became the full-time passion that brought her to deepen her studies in Asia. She studied yoga in various schools and ashrams in India (YA 900h+), and also immersed herself in Buddhist monasteries in Thailand and Myanmar.
Her passion for mantras and devotional chanting led her on a journey to discover her own singing potential, and to study the energetics of the voice and nada yoga (the yoga of sound).
Currently, she is training with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield to become a certified mindfulness teacher. And she teaches and hosts workshops, retreats, and trainings.
Lauren Oiye
Lauren is a Licensed Psychologist in Hawaii with over ten years of experience working with individuals and families with extensive experience with issues related to feminine traumas and sexual abuse. She is connected to many paths including those of the North and South Americas as well as the traditions from the Aina (lands) and Wai (waters) in Hawaii. She is currently a Vision Quester, a La’au student (Hawaiian medicine), and hopes to soon participate in the prayer of the Sun Dance.
Wisdom is the best guide and faith is the best companion.
Dalai Lama
The Voices of Our Elders
Since I was a child, one of my greatest loves has been to read. A great book invites us to journey to ancient lands, explore cultures far beyond our own, and provide access to the wisdom of our elders, those who have walked the path before us.
I’d like to express my utmost thanks and acknowledge these master guides by sharing a collection of the books that most influenced ACOSC and shaped my life. My sincere wish is that your life is enriched by their teachings, just as mine has been.
- Brian
