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COUNCIL for CULTURAL and
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY and
SENTIENT EXPERIENTIALS
joyously announce hosting during Mango Season
A Timeless 10 days / 9 nights
Rainforest Plant Medicine
Council Gathering
ÒNature as Teacher, Indigenous Wisdom &
Rainforest Conservation StrategiesÓ
at GUARIA de OSA Ð “Orchid of the OsaÓ
Rainforest Ocean Wilderness Discovery Centre
and Ethnobotanical Gardens
where the Rainforest kisses the Ocean
on the OSA PENINSULA of COSTA RICA!
APRIL 30 – MAY 9, 2007
Celebrating Mother’s Day,
Mayday, and the full moon
* * * *
Notes:
- We recognize Mother's Day does not fall on the same date of
the year for every country around the world largely because
of traditions and culture.
- All activities are optional.
- Thank you for networking this event to interested people.
* * * *
Join us on an unforgettable adventure of self-discovery, wellness
and exploration of rainforest plant medicine traditions with time-honored
maestros from the Ecuadorian Amazon,
an intrepid Ethnobotanist, together with a Ceremonial Master Counselor,
an Iyengar and Movement Yoga Teacher alongside mindful/considerate
participants — gathering in the heart of the Osa Peninsula
also known as “The Little Amazon by the Ocean” endorsed
by National Geographic as “the most biological intense place
on Earth!”
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Intention
COME:
- To experientially learn from ancient rainforest plant medicine
traditions stemming from the time-tested, traditional healing
and well-ness practices of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon.
- To welcome an alchemic transformation, healing, and re-integration
of body, mind, heart and spirit.
- To receive insight and guidance from these ancient and profound
worldviews and thus strengthen oneÕs essence and improve oneÕs
health.
- To enjoy and be nurtured by the pristine Pacific Ocean and
mighty rainforest ecosystems on the Osa Peninsula and her natural
wonders.
- To support the Biodiversity of Rainforest Conservation efforts
because proceeds from your tuition, in part, is channeled to
Guaria de Osa’s non-profit Grupo Osanimi’s Cultural
Heritage Revalidation and Rainforest Conservation Project in
the Ecuadorian Amazon. For more information please go to our
web site – www.guariadeosa.com
- click on Grupo Osanimi Council
for Cultural and Biological Diversity where volunteers
and donations are needed.
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Themes
to Explore
- Experience the prehistoric origins of Plant Medicine Traditions
from the Ecuadorian Amazon as taught and lived by the Secoya
elders.
- Welcome the past, present and future importance of Indigenous
Plant Medicines and its healers and gardeners.
- Appreciate the connection and relationship of plant medicines
with the ancient traditions of Tao.
- Connect the magnitude of these two Indigenous Spiritual Sciences
and aspects that nourish renewal and wellness in our personal
life, our community life, and the life of our environment, locally
and globally.
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Teachers
and
Ceremonial Masters
Agustin ÒTin TinÓ Piaguaje is about seventy years young,
a traditional Secoya healer and ceremonial master from the Secoya
Community of San Pablo on the Aguarico River in the Ecuadorian
Amazon. don Agustin will facilitate deep healing transformation
giving participants a first hand opportunity to meet a true deep-forest
healer and cultural master. His songs, guiding your meditations,
are profoundly and uniquely cherished.
Delfin Payaguaje is a Secoya grandfather and a traditional
elder, the son of Fernando Payaguaje, one of the greatest spiritual
masters the Secoya People have ever known. don DelfinÕs quiet
nature and poised grace bring multiple blessings. It is an honor
for us that he has accepted our invitation to join in the 2007
council gatherings. This will be the first time don Delfin will
travel outside his mother country. At Guaria, he will join us
on our forest walks with his eyes that see the visible and the
invisible. Don Delfin will also share his experiences of life
in the Amazon Forest.
Alfredo Payaguaje dedicates his life to the cultural
rescue of his peoplesÕ ancestral traditions studying the plant
lore and mythologies with his elders. The grandson of the most
outstanding Secoya plant master, Fernando Payaguaje, the son of
don Delfin Payaguaje, Alfredo, a young grandfather, is a Secoya
Ethnobotanist, who wrote the first story of don Fernando. He is
a long-time friend of ethnobotanist, Jonathon Miller-Weisberger,
who in 1998 prepared Alfredo with ethnobotanical field skills.
Alfredo will share insights into the Secoya cosmology and be the
translator for the Secoya elders at Guaria de Osa.
"My vision awoke when I began to notice that the youth of
my community no longer had the interest to learn about the uses
of our medicinal plants. Since nobody else was, I began to study
with the elders and I found what I was learning to be very interesting.
By learning about the deepest knowledge of my elders and the
reality of what Nature offers us, I realized the need that we
have to keep our relationship with the medicinal plants. Then
the inspiration arose within me to make a garden of all of the
various useful plants, not just the ones we have in cultivation
but also the important forest medicines, to bring these to light
and to share the importance of knowing and loving them and of
their benefit to humanity.
My vision and purpose for this work is to serve my community,
to transmit the wisdom and teachings to the children and students
who today are naive about the importance of our true relationship
with Nature. What I wish to create is a center for the rehabilitation
of our vanishing traditional wisdom so that we can revalidate
our relationship with Nature and the Plants which help us learn
these truths."
— Alfredo Payaguaje, Secoya ethnobotanist
and
author of El Bebedor de Yajé / The Yajé Drinker
Leonell Mendoza is an Ecuadorian from the coastal province
of Manabi and father of three. He faithfully sustains the spiritual
science of the Secoya, learning with the elders, and has achieved
several levels of graduation from more than 5 years of diligent
self-discipline and selfless service. Leonell’s dedication
to healing is based on a call to social responsibility and service.
His ‘day job’ is driving folks home from the market
place in his pick up truck. LeonellÕs experiences as a traditional
healer and ceremonial master are remarkable and his songs are
pure and strong.
Victorio Villareal Villareal “Cascarilla” –
another grandfather Ð is Guaria de Osa’s
non-resident staff. He is a Costa Rican native, a classic and
timeless elder from the Osa Peninsula. A Herbologist and Natural
Healer, don Victorio explains the complex inter-relationships
of species. He comes to Guaria to lead shorter nature walks; identify
the local medicinal and useful plants; helps you identify the
birds and spot well-camouflaged creatures; and he shares his insightful
knowledge of medicinal plants and pre-Columbian archeology. don
Victorio's other gifts, talents, and passions include plant healing,
story-telling of the region, predicting the weather, and serenading
Latin American guitar music of yester-yore. He brings Guaria to
life with his all-star marimba band and will challenge you to
an unforgettable game of dominoes!
Linda Hjortshoj has been teaching Yoga and
movement work for 30 years. After studying Iyengar Yoga for a
decade, she began a journey of discovery into intrinsic movement
with Emily Conrad. She has most recently worked with Angela Farmer
and Victor van Kooten and their Inner Body Yoga. She also has
experience with Alexander Technique and Ayurveda. Linda has been
profoundly affected by her work with the resonance of sound, breath,
and movement and the way that it connects us with the natural
world. The body as the subconscious mind fascinates her since
opening in the body can allow opening in the psyche. She has learned
from her practise of Continuum Movement that it is possible to
create a “fluid system that does not hold onto disease,
trauma, or fixed ideas.” Linda is a mother and grandmother
living with her husband on a very rural tree farm in New York
State, and, with her husband Howard, they founded North Coast
Yoga in upstate New York. Her life in the country has been her
best teacher and the source of her spiritual development. Linda
has led groups to Guaria de Osa for two years.
Armand Huet de Grenier is from Canada’s
east coast Province of Nova Scotia,
where he lives and shares a vision called NOVA QUEST with his
partner, Susan Morrison, a homeopathic consultant. He is an experienced
Ceremonial Master, Counselor and Teacher and he too is a grandfather.
His deep insight and prudent/practical wisdom gained through tireless
years of dedication to service, wellness, and ceremonial drumming
gives him a unique perspective into the deep pathways of life.
Armand studied with Michael and Sandra Harner (Core Shamanism)
and began what has become a 26-year immersion and daily practice
of the shamanic path of spirit. He has traced his shamanic/healing
roots to his ancestors of some 15,000 years ago from the Dordogne
region of France: he is of the cave painters' lineage! Armand
has been called the grandfather of contemporary shamanism in the
Maritime Provinces and he is a student of the Sakyong Mipham,
Rinpoche in the Shambhala-Buddhist tradition of the Warriors of
Enlightened Society. In 1993, Armand, Dahlia and Jonathon met
and shared Jaguar Spirit blessing and connection while in Palenque,
Mexico at a Botanical Preservation Corps Gathering. Translating
his profound life experiences, received in meditation and ceremony,
into ordinary life, we welcome “tio Armand”’s
much-appreciated presence at the Council Gatherings, where he
will be available individually and in group to assist in the intentional
preparation and reflections on the teachings of the plant and
animal guides: “Our stories are the humble expressions of
Spirit Medicine!”
Jonathon Miller-Weisberger (aka Sparrow), Ethnobotanist
and student of Traditional Chinese and Indigenous Medicine, a
Naturalist, and Rainforest guide, has more than 10 years of ground
level experience in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Jonathon is the founder
and steward of Guaria de Osa Rainforest Ocean Discovery Centre
and the director of the Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity.
His friendship and work relationship with the Secoyas date back
to 1994. Born in Berkeley, raised in Ecuador with his sister,
Jonathon has over 18 years of Rainforest Conservation advocacy
beginning from his early years at Humboldt State University. Although
he has written and submitted articles in Spanish and English and
keeps volumes of excellent journals, Jonathon has been too engaged
to write a book Ð yet. More at: http://www.osanimi.org/contents.html
ÒOver the years, I have been working on what I call The
New Ethnobotany, an emerging discipline that seeks to enact
new methods of cultural transmission to revive, validate, and
strengthen the vast plant lore among and within Indigenous and
rural peoplesÕ communities. I believe that the preservation
and attentive transmission of Indigenous plant knowledge both
among forest communities and the world at large are crucial
links in ongoing forest protection. Ultimately millions of hectares
of priceless tropical Rainforest lie in the hands of Indigenous
peoplesÕ communities undergoing rapid changes and cultural dissolution,
and the fate of these forest lies directly in the ability of
Indigenous People(s) to continue renewing their relationship
and sustainable approach to living in the forest. Consequently
much work is necessary among these communities to, at the very
least, strengthen traditional plant knowledge. The problems
of deforestation are tremendously complex, yet, that shouldnÕt
stop people from finding practical solutions to this global
concern. We are seeking to discover effective techniques and
strategies towards these ends.Ó
Dahlia Kresch Miller (aka Esther Miller) was
born and raised in Panama by Polish-Jewish immigrants and has
spent most of her life in Latin America. Dahlia lived in Ecuador
from 1968 – 1985 where she raised two graceful children:
her daughter Ladna - who is an ecologist/biologist, coordinator
of Grupo Osanimi’s Rainforest Conservation
and Cultural Heritage Projects in Ecuador, a photographer and
an avid practitioner of Capoeira; and her son, Jonathon, who is
an ethnobotanist, founder and steward of Guaria de Osa and the
director of Grupo Osanimi/The Osa Foundation, and an avid practitioner
of Chinese Medicine and its philosophy and Martial Arts. While
raising her family in Ecuador, Dahlia taught high school in Quito;
and in her home, she gave piano lessons (she went to Juilliard
Conservatory of Music in New York), and held vegetarian cooking
classes (an original concept in those days in Ecuador). In 1974,
with Gilad Zamir from Israel, she co-founded “Hojas de Hierba”
a cultural centre named after Walt Whitman’s masterwork,
Leaves of Grass, programming live cultural and educational
activities like Ecuador had not seen before alongside a restaurant
that served the first vegetarian dishes in Ecuador together with
other 'firsts' in this beloved country of hers. In 1994 she received
her Masters Degree in the Interdisciplinary Studies of Consciousness
at John F. Kennedy University in California. Dahlia has been Sentient
Experientials’ Liaison for Ecuador since 1994 and Guaria
de Osa’s Liaison since 2001 – and continues to be
the fulfilled mother of Ladna and Jonathon! During these early
years and growth of Guaria de Osa, her Ph.D. degree in Social
and Cultural Anthropology at the California Institute of Integral
Studies – with a focus on Living Systems Theory and the
Gaia Hypothesis – continues to be a work-in-progress. The
well being of the Rainforest and her culture(s) is where Dahlia
turns her personal, professional, and passionate attention.
To get to Guaria de Osa effortlessly -
please contact Dahlia to register for this shape-shifting event!
E-mail:
Tel. (510) 235 – 4313 in California
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A
ÔtypicalÕ day during a Council
6-7:30 AM: Sunrise meditation and Dao-In Yoga Ð an ancient energy
conducting exercise from the traditions of Tao where we also practice
breath work techniques to strengthen oneÕs health and well being.
- Presentations and dialogues with themes to explore throughout
the week:
- The traditional context of Plant Medicine Traditions in the
Amazon; Indigenous World View, Cosmology and Mythology; comparative
study of Amazonian and Taoist spiritual views; and how these
traditions translate into a modern context as lessons from Nature.
- Interwoven throughout the schedule are several Rainforest
walks to experience the highlights of the Osa Peninsula Ð the
pristine, ancient and towering gallery rainforest, beach and
ocean ecosystems Ð the wondrous and awe-inspiring world of biological
diversity!
- Several Renewal Methods of fasting, cleansing, and purifying
with medicinal rainforest plants time-tested by the Secoya Culture,
for example:
- Plant baths for aura cleansing
- Purging with medicinal rainforest plants at 3 am to balance
the bodyÕs pH crucial to any healing or detoxification program
and for preventing disease. Most people in today's modern
society are acidic because of diet, sedentary lifestyle
(or in some cases, over-exercising), stress, pollution,
and the accumulation of chemical and heavy metal toxins.
When the acid and alkaline properties are of equal strength,
we say the pH is balanced. Purging (vomiting) with medicinal
plants with the heavenly stars looking at us Ð is a very
good thing to do!
- Three traditional healing ceremonies for spiritual and physical
self-integration, renewal and wellness facilitated by traditional
masters who come from a direct lineage going back generations
within the Secoya Community of the Ecuadorian Amazon Ð while
being marinateÕ by their heavenly shamanic chants.
- On exhibit and for sale will be Pablo AmaringoÕs visionary
paintings.
- Click on Pablo Amaringo Gallery at www.guariadeosa.com
- Listen to rare recordings of shamanic healing chants from
the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon.
- Enjoy live traditional marimba music by Guaria de OsaÕs staff.
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Getting
to Guaria de Osa
We make the following round-trip reservations
to get you to Guaria de Osa effortlessly!
- Costa Rican domestic round-trip flight; $192 round-trip:
San Jose / Osa Peninsula
- Taxi transfers in San Jose: Juan Santamaria International
& Tobias Bolaños Domestic Airport Ð to & from
hotel, if applicable; our taxi staff can also serve you if you
want to visit prime areas in San Jose (about $20/run)
- Hotel in San Jose: cozy and affordable
- Osa Peninsula Transfers by land and water to Guaria de Osa
(two boat and one microbus transfers included in tuition; please
pay the 4th taxi transfer at the river town of Sierpe - about
$20 to Palmar Sur airport.)
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Tuition
Tuition: $1900/participant
Space available: 22 participants
$1000 pre-payment will reserve your space.
Balance is due by or before March 15.
Payment can be made:
with Paypal using a debit or credit card;
personal check, cashiers’ check;
money order; American Express Travelers’ check
Note: For extra nights, before and/or after
a Council Gathering,
cost is $100/night/person for lodging and meals
plus extra Osa Peninsula transfers - $35 one way.
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To
Reserve Your Space
- Please send your deposit or full tuition accompanied with
To Reserve Dates Travel Document located on our website:
- click on Fees & Reservations
- to the right of the sunset photo are 3 travel documents
at Travel Documents to Mail
About International Flight Reservations
- We suggest participants arrive one day before the date of
your chosen Council Gathering.
- On the first day of your Council Gathering, everyone will
fly from San Jose on the domestic flight to the Osa Peninsula
en route to Guaria de Osa.
- Costa Rican domestic reservation will be pre-paid directly
to Nature Air.
- For anyone who needs to leave Costa Rica on the last day
of the Council of your choice
your morning transfer from the Osa Peninsula arrives into San
Jose at 11 am.
- Thus, it is very important to book your departure international
flight back to your home country anytime after 2 pm.
- If you have to stay overnight in San Jose, we will reserve
a nice cozy and affordable hotel for you.
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Tuition
Includes
- While soaring to new levels of mindfulness and consciousness
É shape shifting facilitated with Rainforest Plant Medicines
in the company of 8 multi-cultural facilitators together with
the flora and fauna nestling Guaria de Osa
- 10 days/9 nights lodging
- On non-fasting days: Three scrumptious, home made meals with
vegetarian options
- Osa Peninsula Transfers: from local airstrip to Guaria de
Osa; total 2 boat transfers and one taxi transfer; please pay
taxi driver directly for the 4th transfer from the river town
of Sierpe to Palmar Sur airport
- Three guided journeys into towering gallery rainforest:
- Paradise beach and rainforest waterfall walk to Rio Claro
- Hiking St. JosephÕs Ridge Trail
- A hike bordering Corcovado National Park
- Ethnobotanical Plant and Talk Walk through Guaria de OsaÕs
Gardens
- Dialogues on ethnobotany, wisdom transmission, Indigenous
world-view, cosmology and mythology
- Renewal Cleansings: Two 3 am mornings of purging to cleanse
the body
- Renewal Ceremonies: Three days of fasting to prepare for evening’s
ceremony
- Please note: One-on-one healing, however,
is not included; cost is $75/session (and a long session it
is!)
- Yoga Classes and 15 yoga mats
- 10% donation to The Osa FoundationÕs Rainforest Conservation
Projects. To learn more about our rainforest conservation efforts,
please go to www.osanimi.org
and our Rainforest Conservation page at www.guariadeosa.com
- Filtered water in the dining room and kitchen; for all other
uses at Guaria, there is spring water that gushes pure water
– naturally filtered straight from the rocks
- Solar system lighting
- Clean linens and towels
- Costa Rican Tourist Tax on lodging
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Tuition
Does Not Include
- All San Jose expenses: hotel, taxi transfer, meals, including
airport exit tax;
as of 2006, airport exit tax cost $26/person (including children);
you pay this when you depart Santa Maria International at the
airport's tax counter.
- Costa Rican domestic air flight $192 round trip
- Gratuity: Guaria de Osa is ready to lend a hand 24 hrs/day,
7 days/week, 12 months/year with quality attention. In gratuity
for service rendered, we propose $10/night/person to present
to GuariaÕs administrator who will, in turn, distribute to staff
both Ôon stageÕ and those Ôbehind the curtain.Õ
- One on One Healing: $100/session
- Laundry service - available at:
- 25 cents/small piece (example: underwear)
- 50 cents/big items (examples: pants, shorts, t-shirts,
beach towels)
- Special dietary requests - other than vegetarian: $70/week/person
- Surfboards and boogie boards rental: $15/day
- Use of internet
- At Guaria, we accept: Costa Rican Colones, US Dollars, American
Expresss Travelers Checks or PayPal with a major credit card.
- Past guests expressed it was handy to bring extra money -
anywhere from $200 to $500 - to cover additional experiences
and adventures to supplement activities readily on hand at Guaria
de Osa.
- Please refer to our Price List at http://www.guariadeosa.com/fees/index.html
- What Guaria de Osa can offer is listed at the links below:
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Reflective
Endorsements
“With these few words, I wish to infinitely thank
Jonathon for the great assistance that he gives the Secoya People.”
ANGEL CELESTINO PIAGUAJE, Secoya educator
and author
“Grupo Osanimi is important work, needs to be supported
and is making a real difference.”
TERENCE McKENNA, ethnobotanist and author
“Jonathon Sparrow Miller-Weisberger and his colleagues
are doing important work for the preservation of tropical ecosystems,
and the indigenous gnosis of the forest inhabitants. They are
literally rediscovering the "roots" of humanity's million-year
old symbiosis with the plant kindom. Their work is ethical, motivated,
and deserves support. In this era of shrinking ecosystems, disappearing
species, and cultural dissolution the work of Jonathon and his
organization is of incalculable value for every species, and for
all species who share this fragile planet.”
DENNIS McKENNA, ethnopharmacologist
and author
“The Rainforest Conservation work of Jonathon Sparrow
and his Indigenous colleagues
ranks among the most respectful, creative and promising ventures
underway on behalf of Earth and ancient Earth ways. This is truly
Deep Ecology in action - a privilege to behold.” JOANNA
MACY, Buddhist scholar and Living Systems educator,
author, and, with John Seed, Pat Fleming, and Arne Naess, co-founded
THE COUNCIL of ALL BEINGS (CAB) - a training in movements for
peace, justice and ecology
“Group Osanimi is doing courageous and innovative
work. By seeking out ways to assist cultural transmission while
organizing to protect Ecuador's forests, they are working to preserve
ancient botanical wisdom, not on some dusty bookshelf, but in
the hearts of indigenous youths and in the forest itself. This
is a bold and crucial step in these times.”
ROBERT HASS, poet, United States Poet
Laureate, 1996-1997
“Jonathon's collaboration as an ethnobotanist fulfills
important contributions in collecting medicinal plants and fruit
seeds of the area and contributing to the National Herbarium of
Ecuador from areas not visited, such as Napo-Galeras, slopes of
Cerro de La Plata Mountain Range, and the Headwaters of the Shiripuno
River. His seriousness, delivery, and professional talent are
a valuable assistance in complementing our objectives.”
DAVID NEILL, Curator of the Museo de
Cienca Nacionales Herbarium, Ecuador
“Jonathon Sparrow and the rainforest workers in Ecuador
are doing invaluable work. Not only with the Huaorani Indians
but with many tribal groups. These young people are conscientiously
recording botanical medicinals and new species of rainforest plants
and bringing hope to Indigenous People. We all have pride in their
efforts and support them in their endeavors.”
BILL MOLLISON, originator of Permaculture, author, biologist,
farmer, teacher and Australia’s Man of the Year
“Well Jonathon Sparrow, you’ve done yourself
proud – big dreams require big beautiful places to happen.
See you next time.” SCOTT
PITTMAN, Permaculture Institute, New Mexico
"Jonathon is an ambassador of Gaian consciousness. He is
one of the jewels of the planet." MICHAEL
COTTINGHAM, Ethnobotanist, co-founder of The Herbal Medicine Program
at The New Mexico College of Natural Healing
ÒWell Jonathon Sparrow, youÕve done yourself proud Ð big
dreams require big beautiful places to happen. See you next time.Ó
SCOTT PITTMAN, Permaculture Institute,
New Mexico
ÒGuaria de Osa is where the Spirit of the Rainforest is alive
and wellÉwhere the vibration of healing and awakening gets into
your dreams and makes you feel like anything is possible on this
Earth. As if that were not enough Jonathon Miller-Weisberger -
a Ôyoung SchultesÕ - is a master with the plants and they speak
to him. He helps you listen to their myriad voices, each a wise
voice singing a different part in NatureÕs chorus. Come to this
place and you will be forever changed.Ó BILL
PFEIFFER, Sacred Earth Network
“don Victorio embodies the spirit of the rainforest
and the culture of the Osa Peninsula.
Sharing his intimate knowledge of the medicinal qualities of local
plants and trees enhanced the special nature of Guaria.”
KAREN TABERSKI, Marine Biologist
“Linda Hjortshoj’s class is the only Yoga class
I have ever wanted to go back to.” ED
VERMUE, University Librarian
“Working with Linda is the only way I have found
to relieve the pain of my scoliosis. The combination of breath,
sound, and body awareness makes it different than any other work
I have done. Even my orthopedist was impressed!” ADDIE
CASTALDO, retired Office Manager
“Their approach to Yoga is so very practical. They
have helped me take my Yoga off the mat and put it into my daily
life in a way that's nearly eliminated the aches and pains I had
thought were just part of being a physical, active person.”
FLIP PURVIS, Contractor
“Linda's classes can involve some serious work and
she tends to stress fundamentals, but makes them interesting.
Leaving the classroom, I find myself feeling greatly improved
physically and in my outlook.” ANN
HALLINAN, Gardener
“Dahlia Miller brings her gaia/kali spirit to the Council
Gathering while invoking the balancing presence of the Great (Feminine)
Mystery.”
ARMAND HUET de GRENIER, Spiritual
Ceremonial Counselor and Teacher
“As a medical doctor, I have worked with Armand DeGrenier
for over twenty-five years.
He has helped clients that I have referred to him with a variety
of personal, relational, and spiritual challenges. The shamanic
and psychotherapeutic tools he works can inspire deep transformative
change in anyone willing to explore the landscape of their inner
world. Armand also is very experienced and skillful in guiding
ritual and group process, providing a safe and supportive atmosphere
for participants to share and connect with each other.”
DIRK VANDERSLOOT, MD
“Armand is a shaman's shaman. Armand animates everything
he touches; explores all that he encounters; learns from all his
relations; he is always in motion. He has shared his early encounter
with Michael Harner and introduced core shamanism and other spiritual
work to Nova Scotia. In this respect he is the ‘father’
of contemporary shamanic practice in Nova Scotia. The students
of his first drumming circles are working across Atlantic Canada
making their contributions. Armand works tirelessly offering his
remarkable individual healing work, drumming circles and ceremonies
to all who ask. If you have not been in a circle led by Armand
then find one... he is creative, energetic and compelling. Armand's
spirits dance in his eyes, flow like a river in his being and
entice you to open to the wonders of the sacred. He is teacher,
healer, visionary, warrior... a shaman extraordinary!”
A. MARGUERITE CASSIN, PhD, professor and shamanic student
“Armand lives a path of openness and surrender. I
have danced in the sacred with Armand for almost 2 decades and
am witness to his years of committed teaching, dedication and
humility. Armand is a man of integrity, a gracious and compassionate
“Grandfather”. He honors the way of heart. He inspires
by example. He holds the vision of wellness for many. Armand stands
beside me. I trust him with my Soul. I am blessed to have him
in my life.” C. J. SILVER,
Affiliate of the EarthSea Shamanic EcoVillage and co-creator of
the EarthSea Society, NS
“Armand DeGrenier’s work as a counselor/shamanic
practitioner and group facilitator merits my highest heart-felt
support. I have worked with him personally and have referred friends
and clients to him. He is compassionate, skilled, creative, focused
and competent in assisting those who ask to deep psychological
and spiritual healing. His own willingness to “walk his
talk” provides an authentic and loving guide for all who
open to his facilitation. Armand has a unique ability to provide
a safe environment for deep work with a loving sense of honesty
peppered with humor to assist transformative experiences. He is
expertly skilled in gently eliciting and inclusively facilitating
multi-tradition and spirit inspired contemporary shamanic ceremony:
for birthing, funeral send off, namings, weddings, separations,
health trance-forms, heart healing, soul retrieving, conflict
resolution, living, work space and geographical spirit cleansings
and for various life transitional honourings and planetary health
attendings. It has been an honor to work with Armand both as a
friend and as a mentor.” JEAN
FOREST, RN, MA
“My journey with Gaia centered consciousness has been
greatly enhanced by my participation in shamanic groups, ceremonies,
and one-on-one sessions facilitated by Armand DeGrenier. My work
with him continues to be deeply healing and transformative. It
moves me forward by leaps and bounds on my journey to assist others
in becoming stewards of the Earth. In gratitude” GAIAMORE
(inspired creator of the EarthDeck and Nature Divination Photography)
ÒMany thanks for sharing the beauty and wisdom, shining the
deep listening and the natural healing vibrations. What an inspiring
and uplifting, magical and amazing meeting place. And the sounds
É the music ÉÓ NERUPA HOFFMAN-PAISS,
Yoga teacher, mother, and wife; and AMIR PAISS, Musician, father
and husband
ÒLove, Love, Potency. Fabulous eco journey
in the jewel of Central America.Ó GANGA
WHITE, founder of White Lotus Foundation, Santa Barbara, California
and author of Yoga Beyond Belief
ÒFor Jonathon! Thanks for your work in the world! With best
wishes.Ó
JEREMY NARBY, author of The
Cosmic Serpent, DNA, and The Origins of Knowledge
ÒJonathon! What good magic here at Guaria de Osa! Presided
over by a most benevolent array of plant energies and animal intelligences,
leafing and leaping spirits, laughing under a gazillion gleaming
stars, accompanied by the steady drumbeat, like a dark heart of
the wave on the sloping strand in wilderness and wonder.Ó
DAVID ABRAM, author of The
Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human
World
ÒI felt as if I were on my own private South
Pacific Island! Everyone is so kind, knowledgeable and helpful!
Food is amazing! The orthopedic mattresses were well worth all
the trouble it must have caused to get them here. Thank you for
helping to make me conscious of my impulses and the power of my
intuition. You are a treasure that I will always keep in my heart.Ó
BOBBY SAGER, Sager Family Foundation,
Boston, Massachusetts
ÒSacred Love.Ó STING, England
ÒI came here as one and left as another. Thank you.Ó
SIMON ASTAIRE, England
ÒMy trip to Guaria de Osa was a psychospiritual journey that
opened up possibilities in my personal and professional life that
I had only dreamed of before. And it was exotically beautiful,
rejuvenating and fun!Ó RACHEL HARRIS,
Ph.D., psychologist & author
ÒBeautiful spot, great gardens, fantastic buildings, wonderful
forest, very rich people. Thanks for the help, hospitality, generosity,
honest, and all around good vibe. And the presence of the plants
is palpable.Ó LINCOLN STOLLER, physicist
Òdon Victorio Villareal Villareal is a wise, warm, and sensitive
elder filled with knowledge of the plants, nature, the history
and customs of the Osa Peninsula and humor which he readily shares.
He cast a spell in the evening as he shared his heart through
his singing and guitar playing. It was hard to say goodbye.Ó
PATRICIA HARTIGAN BLOOM, Reg. Nurse/Attorney
at Law, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Vibrational Healer,
Founder of A Healing Alternative, Mill Valley, California
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Just
Some of our Favorite Interdisciplinary Readings
Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a
Peruvian Shaman,
by Pablo Amaringo and Eduardo Luna. To order: North Atlantic Books,
Berkeley - chard@northatlanticbooks.com
Ayahuasca Reader: Encounters with the AmazonÕs Sacred
Vine, edited by Luis Eduardo Luna and Steven F. White;
(read A Huaorani Myth of the First Miiyabu,
by Jonathon S. Miller-Weisberger)
Book of Changes and the Unchanging Truth, attaining
Unlimited Life, by Hua-Ching Ni
Breaking Open The Head, by Daniel Pinchbeck
(read Ch. 22 on Sentient Experientials in the Ecuadorian Amazon)
Coming Back To Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives,
Our World,
by Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown; foreword by Matthew Fox
HerbalGram: The Journal of the American Botanical
Council
http://www.herbalgram.org
If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth,
by Helen Caldicott, M.D.
In the Rainforest: Report from a Strange, Beautiful,
Imperiled World,
by Catherine Caulfield
One River, Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon
Rain Forest,
by Wade Davis
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the
Pillage of a Continent,
by Eduardo Galeano
Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual
by Bill Mollison
Riding the Horse Backwards,
by Arnold and Amy Mindell
Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Timeless Wisdom from
the Science of Change,
by John John and F. David Peat
Shaman’s Drum Journal, A Journal of Experiential
Shamanism and Spiritual Healing
http://www.shamansdrum.org/
Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man: A Study
in Terror and Healing,
by Michael Taussig
Taoist Inner View of the Universe and the Immortal
Realms,
by Hua-Ching Ni
The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge,
by Jeremy Narby
The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance
of Plant Medicines to Life on Earth, by Steven Harrod
Buhner (Please read Ch. 11 Living Biognosis
Ð the work of Sparrow, pgs. 249 Ð 268 and other writers.)
The Nature of Shamanism: Substance and Function of
a Religious Metaphor,
by Michael Ripinsky-Naxon
The Reenchantment of Art, by Suzi Gablik
The Reenchantment of the World, by Morris
Berman
The ShamanÕs Body, by Arnold Mindell
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language
in a More-Than-Human World, by David Abram
The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra
The Three Halves of Ino Moxo: Teachings of the Wizard
of the Upper Amazon, by Cesar Calvo and Kenneth Symington
The Way of the Shaman, by Michael Harner
The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of
Living Systems,
by Fritjof Capra
Thinking Like a Mountain: Toward a Council of All
Beings,
by Joanna Macy, John Seed, Pat Fleming, Arne Naess
Thought As A System, by David Bohm
Vine of the Soul, Where the Gods Reign,
by Richard Evans Schultes
Workbook for Spiritual Development of All People,
by Hua-Ching Ni
World as Lover, World as Self, by Joanna
Macy; foreword by Thich Nhat Hanh
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To
Register
To register please contact Dahlia Miller
Email:
Tel: (510) 235 4313 (U.S. office)
Sentient Experientials at Guaria de Osa
PO Box 1004
El Cerrito, California, 94530
Thank you for networking this event to interested
people.
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