Honored Wisdom Keepers and Guest Presenters
For more information about any of our presenters, click on their name below for a more detailed biography or scroll down for all bios.
TO REGISTER CALL TOLL FREE - 877.314.3778
OR 347.463.8868 and speak with Kim Hughes.
Visionary Insight & Human Evolution
- Barbara Marx Hubbard - a social innovator, author, co-founder of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, and producer of the award-winning series, Humanity Ascending: A New Way through Together;
- Raymond Moody - world renowned psychiatrist and best selling author of Life-after-Life;
Native Wisdom & Ceremonial Traditions
- John Rice - Ojibwa-Chippewa Bear Clan drum carrier, teacher, and former chief of Wasauksing First Nation;
- Deina Bomberry - traditional Ojibway-Chippewa jingle dress dancer, storyteller, teacher and drummer;
- Flo and Sal Yepa - respected Kiowa-Tinoan speaking traditional storytellers, peyote singers, and tribal drummers;
Shamanic Consciousness & Healing Practices
- Oscar Miro-Quesada - respected Peruvian kamasqa curandero, originator of the Pachakuti Mesa Shamanism, and visionary founder of the Heart of the Healer Foundation;
- Douglas Sharon - renowned anthropologist and author of Wizard of the Four Winds: A Shaman's Story;
- Bonnie Glass- Coffin - award-winning professor of anthropology and author of Gift of Life;
- Robert Vetter - cultural anthropologist who has been conducting fieldwork in the areas of spirituality and healing;
Social Change and Earth Stewardship:
- Janell Kapoor - Founding Director of Kleiwerks International. She is an avid mud mama, global movement-builder, designer and teacher;
- Shea Armstrong & Jared Zimmerman - An artist and naturalist Jared brings an eye for living consciously with the land in service of our natural world. Shea is an ecopsychologist and wildlife biologist;
- Jeff Schmitt, PhD - A 30 year veteran scientist/entrepreneur with over 100 publications and patents to his name. Currently, Board Chair of THOTH;
Sacred Sound & Transformational Arts
- Byron Metcalf - award winning drummer, recording artist and transpersonal educator;
- INLAKESH - Internationally renowned recording artists and didgeridoo masters;
- Anika Harris - an instructor of indigenous music and dance;
- Master Wang Ming Bo - Taiji Quan master teacher from Shanghai;
- Rose Oliver - Taiji Quan Yang Style, Chen Style and Wu Style Taiji Quan, Qigong and other related Chinese philosophical arts;
- Cat Matlock - the founder of the West Asheville Yoga Studio and the Bodhana Yoga School in Asheville, NC.
- Maddi Cheers - Storyteller and instructor teaching dance, multi-cultural games, fitness and theatre to kids and adults for 35+ years.
>> Due to unforeseen circumstances, Grandmother Red Leaf has cancelled her appearance at our Gathering. We honor and bless Grandmother and her work.
Please check back as we will be adding more Presenters, Guest Speakers and Wisdom Keepers!
For a detailed Schedule of Events, follow this link >>>
Our Wisdom Keepers, Speakers,
Instructors and Performers
Visionary Insight & Human Evolution:
Barbara Marx Hubbard
A social innovator, author, co-founder of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, and producer of the award-winning series, Humanity Ascending: A New Way through Together. www.barbaramarxhubbard.com
Raymond Moody, MD, PhD
The bestselling author of eleven books which have sold over 20 million copies, Dr Moody's seminal work, Life After Life, has completely changed the way we view death and dying and has sold over 13 million copies worldwide. He is the leading authority on the “near-death experience”—a phrase he coined in the late seventies. He is best known for his ground-breaking work on the near-death experience and what happens when we die. He received his medical degree from the College of Georgia and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia where he also received is M.A. and B.A. He is a frequent media guest and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show three times, Today, MSNBC, and been featured in hundreds of publications. He lives in Anniston, Alabama. www.lifeafterlife.com
Shamanic Consciousness & Healing Practices:
Oscar Miro-Quesada
Oscar Miro-Quesada originated the Pachakuti Mesa tradition of cross-cultural shamanism, and is the visionary founder of The Heart of the Healer (THOTH) Foundation as well as invited United Nations (UN) Observer for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. He is a respected kamasqa curandero from Peru and a Fellow in Ethno- psychology with the Organization of American States (OAS). Oscar has also been guiding cross-cultural ethnospiritual apprenticeship expeditions to sacred sites of the world since 1986, with special emphasis on Peru and Bolivia. Aside from his currently established international Pachakuti Mesa apprenticeship programs, he is a popular teacher at distinguished leading-edge educational centers worldwide. His work and programs have been featured on CNN, Univision, A&E, and the Discovery Channel. www.mesaworks.com
Douglas Sharon
Renowned anthropologist and author of Wizard of the Four Winds: A Shaman's Story. http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2002/10/24_sharon.html
Bonnie Glass- Coffin
Award-winning professor of anthropology Dr. Glass-Coffin became widely-known beyond the academic world of anthropology with the publication of The Gift of Life: Female Spirituality and Healing in Northern Peru, exploring the role of curanderas in their communities. She knew – from the ancient Moche and Chimu sculptures of women as healers and shamans – that women have historically played a large role in the healing arts of the region. In her research, Bonnie studies the world of healing, shamanism, sorcery, plant medicines and gender in Peru and Ecuador, and has published numerous anthropological articles. She teaches at Utah State University. http://anthropology.usu.edu/glasscoffin.aspx
Robert Vetter
A cultural anthropologist who has been conducting fieldwork in the areas of spirituality and healing among the Native Peoples of the Southern Plains since 1980. Robert Vetter received an M.A. degree in anthropology from the University of Oklahoma in 1984. His adopted grandfather was Oliver Pahdopony, the last medicine man of the Comanches. In spring, his book Big Bow: The Spiritual Life and Teachings of a Kiowa Family will be published. This collaborative work tells stories of his adopted Kiowa uncle, Richard Tartsah (who was also a medicine man), and several generations of his family. Bob is a teacher, lecturer and workshop leader on a variety of topics related to Native American traditions and cross cultural spiritual teachings. http://indianjourneys.squarespace.com/who-are-we/
Native Wisdom & Ceremonial Traditions:
John Rice
John Rice of the Bear Clan is a second degree member of the Midewiwin Society, the ancient healing society currently centered in the Great Lakes Basin. As Chief of the Wasauksing First Nation, he worked within his community to develop long-range plans based on the ancestral systems of his people, including decision-making by way of building consensus among all the people. Now, as Drum Carrier, John is fervently committed to passing on the traditions to the next generation.
Deina Bomberry
Deina Bomberry of the Eagle Clan is a First Degree Midewiwin. Her dedication to continuing the traditions is apparent through her and John’s joint ceremonial work, as well as through her service as a first and second-grade teacher in their community’s school. A warm, nurturing human being, knowledgeable in the women’s teachings, Deina is also a gifted jingle dress dancer, story-teller and drummer.
Flo and Sal Yepa
Flo and Sal Yepa, our beloved Grandmother and Grandfather from the Jemez Pueblo, will join us again this year! Salvador “Sa-hun” and Florence “K’ia-to-oh” Yepa are deeply respected Kiowa-Tinoan speaking traditional storytellers, peyote singers, and tribal drummers who live on the Jemez Pueblo “Wala Towa” reservation in the upper Rio Grange region of New Mexico. Dedicated to preserving the spirituality of their ancestral peoples and led by a dream of people of all colors coming together in a sacred way, Flo and Sal openly share their visionary wisdom teaching and heartfelt earth-honoring ceremonies with people from all walks of life. Video of Flo Yepa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T4fUirq65M
Social Change and Earth Stewardship:
Janell Kapoor
The Founding Director of Kleiwerks International. She is an avid mud mama, global movement-builder, designer and teacher whose work has inspired people from over 52 countries to build their own homes with what they have where they are. She led the initial ecological design-build trainings in Thailand, Argentina and Turkey, which resulted in the building of educational centers, training programs, businesses, policy change and regional movements of hundreds of thousands of mud people. Janell lives in the oldest mountains on the planet at the Ashevillage Instituteand she is currently launching the Women of the Americas Sustainability Initiative (WASI), an action-oriented alliance of women leaders who construct, educate, organize and advocate for strong and empowered communities through ecological design-build practices, with the aim of creating a socially and ecologically resilient world. www.kleiwerks.org/
Shea Armstrong & Jared Zimmerman
As an artist and naturalist Jared brings an eye for living consciously with the land in service of our natural world. Shea is an ecopsychologist and wildlife biologist committed to carrying the presence and practices that help us re-member our deeply abiding union with each other and our earth. As permaculture practitioners the couple is united in actively tending to the regeneration of our landscapes. With devotion to co-creating sacred community, Jared and Shea offer their service to SIPAPU and The Heart of The Healer Foundation.
Jeff Schmitt, PhD
Jeff Schmitt, PhD is a 30 year veteran scientist, entrepreneur with over 100 publications and patents to his name. He has helped to start five companies, one research institute and North America's only seed repository for plants of medicinal and cultural interest (the Bent Creek Germplasm Repository). As a walker-between-worlds Jeff plays sacred Indian music, has practiced and taught Chinese martial arts and is a student of the folk healing traditions of Peru. Currently Jeff Chairs the Heart of the Healer Foundation Board of Directors and leads the Innovation Center at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Sacred Sound & Transformational Arts:
Byron Metcalf
Award-winning professional musician, transpersonal guide, educator, and shamanic practitioner. Byron Metcalf is the creator of The Shaman’s Heart – The Path of Authentic Power, Purpose & Presence and is the founding director of HoloShamanic Strategies, LLC, in Prescott, AZ, offering shamanic healing services and experiential educational programs. www.byronmetcalf.com
Inlakesh
Internationally renowned recording artists and didgeridoo masters, Rob Thomas & Tanya Gerard of Inlakesh are pioneers in the American Didgeridoo movement. They have inspired countless didgeri enthusiasts for more than two decades with their music and soundscapes of intent. Their work is used by many for Deep Earth Meditation and was featured in the Imax fillm Sacred Planet. www.inlakesh.com
Anika Harris
Anika has been composing music and choreographing since the age of seven and, as a youth, was groomed to become a classical musician with a focus on bassoon and conducting. In her first week at Oberlin College she was introduced to a scratchy field recording of Quechua festival music from Peru and, thereafter, immersed herself in ethnomusicology and global shamanic dances, favoring Andean performing arts. She lived in Ecuador and Peru learning songs and dances from the locals, in established art schools in Cuzco, and from prominent musicians like Alfonso Cachihuango.
Her life today is dedicated to the will of the Unseen World, mostly manifested through performing spirit dances of the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, East and South Asia, singing, and teaching.
Master Wang Ming Bo
Master Wang Ming Bo is a warm, generous and patient teacher, with over 20-years experience in the Chinese martial arts. He has extensive knowledge of Taiji, Tuina massage, Chinese Medicine, Chinese philosophical theories of the I-Ching, Ba Gua, Five Elements, Daoism, Buddhism and other related arts. In addition to his experience, he is also eager to ensure that everyone can obtain the most from their practice, gain a deeper understanding of Taiji and other related Chinese health arts and philosophies, and strives to pass on the information painstakingly gathered by China’s ancient masters to the modern generations around the globe, so all can benefit from China’s ageless wisdom. www.doubledragonalliance.com
Rose Oliver
Rose Oliver began training in Taiji Quan in 1993 in Great Britain, learning Yang Style, Chen Style and Wu Style Taiji Quan, Qigong and other related Chinese philosophical arts and health systems. She and her husband started their own Taiji School in the UK in 1994 and on moving to Shanghai, China in 2000, she founded Double Dragon Alliance Cultural Centre, to foster goodwill, understanding, friendship and cross-cultural ties that benefit all. In recognition of her endeavours, Rose was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 2011 New Year’s Honours List for her work promoting intercultural relations, communication and friendship. www.doubledragonalliance.com
Cat Matlock
Cat Matlock is the founder of the West Asheville Yoga Studio and the Bodhana Yoga School in Asheville, NC. A student of yoga for over 20 years, Cat has studied with some of the leading mantra yoga and Vedic teachers in the West, including Sri Swamini Mayatitananda (Mother Maya), Namadeva Acharya (Thomas Ashley-Farrand), and currently with Dr. David Frawley and Yogini Shambhavi. http://westashevilleyoga.com/teachers/
Maddi Cheers
Most days Maddi Cheers can be found in one or another school somewhere on the East Coast where she is often affectionately known as "Grandma Maddi" due to her work with Journeys Into American Indian Territory. She is a storyteller and has been teaching dance, multi-cultural games, fitness and theatre to kids and adults for over 35 years. Maddi has been the co-creator of the D.C. area's popular Funfit program, "where fitness is child's play" and a founding member of The Women's Theatre Project. She recently formed Global Spiritual Playshops, whose programs allow children and adults to discover how to express the sacred in their own unique way. Along with her husband, Bob Vetter, Maddi has created an anti-bullying program based on Native American teachings called Peace Thru Play: Stopping Bullying by Creating Friendship and Community. She has been practicing Mandala Meditation and Intuitive Writing for 10 years. http://www.indianjourneys.com/who-are-we/