The Heart of the Healer Shamanic Mystery School Presents
With don Oscar Miro-Quesada | September 4-6, 2026
“The survival of modern civilization hinges on the reintegration of the Earth’s laws into our private and public lives…The Earth is wise and whispers to us in a language of feelings…A sacred place is one where the Earth’s voice can be heard more clearly. Go to these places and listen.”
~Fredric Lehrman
“Ah, not to be cut off, not through the slightest partition shut out from the law of the stars. The inner – what is it? – if not intensified sky, hurled through with birds and deep with the winds of homecoming.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
Come stand in the circle of Shining Ones, open to the wisdom that thrives in the land’s oldest songs, and return home to Pachamama, bearing the living pulse of her cosmically sanctified body deep in your heart.
This regional Antisuyu-inspired shamanic apprenticeship experience with don Oscar Miro-Quesada and other guest teachers has been carefully designed to serve as an immersive, soul-deepening exploration of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition's relational intelligence, ritual practice, and communal re-Membering during these times of Pachakuti.
It is intended in vision and purpose as a beneficent self-transformational shamanic exploration of Andean cosmovision, with emphasis on attaining deeper gnosis of the cosmic evolutionary presence in our lives of the constellated energetic powers experienced as Kamaqen, Pacha, Kawsay, Supay, Kallpa, and Qonteqsewiraqocha (i.e., ‘the capacity of producing and controlling chaos,’ or more accurately, ‘the art of befriending entropy’). Such energetically creative embodied awareness--this mystically lived Andean gnosis--is poignantly articulated in the often cited Quechua aphorism: Pacha ukhumpi rumipas yuyayrunaman t’ikrakunaman, best translated as ‘within the interior of matter and time even the stones are able to convert themselves into thinking (sentient) beings.’
The ceremonial set and setting will be meticulously configured and ritually orchestrated to guide participants into a direct, embodied encounter with four interwoven realities:
- Life is fundamentally relational
- The mesa is a living cartography of reciprocity
- Discord and disequilibrium are not failures of the path but initiatory thresholds within
- Spiritual maturation within the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition is inseparable from ayllu-consciousness, community coherence, and reverent service to the more-than-human world.
This is not a weekend of passive instruction. It is a covenantal field of practice. Apprentices are invited to experience themselves not as isolated seekers collecting teachings, but as participants in a living web of reciprocity with Pachamama, with the sacred directions, with their own mesas, with one another, and with the ever-turning world and spirally churning multiverse itself.
Core Wisdom Transmissions:
This singular apprenticeship is intuitively designed to revolve around the following core themes and seven living threads of Andean cosmovision:
- Ayni as the architecture of reality
- Pachakuti as initiatory turning, not catastrophe
- The mesa as a relational interface, not an object display
- Deep listening as a sacred discipline of perception
- Discord as a necessary friction in transformation
- Ayllu as a living ceremonial organism
- Embodied reverence as the basis of shamanic spiritual maturity.
In essence, this PMT apprenticeship is ideally suited for participants sharing multiple levels of shamanic experience and ritual prowess, including new or early-stage apprentices in the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition; experienced practitioners needing re-rooting in first principles; established regional community members preparing for deeper ceremonial responsibilities; and sincere spiritual aspirants drawn to embodied, earth-honoring relational practice.
Lastly, we’ve purposely created this apprenticeship to be both tender and exacting, and, regardless of the ceremonially embellished, beauty-laden magical environment, it serves as a poignant reminder that Pachakuti Mesa Tradition cross-cultural shamanism is not ornamental spirituality. It is an immersive multidimensional apprenticeship in perception, humility, disciplined listening, and relational accountability. Hence, the didactic and experiential tone will be intimate, intelligently soul-honoring, and devotional, but never theatrical. The work is deep enough without anybody needing to cosplay enlightenment. Remember, dear ones, the apukuna, awkikuna, tirakuna, mallquikuna, and machula awlanchiskuna are unimpressed by spiritual posing.
A Final Loving Reminder:
ÑAUPAQMAN PURIY, QHEPAMAN CHAYAY…which translates in Spanish as ‘Camina hacia adelante y llegarás atrás’…or in English, ‘Walk forward, and you shall arrive behind.’ This is another way of internalizing the gnostic truth contained in The Heart of the Healer (THOTH) Shamanic Mystery School’s visionary axiom: ‘OUR DESTINY LIES IN OUR ORIGINS.’
That said, THOTH and don Oscar enthusiastically anticipate welcoming all earnest aspirants of heartfelt initiation into the Great Work to this singular apprenticeship.
Until then, may you continue to walk in grace and beauty, beloveds—Hinayá!
MENLA RETREAT AND DEWA SPA, PHOENICIA, NEW YORK
Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa is a 501 c3 non-profit retreat center and health spa located 2 hours north of NYC by car in the middle of the Catskill Forest Preserve. Menla is a 330-acre private nature reserve. Sitting at the head of a breathtaking glacial valley, it’s one of the most beautiful parts of the Catskills. Menla's eco-friendly guest rooms are decorated with Tibetan accents and provide a restful atmosphere for your stay during residential programs.
RETREAT SCHEDULE
Arrival & Check-in Friday September 4th, 3:00pm-6:00pm
Friday Dinner:
Our Destiny Lies in Our Origins with don Oscar Miro-Quesada
Friday Evening, 7:30pm-10:30pm
Saturday Morning 9:00am-12:00
Saturday Afternoon 2:00pm-5:00pm
Saturday Evening 7:00pm-10:00pm
Sunday 9:30am-12:30pm
Optional Sacred Staffs, Blossoming Souls Workshop with Garry Caudill
Sunday 3:00pm through Monday 3:00pm
PRICING & REGISTRATION
Retreat Accommodation Options
At this time, all of the single rooms and rooms with private bathrooms, which are limited in number at this retreat center, are sold out. We do apologize and understand this type of lodging is not ideal for some of you yet hope you will be open to these options. The bathrooms are spotless, spacious and offer an ample number of private shower and toilet stalls with plenty of sink and counter space. There is also a private bathroom without shower on the ground floor available for anyone to use.
We endeavored to offer affordable pricing for this retreat while hosting it in a beautiful, high vibrational location in nature, and we hope you fall in love with Blazing Mountain Retreat Center, as much as we have. We deeply appreciate and trust your openness, flexibility and adventurous spirit in joining us.
Each lodging price is for one person and includes tuition, lodging & meals beginning dinner Friday August 8th through lunch Sunday August 10th. Please take a moment to watch the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center 3 min. video tour to familiarize yourself with the grounds and lodging options.
Additional retreat option with Garry Caudill: $400 includes tuition, lodging and meals from 3:00 pm Sunday the 10th through 3:00 pm Monday the 11th. This option will be available during check-out.
Cancellation Policy
Prior to July 11, 2025 - you will receive a full refund minus $150 administrative fee
July 11 - August 1, 2025 - you will receive a 50% refund
NO REFUNDS AFTER AUGUST 1st, 2025
FROM STAR SEED TO STAR BEING
WHAT TO BRING LIST
- A small yet powerfully contained 24" x 24" square manta size upon which your primary Pachakuti Mesa Tradition directional artes (ceremonial items/shamanic power objects) and other complementary ritual artifacts can be configured.
- A personal journal for giving written expression to your soul’s mythopoeic birthright, the visionary narratives of your journey experiences, and other insightful epiphanies.
- A symbolic or physical representation of Thoth/Hermes Trismegistus (e.g., a statue, print, or sigil).
- A small personal talisman, symbolic object, printed image, or photo for placement within the central altar space that embodies the visionary purpose behind this apprenticeship of making space for paradox and uncertainty in choosing the healing ripples we desire to cast upon the world.
- A musical instrument/sacred sound maker of your preference: drums, rattles, whistling vessels, singing bowls, etc
- A reusable water bottle.
- A boundlessly open heart and expansive consciousness prepared for immersive self-inquiry and rewilding of the Western mind for remembering the soul.
If you are not familiar with creating a Pachakuti Mesa, please purchase The Pachakuti Mesa Tradition Starter Bundle in order to prepare for this retreat.
About don Oscar Miro-Quesada
A transpersonal psychologist, respected kamasqa curandero, altomisayoq adept, and Earth-honoring ritualist from Peru, don Oscar Miro-Quesada Solevo is the visionary co-founder of The Heart of The Healer (THOTH) Shamanic Mystery School, the originator of Pachakuti Mesa Tradition™ cross-cultural shamanism, author of Shamanism: Personal Quests of Communion with Nature and Creation, and Lessons in Courage: Peruvian Shamanic Wisdom for Everyday Life.
Aside from his extensive personal involvement and scholarly contributions related to the practice of cross-cultural shamanism, he has dedicated his life to the revitalization of aboriginal wisdom traditions as a means of restoring sacred trust between humankind and the natural world. Oscar is a Fellow in Ethnopsychology with the Organization of American States, Founding Counselor of the Inter-Spiritual Dialogue Committee, and Acting Member of the Source of Synergy Evolutionary Leaders Circle. His ceremonial work and shamanic apprenticeship programs have been featured on NPR, Sounds True, CNN, Univision, A&E, Discovery Channel and The History Channel’s Ancient Aliens.
More about don Oscar | On-Demand Courses | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I arrive on Thursday or stay an extra night after my retreat?
How many people will be participating in the retreat?
Will the tap water in my room and in drinking fountains be potable?
Will there be a curfew or quiet hours during our retreat?
Can my partner room with me without attending the programs?
Can I bring snacks or extra food for my diet to the retreat?
Can I get help with directions, flights and car-pooling?
How should I prepare for the high elevation in Crestone?
How much walking outdoors will be involved with this retreat?
What kind of meals will be offered during the retreat?
How do I go about registering for Garry Caudill's workshop?
Can I stay over on Sunday Night without taking Garry Caudill's workshop?