Honor and Credence
This is a personal letter from Trinity de Guzman, co-founder of the ONAC – Ayahuasca Healings Native American Church:
I have to take a moment to humble myself and give the deepest honor and gratitude to the people, the teachers, the medicine men & women, the pioneers & the leaders who’ve walked before us, and only because of them, is what we are doing possible.
Only because of those who were BRAVE enough to stand up for their beliefs, are we able to share Ayahuasca legally in America, right now, when we need it most as a collective.
There have been many leaders who have walked before me today, to be able to make what we are doing as an organization possible.
Namely:
James ‘Flaming Eagle’ Mooney – Elder Medicine Man of Oklevueha Native American Church
James ‘Flaming Eagle’ Mooney stood for his Religious Freedom back in 2004, when he was prosecuted with the accusation of being “Utah’s largest drug dealer”.
James Mooney was assisting heroin & drug addicts release their addictions, he was also assisting people leaving prison with a half-way house to find a job and a new home to integrate back into society, and he was providing a home and a roof over the heads of homeless families and people in need.
Using the Sacrament of Peyote, he was able to change thousands of people’s lives forever, and in doing so, as he was holding Native American Ceremonies off of Native American Reservations, put himself at great risk.
Following his heart, and guidance of Great Spirit, he proceeded with his calling, to bring healing to the people, through the medicine Peyote, which the Native American Church calls “The Flesh of God“.
He was thrown in jail and he and his wife were charged many lifetime sentences for the healing work they were doing. After a lengthy legal battle, the Supreme Court of Utah ruled unanimously in James Mooney’s favor, to allow him to continue to use the sacramental medicine of Peyote, and other earth-based sacraments, in religious ceremony.
Only with his courage, his trials & tribulations, by standing in the face of the government, by believing in his mission & purpose to bring healing to the world, so unshakably, was he able to win this extremely exhausting legal case.
And to give a clearer picture of James’ character: the same government officials who filed all these charges against James and his wife, like Utah ex-attorney general, Mark Shurtleff (who is now under federal indictment), when James was given the opportunity to give supporting evidence to throw these people in jail, James simply refused.
The same people who lied and corrupted our Judicial system in order to put James and his wife at great peril and risk for being thrown in jail for the rest of his lives… he forgave, and wouldn’t give the FBI the information they requested, simply because that goes against everything that James, the Oklevueha Native American Church, and the spiritual values of our Church, is all about. Talk about forgiveness, and standing in your truth.
Infinite credit, honor, recognition and gratitude goes to James ‘Flaming Eagle’ Mooney, for all he stands for, for all his help, for his beliefs, for listening to Great Spirit in every moment, and for extending his legal protection to our Ayahuasca Healings Church.
Jeffrey Bronfman – Founder of the UDV
Jeffrey is the founder of the União do Vegetal (UDV) in the USA, which is a Christian Ayahuasca Church in New Mexico.
Jeffrey, with the financial resources that he was blessed to acquire and obtain in his lifetime, was able to invest millions of dollars to take his case to use Ayahuasca in Religious Ceremony, on the premise of Religious Freedom and the rights that we have to practice our religion and our spirituality, all the way to the Supreme Court… and win.
For decades, Jeffrey Bronfman utilized his position and financial means to sustain Native American Ceremonies, culture, & traditions – not just Ayahuasca, all over North and South America. Countless stories can be shared on his generosity, his altruism, his commitment to this path, and the unshakable belief that he has for the need of these medicines in the world.
If anybody’s name goes down in history for the efforts they have put forth to protect Native American Ceremonies and practices, it would be Jeffrey Bronfman.
A deep honoring and recognition for the path that Jeffrey paved for us, to be able to do what we are now able to in the world. Without him, without his courage, without the stand that he made, without his investment towards our religious freedom as a nation, we would not be able to do what we are doing.
The Native American Ancestors
It is only on the blood that was shed by the countless Native Indians, from North & South America, are we able to bring this medicine to you today.
There have been countless massacres, with many sanctioned by the US Government, for the mass extermination and genocide of Native Americans.
To extinguish their culture, their rights, their beliefs, their people, and force them, through threat and death, to follow the footsteps of those who wanted nothing more than control, power and land…
This went on for hundreds of years. More Native American died in the 1800s than ever in recorded history, by poisoned small pox infested blankets, supplied to them by the BIA (Beareau of Indian Affairs), which actually took place ON Indian Reservations. On top of this, they were killed, with bounties placed on their heads by the US army.
And it is only with these elders, these teachers, these people who stood for their beliefs, who would NOT bow down, who would NOT succumb to the threats made unto their people, who continued to hold sacred Native American Ceremonies, that this tradition lives on, and is available to you today.
We bow on our knees, humbly, with the deepest respect, credence, honor, gratitude and tears in our eyes for the blood that was shed, to make what we are doing today possible.
It is only with these above mentioned groups and brave souls, that we are able to bring Ayahuasca to America, publicly at large, and legally, to you right now.
So take a moment, close your eyes, and take a deep breath…
Give thanks to these people with me, and recognize, that it is on the shoulders of giants that we stand, and they are why and how this is all possible.
My teachers: Sufi Elina Sarkila, Diego Palma, Adrian Rivas
Having lived in Peru for almost 2 years, I studied deep with the help and guidance of the above Shamans & Curanderos, with some of them being world-renowned for the healing & medicine work they share across the globe.
They took me by the hand, literally and figuratively, to show me everything that I know about medicine work today.
The importance of energetic cleanliness, what it really means to “hold space” in ceremony. How to keep people safe, what my role is as a facilitator in ceremony…
With their guidance, they showed, by example, exactly the path I needed to walk down, in order to be where I am, and who I am today. With them, I was able to clean up lifetimes, eons, of negative karma, energetic baggage, and old belief systems and patterns that no longer serve me.
I feel like days with any of these people would be years of evolution in my soul, and it is only with their guidance, that I have the strength, the confidence, the wherewithal and the courage to stand up and share Ayahuasca in America, at large.
When I was studying/learning/healing in Tarapoto, Peru, I learned one of the greatest lessons that shaped my medicine path forever. When I first saw that I was called to walk the path of sharing the medicine, a powerful curandero shared with me that the only thing he can do is give me the medicine – it’s Madre herself, the Spirit, that will teach me.
And with that, I sat in ceremony again and again and again, to learn from Mother Ayahuasca, all that she had to share with me… to bring me to the point where now, all I can do is listen, feel her guidance, and follow that, unconditionally.
It’s with these teachers’ help, that I have been able to get out of my own way enough, to allow all of this to flow through.
Because I’ve learned, out of countless lessons, I am not the one doing anything. My only job is keep myself as clear as possible, and allow Great Spirit to flow through.
That is what this is all about.
And that is what this medicine that we are here to share with you is all about.
To help you clear all that doesn’t serve, so you can come back more fully into Who You Really Are. So you can get out of your own way, and allow Great Spirit to flow through you, me, and all of us, to bring the Awakening that we are destined to experience on our Planet & Mother Earth.
Aho, Mitakuye Oyasin.
To all our relations.
Trinity de Guzman & The Ayahuasca Healings Family