Santiago Enrrique Paredes Melendez

Maestro Santiago Enrrique Paredes Melendez and family
Santuario Huishtín is the home and lifelong passion of Maestro curandero and vegetalista (plant spirit shaman), Santiago Enrrique Paredes Melendez and his family.  For over thirty years Maestro Santiago Enrrique Paredes Melendez has studied the many plants, vines, and trees of the forest in the tradition of Vegetalismo, the ancestral knowledge of his indigenous forbearers. A healer of Cocama heritage, his family originates from the small town of Santa Rosa on the Brazilian border. Over his life, he has been in apprenticeship with great curanderos of the region of many ethnicities (Shipibo, Cocama, Ashaninka) and since then has developed a profound intuition in working with traditional plant remedies wide variety of maladies both physical and spiritual in nature. Like many vegetalistas, he felt a deep spiritual  calling to the path from a young age and now has many apprentices of his own.  Whether international travellers or local villagers, there is a constant flow of visitors to Santuario to seek healing and guidance from the Maestro..
At Santuario Huishtín, it takes a big family to run a traditional healing center and all of the Maestro's brothers and their wives and children play an important part. Maestro Santiago Enrrique's wife and partner, Ayme, is also a curandera in her own right. The mother of three children, Ayme divides her time between Santuario and the nearby village of Honoria where they go to school. However she is dedicated in her attendance to the Friday ceremonies when her intoxicating voice and powerful feminine presence. Brother Hegner is also a talented shaman and brother Belasario the experienced ayahuasquero responsible for the preparation of Santuario's famously potent brew. Whether it is collecting and preparing plant medicines, facilitating ceremonies, or expanding the center itself, everyone plays an important part and contributes to the warm and welcoming atmosphere at Santuario.

[caption id="attachment_44" align="alignnone" width="1382"] Santiago Enrrique with brother Hegner (to the left) and nephew, Wagner, also a vegetalista with one of the most powerful teacher trees of the forest, the lapuna blanca.[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_42" align="alignnone" width="4608"] Maestro Santiago Enrrique Paredes Melendez and his wife and curandera, Ayme and two of their children, Harmony and Paulina. (older photo)[/caption]