Santiago Enrrique Paredes Melendez

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Maestro Santiago Enrrique Paredes Melendez and family

Santuario Huistin 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, he has spent a lifetime in apprenticeship with many great master shamans of the region or many ethnicities (Shipibo, Ashaninka), beginning from a young age when he was able to cure his mother’s illness with plants. Since then, Santiago Enrrique has developed a profound intuition in intuiting illnesses and ministering a wide variety of maladies both physical and spiritual in nature. Whether international travellers or local villagers, there is a constant flow of visitors to Santuario to seek healing and guidance from the Maestro.

His wife and partner, Ayme, is also a curandera in her own right. The mother of three young 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.

Follow this link to experience one of Ayme’s haunting icaros.

At Santuario Hushtin, 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. Brother Hegner is also a talented shaman and brother Belasario is a great ayahuasquero and responsible for the preparation of Santuario’s famously potent brew. Other brother Hinder is a carpenter and woodsman and involved of much of the construction at Santuario. 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 Huistin.