Journey to Peruvian Wilds ~ Shamans & Adventurers: Online Wed., 11am EST

On a trip to the Amazon, famed explorer and wildlife handler Rusty Johnson was bit by a bug that injected eggs into his finger. For more than a year, tiny worms hatched under his skin and bore their way out. U.S. doctors were stumped, so Rusty returned to the jungle and met a then 90-year-old Shaman named Pashkita who cured his condition within a week. Last month Rusty, an inspirational filmmaker, returned to Peru to document Pashkita’s story of life in the jungle, healing others with plants and the jungle’s healing power. Now 95, she is the last of a dying breed and upon her death, all her knowledge will be lost forever. Rusty joins YAK Wednesday, 11am EST, telling secrets of the Shaman.

Hundreds of miles away and 16,000 feet above sea level in the Peruvian Andes, filmmaker Iva Peele is invited to document sacred initiation ceremonies, or karpays, of the famously reclusive Q’ero people with Lorenzo, a high Andean priest (or paqo). Iva’s unchartered adventure took her through the Sacred Valley of the Incas, culminating in a journey on foot and horseback to Q’ero, where she was introduced to the Apus — spirits of the sacred peaks, considered the most powerful of all nature spirits — and rigorous ceremonies reconnecting to the ancestors and the elements: The stars, wind, water, lake, moon, the sun, and the Incas. Iva also joins YAK, telling the urgent message these shy, humble people want to deliver to a western world they feel is in great peril.

Carla Goddard

Joining host Kay Van Hoesen and co-hosting this week is contemporary Shaman Medicine Women Dr. Carla Goddard. Carla’s father was of a small Nation in Maine, she trained with a Mohawk Shaman, studied with a Waiest® Monk, and her academia background is in Metaphysical Sciences specializing in Parapsychology. Carla is an Ordained Metaphysical Practioner.

Editor’s Note: If you missed the live show, the archive is up HERE.

Please join us live online Wednesday, February 8, 11am EST (details below).

Replay: Wednesday, February 8, 7pm EST and Thursday, February 9, 6am EST.