STAR RIVER SANCTUARY - A love Story
Photo by Marvellous Pauline Saade
Robin Flynn M.A.
A deep love for life, ferocious curiosity, and compassion for all beings called me to Spirit at a young age. I was launched into a sincere quest for healing, truth, and wisdom with a seemingly incurable mysterious illness from the ages of 14-24. This quest brought me to become initiated in the Fellowship of Isis, sit in meditation in the monasteries of Nepal, bring love to the orphanages of Mongolia, dive into yoga at the Ashrams of India, purify in the sacred lakes of Siberia, pray at the sacred sites of the southwest, and eventually travel to the wisdom traditions of the Andes and Amazon in Peru. In this time of extended crisis, I knew my life was on the line, and that level of intensity honed a focus, willingness, and the courage to journey to the shadowy depths of my being to bring forth the light and grace of true transformation. It was a long and arduous journey, and one that brought me very in touch with my physical mortality and my essential immortality. It's still hard to imagine how I survived what I did, while "doing" so much.
During my time of radical imbalance and dis-ease, I searched for relevant insight from the Buddhist based teaching of Naropa University where I received my B.A. in Eco-psychology. Following this I went on to receive a Master of Arts in Good and Sustainable Communities. After meeting my beloved eternal sweet heart Darcy on the dusty playa of Burning Man, we journeyed together to experience the sacred plant teachers of Peru. At this point, I could truly not imagine my body actually healing (as I had spent so long looking for the magic pill only to be left sicker) but the hardship of living through this dis-ease honed a sharp intense hunger to know the Truth of my Soul. Nothing less would do. My heart told me that the only next step, was this journey to the Andes and Amazon. As I participated in the ceremonies, I also completed my field work for my master's thesis. My thesis was titled "Entheogenic Soul Evolutions: The Ceremonial Use of Ayahuasca and Huachuma by Westerners." This path of study honed an open heart and critical mind, as well as serendipitously connected me to the healing traditions of the Andes and Amazon which supported me to heal on every level into a whole new me.
The remarkable healing, kindness, and skillful support I received through the ceremonial work in Peru was beyond miraculous. After more than a decade of severe illness, the ceremonial work was the hardest thing I ever experienced, and yet I could feel the deep and lasting transformation that was happening. Ceremony after ceremony I showed up, sometimes weeping in fear and overwhelm, and yet the reality of experiencing myself finally "healing" from the inside out, was a miracle. The blessings of this time continue to blossom and unfold in truly beautiful and auspicious ways. Synchronicity and magic are continually afoot as I dedicated myself to learning how to be of service to these ancient ways of true healing. Those old wounds have become abundant gateways of Medicine & Blessing!
As the “wounds” began to heal through the ceremonial work and dedicated application of self-inquiry (through Byron Katie's The Work), nutrition, detoxification, and conscious living, these wounds transformed into gateways for loving kindness and a path of service through the art of Ceremony. Since 2008, I have supported, empowered, and been in loving service to now thousands of people through my heart’s deep love of Ceremony. It began in a simple and humble way, with a sincere desire to share just a little of what was offered in healing ceremonies and visionary experiences on my journey to Peru. Friend to friend, something truly beautiful and transcendent grew. Darcy and I are still following this calling of Heart, which leads us to work with the most amazing people from all over the world. It is the greatest honour and privilege to serve this Blessed Earth and our community in this way. My ceremonial practice is rooted in the wisdom, love, and ancestral blessings of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, new science, and cross-cultural Earth honouring animism.
With the encouragement of Spirit and our elders, and the gracious blessings of Don Oscar, I am a sanctioned teacher within the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition. I am in love with the depth, richness, and vast awakened Heart of this lineage. This practice has given me a tap root to the nourishing essence of meaningful service and sacred reciprocity to all life during this time of unprecedented transformation on Gaia. The teachings of the Pachakuti Mesa lineage, and the vast generosity of Don Oscar Miro-Quesada, Dona Cindy Miro-Quesada, our original mentor in this tradition Judy Hogland, and the international PMT community continue to be a daily blessing. Darcy and I now teach the Pachakuti Mesa 5-Part Apprenticeship series in the Pacific Northwest. After many years of university education (in both eastern and western approaches) I am continually delighted by the intellectual heights and compassionate depths of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition.
In addition this, Darcy and I offer transformational healing retreats in Canada and Peru. These retreats are rooted in Earth honoring animism, eco-psychology, and the teachings of the Pachakuti Mesa tradition. Each retreat is an initiatory experience that assists in the re-membering of Self, heart illumination and awakening of the inner-healer. Each retreat is in honour and reverence of the profound powers of Nature, the Ancestors/Angels/Guides, and the benevolence Creation.
We work from a resource and empowerment model, knowing that the "inner healer" is the source of all transformation. Our facilitated containers, as well as our ongoing service through Nuna Kallpa Empowerment, support creating the "conditions" where this inner healer can awaken through building inner resource and ever greater self-trust. One thing on my wild journey of it is the paradoxical truth: Healing is an inside job that we cannot do alone!
It is my deepest joy to live in a multi-generational family blessed and rich in love. Darcy and I have both journeyed through many challenges in this life, all of which have all illuminated that the greatest riches are those of the heart. My mother's support allows us to be parents and follow our Dharma (which is one of the most profound gifts on Earth). Our daughter, who is often featured on our website because she is our official mascot of the magnificent medicine of Hummingbird; the apple of our eye; our source of endless delight; and our steadfast teacher.
Darcy Kopas
In my mid 20’s my brother and I purchased a raw piece of land in the wilds of BC. For many years I would go there and immerse myself for weeks and months in solitude. Quietly working with this beautiful land and building a small cabin, this gave me the time and space my soul needed to begin to explore who and what I was. From my earliest days I had been questioning the nature of reality, the ancient mysteries and the depth of separation and unwellness in our world. Truly feeling something was not quite right about how we perceived the world, the earth, and each other. This time of spiritual incubation in nature gave me the space to seriously cultivate a deep spiritual practice involving meditation, contemplation and deep shamanic journeys into the great mysteries. The potent experiences I had were life changing and began to awaken my being to the deeper potential of creation and my multidimensional nature. After these initial journeys my life began to radically transform. This hunger to grow and learn became the central focus of my life.
These experiences showed me how vast the universe is and the immense potential that lives within each one of us. Through divine guidance I was directed to follow my heart and to journey down to the Amazon of Peru. On this first initial journey to Peru, I spent many months diving deep into the vast consciousness of the amazonian plants and magnificent jungle trees. I felt so alive, embraced and welcomed by the spirits of the incomprehensibly awake and animate nature of the jungle. After returning home to British Columbia, and serendipitously meeting my wife Robin at the famous and wild Burning Man festival, we both decided to return to Peru the next winter to continue deepening into this fascinating realm of spirit. This time, before going to the moist jungle of Peru, we felt directed to explore the ancient cultures of the pre-Incan coastal civilizations of the Moche, Lambayeque, Chimu, and Chavin. These highly advanced ancient traditions pre-date the Inca by 1000-4000 years. Traveling with a Maestro Huachumero we would enter ceremony at many of these tremendously beautiful ancient wakas.
Our time in this area culminated at the Chavin temple high in the mountains of southwest Peru. The Chavin civilization, one the oldest discovered in Peru is well known as a birth place of andean spirituality. A highly advanced and peaceful civilization extremely honoured by all the surrounding cultures that lived without walls, weapons or warriors, and existing for at least 2000 years. During this one powerful ceremony both Robin and I found ourselves enveloped by the love of the ancestors of these ancient masters. These ancient masters still live on some parallel level of reality. With the help of the strong spirits of the teacher plants, the land, the ancient stone of the temple, we were both able to have direct comunication and communion with these ancient ones. Many transmissions and deep initiations happened that day, becoming activated as initiates into this ancient lineage of earth and star medicine.
It has taken us the last 18 years and continues to this day of unpacking the magnitude of this initiatory experience. Our path of service is to honour the blessings of these ancient masters and to bring this refined medicine into the world and this time of transformation.
A few years later we discovered the Pachakuti Mesa tradition taught by don Oscar Miro-Quesada. A tradition birthed from the consciousness of the Chavin civilization, along with the Moche, Lambeyeque, Chimu, Nasca, Wari, Inca and Tihanucaco ancient ones; the mountains spirits (apus), the spirits of nature, Pachamama, the plants teachers, and the star realms. This was a prayer answered for both of us to find a community connected to this beautifully alive lineage that is in service to this time of awakening.
Through many more years of study and training I continued onto the teacher’s path to carry forward this beauty way to other students of the path. I have been astounded and astonished at the beauty, the majesty, and the incredible potential for these ancient Andean energies to transform and awaken consciousness in our lifetime. I am honoured to be able to be in service to all the energies of this lineage.
I am dedicated and committed to empower as many people as possible in this planetary evolution, and I am tremendously honoured to be of service and support of others in their own journeys of healing, wholeness and well being.
Robin & Darcy live with their family in the mountains of British Columbia.
