| AyasminA |
 The official MC and also a presenter for the 4th International
Conference on Amazonian Shamanism, AyasminA is a professional
interpreter, translator, legal advocate, and documentarian fluent
in six languages, whose lifelong passion for people and travel is
dovetailed with her longstanding interest in spirit medicine from
around the world.
AyasminA's multicultural heritage and
capacity for communication across societal and ethnic boundaries has
convinced her that there is a common basis of understanding which can
unite all people and things. She feels that tapping into this
awareness is the key to realizing the paradox of our individual
potential and our ultimate oneness. She firmly believes that true
comprehension lies beyond words and within our grasp. AyasminA is
dedicated to what she sees as our innate ability to become versed
in the language of the sublime through our connection to the plant
teachers, to our ancestral guides, and in communion with one another.
Over
the past six years, AyasminA's focus has been on South American
naturopathy, in particular the traditions and techniques of Amazonian
plant medicine known as vegetalismo. Both in Peru as well as in Canada,
she has served as the interpreter and facilitator for several shamanic
seminars and retreats, in which she has also been a participant,
promoter, and organizer. This has exposed her to many varieties of
medicinal plants and their uses, as well as the principles and
practitioners who maintain and uphold them.
AyasminA, in collaboration with film partner Thomas McKinnon, recently completed a radio documentary entitled "In Search of the Divine Vegetal",
which explores the nexus of Western and Indigenous cosmologies in
relation to plant intelligence, and which was met with considerable
interest and support when it aired worldwide in November 2007. Due to
popular demand, it will be rebroadcast on the CBC Radio program "Ideas"
on May 16 and May 23, 2008. Further information, as well as a podcast
of the program, can be found by visiting the following site:
AyasminA
and Tom are currently in the process of converting their radio
documentary into a film and, to this end, have prepared a demo-length
version of their video documentary. This documentary, like its audio
counterpart by the same name, aspires to engender a species of hybrid
consciousness consisting of Western science, Indigenous technology,
phytospirituality, and the Great Unknown. They anticipate bringing
their project to fruition in 2008, and hope to have a trailer version
ready for screening at this year's conference. The demo video can be
found at the following site:
http://www.dailymotion.com AyasminA earned a B.A. in Modern Languages and Linguistics from McGill University, where she graduated summa cum laude,
and went on to graduate with a degree in Law in 1995. She is at present
completing her practicum at a firm she initiated with two of her former
classmates in October 2007. She is slated to become a member of the
Canadian Bar Association in 2009 and, in addition to the practice of
family law and mediation, is engaged in the areas of social justice,
human rights, drug policy reform, and civil liberties. One of her
main contributions in the area of natural medicine is in providing
advice, information, education, advocacy, and strategy on the subject
of freedom of conscience, indigenous rights, the ethics of
care, and the de-regulation of sacramental and therapeutic plants.
AyasminA gave recently gave an interview on these topics, which can be
heard at:
AyasminA
also places great importance on home and family. Happily married for 14
years, she has a son, Hunter, and a daughter, Eva, aged 9 and 10. When
they were 3 and 4, she and her husband, Rex, took them on a year-long
trek across South America during which they covered over 10,000 miles
of jungle, coastline, plains, and alpine by riverboat and camperized
bus. It is her hope that these and other experiences will ensure
that her children grow up with a sense of global citizenship,
tolerance, and responsibility, as well as an abiding appreciation and
respect for the natural world in all her bounty.
Both children accompanied her on her 6-week Peruvian odyssey two summers ago, an odyssey which included working a dieta, interpreting for a conference, scaling Andean heights, exploring Amazonian lowlands, and interviewing indigenous curanderos from Tarapoto to Urubamba.
They will be with her once again this year in Iquitos, which has become
a home-away-from-home for them, much like Black Rock City, where thrice
they have made the pilgrimage, accompanying their parents on their
quest for diversity and abundance in the desert.
AyasminA is fascinated by the continued interest in Amazonian vegetalismo internationally
and strives to create a climate of authenticity and acceptance abroad
which will allow the plants to flourish and express in their new native
lands and tongues. She believes strongly in the importance of the
various aspects and proponents of this work coming together from all
reaches of the globe to establish communication and common ground,
mutual understanding and respect, learning and evolution. AyasminA
sees the value of innovation as well as the importance of preservation
of tradition, and considers it a privilege to be able to lend her voice
to the Elders, as they so generously and graciously share their
knowledge with a new world and a new generation. She can also be found on Tribe.net: Ayasmina appears in episodes 51: Still Integrating, 67: The Shift, and 89: Ayahuasca, Alcohol, & Marijuana. |