Our Facilitators and Spiritual Leaders
Decades of combined experience, traditional training, and a deep desire to serve
Choosing to join a sacred ceremony is one of the most meaningful steps you can take. The people who hold space, guide you, and offer support through the process matter a great deal. Our facilitators and spiritual leaders bring decades of combined experience, traditional training, and a deep desire to serve participants with care, skill, and respect.
When you arrive at ECC, facilitators who grasp both the power and duty of this sacred work will welcome you. They've walked their own paths with the medicine. They studied with indigenous teachers. They gave their lives to building safe, focused space for spiritual growth and healing.
The Heart of Ceremony: Skilled and Compassionate Facilitation
In our tradition, the facilitator serves as a guide, a guardian, and a bridge between worlds. This role is not taken lightly. Our facilitators and spiritual leaders know that ceremony is not about them. It's about setting the right conditions so participants can meet the sacred medicine safely and do their own deep inner work.
Good facilitation shapes every part of your ceremony. Skilled facilitators read the energy in the room. They know when to offer support and when to step back. They keep both physical safety and spiritual focus through the night. They work with icaros (sacred songs), energetic clearing, and calm presence to hold space for whatever arises.
At ECC, we honor the indigenous lineages that have kept this sacred medicine alive for generations. We also bring in current knowledge of safety and personal needs. Our facilitators bridge old wisdom and new awareness. They create ceremonies that feel both rooted in tradition and adapted with thought.
Meet Our Ceremony Facilitators
Our community was co-founded by two skilled ceremony facilitators. They bring different gifts, training, and views to this work.
Kano
Kano is a visionary leader at the intersection of ancient spiritual traditions and sacred practice. As a shamanic practitioner and professional musician, Kano brings a rare depth of integrity to the work of collective transformation, bridging the gap between raw human experience and sacred tradition.
As our founder, Kano has established a spiritual movement devoted to restoring the relationship between the individual and the natural world. Through the curation of immersive retreats, he creates the container for people to move beyond their conditioning and remember their essential purpose.
Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Kano's work is deeply informed by over a decade of apprenticeship within the Shipibo lineage in the Peruvian Amazon. Under the guidance of Maestro Enrique Lopez, he has mastered the ancient practice of sacred medicine and sacred song, using icaros as a precise tool for assisting others in navigating their internal landscapes.
Kano's path was defined by a profound personal transition, moving from the depths of personal struggle to a life of service. This journey allowed him to reclaim his voice and his responsibility to others, transitioning to the ritual of the ceremonial space. He does not simply teach transformation; he facilitates it through the lens of lived experience.
Through ceremony, sacred music, and spiritual guidance, Kano's mission is to support the awakening of others — guiding them back to a state of wholeness and their rightful place within the larger web of life.
Learn more about Kano and his background →
Brett
For much of his life, Brett was a seeker, exploring deep-rooted traditions and institutional structures in search of purpose, meaning, and truth. Following a successful career as a high-level technology executive, he found that his path eventually led him away from the corporate mainstream and toward the sacred traditions of the Amazonian plants.
Today, Brett serves as the operational heart of Earth Connection. He leverages his executive background to oversee the organization's logistics and legal compliance, ensuring the community has a safe, grounded, and professional framework in which to gather.
As a student of Shipibo curanderismo under the guidance of Kano and Maestro Enrique Lopez, Brett has completed master plant dietas with Noya Rao and Bobinsana. His work is dedicated to helping others unwind the deep societal and ideological programming that often obscures our true nature. Whether he is managing the complexities of the organization or singing icaros in the ceremonial space, his mission is to help seekers find a sovereign and authentic spiritual path.
Learn more about Brett and his journey →Together, Brett and Kano form a balanced team that is deeply committed to honest service. They work side by side during ceremonies. Each one brings their strengths to support the group and each person as needed.
Traditional Training and Modern Safety
Their training reflects both the depth of indigenous wisdom and the need for safety in modern ceremony settings.
Both Brett and Kano trained with Shipibo teachers in Peru. They spent long stretches learning the traditional ways of ceremony, the use of sacred medicines, and the sacred songs that guide the work. The Shipibo people hold one of the most respected ceremonial lineages. Their knowledge has been passed down through generations of healers and ceremonial leaders. Traditional training means more than learning skills. It involves going through one's own dietas, ceremonies, and spiritual growth. This process can take years.
Beyond that, our facilitators bring skill in safety practices and steps tailored for Western participants who are new to ceremony. They understand which health conditions may pose risks. They value thorough ministerial screening. They know how to create spaces that are both physically and emotionally safe.
ECC operates as a 501(c)(3) religious organization under RFRA protections. Our facilitators see their work as spiritual leaders serving a sacred calling. They are not therapists or medical providers. They are ceremony facilitators trained in both traditional practice and modern safety. They are devoted to holding space where spiritual healing can unfold.
What to Expect from Our Facilitators
When you take part in ceremony with us, you can expect facilitators who are:
Present and Attentive Through the Whole Ceremony
Our facilitators stay awake and fully present for the entire ceremony, which often lasts 6 to 8 hours. They watch over participants, offer support as needed, and respond to whatever comes up with calm, seasoned care. You are never alone in the ceremonial space.
Skilled in Traditional and Energetic Practices
You will hear icaros — traditional healing songs — woven through the ceremony. Our facilitators use these sacred songs and other traditional methods to guide the energy and support each person's healing. Learn more about what happens during a sacred ceremony.
Available for Spiritual Guidance
Before ceremony, during the prep process, and after ceremony during integration, our facilitators offer spiritual guidance. They help you get ready in mind and spirit. They answer questions about the sacred medicine. They share their view as you take in what you lived through.
Committed to Your Safety and Wellbeing
From the first ministerial screening through post-ceremony support, our facilitators put your physical, emotional, and spiritual safety first. They run thorough screenings to spot risks. They make sure you're ready. They build a space where you can let go safely. Learn about ceremony safety considerations.
Respectful of Your Individual Journey
Every participant's time in ceremony is different. Our facilitators honor your own path. They offer support without pushing views or setting limits on what you should feel. They know that the sacred medicine works in its own way for each person. Your experience is yours alone.
Our facilitators also walk with you through integration after ceremony. Integration is where the real work happens. It means taking the insights, releases, and openings from ceremony and weaving them into your daily life. Explore our guide to ceremony integration.
Guided by Experience, Grounded in Service
The facilitators and spiritual leaders at ECC don't take this work lightly. They've given years to training, to their own healing paths, and to serving others with skill and humility. They understand the weight of holding space for people in open, sacred states.
When you think about sacred ceremony, knowing who will guide you matters. Here, you'll be in the hands of trained facilitators who truly care about your spiritual growth and wellbeing.
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