Please join us to celebrate the Winter Solstice. As we enter the longest night of the year, we gather to honor the light at the heart of all things!
Open your heart in a Mayan Cacao Ceremony led by Maestro Manuel Rufino, Tata Pedro Cruz and Nana Marina Cruz.
Celebrate different traditions of Latin Music with extraordinary musicians Chaska Lucero, Xango Shola and Dream Seed.
Feast upon food that nourishes you body and soul available through Jungle Cafe.*
This event is a food and coat drive to support the NYC Homeless Population (please be sure to clean any coats before you drop them off as we will take them straight to the shelter). Food to donations can include canned a dried goods (beans, rice, nut butters, cereal, etc.)
Suggested Donation: $50 (collected in cash at the door); no one turned away for lack of funds. THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!
*Food from Jungle Cafe sold separately.
About the Presenters
Maestro Manuel Rufino is a recognized elder in the Taino tradition and World Director of M.A.I.S.C. He is a spiritual guide, gifted ceremonial leader and teacher of sacred initiatic traditions of the world. Maestro Manuel is also an artist, certified iridologist, naturo-therapist, vegetarian chef & the visionary guiding the Golden Drum community and many vegetarian restaurants including Jungle Café in Brooklyn. Guided by his teacher, Maestro Domingo Dias Porta, Maestro Manuel has been following the trails of indigenous healing arts for over 40 years. Maestro Manuel travels around the world sharing initiatic traditions, leading workshops, lectures, sweat lodges and healing rituals.
Tata Pedro Cruz is one of the few surviving members of the Mayan Council of the Elders of Tz'utujil, which is a branch of the Maya Qui-che. “Tata Pedro” as he is most affectionately known, is a traditional Mayan Ajq’ij and Day Keeper, and one of the principal authorities of the Council of Mayan Elders of Lake Atitlan in Guatamala. He received the title, “Heart of the Lake Atitlan” K’U’XYA, by his fellow Mayan Council of Elders and Tz’utujil people. Tata Pedro recognizes the interconnectedness of all people, the expanding consciousness of the planet, and the urgent need to unify our spiritual, cultural and ethnic wisdom for the benefit of the planet and humanity. Tata Pedro is a globally recognized elder in the Mayan tradition and has traveled far and wide sharing knowledge, ceremonies and practices. He is the interpreter of dreams for his community and a leader of the preservation and education of Mayan day keeping and fire ceremonies.
Nana Marina Cruz is a healer from the Tz ́utujil Tribe, and is a spiritual guide of the old traditions. She is the daughter of Tata Pedro & works not just as a healer and therapist with natural folk methods, but as a ceremonial leader of fire, tobacco, cacao and sweat lodge, and also teaches native Mayan languages.
Xango Shola is one of the pioneers of the Sacred Arts Research Foundation; an NPO that provides educational programs that support the exploration and disciplines of the sacred arts locally & globally. She is a student of Maestro Manuel Rufino and an active member of The Golden Drum, a cultural community center for consciousness in Brooklyn, and a member of the Universal Initiatic College, learning the traditional Native American healing ways and sacred wisdom traditions. Shola is also a member of Dream Seed: A Shamanic Sound Journey. Shola’s mission is to be in service to the preservation of the sacred traditions of the earth and enrich communities through education and service. She is a drummer, flutist, guitarist and song carrier; singing traditional songs from around the world and has been weaving music, art and native healing practices to empower the human heart towards a more gentle, peaceful and purposeful existence. Shola has been studying ceremonial artistry for the past 10 years. She is the Founder of Made in Prayer, a collective that empowers communities by hosting educational programs that guide you through prayerful art making. Made in Prayer is a ceremonial lifestyle brand.
Chaska Lu, Born in Peru, is a Practitioner of the ancient Andean teachings. Hers connection with Andean music and art has helped her transmit part of the Andean cosmovision of his land.
Andean spiritual art was taught as a child through her maternal grandmother and retains the lineage of her great grandfather who was one of the best healing teachers of sanctions with plants in Huanuco - Peru.
He studied art, physical rehabilitation in his native country, is an ontological coach and musician therapist; using the pre-Columbian ancestral sounds and the world taking into account that music is the medicine of the soul and its benefits that helps humanity, plants and animals. Practice Buddhist philosophy, and Hooponopono transmits and shares harmony, trust, love and humility as well as others. She currently offers sound from Munay, Andean worldview workshops & self-healing in New York - U.S.ADream Seed is a sound healing ensemble created by Maestro Manuel Rufino, members of Golden Drum, Sacred Arts Research Foundation, and Didge Project. Shamanic chanting, mantras, overtone singing, Native American songs, indigenous music, didgeridoos, crystal singing bowls, bells, gongs, harmoniums, tuning forks and other overtone-emitting instruments are used to create an environment conducive to deep relaxation and inward investigation.