Learn the living science of the Amazon from Shipibo-Konibo scholars
A 3-part live series with Samuel Cauper Pinedo, Policarpo Sánchez Rodríguez (Wexá Bari), and Omar S. Mori Barbarán: Indigenous leaders, researchers, and forest defenders, speaking in their own voices.
Three live sessions on Wednesdays, December 2, 9 and 16. Time 6:00–7:30 PM PST
Series Price: $300 public, $240 Patreon
The forest speaks.
The Shipibo people have been speaking with the forest for countless generations.
The Shipibo-Konibo people of the Peruvian Amazon have studied the forest, its waters, and its skies for thousands of years, and carry that knowledge through diets, songs, dreams, and the geometry of kené.
Deforestation, pollution, and agribusiness monocultures now threaten master plants and the territories that sustain them. As global interest in ayahuasca ceremony grows faster, we need to slow down and understand more about its roots.
Modern Spirit is honored to host this series, respectfully participating in the spirit of reciprocity.
What concepts will be explored?
The deep, invisible connections between the spirits of the water, earth, and sky as described by Amazonian culture.
The guiding principles and values (Non esébo) of the Shipibo-Konibo people and how they acquire wisdom.
The complexities of plant medicine globalization, spiritual tourism, and environmental threats.
The traditional botanical science connected to Amazonian Master Plants, traditional diets, and energetic healing.
Three Sessions, One Series
Session 1 · Wed, Dec 2 · 6:00–7:30 PM PST
The Eco-Cosmology Trinity of Shipibo-Konibo Spirituality
Samuel opens the series by guiding us through the Shipibo-Konibo worldview, structured as a trinity of water, earth, and sky, and connected through the sacred kené design. You will leave with a new way of seeing the forest, and why protecting it is inseparable from its spirituality.
A Shipibo-Konibo expert in medicinal plant ethnobotany and Indigenous governance, with a diploma in Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. For over 20 years he has worked with Indigenous organizations, helping shape community policy and defending Indigenous environmentalists in the Peruvian Amazon.
Samuel Cauper Pinedo
Session 2· Wed, Dec 9 · 6:00–7:30 PM PST
Ancestral Shipibo Cosmovision and Its Relevance Today
Policarpo shares the guiding principles of the ancestral Shipibo-Konibo cosmovision, a body of knowledge passed on through oral traditions and expressed through kené, through ayahuasca (Oni) visions, and through the teachings of the other master plants.
Wexá Bari, “Shining Sun,” has spent over 35 years as an Indigenous communicator and rights defender. He helped halt Shell’s operations in the 1980s and unregulated forest concessions in the 2000s, and today resists oil palm monocultures that devastate ancestral forests.
Policarpo Sánchez Rodríguez
Session 3 · Wed, Dec 16 · 6:00–7:30 PM PST
Ethnobotany, Knowledge Systems, and Traditional Indigenous Medicine
Omar closes the series with insights from his forthcoming ethnobotanical work on the master plants of the Peruvian Amazon, a major interdisciplinary effort to document, analyze, and honor this knowledge with both academic rigor and heartfelt respect.
Born in the Shipibo village of Callería, Omar holds a Master’s in Ecology and Environmental Management and has led biodiversity conservation projects for over 25 years. A bridge between Western science and traditional wisdom, he founded the Nihue Rao School of Ancestral Knowledge in Iquitos in 2025.
Omar S. Mori Barbarán
Take your seat in the circle
Your registration helps amplify Indigenous voices and supports initiatives in the Peruvian Amazon.
45 min
45 min
Speaker presentation and translation
Q&A dialogue
$300 Public ticket ($240 Patreon members) - Includes the three sessions
Wednesdays, December 2, 9 and 16 · 6:00–7:30 PM PST · Live online & Recordings Available