Professional Background
My first initiation on the spirit path was through plant medicine. In 2010, at 19 a total new way of perceiving the world opened up very suddenly. I began in independent study of astrology, Tarot, divination, numerology. I began meditating often. I was guided to study religions and seek the spiritual truth at the core of even Christianity, which I began to disdain as a teenager. I was gifted the Bhagavad-Gita as well as the bible by strangers in the street one day at Temple University in Philadelphia after a powerful meditation with the sunrise during which I “met God.”
My first traveling experience led me to discover Kundalini yoga and I continued a rigorous practice of both vinyasa and Kundalini yoga while I continued my studies at Temple and declared a religion minor, delving into a high level course called “Comparative Mysticism” from the start. I realized early on what my teacher would say every single cacao ceremony: the spiritual cannot be understood with the rational mind. I dropped out of college and began a 200-hour vinyasa yoga teacher training at Dhyana Yoga in Philadelphia in 2012.
I immediately began seeking work and experience as a yoga teacher afterward, and began teaching at Hawthorne Yoga and Reiki in Philadelphia. There I was offered to take part in Reiki 1 training. The attunement experience filled me with immense gratitude and awe and I began practicing Reiki daily and having powerful experiences. I continued taking Reiki 2 with the same teacher, Sean Jacobs, who also trained me in the first three levels of Integrated Energy Therapy (IET)®, of which I am now a certified and practicing Master-Instructor. I continued Reiki training with Danielle Stimpson, completing my Master-Teacher certification in November of 2012 before I began traveling. During this time I also learned about shamanic journeying and began my journeys on astral planes that continue to grown deeper and more beautifully healing and profound.
I left for Mexico to bring in the new “Baktun” or cosmic cycle of the Mayan calendar. It was there that I was introduced to ceremonious use of plant medicine and worked with Ayahuasca for the first time. Afterward, I was directed to Lago de Atitlan where my path ascended to levels in 2013.
The first day in San Marcos la Laguna, I began working with a cacao shaman. Years later this work would become my focus. I worked very deeply with another shaman who had a background as also a medical doctor, psychiatrist, body-worker, and theologian. He taught me a great deal about energy and “being in the heart.” He initiated me into the path of sex magick and laid the groundwork energetically of my current channeling work. I was also initiated as a practitioner of Sekhem through the lineage of Helen Belot’s SSR: Seichem, Sekhem, Reiki. With my teacher I completed levels three levels of Sekhem, and this energy is a very powerful ally and tool I use daily in my work. I was also exposed to other modalities including ThetaHealing, which influences my work and understanding of energy. I worked with the sacred frog medicine from the amazon called “kambo” several times which provided tremendous energy in moving forward.
After continued travels and experience teaching, I returned to San Marcos in 2014. That year I delved very deep into work with cacao. This was a time of great inner upheaval and transformation in my life, uncovering the inner workings of my soul and psyche and bringing tremendous amounts of information to the surface that took years to sift through. I explored to some extent TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and learned both Chi Nei Tsang and Shiatsu massage. While I no longer practice these techniques, I greatly value and utilize the understanding of the meridians and navel that they provided. My path later led me to India where I participated in a Kundalini yoga teacher training in 2015.
In addition to this work, I’ve been deeply exploring healing with the gifts of the natural world. Crystal healing has always been a part of my practice, and over the years and have received several learning and channeling sessions with a crystal master which greatly clarified my path and understanding of crystals. My travel related illness were at times debilitating and lead me to explore deeply herbs and plant spirit healing. From past lives I’ve recovered deep knowledge of plants that carries forth in my work. I work with plant medicines on different occasions throughout my path and have found tremendous benefit from this work.
The power of sound has always been a part of my path as well. This began with simply chanting mantras as part of my practice of yoga and meditation and continued with more formal sound healing endeavors. Around the corner, I see a deepening of this work.
Channeled messages and teachings have always been of great benefit to me and over the past year, I’ve begun to do vocal-channeling as a practice and service.
Through my exploration of a deep and wide range of spiritual teachings and practices I’ve developed a big picture perspective when it comes to spirituality. Spirituality is essentially life. All is spiritual, and the non-physical beings I work with find it ridiculous and humorous that we humans see spirituality as something separate from other aspects of life, as everything is spiritual. My wide-range of experience, study, and understanding allows me to relate to people from all paths and backgrounds, even those who still do not consider their lives to be particularly spiritual.
I have been teaching spiritual growth, self-development, and healing for almost four years starting from a very young age and each year I see tremendous progress in my development and my clients results. I have a deep passion and drive for my continued learning and growth as I reach more people with my sessions and classes. Now is the time that we really change the world, one being, one heart, and one smile at a time.
Dante StarShine 