Author Topic: Guillermo Arévalo Valera AKA Kestenbetsa / Kesten Betsa  (Read 9283 times)

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1449
Guillermo Arévalo Valera AKA Kestenbetsa / Kesten Betsa
« on: September 15, 2020, 03:00:21 am »
This person was mentioned in another topic. It seems to me that he plays a minor role there, and deserves his own thread.

[Sean Hightower] claims to "study under the lineage" of Kesten Betsa aka Guillermo Arevalo. There are two women who spoke out about Guillermo Arevalo raping and sexually assaulting them during his own 'ceremonies' both in Peru and somewhere canada (bbc news article). There is some information about Guillermo Arevalo's organization on this link … https://peoplepill.com/people/guillermo-arevalo-valera/.

the bbc article with sexual assualt claims, i had trouble linking it, the title is "I was sexually abused by a shaman at an ayahuasca retreat".

Here is that BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-51053580 ['I was sexually abused by a shaman at an ayahuasca retreat']

That news story is linked to as Note #1 in his Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Ar%C3%A9valo

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Guillermo Arévalo Valera (born 1952) is a Shipibo vegetalista and businessperson from the Maynas Province of Peru. His Shipibo name is Kestenbetsa.

Allegations have been made against him in relation to sexual assaults during an ayahuasca retreat as reported on the BBC news. [1]

In the Spanish version there is no such link, but a separate paragraph: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Ar%C3%A9valo

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Denuncias de abuso sexual
Guillermo ha sido sindicado en reiteradas ocasiones como responsable de practicar abuso sexual a turistas durante las ceremonias de Ayahuasca, así también parte de su equipo de trabajo. Estas denuncias llegan principalmente de clientes occidentales quienes tardan años en denunciar los hechos, esto debido al shock y trauma que les aqueja después de la mala experiencia.

Google Translate makes this out of that:

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Reports of sexual abuse
Guillermo has been repeatedly accused of being responsible for the sexual abuse of tourists during the Ayahuasca ceremonies, as well as part of his work team. These complaints come mainly from Western clients who take years to report the facts, this due to the shock and trauma that afflicts them after the bad experience.

Offline Sparks

  • Posts: 1449
Re: Guillermo Arévalo Valera AKA Kestenbetsa / Kesten Betsa
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2020, 12:25:37 pm »
I cannot find that anyone accuses Guillermo Arévalo Valera of being a fraud himself. What is questionable is whether he teaches or trains Western New Agers in such a way that they can claim "Curandero in the lineage of Kesten Betsa", "Apprentice of Kesten Betsa lineage" and "Apprentice in the Shipibo medicine" as is the case with Sean Hightower, Stephanie Rose and Arron Aguila of the "Medicine Songs" team.

He claims to "study under the lineage" of Kesten Betsa aka Guillermo Arevalo.

I found this on the website you referred to (http://www.medicinesongs.ca/):
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SEAN HIGHTOWER
Curandero in the lineage of Kesten Betsa.
Devotion to Spirit, weaving ancestry blood lines of prayer.  Shamanic studies with Kesten Besta, to Lakota Ceremonial Studies and Rituals.
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STEPHANIE ROSE
Apprentice of Kesten Betsa lineage
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ARRON AGUILA
Arron, Apprentice in the Shipibo medicine after many years of his own healing.

Are there other New Agers out there claiming "Kesten Betsa lineage" or similar claims referring to Guillermo Arévalo Valera?

Offline Sandy S

  • Posts: 379
Re: Guillermo Arévalo Valera AKA Kestenbetsa / Kesten Betsa
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2024, 03:28:47 am »
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In 1996, she was introduced to ayahuasca by the shaman Don Guillermo Arévalo.

Silvia Polivoy  https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Silvia_Polivoy

Spirit Vine Retreats & Silvia Polivoy, Ayahuasca for Sale by White Exploiter http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=5694.msg49288#msg49288