About Takinuna Team
About Takinuna: Ancestral Healing Guided by the Spirit of the Amazon
Takinuna means “the song of the spirit.” Founded and led by native Amazonian shamans, we are a healing center rooted in the sacred traditions of plant medicine—enhanced by contemporary psychotherapy and creative therapies. This unique fusion of ancient and modern healing paths defines our essence and our mission.
Our Mission and Roots
A Sanctuary of Ancestral Wisdom and Modern Care
At Takinuna, healing is not just about ceremonies—it’s about cultivating a path of inner transformation guided by wisdom, care, and presence.
Founded in 2019 by Master Shaman César Vasquez, our center was born from a vision: to preserve the sacred legacy of Amazonian plant medicine while offering grounded psychological and emotional support. With over 80 years of combined experience, our team of native shamans and professional psychotherapist offer deep, integrative healing rooted in tradition and compassion.
Takinuna is more than a place—it’s a living bridge between worlds. A place where spirit meets psyche, jungle meets ceremony, and healing becomes a sustainable, embodied journey.
Our Multidisciplinary Approach
Our approach is deeply holistic. We blend Amazonian plant ceremonies with professional psychotherapy, art therapy, and ecotherapy to address every dimension of your being. This integration allows participants to process emotions, explore insights, and reconnect with their essence in a meaningful and lasting way.
Each element of our work supports the others: ancestral medicine opens the path, psychotherapy brings clarity, art therapy gives form beyond words, and ecotherapy roots the healing in the natural world.
César Vasquez
Master Shaman, Founder & Director of Takinuna
César Vásquez is the heart and founder of Takinuna. Born into a family of Amazonian healers, he carries the ancestral wisdom of his grandparents—respected vegetalistas from the Peruvian jungle. From a young age, he was drawn to the plants and to the invisible world of spirit. This early calling shaped his life path.
Mastery of Sacred Plants
César has walked the plant medicine path for over 20 years. He is recognized as a Tronco Huachumero, Ayahuasquero, Tabaquero, and Camalonguero. His work includes the ceremonial use of Ayahuasca, Huachuma (San Pedro), Mapacho (Amazonian tobacco), and Camalonga. For César, each plant is a sacred teacher. He treats them with devotion and deep respect.
Healing Through Ceremony
His ceremonies are known for their clarity, depth, and safety. Using healing songs (icaros), energy cleansing, and intuitive presence, César creates a sacred space. In this space, participants can release emotions, receive visions, and reconnect with their inner truth.
A Healing Journey Beyond Ceremony
César’s role as a healer doesn’t end when the ceremony does. He meets personally with participants before and after each session. In these conversations, he helps interpret visions, offer guidance, and recommend plant-based treatments. These may include steam baths, poultices with tree resins, or personalized herbal infusions. He treats not only the spirit but also the body, with remedies passed down through generations.
A Teacher and Healer
César leads with humility, wisdom, and care. At Takinuna, he has created a center that honors both ancient medicine and modern therapeutic support. He works hand-in-hand with therapists and facilitators, ensuring each retreat is held with emotional safety and depth.
As a master shaman, César welcomes each person with openness and respect. He offers more than healing — he offers the possibility of reconnecting with one’s essence, with the Earth, and with a way of life rooted in spirit.
Florencia Ferrari
Creative Art Psychotherapist, Director of Takinuna
Florencia is a psychotherapist with several years of experience in emotional and creative healing. She holds a Master’s degree in Art Psychotherapy from Roehampton University in London. Her approach blends Western psychology with the spiritual depth of shamanic tradition.
Expanding Through Nature-Based Healing
Florencia also completed a postgraduate course in Environmental Art Therapy – Ecotherapy. This allows her to guide participants in connecting with nature as a co-healer. Through art and natural elements, she helps process emotions in ways that words often cannot.
A Trauma-Informed Therapeutic Presence
Florencia brings empathy, clarity, and emotional safety to every retreat. She is trained in trauma-informed, client-centered therapy, ensuring that each person is respected and supported. Her presence is calm, intuitive, and warm.
Integration Through Creativity
After each ceremony, Florencia leads group and one-on-one integration sessions. Through art-making, guided reflection, and gentle conversation, participants explore the meaning of their visions. She helps them give shape to the invisible, grounding their insights into daily life.
Walking the Path of the Medicine
Florencia is currently in shamanic training with the Takinuna team. Her work honors both science and spirit. She plays a key role in helping each participant weave together the psychological, emotional, and spiritual aspects of their healing.
Israel Murayari
Master Ayahuasquero
Don Israel Murayari is a highly respected master healer with over 58 years of devotion to traditional Amazonian medicine. Born into the Kokama indigenous community, he was immersed in sacred teachings from a young age, receiving ancestral knowledge passed down through generations of curanderos.
A Guide of Profound Wisdom
Throughout his long career, Don Israel has cultivated a sacred space for healing, serving as a guide for those seeking clarity, balance, and spiritual awakening. His presence in ceremony is both commanding and deeply compassionate, helping participants navigate the visionary realms of ayahuasca with grounded, loving wisdom.
A Lifetime in the Sacred Tradition
Although now considered an elder within the Takinuna lineage, Don Israel continues to participate in ceremonies, sharing his presence, chants (icaros), and guidance with participants. His decades of experience provide a profound anchor during the retreat experience, ensuring safety, depth, and spiritual connection for all.
A Legacy That Lives On
Don Israel’s lifelong dedication to the plants, the traditions, and the well-being of his people continues to inspire the Takinuna team and the next generation of healers. His approach is deeply rooted in ancient wisdom yet profoundly relevant to the emotional and spiritual challenges of modern life.
Don Israel’s voice, spirit, and songs remain an integral part of the healing journeys at Takinuna — a living bridge between the ancestral and the present, guiding all who come in search of true transformation.
Our Spirit Guides
At Takinuna, healing is not guided only by those who walk with us in the physical world. We are deeply connected to the spirits of the master healers who once stood in the maloca and now accompany us from the unseen realms.
Hermana Mari and Don Pedro Gutiérrez are two of those beloved ancestors. Though no longer with us in body, their teachings, songs, and spirits are ever-present in our work. Their voices still echo in the icaros we sing, their strength flows through the medicine, and their wisdom continues to guide our ceremonies from beyond.
They are honored members of our team, walking beside us in every retreat, helping hold the space with love, protection, and profound ancestral knowledge. Their legacy lives on in every healing that takes place at Takinuna.