Path of the Mesa
Shamanic Training & Initiation in the Andean Tradition.
The 13 Karpay Rites · Personal Healing & Healer Pathway. A shamanic training and initiation program rooted in the Q'ero lineage of Peru.
The 13 Karpay Rites · Q'ero Lineage
Sacred energetic transmissions for personal healing, spiritual awakening, and the development of your Mesa.
Led by initiated shamans John Whitehorse and Kristen White, in direct relationship with the Q'ero shamans of the Andes, this immersive experience blends ancient ceremony, cosmology, and lived practice for those called to deepen their path and potentially step into healing work with others.
An Invitation
This Is Not a Course. This Is a Path You Walk.
There comes a point where learning more information no longer creates change.
What is needed is experience. Relationship. Time.
The Path of the Mesa is not something you complete.
It is something you enter - a process that unfolds gradually, where your healing becomes personal, and your awareness deepens through direct experience rather than theory.
This is a path of Munay (love), Yachay (wisdom), and Llankay (right action) - the three pillars of Andean understanding.
Guided in Relationship with the Q'ero Shamans
The work is not separate from the lineage. It is guided by it.
This training is led by Shamans John Whitehorse and Kristen White, both initiated in the Q'ero lineage, and held in ongoing connection with the Q'ero shamans of Peru.
Through ceremony, transmission, and practice, you are stepping into a tradition that has been carried forward through generations - one that understands healing as a relationship between:
- The individual
- The Earth
- The Apus (sacred mountain spirits)
- And the cosmos
The 13 Karpay Rites
A Transmission, Not a Teaching.
In the Andean tradition, Karpay are energetic transmissions passed from one initiated practitioner to another.
They are not symbolic rituals or conceptual teachings. They are experiences that open and strengthen your energetic field over time.
Each of the 13 Karpay rites supports:
- Clearing and stabilizing your energy
- Expanding awareness and perception
- Deepening your connection to spirit and the unseen
- Preparing you to hold greater presence - first for yourself, and eventually for others
These rites are received gradually, allowing time for integration, rather than being rushed or condensed.
Two Paths Within the Journey
Rooted in the Andes. Connected to the Cosmos.
Path of the Ñusta
Personal Healing & Inner Transformation (Level One)
In the Andean tradition, the Ñusta (Ñust'a) represents the sacred feminine - the priestess, the one who listens, who feels, and who walks in deep relationship with the Earth.
She is guided by the Apus, the mountains who hold memory and wisdom. She understands the flow of Yaku, water as a living force of movement and renewal. She lives in Ayni, the sacred balance of giving and receiving.
The Q'ero, descendants of the Inca, have preserved this understanding - that healing is not something outside of you, but something remembered through relationship.
Here, you:
- Begin your personal healing journey
- Release emotional and energetic patterns
- Build your Mesa with sacred kuyas (living medicine stones)
- Develop a grounded, daily connection to your practice
Path of the Seven Sisters
Healer Initiation & Practitioner Path (Level Two)
High in the Andean sky, the Seven Sisters - the Pleiades - have long been recognized as a source of guidance, timing, and connection to the greater cosmos.
For the Inca and Q'ero, the stars are not separate from life on Earth. They are part of it.
Through Yachay, the wisdom of the stars informed ceremony, planting cycles, and the rhythm of existence itself. This relationship between cosmos and Earth is reflected in Yanantin - the sacred union of complementary forces.
The Path of the Seven Sisters builds on this foundation.
It is the path of stepping into service. Here, you begin to:
- Understand how to hold space for others
- Work with your Mesa as a tool for healing beyond yourself
- Develop presence, awareness, and responsibility
- Align with Llankay, the energy of purposeful action
This is not a certification. It is an initiation into responsibility and relationship - with people, with energy, and with the lineage itself.
The Path of the Mesa
Your Personal Medicine Bundle.
At the center of this path is your Mesa. It's the storyteller of your healing journey.
Built over time, your Mesa is a sacred bundle of kuyas - stones that carry intention, energy, and meaning.
These are not decorative objects. They are tools. They are relationships.
You will learn to:
- Work with kuyas as energetic allies
- Use your Mesa for grounding, protection, and clarity
- Bring your Mesa into ceremony and daily life
- Develop a practice that evolves with you over time
Your Mesa becomes a reflection of your journey - what you have moved through, what you carry, and what you are becoming.
A Path of Personal Healing First
Before stepping into the role of a healer, there is a deeper invitation:
To know yourself. To understand your own patterns, your energy, your reactions, your strengths.
This path supports you with:
- Emotional release
- Clarity in your life direction
- Greater intuition and awareness
- A sense of grounding and alignment
There is no pressure to become anything. Only an invitation to be present with what arises.
A Different Kind of Training
This is not a fast-track program. It is not designed for large groups or surface-level learning.
Instead, it is:
- Intimate
- Experiential
- Lineage-based
- Designed to unfold over time
You are not memorizing information. You are developing capacity.
Who This Is For
This path is for those who:
- Feel genuinely called to deeper personal healing
- Are drawn to shamanic traditions and energy work
- Want to build a meaningful, grounded spiritual practice
- Are open to transformation that unfolds over time
- May feel a calling toward healing work with others
Who This Is Not For
This path may not be the right fit if:
- You are looking for a quick certification or structured course format
- You prefer purely intellectual learning without personal experience
- You are not ready for reflection, emotional awareness, or inner work
- You are seeking techniques without relationship or depth
Ancient Wisdom
The shamans teach that healing is not something you give. It is something you learn to hold.
This path is not about becoming someone new. It is about remembering your place within the web of life - between the mountains, the stars, and the unseen forces that have always been guiding you.
A Path That Continues
This is not something you complete and move on from.
It becomes part of your life.
Your Mesa grows. Your awareness deepens. Your relationship with the work evolves.
If something in you is responding to this, even quietly, it is worth paying attention.
Begin Here
Begin the Path of the Mesa training.
The retreat is part of the larger training. To enquire about the next cohort, start with a discovery call.