The founders of Casa del Sol are certified Curanderos (healers) from Ecuador and Peru. They have lived in the sacred San Pedro Valley, Vilcabamba with their family for over 20 years. Their family rituals weave the rich traditions of North Native American and South American lineages to awaken our spiritual connection and expand consciousness. Together they have over 20 years of experience cultivating sacred space for physical, emotional and spiritual healing with shamanic medicine ceremonies.
)Ximena is a mother, vision seeker, and co-founder of Casa del Sol. Her childhood was spent during the bloody internal conflict that occurred in Peru during the 80’s and 90’s, which profoundly marked her spiritual search from early on. She has lived in nature since the age of 21, next to rivers and mountains which feel like family for her in the Sacred Valley of the Longevity, Vilcabamba. Here she welcomed her children into the warmth of her home. Becoming a mother of four was her most sacred spiritual INITIATION, both challenging and sublime.
Ximena is initiated as a Pampamisayoc (Andean Priest) within the Andean Q’ero cosmovision and in the Turpo lineage -guardians of the relation with the Apu Ausangate- in the high Peruvian Andes. She also walk the red path of the North Native traditions such as Sun Dancer and Vision Quester.
Yana Bartova, known as Tatzimoi (“the bird that accompanies families with its song”), is a healer and teacher rooted in ancient traditions. Originally from the Czech Republic, she spent 10 years in Mexico studying medicine, temazcales, moon dances, and sacred singing. After a transformative experience with Ayahuasca, she moved to South America to deepen her connection with the plant, working alongside her husband, Mira Jempe, to guide healing and ceremonies worldwide.
In the Vilcabamba Valley, Yana founded the Agua Women’s Collective, a space for women to explore ancestral medicines, art, and singing. She lives with her family in the mountains, nurturing a sanctuary dedicated to the sacred mother, and is deeply grateful for the life and wisdom she shares.
Mira Jempe, born in the Czech Republic, faced debilitating body pain from a young age, ultimately diagnosed with “incurable” rheumatoid arthritis. Determined to find healing, Mira journeyed to Spain, where he discovered the power of movement and meditation with his teacher, John, a Chen-style Tai Chi master. These practices, combined with his creative expression through painting, helped him release physical and emotional blockages.
Mira’s path then led him to the Amazon, where he studied under Shuar healer Miguel Shiriap and other jungle healers, learning the transformative power of Sacred Master Plants. Over three years, Mira fully healed his body, overcoming the pain that had plagued him for years. Since 2010, Mira has been leading healing ceremonies worldwide, alongside his wife, Yana.
The name Jempe, meaning “Hummingbird,” was given to him by his teacher, symbolizing infinite energy, creativity, and a joyful spirit.
Mateo’s journey began at birth, nurtured by a family of practitioners of the ancestral traditions of the Americas. However, it was in his adolescence, driven by a profound search for meaning, that Yoga and Buddhism transformed his path. This calling led him to Nepal, where he lived for over two years immersed in the study of the Tibetan language, Buddhist philosophy, and direct training under the guidance of his teachers.
Years of devoted practice — in yoga, pranayama, meditation retreats, and shamanic practices — have not been a curriculum to complete, but a living inquiry into what it means to be fully human. That inquiry now moves through his work as a facilitator.
Deeply interested in the intersection between modern psychology and spirituality, he merges ancestral and contemporary perspectives in his work as a facilitator of sound ceremonies, somatic practices, breathwork, and Kambo medicine — accompanying others in their return to themselves.
Micaela was born and raised in the Ecuadorian Andes. Though she grew up in the city, feeling disconnected amid its fast pace, she carried a deep love for nature since childhood — a longing that shaped her path. Her grade as visual artist focused in ceramics, led her to travel throughout South America, immersing herself in ancestral ways of working with the earth. Beyond the alchemy of the elements through art, she encountered nature’s transformative and healing power. For the past five years, she has collaborated with Master Plant centers, learning from ancestral lineages of the Andes and the Amazon.
Dance has long been part of her life. She later trained in Qi Gong therapy and studied astrology, as tools through which she supports others’ journeys.
She curates and facilitates gatherings that weave ancestral knowledge and transformative arts, bringing together medicinal cacao, meditative and expressive movement, self-exploration through clay, and the symbolic language of astrology.
