Alberto Villoldo

Alberto Villoldo Ph.D. is a medical anthropologist who has studied the medicine traditions of the Jungle and the Amazon for over twenty years. He began his research among the jungle peoples in the Amazon basin, studying the effects of the ayahuasca, the mythical potion used by jungle peoples to take them beyond death. His investigations eventually led him to the high mountains of the Andes, where he has dedicated the last fifteen years to working and studying with a group of Inkas that fled to high mountain tops at the time of the Spanish conquest, and who have maintained virtually no contact with the West for the last 500 years.

While on the faculty at San Francisco State University, Dr. Villoldo founded and directed the Bio-Self Regulation Laboratory, where he investigated the effects of Shamanic healing on blood and brain chemistry. In 1984 he founded the Four Winds Society, dedicated to bridging ancient Shamanic healing practices of the Inkas with modern medicine and psychology. Dr. Villoldo believes that the Inkas are the keepers of a body of prophecies and ritual processes that are not only translatable to our times, but also offer tremendous possibilities to Western culture.