September 30th, 2020

Dona Asunta
Spiritual Elder/Teacher from the Andes

Denise and Dona Asunta at the Cochise Stronghold in 2017

Paco Dona Asunta hailed from Q'eros Paucartambo in the High Andes Mountains of Peru. She was the daughter of Don Manuel Quispe Apaza, a highly respected Paco, a Traditional Medicine Person of the Peruvian Tradition. I was truly privileged to have learned so much from her. Dona Asunta’s dedication to sharing her knowledge, compassion, and healing with the world was a constant. The teachings of ancient wisdom, based fully on Munay, (Love), encompassed everything she did.
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This photo was taken almost three years ago at the end of a weekend of powerful teachings on healing trauma, in the Dragoon Mountains at the Cochise Stronghold. We did deep work on ourselves that weekend. We also connected with the land itself. This location felt so heavy from all the trauma Cochise and his people experienced during the invasion/occupation of their land by the US Soldiers. It was heavy with terror and grief. By the end of our intensive weekend, the energy of the land felt much lighter. It was palpable.

It has been a little over a year since Dona Asunta, one of the foremost teachers of my life, transitioned to the Spirit World. The depth of my gratitude to Creator for bringing this amazing woman/elder into my life cannot not be expressed in words. The many years of our connection, the ceremonies shared, are engraved, oh so gently in my heart. She was such a humble, gentle, wise woman. This is my humble attempt to honor her and to continue to dedicate my own work to serve, with love, the highest way possible.
​In gratitude. Denise Miller