The Journey

I had descended as far as I could into my own personal hell, and I wished more than anything to start living life again. I knew of no shaman, medicine-man or medicine-woman, and so I was alone with the gruelling task of freeing myself from over a decade of depression and serious, life-threatening drug addiction. I had one hell of a mountain to climb!
 

Led by my intuition I began by cutting all ties to my past, as difficult as it was, and putting all of my energy into self-rehabilitation - DIY style. I found a local Qi-gong class and made a firm commitment to daily practice, mostly under the branches of a Yew tree - the tree of alchemy and transformation. I read a lot of books on esoteric science, and began collecting power-objects to construct an altar. I was focusing my intent daily, and as time went by I was reclaiming my personal power and generating an unbending will to succeed. I channeled a lot of this new-found confidence into my live performance art pieces and paintings, discovering this to be a great cathartic release of unwanted, heavy energy.

Then in 2011 I went against my doctor’s advice and made a bold move to detox once and for all from methadone. For two years I had prepared myself spiritually, mentally and physically, and now I was ready for the challenge of making the seemingly impossible possible - to face death and then re-emerge new-born. What followed was a breathtaking and empowering rediscovery of my existence, with a brand new sense of purpose: to realise my full potential and follow my dream of helping others out of their own personal ‘hell’.
 

By 2012 I had the pleasure of meeting medicine men from the United States and Mexico and participated in many ceremonies with Marakames from the Wixarica nation in which I learnt how to work with fire. Then in 2013 I spent four months in Peru under the tutelage of curandero Ronald Joe Wheelock, where I learnt how to work with many plants and how to prepare them. Through this work I was also learning how to open, hold, and close a safe and supportive healing space for myself and for others. Upon my return to the UK I applied this knowledge to forging an alliance with the oak tree, as I felt that it was my task to re-establish a lineage of the oak here on the land of the Druids: the ones who knew the oak.
 

In 2014 I began working within the Bwiti tradition of Gabon. This helped me refine my space holding abilities. I also trained in the use of kambo. This gave me immense stamina, and increased my willpower.
 

In 2015 I met world famous Mexican healer, author and teacher of nahualism Sergio Magana Ocelocoyotl. Over the next couple of years he would teach me incredible techniques for self-transformation from the Toltec mystery schools, and encouraged me to begin taking on clients for healing last year. This has been very successful, and the work continues as I love nothing more than to witness the great transformation in my clients. Their healing is also my healing and vice versa! To date I have treated everything from cocaine addiction to PTSD.
 

And now I am on the road full-time as a nomadic medicine-man. I will travel anywhere in the world - to whoever requires my services.

Iwan Bran y Dderwen