5. His initiation to shamanism began with a terrifying near-death experience
The healer – pictured sending Easter greetings with his girlfriend – recounted the incredible story of his “real awakening” at age 27, when he was clinically dead for a number of minutes. “One morning, I woke up and there was a presence in the room. It asked me if I was ready. I said 'yes'. From what I remember, I fell to the floor and was gasping for air. Luckily I managed to crawl to the phone to call my friend to ask for help. He came quickly and found me on the ground, barely breathing, and he took me to the hospital in L.A,” he told Dust magazine. The shaman’s lungs had collapsed and his kidneys and liver failed but doctors were able to save him, though he was left paralyzed in a wheelchair. The visions he had while he was in a coma changed him forever, and over the next two years he healed his legs and was able to recover thanks to his shamanistic training. He was on dialysis for ten years until his sister donated a kidney. “Immediately I received this message telling me to go out into the world and put power back into people’s hands. So here I am,” he said.