Our Team
Our Team - Guardians - Sacred Alliances & Teachers
We are a diverse team from an array of spiritual traditions, beliefs, skillsets, superpowers, and global walks of life.
We are woven together by tied visions and values, and we work co-creativley in family and in service.
Mothers of the Altar
Maya Martinez Gomez
T'sáakhakatxwa (Rainbow)
Founder & Lead Facilitator
Mother of the Altar
Maya Martínez Gómez, also known as MaYita - is a professional musician, music therapist, and U.S. Sergeant, Army Veteran sound engineer, devoted to activating planetary remembrance through ceremony, prayer, and song. A lifelong student of music, Maya has been immersed in the arts since childhood, growing up as both a musician and an athlete, and receiving extensive training in first aid and safety during her military service. Her life is a testament to devotion and discipline - to art, love, music, and the mission of collective harmonization. Raised between Colombia and New York City, Maya has apprenticed for over 13 years in the medicine path, walking with Indigenous and medicine teachers from Colombia, Mexico, the U.S., and Brazil. She was named T'aáakhakatxwa “Rainbow” by our Fulniô tribe family of Águas Belas, Brazil - a reflection of her mission to bridge ancient mysticism with modern awakening. As the founder of Somos Sanctuary, Maya serves as a ceremonial guide, altar guardian, and musician, weaving tradition, prayer, and music into offerings of transformation. Her work is a living prayer, turning pain into prophecy and calling communities to rise together - in reverence, humility, and integrity.
LinkTree: linktr.ee/mayitamusic
Willa Kveta
Ārana Ecos
Lead Facilitator
Mother of the Altar
Willa Kveta is a mother, medicine woman, and sacred guide, walking as a lifelong student of Mother Earth and her teachings. Raised in the magical forests of Whidbey Island and most at home in the tropical jungles of the South, nature has always been her guide. As a carrier of owl and spider medicine, and a co-mother of this altar, she embodies a loving, maternal presence that holds, nurtures, and connects. Founder of Nalaya Healing, Willa shares her gifts of telepathy, clairsentience, light language, and healing touch, embodying unconditional love in service to her clients and community as a ceremonialist, musician, and sacred photographer. Willa is fluent in both English and Spanish, and is a devoted student of indigenous wisdom and ancient-future technology. As a rainbow guardian of the light and a keeper of the kind heart, Willa weaves magic into all that she does, through beauty, prayer, and remembrance, inspiring others to embody their fullest expression of radiance. Willa is also a talented photo alchemist, capturing energy, magic, and heart, empowering her clients to shine from within. She documents our retreats and pilgrimages and her work is widespread throughout our site.
Esoteric Website: nalayahealing.com
Photography Website: willakveta.com
Sofiia Bretl
Guardian
Trustee
Mother of the Altar
Sofiia has been a mother of this altar from the very beginning, as a guardian, council, and unwavering support. She also serves as a Trustee to Somos Sanctuary. Born in Ukraine, she crossed the Atlantic carrying with her the prayers of her ancestors and a deep passion for tending the sacred connections between body, mind, and spirit. With over a decade of experience as a professional massage therapist, Sofiia serves through the healing power of touch, deep listening, and embodied presence. For her, healing touch and dance are sacred gateways - pathways into the soul. She is a lover of the stars and planetary systems, and a keeper of memory. Guided by love, curiosity, and a profound devotion to humanity, Sofiia shows up with an open heart - ready to serve, to witness, and to weave her magic in our spaces. Her presence in the altar continues to be one of unwavering support and a blessing for all.
Sacred Alliances
Dr. Miriam Kaiyo
Board of Directors
Miriam Grace Kaiyo is a researcher, educator, and human development nerd. She received her Ph.D. in the Human Development and Social Policy program at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on understanding entheogenic therapy facilitation practices and how they contribute to improving mental health in the United States. Additionally, Miriam teaches at the University of Utah and serves as the Chief Impact Officer for Pneuma Science which is an international research center dedicated to advancing medical, spiritual, and cultural knowledge of psychedelics and indigenous plant medicines, particularly in real-world settings. Miriam is passionate about optimizing the human experience through a holistic, diverse, joyful, creative, and collaborative lens. Miriam serves on our Board of Directors, bringing her vast skillset and knowledge to our organization. Miriam is also a talented musician, weaving her prayers into the altar with gentleness, humility and devotion.
Website: miriamkaiyo.com
Ingrid Schelberg
Board of Directors
Ingrid has devoted her life to healing, transformation, and community. With over 20 years of experience as a mental health care manager and as a non-dual therapist, she bridges clinical knowledge with spiritual depth, walking between the visible and the unseen.S he co-founded the Family of Fire in the Netherlands, a community rooted in love, truth, and courage, where she sustains conscious relationships and is building and sustaining a strong network of light. Her work extends into raising frequency, weaving harmony into ceremonies and collective healing spaces, and guiding others in their journey of awakening. Honored as a “child of the jungle” by her teachers in Colombia and walking in the lineage of María Sabina, Ingrid carries deep reverence for Mother Earth and the wisdom of the plants. She is devoted to protecting the sacred and co-creating a future of unity and harmony. Ingrid serves on our Board of Directors, co-hosts Somos Sanctuary retreats in the Netherlands with Family of Fire, and regularily joins our altar for other in person events and retreats worldwide.
Website: familyoffire.com
Khotomeh (Dionysus)
Diplomat
Khotomeh is a gender-queer medicine guardian, sound alchemist, and freelance artist based in NYC. Their offerings span music, classical voice, choreography, dance education, writing, and facilitation of breathwork, Tantric Latihan, and sound meditation. A diplomatic weaver of communities, they bring a rich background in somatic embodiment modalities rooted in breath, sound, and movement through an animistic lens. An eternal student of life’s mystery school, Khotomeh is committed to exploring devotional practices as tools for transmutation, self-actualization, and remembering inner wisdom. Their mission is to share spiritual and relational technologies of trance, cosmic play, dream work, sacred sexuality, and unconditional love through radical acceptance and authentic expression. They channel light language, carry owl medicine, and embody the archetype of Dionysus - dancing between ripe and rot. As a Guardian with Somos Sanctuary, Khotomeh stands for sovereignty, coherence, and integrity in witnessing self-healing.
Samson Zhilyaev
Samson is a student of both Eastern and indigenous traditions. He started his personal practice and study of Buddhism at 16 years, entered formal residential Zen training in his early 20s, and has a profound spiritual home in the indigenous traditions of the Americas and wisdom traditions of Eastern Asia, including Vajrayana Buddhism. Vocationally, Samson has researched climate change and water resources as a data scientist. He is currently pursuing chaplaincy through an MDiv in Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement to deepen his embodied understanding of emotional and spiritual care. Samson serves as council of Somos, offering a strong, steady presence and perspectives that are both supportive and inquisitive. He has been a steadfast pillar of the altar for many years, walking as a devoted guardian. Samson embodies the paradoxical roles as both a fatherly figure to Somos, with strong, protective, grounding, wise energy, and at the same time, carrying childlike playfulness, curiosity, and fresh wonder into the space.
Samantha Starr
Samantha has served Somos Sanctuary since 2019, bringing a diverse background rooted in farming, herbal medicine, botanical alchemy, culinary arts, and ceremonial tool crafting. With years of experience in hospitality, innovation consulting, and project management, she co-creates sacred spaces and ritual acts of service. As an empath and clairsentient, Samantha works with sound, frequency, grid activations, and light language as healing modalities, and supports ceremony through prayer, channeling, and remote healing. Her lifelong fascination with ancient wisdom, sparked by early travels to tribal lands, continues through her studies with the Fulniô Tribe in Brazil and Andean cosmology in Colombia.
Gina Savino
Gina Savino is a wisdom keeper, mother, and devoted musician. Rooted in Colombia, she has studied the songs of the jungle and trained as a saumadora, weaving the healing power of plants and sound into her path of service. A professional musician trained in Germany, Gina is a singer of jazz, Latin American, Indigenous, and improvisational music, as well as a bassist and vocal teacher with a Master’s degree from Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá. For over 20 years she has guided voices and facilitated singing circles around the world - where music becomes prayer and remembrance. As a Guardian for Somos Sanctuary, Gina offers her voice and wisdom to awaken harmony, connection, and remembrance.
José Akiba
José Akiba is a sacred medicine carrier, mystic, musician, and artist. After decades of depression, suicidality, and chronic pain, he experienced profound transformation through ancestral sacraments and now serves others on this path. As a ceremonialist and guardian, he works in individual and small group settings with sananga, rapé, and Kambô, and assists in ceremonies with Somos. A Jewish Umbandista, José Akiba weaves his Puerto Rican and Cuban roots with the teachings of the Fulni-ô, other indigenous elders, and his Queer identity. This rich tapestry informs his grounded, compassionate presence and ability to channel divine love and ancestral wisdom. He supports clients in navigating metaphysical realms with clarity, care, and guidance. Also a skilled diviner, he offers in-person and online readings, and sells handcrafted tepis through his shop. Fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew, he lives in San Francisco with his husband and service dog and serves clients worldwide.
Store: thetepiconnection.etsy.com
Joep Schelberg
Deeply connected to Mother Earth and Tatawari, the Spirit of Fire, Joep walks the mission of the Heart, carrying the gift of truly seeing people in their essence. He bridges the Netherlands, Colombia, and Ibiza, weaving cultures and hearts together. Rooted in ancient traditions, he follows a dedicated study with master plants and walks as a guardian of sacred traditions, with a profound bond to tobacco and rapé. Through different forms of bodywork, coaching, and healing, he opens pathways of transformation, guided by the mystery of sacred masculine energy. His mission is carried by spirit, in deep connection with the archangels.
Website: familyoffire.com
Connect to Our Music
MAYA by MaYita
MAYA, MaYita's first solo album, is the result of several years of spiritual transformation that come together in 9 songs with profound codes of life and knowledge. From the activation of early memories and the essential role of music in the fabric of the universe, to the knowledge and use of power plants, to the reflection on the magic and truth that resides within each of us; MAYA is an album full of meaning and reflections that delve into the human dimension and the mission each person fulfills in today's world. “This album serves as a platform to share the medicinal practices entrusted to me, shedding light on the role of the guardians of the land and their tools. It is an invitation to those who resonate with this mission, inviting them to join as fellow guardians on this journey.” MAYA directly addresses the role of being guardians of the land, facilitates connections between territories, lineages and prayers, and helps establish alliances throughout the Americas and the world.
SOMOS by MaYita
MaYita's Second Album SOMOS transmits melodies imbued with multiethnic rhythms that reach deep into the soul. Sacred songs that connect ancestral wisdom with contemporary soundscapes. A musical fusion of cultures, languages, and traditions, honoring the voices of our ancestors and the dreams of future generations. WE ARE is a prayer, a movement, a vibration of love.
ANCIENT FUTUTE by Alexis Gideon and Khotomeh
This Album is a powerful collaboration.
Sound - Visual - Communications
Eric Hoegemeyer
Recording Artist & Music Producer
Eric Hoegemeyer is a soulful, boundary-pushing music producer, composer, engineer, and field recordist. Based in New York City and deeply connected to Colombia, Eric weaves together lineages, nature, and sound into immersive landscapes that carry both spiritual depth and sonic power. Originally emerging from Detroit’s vibrant musical ecosystems -Motown grooves, techno pulses, and funkadelic soundscapes - he has honed his craft over decades, mixing, producing, and composing with a profound devotion to synthesis and immersive audio work. His true mastery is the art of listening - deeply and quietly - co-creating with those he works with, including his longtime collaboration with MaYita, where together they have birthed albums infused with ancestral memory, feminine power, and the voice of the Earth itself.
Website: erichoegemeyer.com
Sebastián Bravo Guerrero
Graphic Media Artist
Sebastián Bravo Guerrero is a Colombian graphic media artist whose vibrant works blend figurative painting, illustration, animation, and multimedia design. His visual language moves between pop-surrealism, mysticism, intimacy, and chromatic explosion - offering portals into dreamlike worlds rich with symbolism and emotional resonance. He designed, created, and executed all of the art for MaYita Music projects - from album covers to concert visuals - and is also a skilled web designer, having built both MaYita’s site and the primary site’s visual identity. His role is both visionary and hands-on, transforming sonic offerings into visual prayer. With formal art training (BA in Arts & Design from Escola Massana, Barcelona) and international exhibitions under his belt (including finalist in New York’s See Me 2024), Sebastián bridges craft and ceremony, aesthetics and soul.
Website: bravoguerrero.com
Jessica Alejandra Trujillo Londoño
Media Manager & Assistant
Fauna, aka Jessica Alejandra Trujillo Londoño is an interdisciplinary artist from the Tulaymá territory of Colombia. A skilled communicator, media manager, singer, dancer, and lifelong student of life, she leads Mujeres Territorio de Paz and collaborates on transformative projects such as MaYita Music and Artes para la Paz. Through her work, Fauna uplifts art and artists as prayer and offering, weaving pathways for community transformation, remembrance, and harmony. As an integral force behind the scenes of the MaYita Music project, she infuses every step with her brilliance, sweetness, and expansive heart - joyfully tending to the unseen threads that allow visions to flourish and collective dreams to spread far and wide.
MaYita Inspired Artwork
Illustrations & Digital Artwork by Sebastian Bravo, Photography by Willa Kveta, Studio Portraits by Kelvin de La Cruz, Drawing by Metta Chase, Photoshop Compilations by Willa Kveta.