I was 25 years old when I first met Abuelo Querubín. It was a hot jungle evening in early March and he was relaxing on his porch, surrounded by his students, companions, and patients. Shyly, I presented him with the offerings that I had brought and did my best to introduce myself in my embarrassingly poor Spanish. What I know now that I did not know then was that this 108 year old man would very quickly become one of the most important people in my life.
Throughout my 27th year I had the life changing opportunity to live with and accompany the abuelo through his dying process. I sat by his side, listened to his stories, and cared for him as if he were my own dying grandfather. His death was, truly, one of the most devastating experiences of my life and, yet, his teachings continue to unfold and deepen in my heart as time moves forward. His memory lives on in his children and his descendants. His legacy is stamped into his ancestral territory, the land that he defended and protected for the 110 years of his long and powerful life.
This is the story of my time learning with and accompanying Abuelo Querubín—leader of his people, yagecero, curandero, curaca, sanador, el tigre de la selva, hijo de la floresta, padre de todos, everyone’s father. This is the story of the days that we spent together, the medicine that he shared, the example that he offered. This is my story of the abuelo.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ABUELO
The abuelo speaking at the House of Lords
A short documentary about the abuelo
