Lawsuit alleges shaman sexually assaulted woman at Galisteo retreat
May 18—A woman who says she participated in an "energy medicine" training at a Galisteo retreat center last year is suing the center and the company that ran the course, alleging she was sexually assaulted by a "shamanic master."
The woman — identified in the complaint only by the initials M.G. — says she paid $10,800 to the Four Winds Society and an additional $6,300 to The Chi Center, both listed as defendants, in advance of the March 2023 training session.
The lawsuit, filed recently in state District Court, says the Four Winds Society promoted the course as one offering participants the opportunity to become a certified energy medicine practitioner with "an extraordinary life of health, purpose, and inner guidance."
Participants were told they could start their own careers as master healers, according to the lawsuit. It accuses the defendants of negligence, breach of contract and liability, and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
The Chi Center did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Four Winds didn't respond to an email seeking comment Thursday, and a woman who answered a phone call Friday hung up when asked for comment on the lawsuit. No one answered a following call.
Four Winds' Facebook page lists a Florida address, but its website says the company is based in Chile and offers trainings in the United States, Germany and Chile.
The plaintiff's attorney declined to comment.
The lawsuit says about 25 students, three teachers and a man purported to be a "shamanic master of energy training" gathered at The Chi Center, a 150-acre retreat. Four Winds offered students individual healing sessions with the shamanic master for an additional $250 per hour, the lawsuit says, and encouraged them to participate in the sessions to "further their own learning."
The plaintiff says she scheduled a session with the man and told him she'd been sexually abused as a child; the man indicated in Spanish he understood and then had the woman lie down on one of the beds in his room, according to the complaint.
It alleges he then used the healing session for "his own personal interests or gratification."
The New Mexican is not naming the man accused of sexual assault because he has not been charged with a crime. Multiple online sources identify him as a Peruvian healer and "wisdom keeper."
At least two other women had a similar experience with the man, the lawsuit alleges.
The day after the plaintiff's session, she and another female student reported the experiences to a senior teacher, who told her "what was done to her was not a standard part of the healing session." He reported the incident to Four Winds Society owner Alberto Villodo, the lawsuit says.
Reports from a criminal investigation into the incident by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office indicate the plaintiff may be from out of state. She was not able to complete a sexual assault nurse examination, a report said, because she "had left the state and waited to report the incident via telephone from California."
A deputy spoke to the woman and an employee from The Chi Center but was unable to contact other alleged victims or the shamanic master, a report said.
The investigating officer wrote in his report he learned through a law enforcement database the shaman had left the United States, flying from Houston to Panama on March 17, 2023.
The officer wrote he was putting the case on inactive status "until further information can be obtained."
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday the criminal case has been "challenging" because the accused shaman is from out of the country. The sheriff's office also had a difficult time contacting victims to obtain the evidence needed to file charges, Mendoza said, adding the agency intends to try again to reach them.
"I'm hoping we can reestablish contact with the victims and bring a conclusion to this case," he said.
