It is with great sadness that we inform you that Alicia Luengas Gates, extraordinary shamanic teacher and healer, and spiritual mentor to so many of us, transitioned peacefully on July 29 in southern California where she lived for many years.
Gerardo Roemer, FSS faculty member and teaching colleague, informed us that before her passage Alicia asked that we do not do shamanic work for her at this time, beyond offering love and good wishes.
We invite you to share remembrances and thoughts about Alicia by submitting a comment below.
We are grateful for Alicia’s magnificent life and beautiful soul — and know that she will have a special place in the spirit realms.
Yours in spirit,
Susan Mokelke
President
Gran maestra, me siento honrada por haber tenido la fortuna de haber recibido tus enseñanzas.
Humilde y sabia, enseñaste no sólo con tus palabras sino con tus actos.
Que tengas un bellísimo viaje a la luz.
Great teacher, I am honored to have been fortunate to have received your teachings.
Humble and wise, you taught not only with your words but with your actions.
Have a beautiful journey to the light.
Gracias Alicia por tu maestría y enseñanzas. Se expanda el firmamento en tu encuentro. Libertad y amor para ti. Hasta siempre… por acá seguiremos honrado el camino. Ya eres polvo de estrella. Besos
Thank you Alicia for your mastery and teaching. The sky expands in your meeting. Freedom and love for you. Until forever… we will continue to honor the path here. You are already stardust. Kisses
Feliz viaje Maestra! Por allá nos veremos. Gracias por las dos semanas magicas! Con dulce amor, Melissa
Happy journey Master! We’ll see each other there. Thanks for the magical two weeks! With sweet love, Melissa
Gracias querida Alicia por transmitir tus conocimientos y amor por el chamanismo, fue un honor para mi y lo voy a guardar siempre en mi corazón.
Gratitud infinita a tu alma bella
Thank you dear Alicia for transmitting your knowledge and love for shamanism, it was an honor for me and I will always keep it in my heart.
Infinite gratitude to your beautiful soul
Marin County, two weeks, 06, i fly in from NYC for Harner for his ‘heh heh’ coda and default answer to most questions “ask your power animal.” He’s relaxed entirely in the shadow of our conductor, Alicia Luengas Gates. Like wow. Thunder and lightning enter the room, that much spirit and accurately directed by, yes, this no nonsense woman. We are working the work. In the trenches. Scrubbing floors. It is a service. We are her heirs at taking the work as work. For others. No show. Her modesty inside her power was how she was the most important teacher for all of us. I love Alicia madly too.
Mi querida Alicia, un emocionante honor haberla conocido y haber sido su alumna. Aún resuenan sus enseñanzas en mi. Se que estará feliz con su Gary y desde allá donde esté, seguirá ayudando con infinito amor y sabiduría.
My dear Alicia, meeting you and being able to be one of your students was a huge honor. Your lessons are still very vivid in me. I know, wherever you are, you’re happy with your Gary. I also know that you’re helping the world with all your love and wisdom.
Alicia was and still is a great teacher to me, in a broad sense. I will never forget her impeccability in the transmission of knowledge and the immense sense of spiritual power, when she took the drums. I will remember her in an endless dancing. Nice trip back to the light dear Alicia!!
Cuando el amor por la tarea es tan fuerte, deja grandes huellas. Maestra Alicia, siempre estare enormemente agradecida contigo. Ha sido un inmenso honor conocerte, compartir y aprender de ti. Alli donde estes, unida al todo, la bendición te colme y te devuelva todo el bien que has brindado!!!
Gracias por tanto!
–
When the love for the spiritual path is so strong it leaves big footprints for all.
Dear teacher Alicia, I will always be gratefully thankful to you. It has been a huge honor for me to share and learn from you.
Wherever you are, now one with the holy everything, may the bliss fill you and return back to you all that benevolence that you’ve given.
Me queda tu impronta y tu profundo amor y respeto por el chamanismo y por los espíritus grabad@ a fuego.
Maestra de maestr@s, gracias por tu gran aporte en este legado llamado Chamanismo Transcultural. Gracias por haberlo hecho posible para habla hispana.
Buen retorno y buen reencuentro con tu amado Gary, que las alas de Isis te acompañen en tu gran vuelo ?
I still have your mark and your deep love and respect for shamanism and for the spirits engraved on fire.
Teacher of teachers, thank you for your great contribution in this legacy called Core Shamanism. Thank you for making it possible for Spanish speaking.
Good return and good reunion with your beloved Gary, may the wings of Isis accompany you on your great flight.
Gracias Alicia. No hacen falta más palabras. Mi vida y manera de verla y sentirla cambió a partir de tus enseñanzas. Queda en mi ahora aprehenderlas y aplicarlas. Buen viaje
Thanks Alicia. No more words are needed. My life and way of seeing and feeling it changed from your teachings. It is up to me now to apprehend and apply them. Good trip
Alicia, gracias por lo que hiciste por nosotros, ahora que eres luz y amor puro nos guiarás con tu sabiduría
Alicia, thank you for what you did for us, now that you are light and pure love you will guide us with your wisdom
Alicia te honrro, como practicante chamánico he aprendido un arte, un encuadre y he reconectado con los chamanes de mi linaje.
Llevo un compromiso y es importante cumplir con nuestra misión. La tuya est@ en mi… gracias desde Argentina
Alicia I honor you, as a shamanic practitioner I have learned an art, a frame and reconnected with the shamans of my lineage.
I have a commitment and it is important to fulfill our mission. Yours is in me… thanks from Argentina
Those of us who knew Alicia know of her love for life and for shamanic work. A great teacher, not only for her knowledge but also for her great experience in shamanic healing. Watching her work with her spirits taught and inspired us. She shared with impeccable and immense love the work of Harner for so many years. Have a good trip to your soul dear friend and teacher.
Querida Alicia estoy profundamente agradecida por tus enseñanzas y tu sabiduría. Todo lo transmitías con gran pasión y la fuerza de tus espíritus. Te recordaré siempre por el respeto que inspirabas pero también por la alegría y la amistad que nos brindaste. Nos llevaste lejos a conocer vastos e ignotos territorios, nos presentaste a tus espíritus, fuertes y poderosos, pero por sobre todas las cosas nos hiciste descubrir el maravilloso mundo y el poder que tenemos en nuestro interior. Hasta siempre querida MAESTRA, hasta que el viento nos vuelva a juntar en cualquier realidad.
Dear Alicia, I am deeply grateful for your teachings and your wisdom. You transmitted everything with great passion and the strength of your spirits. I will always remember you for the respect you inspired but also for the joy and friendship you gave us. You took us far to know vast and unknown territories, you introduced us to your spirits, strong and powerful, but above all things you made us discover the wonderful world and the power that we have within us. Until always dear MASTER, until the wind reunites us in any reality.
Querida Alicia, gran maestra me siento bendecida porque los Espíritus te hayan puesto en mi camino , me enseñaste con tanta pasión y amor el respeto hacia los Espíritus chamanismo. Te agradezco tanto, mi corazón llevará grabado por siempre tu recuerdo, tus enseñanzas y la pasión que ponías en cada uno de los encuentros para enseñarnos. GRACIAS
Dear Alicia, great teacher, I feel blessed that the Spirits have put you in my way, you taught me with so much passion and love, respect for the Shamanism Spirits. I thank you so much, my heart will forever engrave your memory, your teachings and the passion you put into each of the meetings to teach us. THANK YOU
Maestra querida infinita gratitud por todas tus enseñanzas y tu generosidad en brindar tu conocimiento, tu experiencia, y tu gran bondad al compartir tu vida. Especialmente para mi chamana increible , eres en todos los mundos la gran maestra. La sanadora de mi vista porque desdr que ne curaste veo mejor. La que me sorprendio el ultimo 2 de abril llamandome por telefono para saludar, para pedir ser incluida al grupo de chats y que durante varios.minutos mas alla de manifestar su gran amor y dedicacion a mi tribi me dijiste que quedabas muy tranquila dejando este 4to. Programa en mamos de Gerardo. Que vos estabas siempre igual. Que Gerardo tenia los conocimientos y todo lo necesatio para hacerlo. Gracias Alicia infinitamente gracias. Estoy sntiendo enorme gratitud ya estas camino a casa con tanta luz ! Y seguramente el recibimiento que tienes son enormes abraxos de puro amor! Hasta siempre.
Teacher dear infinite gratitude for all your teachings and your generosity in offering your knowledge, your experience, and your great kindness in sharing your life. Especially for my amazing shaman, you are in all the worlds the great teacher. The healer of my sight because after you healed I see better. The one that surprised me the last April 2 calling me on the phone to say hello, to ask to be included in the group of chats and that for several minutes beyond expressing great love and dedication to my tribes you told me that you were very calm leaving this three-year program in Gerardo’s hands. That you were always the same. That Gerardo had the knowledge and everything he needed to do it. Thank you Alicia infinitely thank you. I’m feeling enormous gratitude and you’re on your way home with so much light! And surely the welcome you have are huge embraces of pure love! Until forever.
Dear Alicia, dear teacher and dear friend. You left a profound void, but full of wisdom too. As always when you have had a problem, the eagle flew over my house warning me. I will miss you a lot.
Have a good trip
María
Forever grateful. Unangwa y unangwa.
The Spirits LOVED to work with Alicia. A wonderful example for us all. Godspeed, Alicia!
In 2010, my last year of teaching in SD,
I took 6 weekend trainings from Alicia. She was amazing and will be missed. In 2011 I retired here in Ha. and have now studied shamanism for 10 years and do shamanic retreats here on my land. Alicia was my first
shamanic teacher and she changed my life. I am in deep gratitude to her and know she is surrounded by love.
We thank each and every one of you for honouring her life by sharing the way she touched your lives. Alicia was undoubtedly a gifted shaman, but also she was an extraordinary aunt. She was always there for me and for all our family. She could see what no one else could see. Rest in peace.
I was fortunate to have assisted Alicia for 5 years during the FSS Workshops she taught in San Diego Ca. I was also very fortunate to have her as my teacher during our three year program, she was a very powerful shamanic practitioner. Thank you Alicia for everything you taught us and for touching our lives in such a beautiful way. Thank you for your love and support, you will be missed by so many people. May the universe bless your soul and guide you on a beautiful and loving journey back home.
Juan-Carlos Safa “JC”
Precious Alicia’s physical presence will be missed by her family, friends, and students. Our paths crossed for almost 25 years. I valued our connection. She was well prepared for this Journey.
I wish you Good Journey Alicia!
I had the pleasure of spending a week with Alicia at IONS retreat center some years ago when she taught the Shamanic Depossession program. That was a very special and unforgettable week. Thank you so much to this strong woman and gifted shaman. Blessings on your soul’s continued journey Alicia.
Alicia was a force of Passion! We loved her Latina Spirit of love, family, integrity, and honoring the Spirit Helpers. In our three year program she began her journey into becoming a leader of the three year programs on the West Coast. At first people were reluctant to accept this different voice, this wondrous accent, but she never wavered from the goal. Teaching these ancient traditions with grace and that passion. People soon realized the treasure that was her soul and her style. Alicia is Blessed to now be with The Star People. We are better for having been touched by her presence.
Dearest Alicia,
My deepest gratitude and love for your shamanic lessons and teachings. You are forever in my heart. May you dance across the moonbeams with a handful of stars on your continued eternal Journey. In love and reverence, Babette.
Alicia was a friend & healer for 35 years & we shared many a great meal & birthday together. She led an extraordinary life & I am sure she is dancing in heaven with her beloved Gary. rest in peace dear Alicia!
Thank you, Alicia, for being the conduit for incredible lessons that rooted me in shamanism. You are strong, powerful and unique, and I honor you for all that you are. May your new adventure be filled with every blessing. I send thanks and greetings to your husband who supported you in your work, and thanks to the Universe who coalesced in the singular being that you are.
I had the privilege of meeting Alicia at a Council gathering and somehow in each of the breakout sessions we were in together and sitting beside each other. This quiet but powerful connection happened in other teacher trainings and I felt a privilege to just be in her presence, surrounded by her light, her powerful way of speaking and being. It would have been wonderful to have taken workshops with her, and so many have been blessed with that gift. Her spirit will journey on and continue to touch many. Many blessings to her family as they remember her and her many gifts and teachings.
Thank you, Alicia, for your beautiful dedication and artful sharing. You made my 3-year program unforgettable. I’ll never forget how you expressed such love and joy in my work to bring Owl to our circle. It really made me feel seen and appreciated. Shine brightly, Dear. I’ll look for you in the night sky.
Alicia, much gratitude for your wisdom, generous kindness and gentleness you showed me as a teacher. I know you will continue your healing work and support where ever your transition takes. Our world here is now poorer with your absence. Having you as teacher changed my life for the good. Blessings to you always where ever you are. Narandja
Dearest Alicia,
There are no words to express my deepest gratitude. The three years that I spent as your student and friend were some of the most important and transformative of my life. Thank you for being and extraordinary teacher and for your friendship. I will miss you on this earth but know you are in a beautiful place.
Con todo mi cariño,
Gabriela
Dear Alicia, I could not have asked for a better teacher for the Two Week Intensive. I had no idea what I was about to learn, I only knew that I belonged. Your teaching gave us all compassion, humor, strength and power. I felt every moment of your connection when you called in your helping spirits and you were always available for questions and told the best stories at lunchtime. I am so grateful I was able to connect with you again after 10 years at the teacher training in 2019. I hope I can live as you did with grace and joy and respect for all of us. Safe journey home, Alicia. Much love, Denise.
Thank you Alicia for your friendship.
You taught me what loyalty, ethics and love mean.
The best teacher of life I could ever dream of.
You’ll be for ever in my heart.
Michela
Alicia ha sido una excelente Maestra , nunca dejaré de agradecer todo lo que nos ha enseñado. Sé, lo siento así, que el espíritu de ella nos iluminará por siempre y que se cumplirán sus deseos de que existirá un mundo mejor, lleno de amor y sanación. Gracias Alicia de alma. Gracias por siempre
Alicia has been an excellent Teacher, I will never stop thanking you for all you have taught us. I know, I feel this way, that her spirit will enlighten us forever and that her wishes that there will be a better world, full of love and healing, will be fulfilled. Thank you Alicia of soul. Thanks forever
Alicia performed a 3 part healing on me in which my spirit was removed. healed and replaced. I scheduled it on 3 consecutive lunar eclipses. It was the quite literal rebuilding of a human life and form that was as she noted, shattered. There is no amount of money or material that could repay her for that extraordinary piece of work. She was and will always be extraordinary, rarified and miraculous.
My path goes on because of her. I know she goes on infinitely and all whom she encounters will be greatly changed by her. Fare thee well, Alicia. Blessing was your road, may blessings be your path.
Alicia, Michael and Amanda taught a two week years ago in Oregon. Those two weeks changed many lives, I think. Certainly mine. I will never forget the gift that Alicia gave me all those years ago. It sustains me to this day. She is powerfully present.
Alicia was a great teacher. She helped us finish the 5th West Coast Program in Advanced Shamanism. She was a great shaman, fantastic teacher, and a nice, caring person. I have thought of her and her teaching many times since that training. She will be missed.
Thank you and blessings, Alicia!
Dear Alicia,
thank you so much for the beautiful teaching you did at the 2-week intensive and 3-year program. I was truly blessed to be in your classes. You set for us an example of dedication, discipline, wisdom, and humor. Many blessings on your way!
with love,
Andra
Alicia Gates was my teacher in the Two Week Healing Intensive. I was relatively new to FSS at the time, and had been warned by friends that she was a difficult teacher, so I had no idea what to expect. I found her to be a wonderful teacher, and so very dedicated to the teaching. During meal breaks she was absolutely hilarious when she shared stories about her life. I was amazed to find how funny she was.
Her teaching was the absolute best way for me to start on this path. She was serious, and she was very powerful as a shaman and as a woman. I appreciated how dedicated to the work she was, and what an overall lovely woman she was. I couldn’t have had a better immersion into Shamanic healing that with Alicia. I subsequently signed up for the 3-year program that she was supposed to teach, but the plans changed and that was the last class I had with her, as I understand she focused more on South American and Spain.
I saw her at a FSS event a year ago and was so pleased that she remembered me and came up to me to speak to me. What an amazing lady. She will be sorely missed.
Honor and respect to a beautiful soul. I took my Basic and other advanced courses with Alicia here in San Diego. She will be missed by so many. Thank you, Alicia, for all you have given, the wisdom you have held, and your graceful presence at every moment I witnessed.
Dear Alicia,
Thank you for being my teacher for the two week intensive and the West Coast 3 year. I was more than a little intimidated at first. But you taught me how to “focus”. For that and your enormous presence, I am eternally grateful.
Gracias querida Maestra. Cambiaste mi vida enseñándome con amor y mucha pasión el legado de Michael Harner. Mi eterno agradecimiento, allá donde tu espíritu vuele libre.
Thank you dear Master. You changed my life by teaching me with love and passion the legacy of Michael Harner. My eternal gratitude, wherever your spirit flies free.
Querida Alicia, estoy profundamente agradecida por tus enseñanzas. Por transmitir con pasión lo que más te gustaba hacer! Estoy segura que tus espíritus te acompañan a la luz, al encuentro de tu amado esposo Gary y tu alma está en paz. Supiste vivir de acuerdo al Ser, alegre y con una risa contagiosa, disfrutando… Maestra de Maestras. Tu recuerdo está en mi corazón, en ese lugar donde habitan las memorias de las personas importantes en nuestra vida. Te digo un hasta luego, hasta que nos encontremos en cualquier realidad.
HOOOOOO!!!!
Marcela Pazos
Dear Alicia, I am deeply grateful for your teachings. For passionately transmitting what you most liked to do! I am sure that your spirits accompany you to the light, to the meeting of your beloved husband Gary and your soul is at peace. You knew how to live according to the Being, happy and with a contagious laugh, enjoying … Master of Masters. Your memory is in my heart, in that place where the memories of the important people in our lives live. I say goodbye, until we meet in any reality.
HOOOOOO !!!!
Marcela Pazos
Alicia was a brilliant teacher, no nonsense colleague, and gifted healer. In the days before I learned of her death, I heard her voice in my dreams, singing the song she sang to my returning soul part during a precious session I had in her home many years ago. Safe journeys, dearest Alicia. You have given so much to so many, and blessed us beyond measure. Your radiance shines on.
I remember first meeting her at a one time class with Michael Harner at a hotel on Van Ness Ave in San Francisco, over 20 years ago. There were only about 10 of us and Alicia was there. It was the FSS class, in my memory. What I remember is the feeling of that gathering and the most amazing group journey we all took together. Trying to recall the details, I just feel this strong warmth and a glow spreading from my chest that surrounds my head. After that, I looked for every Alicia teaching I could find. Writing this fills me with gratitude. And I can visualize her bright eyes and smile.
Gracias, Alicia. Por todo.
Thank you my teacher
Thank you for your no nonsense way of teaching.
En memoria, nuestro mensaje a tu alma Alicia, desde Barcelona, a allá donde estés:
Querida Alicia, te uniste a los espíritus en el gran espíritu. Ya no te tendremos compartiendo tus enseñanzas y sabiduría presencialmente. Nos dejas el obsequio de habernos hecho conocedores de nuestras propias capacidades de conexión con nuestros espíritus de ayuda y compasión, además de todo un enorme aprendizaje profesional y humano.
Agradecemos profundamente tu amor puesto en crear la escuela de chamanismo transcultural en España, poniendo a nuestra disposición la riqueza del legado de Michael Harner a los que vivimos en este otro lado del planeta.
Junto a ti algo tan interno como inmenso ha sido comprendido. Has sido un indefinible regalo para todos nosotros, Alicia, que sólo el tiempo podrá hacernos consciente de ello.
Vaya contigo nuestro amor y alegría por lo vivido. Gracias, Gracias, Gracias.
Tamir y Jayani
—
In memory, our message to your soul Alicia, from Barcelona, to wherever you are:
Dear Alicia, you joined the spirits in the great spirit. We will no longer have you sharing your teachings and wisdom in person. You leave us the gift of having made us aware of our own abilities to connect with our spirits of help and compassion, in addition to all a huge professional and human learning.
We deeply appreciate your love put into creating the school of core-shamanism in Spain, putting at our disposal the wealth of Michael Harner’s legacy to those who live on this other side of the planet.
Next to you something as internal as immense has been understood. You have been an indefinable gift to all of us, Alice, that only time can make us aware of it.
Go with you our love and joy for what we have lived. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Tamir & Jayani
Barcelona, Spain
I was fortunate to have Alicia as my teacher in the
West Coast 3-Year followinf Michael’s stroke. She was amazing, particularly in her ability to encourage us to support each other. My deep condolences to her family. My prayers are with you.