ISTA level 1 Guatemala / Araminta Barbour, Niten Dhyan & Jasmeen Hana
January 27 - February 2, 2024
In 2024, The International School of Temple Arts will be hosting its transformative Level 1 Spiritual Sexual Shamanic Experience residential retreat at one of the world’s most majestic destinations: Lake Atitlán, Guatemala.
From January 27th through February 2nd, ISTA Guatemala level 1 will take place at our luxurious and eco-friendly resort, located on the shores of the lake, surrounded by three breathtaking volcanoes.
This magical location, combined with a dynamic team of facilitators: Araminta Barbour, Niten Dhyan and Jasmeen Hana, it promises to deliver a powerful and life-changing experience for those that are ready to step into their power.
Guatemala is a jewel in Central America – unknown to most – and we welcome the chance to support your exploration of this beautiful land and its rich culture while journeying deeply on the spiritual, sexual, shamanic path. ISTA has been holding trainings annually in Guatemala since 2012, honored to be partnering with world-class luxury retreat Villa Sumaya on the shores of stunning Lake Atitlán. Villa Sumaya is one of the most luscious and breathtaking retreat centers ISTA hosts trainings at, and the longest-standing ISTA venue. We’re honored to be welcomed in this ancestral Mayan place of power. Lake Atitlán is surrounded by three striking volcanoes and over 1,000 feet deep; this magnificent lake’s beauty is encapsulated in the meaning of the Mayan word Atitlán: “the place where the rainbow gets its colors.”
ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL SEXUAL SHAMANIC EXPERIENCE
As humans, our deepest desire is for connection, but when our connection to ourselves is not optimal we can get stuck in repetitive relationship patterns or accepting and tolerating relationships that don’t serve us. Continually living with these kinds of patterns can cause us to feel lost, afraid or out of control.
The 7-day ISTA (Sexual Shamanic Spiritual Experience) Level 1 has been offered to thousands of people across five continents from more than fifteen years. In a safe environment with other people looking to take back control of their lives, graduates from these week-long experiences uncover and heal deep core wounds and reactive patterns. They leave feeling empowered, healed and courageous to take control of their lives and relationships.
The 7-day level 1 SSSEx residential experience gives you a space to clear your physical, emotional and mental bodies of shame, guilt and fear. We use guided visualisations, emotional release, energy tracking, conscious touch and ceremony to open a doorway into a deeper a knowing of the Self as whole and complete.
Do you feel like something in your life needs to shift?
Does it feel like you’re not accessing your full power?
Does your current relationship feel like it needs a reboot?
Do you keep attracting the same type of people into your life?
Unable to keep the relationships that you really want?

Araminta Barbour
is an international speaker, group facilitator, and 1-1 guide specializing in empowerment, relationships and sexuality, transformational healing, soul initiation, and the esoteric mysteries. Lead Faculty with ISTA (the International School of Temple Arts) with whom she has collaborated since 2011, Araminta is the founder of The Sanctuary Guatemala, creator of The Resilience Journey, and co-creator of the Women Who See In The Dark project.
Weaving together an academic background in History, Ecology, and Theravada Buddhism (BA Hons & MA), over a decade spent in the international development NGO world (reproductive health focus) with 25+ years traveling, studying, and practicing a wide range of alternative healing modalities, and philosophical/ esoteric traditions, Araminta’s work can be encapsulated in the phrase “spiritual sexual shamanism” – an attempt to address the fullness of our human gifts and capacities. In 2005, Araminta’s heart settled in Guatemala’s Lake Atitlan – her home base for continued event facilitation around the world.
Araminta’s life path has been shaped from the learnings brought from death, grief, travel, and the deep questioning of collective beliefs. She supports clients to transform painful experiences into power, heal from parental and relationship wounding, step-free from sexual or emotional abuse, and navigate the psychological hurdles to self-acceptance, self-belief, and self-love. Her deeper focus is awakening to expansive levels of Self untangled from collective consciousness.
Araminta utilizes skills from Meditation, Non-dual Spirituality, Shamanism, Sacred Sexuality, Tantra, Breathwork, Yoga, Bodywork, Shadow Integration, Emotional Release, and Initiatory rituals. Her teachings aim to bring together the tools and maps that reactivate our full human capacities. Araminta’s core passion is the process of radical self-acceptance – the inner marriage of love with power. She is here to support humanity’s evolution as liberated, heart-centered creators.