Don Manuel Quispe was a Q'ero elder, and Medicine Man who died on December 11th 2004 [1]
Don Manuel was one of the primary mentors to Dr Alberto Villoldo Phd in Psychology, [2]. He worked with Dr Villoldo teaching him shamanic knowledge and rites and teaching the kurak akuyek, the Andean Shamanic degrees. [3] Dr Villoldo have been distilled into a series of 9 rites known as the Munay-ki which Dr Villoldo has brought to the western world [2].These rites are totally fabricated by Dr. Villoldo and are a disservice to the people of the Andes. Many of Dr. Villoldo's senior teaching staff resigned in 2006 when these first rites were fabricated.
Don Manuel Quispe considered himself, and was considered by his community of Q'ero's, an Altomesayok, not a Kurak Akuyek. According to several years of research and personal interviews with Don Manuel Quispe, the munay-ki rites are totally fabricated and have no association with the Q'ero or Andean Mountain traditions. The true people of the Mountains have only recently heard of "angels." Angels are not, and never have been, part of the traditions of the high Mountain people. Some of this information about the traditions and Don Manuel Quispe is available in a recent interview and in the article [4] "Truth is Beauty, The Q'ero" by Denise Kinch, author of the book "Walk Between the Worlds, Truth is Beauty, The Q'ero" due out in August 2009.
There are a number of books, publications and articles such as "A Shaman's Legacy" [5] concerning personal encounters and experiences with Don Manuel, a humble and respected teacher of shamanism.