Text written by Nick Meador. Photo of Kakaw Chinimital.
In late spring 2024 I agreed to help Juan and Miguel Leon Cortez, indigenous Mayan spiritual guides more commonly known in Guatemala as the Twins, to tell their story about what they saw as unfair and disrespectful treatment by a company called the Mayan Wisdom Project (MWP).
The Twins had asked MWP to stop using their photos and videos in their social media and for-profit courses. The Twins were paid for one-time use of such materials, but never agreed to or receiving royalty payments for ongoing use of the material.
MWP refused to comply and then blocked the Twins. So a mutual associate of the Twins and I contacted MWP multiple times starting in late 2023 to demand that MWP stop using the materials. Again MWP refused to cooperate.
Yet I found the Twins' story fully believable, and I deeply trust the mutual associate with whom I've worked for 6 years and who has worked with the Twins for even longer. So I helped the Twins record a video telling the story in their own words, which they published on their own YouTube page on June 11, 2024.
(NOTE: This is the shorter edit. The extended version is on their YouTube: part 1 - part 2)
I made a post about this on Soul Lift Cacao's Instagram page and linked to the video, all with full approval of the Twins.
Far from taking responsibility and apologizing, MWP denied everything. They claimed that it was all "100% false" and threatened to take legal action against everyone involved.
But we received a lot of support about the first post, from both the international audience, and from other spiritual guides and in one case a family member in Guatemala. Others decided to speak up too, and I agreed to help them. The fact that so many independent stories had overlapping details gave them validity. And I know from my journalism background that it was entirely within our rights to help bring first-hand accounts to light.
So we released a statement from Kakaw Chinimital (KC), the producers of the ceremonial cacao that MWP sold internationally starting in 2022. Tata Jerico and Nana Jessica from KC were also prominent teachers in MWP courses and ceremonies during the same time as the Twins. (NOTE: Use the right arrow on the image below to switch between the slides and read the whole statement.)
The third statement was from Azucena Mendoza, daughter of the late Tata Juan Miguel Mendoza who was a teacher in MWP courses in 2022. I knew him because I took MWP's first feature course at the start of 2022. And I met him on a group cacao tour I organized in December 2022, where he led a Mayan fire ceremony for my group. He seemed distraught, but I didn't know why. It turns out that Tata Juan had already expressed grievances and been kicked out of MWP, much like what later happened to the Twins.
Then sadly, Tata Juan passed in 2023 before he could ever achieve justice about this. His daughter told his story in her own words.
The fourth statement was from Tata Mario Leon Cortez, brother of Juan and Miguel who had taught classes for MWP on items of spiritual significance used in Mayan ceremonies. Mario didn't mean that he had never received any money for his work in MWP courses. His main grievances were that (1) MWP demanded that he front all the materials for ceremonies he helped lead without any deposit from MWP, which was a huge financial strain on him; and (2) that when he told MWP he wasn't okay with this, they told him that he was disposable and could easily be replaced by another teacher. (Longer version on YouTube)
And the fifth statement was from Nana Sandra, who also works with the Twins and who taught in MWP courses about "limpias" (energy clearings) and the spiritual use of tobacco in Mayan ceremonies. In her case it's important to remember that the Mayan teachers involved are not accustomed to being Internet "influencers" or expressing things of strong feeling on video. Sandra did receive some money for her services via what was sent to the Twins. But in her statement she's not simply complaining that she wasn't paid directly by MWP. Clearly there was something more about her interactions with MWP that didn't feel good to her. (Longer version on YouTube)
MWP did whatever they could to deny these first-hand stories and refused to take any accountability whatsoever for harming so many people. They gaslit all the tatas and nanas who had spoken, calling calling them crazy or greedy. Then they contrived a story that I had made everything up because I also sell cacao.
They tried to smear Kakaw Chinimital by saying there was lead in their cacao and that this is why MWP stopped working with them. But MWP had never sent Kakaw Chinimital an actual lab report, just a fishy screenshot of a spreadsheet with some numbers. There's a lot more to the story of how MWP exploited Kakaw Chinimital which will be told in the right time. But suffice to say that MWP tried to completely take over their indigenous-run organization, and when Chinimital didn't allow it, MWP found another group to make an imitation product.
MWP also hired a lawyer to send me a cease and desist letter, to intimidate us from speaking further. But they never proceeded, probably because any lawyer would tell them a lawsuit like that would likely be thrown out by a judge. That's due to First Amendment protections against that kind of intimidation known as "anti-SLAPP" laws. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. After the lawsuit would be thrown out because all this is substantially true, MWP would be responsible for paying my legal fees.
In desperation, MWP attempted to discredit me, "the messenger." They posted a 45-minute-long video of "word salad," which is a tactic intended to confuse and disorient people to avoid being held accountable. (I've seen them do this before.)
They published an email from 2022 where I expressed frustration with them. That year I invited them to be part of my first cacao tour and taught them a lot about cacao production and distribution. Yet after a few months of working together, I started to feel like they were starting to use it against me, studying everything I did in order to one-up me.
For example, MWP misrepresented Kakaw Chiminital's community traditions in order to claim that cacao had to be prepared one-and-only way to be truly "ceremonial." But MWP came to their conclusions only after studying the fine details of the way Soul Lift products are grown, prepared, and packaged, in order to change a few details to say they had the "one right" way.
After many attempts at having reasonable conversation with them, I cut ties with MWP in 2022. In the email I said their behavior was "slimy" and I called them colonizers. I had never called anyone that before, and I haven't since. That's how unusual it all was.
I never spoke out at that time because it would have hurt Kakaw Chinimital. As I'd later learn, KC also felt exploited by that company.
Still, I never would have spoken out about my own experience if it weren't for hearing so many stories from Mayan indigenous teachers, the very ones that MWP claimed to support and cherish.
I didn't get involved because I have a cacao business but in spite of how many challenges my involvement would bring me. If I hadn't used my platform to give them a voice, I simply wouldn't have been able to live with myself.
In order to vouch for me, those who spoke out have given permission for me to share screenshots of our conversations, which you can see here. Example below:
MWP began to share financial records to try to counter the accusations about unfair payment and disrespectful treatment of indigenous teachers. With the help of their former students, I compiled an estimate of MWP's revenue from courses and programs in 2023. It doesn't seem to match what they posted publicly.
Specifically, they claimed that their payment to the teachers was sufficient in amount. By MWP's own records, the Twins were paid 242,960 Quetzales. With an exchange rate around 7.5 at that time, that would be about $32,000 USD. MWP argued that this is a lot in the economy of Guatemala, which is another partial truth.
In fact, the payment to the Twins was for four people plus materials for ceremonies and classes. The Twins estimated that materials took up about 20% of those funds. That leaves about $6,400 USD per person, for courses and brand recognition that appear to have brought in close to $300,000 USD in 2023. Even after paying other indigenous teachers for their part, that would leave a vast majority for MWP.
They still haven't answered the question honestly of what percentage goes to indigenous teachers for an offering that they're a part of. A standard is forming for courses of a minimum of 50%. In this case it looks much lower. (Click spreadsheet image to enlarge.)
Another fact MWP didn't share is that their business is actually registered in Panama. In 2022 they told me that this was a way to avoid paying taxes. Panama is known as a "pure tax haven." Businesses registered there who only operate elsewhere have no tax obligation. It's likely that they also have a bank account there, yet that wasn't part of the "transparency report" they shared in summer 2024.
Below is their business registration from the Public Registry of Panama, listing Martin Klumpp as president and treasurer, and Solveig Barrios Johannessen as secretary. It can be downloaded from the free mobile app RP Móvil. (click the image to enlarge):
Even after all this time and information, it's still hard to comprehend their level of denial, hypocrisy, and racism. Martin is German and brings to the table an aggressive business education. Solveig is Guatemalan of European descent with a sense of entitlement about representing Mayan spirituality.
Together they excuse one another's cruel, self-serving behavior, with Martin often playing the "savior" for Solveig's fragility at the expense of those around them.
Martin usually makes the call about when to cut someone short. I saw him do this with the photographer on the cacao tour I invited them on. She wanted additional payment for the use of more of her photos beyond the original agreement. He said he was going to use as many as he wanted.
Solveig lies by omission by allowing her followers to belief that she is half-indigenous. Her father Carlos Barrios did become an ajq'ij (pronounced ahk-KEEK, a spiritual guide), but he was not born Mayan. He even says so in "The Book of Destiny."
Yet Solveig constantly refers to her father as the reason for what she does and clearly has ambitions for being a global figurehead of Mayan culture. This conveys to her followers a sense of authority, yet the testimonials above clearly state that Solveig Barrios does not have the authority to teach about the Mayan Cosmovision because she is not an ajq'ij.
A similarly trick for maintaining power is the way she constantly refers to "her teachers" with remarks implying that Mayan elders approved of her actions or her translation of concepts. When in fact "her teachers" are just whichever spiritual guide she's currently paying until they express concern about the business model, at which point she dumps them.
Long story short, MWP has an an undeniable pattern of extracting as much as they can from people, and hoarding the credit and money for themselves.
Even though MWP talks about the ongoing oppression of Mayan people, they are paradoxically contributing to it. This kind of marketing hypocrisy is unfortunately all too common in our world. So is the trend of powerful people not being held accountable, even when they are presented with wide-ranging and consistent feedback that what they're doing is abuse.
The way they have attempted to turn partial truths into a fabrication of reality is a cornerstone of narcissistic leadership. If allowed to continue, they will likely be the feature of a future documentary about the elaborate abuses of yet another spiritual cult.
The so-called Mayan Wisdom Project must apologize and seek to make amends, especially through royalty payments to the indigenous teachers who taught in the content that MWP continually sells for high amounts of money.
Until then, the people they have harmed will continue to speak up, in hopes of preventing others from being taken advantage of – both Mayan spiritual guides, and the international community of those who want to learn about Mayan spiritual practices.
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