Bios
Members of Dream Seed are active as organizers of the Golden Drum Community and the Sacred Arts Research Foundation and are students of Maestro Manuel Rufino, a recognized Taino elder, spiritual guide and ceremonial leader. With his blessing, Dream Seed was created as a vehicle with which to share the music of sacred traditions of the world.
Our affiliations include Golden Drum, Heart & Mind Festival, Sacred Arts Research Foundation, Didge Project, Made in Prayer & Jungle Cafe.
We have spent over 10 years in a deep study cultivating our art, music and programs through our practices and disciplines from the INITIATIC tradition.
Maestro manuel rufino & Renata rufino
Maestro Manuel Rufino was born in Quisqueya, known by the Tainos (an original tribe of the Caribbean) as “mother of all lands” and Today known as the Dominican Republic. At the age of 17, for the first time, he entered the cultural center of the UGB Solar Line in Puerto Rico where he began his career in the study of Initiatic schools. There, he studied yoga, natural medicine, astrology, sacred sciences and comparative religions. At this time, he met the Grand Guru, Maestro José Manuel Estrada, who introduced him to the Initiatic schools. He also met his teacher, Maestro Domingo Dias Porta, who has guided him through the indigenous traditions of Amerikua since 1976.
At the age of 18, Maestro Manuel Rufino began his training as a vegetarian chef. He went on to work in some of the most popular vegetarian restaurants and health food stores in New York, California, Mexico and Puerto Rico. There he shared recipes, nutritional information and how to heal through diet. He also studied natural medicine under the guidance of Bernard Jensen.
Maestro Manuel Rufino has traveled through all the continents of the world carrying the message of peace and unity to help reestablish the original harmony and the postulates of the New Era. He is currently in the 5th degree in the Mayan Sovereign Solar Order of Chichaan Itzaab (S.O.S.X.I) and has been recognized as an elder in many traditions. However, Maestro Manuel prefers not to claim titles and to be a simple human being at the service of the world and all its inhabitants on land, air, water and fire.
Maestro Manuel Rufino has established communities and cultural centers in Europe, North, Central and South America to share the postulates of unity and the American Indian Tradition. He has taught yoga and meditation for over 42 years throughout the world.
Maestro Manuel is the founder of the Heart & Mind Festival, which attracts some of the most influential leaders in the spiritual, scientific, artistic, diplomatic and philosophical spheres of our time. Maestro Manuel is also the founder of Golden Drum, a cultural center in Brooklyn and the Sacred Arts Research Foundation, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to provide support for the sacred arts.
He is the World Director of the Movement of American Indian Solar Culture, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to serving the community by focusing on sharing Amerikua Wisdom, founded by his teacher, Maestro Domingo Dias Porta. He is the founder of the Jungle Café, a vegetarian restaurant in Brooklyn, NY and the visionary behind the Blue Wolf in Canada, Golden Beehive community in London, England and the White Eagle’s Nest in Warsaw.
Renata Rufino was born in the city of Kalisz, the oldest city in the country of Poland. Both spiritually and politically speaking, She was raised in a very neutral family. She received her education in fashion technology and studied economics at the University of Łódź. Later she studied banking and developed her own business in Poland, where she created and managed branches of various Polish and International Banks. As she began to see things from another perspective, she chose to change her profession. She began to study human behavior and the possibility of changing it. Through various courses and workshops she went on a deeper search. She learned about dimensions, space, intuition, portals, and practiced Reiki and Diving up to 50m deep, and was learning about the possibilities of the human body. She now focuses on developing the community created by her husband, Maestro Manuel Rufino. She is one of the organizers of the Heart & Mind Festival and is guiding the development of a virtual platform that will bring together community members from all over the world. Renata has dedicated herself to serving all of humanity and praying continuously for the benefit of the world.
Brooke Hamre Gillespie
Brooke Gillespie is a disciple of Maestro Manuel Rufino, an active member of Golden Drum, a cultural community center for consciousness in Brooklyn, and a member of the Initiatic College; learning the traditional Native American healing ways and sacred wisdom traditions. Brooke’s mission is to help people remember that life is sacred and to be in service to the mission of peace for humanity through educating, inspiring and reconnecting people to the sacred wisdom traditions and indigenous knowledge. She is a visionary vocalist, sound healer, song-writer and song carrier of sacred music from all over the world including Native American traditional music from South, Central, and North America, Tibetan and Sanskrit mantra, African songs and more. Brooke is a founding member of Dream Seed. She believes in sound, vibration and music as universal methods of healing, awakening, consciousness and bringing peace to humanity.
AJ Block
AJ Block is a musician, healer and teacher inspired by spirituality and sacred traditions. He is a student of Maestro Manuel Rufino and co-director of the Sacred Arts Research Foundation. As director of the New York didgeridoo organization Didge Project, AJ has spent nearly a decade developing creative businesses. As a Certified Integrative Sound and Music Practitioner AJ works with individuals and groups who seek healing through sound and music, most often with the didgeridoo. For More about AJ and his work, visit Didge Project at www.didgeproject.com.
Xango Shola
Shola is a disciple of Maestro Manuel Rufino and an active member of The Golden Drum, a cultural community center in Brooklyn New york, a member of the Initiatic College, and currently works at the Sacred Arts Research Foundation. Shola's mission is to be in service to the preservation of the sacred traditions of the earth and enrich communities through education and service. She is a song carrier & drummer; singing traditional songs from around the world and has been weaving music, art and native healing practices to empower the human heart towards a more gentle, peaceful and purposeful existence. Shola has been studying ceremonial artistry for the past 7 years; creating sacred objects and ceremonial clothing as well as everyday clothing with a seed of powerful intention planted within each of her creations. She is the director of Made in Prayer, a collective that empowers communities by hosting educational programs that guide you through prayerful art making. Made in Prayer is also a brand that identifies products that are made with intention and purpose. Visit Shola’s art at http://www.madeinprayer.com
Matthew Canale
Matthew is a founding member of Dream Seed and Golden Drum, a cultural community center in Brooklyn, a member of the Initiatic College, and has been a disciple of Maestro Manuel Rufino since 2008. During that time he has studied Reiki, Native American healing and music as well as sacred songs from other indigenous people from around the world. Matthew has focused his musical studies on singing and percussion including the Native American water drum, hand drum, tabla, and djembe. He has a great love for kirtan and other forms of chanting. He is also a member of Pink Sun, a band that shares sacred music. His mission is to use music and art for healing and as a tool to aid in the evolution of consciousness. Matt is also a graphic designer, animator, illustrator, and painter. You can view his work at http://mattcanale.com.
Jerry Walsh
jerry Walsh is a gifted multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and healing practioner. He has been deeply walking the path of dharma and meditation for 15 years and has been a student of the SACRED traditions for 12 years, undergoing intensive initiations under the guidance of Maestro Manuel Rufino. He has traveled to over 30 countries on five continents, spending a year studying Buddhism and traditional Himalayan culture in India, Nepal, and Bhutan from 2010-2011. He has spent the last decade supporting and facilitating meditation and healing retreats, sharing music, dharma, spiritual disciplines, and creating community throughout the world.
Mateusz (matt) Bazgier
Originally from Poland, Mateusz is mult-inistrumentalist and music producer, currently living and creating in New York. In his work, he explores the borderline of music and personal growth.
His music is deeply rooted in a world of spirits and is treated as a spiritual practice. For several years, he is practicing under the supervision of Elders of indigenous cultures from many parts of the world.
Listen to Mateusz’s album, “Shaman’s blues” featuring tito la rosa at https://mattbazgier.bandcamp.com