Current Role
Paul Robear is the President and Executive Director of the Cuyamungue Institute. Paul became involved with the Cuyamungue Institute in the early 1990′s. In 2011, Paul joined the Board of Directors of the Cuyamungue Institute and was elected President a short time later. As President and Executive Director, Paul has overall strategic and operational responsibility for the Cuyamungue Institute programs, facilities, and execution of its mission.
Paul has developed a life long appreciation of the teachings of wisdom traditions and following the common threads from traditions from around the world led him to his role at the Cuyamungue Institute. Paul is driven with intensity, focus and passion to facilitate greater awareness of these “age old” technologies and considers it a blessing to help facilitate the work of CI. Paul feels that the time has come to recognize the need to bridge these cross-cultural wisdom traditions with the needs in today’s world. It is with the direct experience triggering spiritual insight, that we can provide practical solutions for modern cultures and technologies.
Instructor / Facilitator
Paul presents papers, seminars, conducts workshops and presentations on the work and research of the Cuyamungue Institute. As an instructor of the Ritual Ecstatic Postures, Paul draws on his real life experiences along with the groundbreaking research of the founder of the Cuyamungue Institute, anthropologist Dr. Felicitas Goodman. Today he is also reaching out to other key researchers in the field of trance and consciousness studies as well. In addition to the director responsibilities, Paul also dedicates up to six months a year in Santa NM at the home of the Cuyamungue Institute with his wife Laura Lee as instructors.
Roots
Paul Robear grew up in Maine, among a large extended family. By their very nature people from Maine are fiercely independent thinkers. It has been observed that Maine is the only foreign country in the United States. There is no question that Maine is definitely unique and the people are not afraid to challenge the status quo. Paul has always been an independent thinker and had an early interest in spiritual affairs, and by his late teenage years he joined a group researching a cross-cultural study of spirituality. This began a lifelong interest in development and quality of well being — physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. A powerful awakening happend at age 18 that launched his passion and thirst to embrace a sacred path. As an adult, Paul has pursued wisdom traditions, traveling to Switzerland, France, UK, Egypt, Central America and throughout the United States and studying everything from meditation, yoga, mysticism to exploring ancient mysteries. Thus began the “call to adventure” that lead him to Dr. Goodman and the Cuyamungue Institute.
Professional Background
Paul’s professional background ranges from management, multi-media distribution, sales, marketing, publishing. Paul created a media company, Seven Directions Media, which included a talk show hosted by his wife Laura Lee devoted to self-discovery and featured interviews with leading researchers in the fields of wisdom traditions, ancient mysteries, holistic health, and consciousness studies. They syndicated the program on radio nationwide and on the web. In addition, Paul also established a publishing division of Seven Directions Media with international distribution that sold over 200,000 books, videos, and audio books.
For more than a decade Paul was the energetic force behind the success of Seven Directions Media. He now applies this same principles of hard work, dedication, determination and vision to carrying on Dr. Goodman’s mission and the mission of the Cuyamungue Institute.
Professional Affiliations
- SAA; Society for American Archaeology
- AAA: American Anthropological Association (AAA)
- ISARS: International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism
- NAISA: Native American and Indigenous Studies Association
Other mentors and influences
Besides the blessing of working with Dr. Goodman, the radio show provided access to many scholars, teachers, and people of medicine. Paul had the gift of directly spending time, interviewing and/or studying with these amazing people:
Vine Deloria Jr. – one of the best-known American Indian activists of the 20th century. A member of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, Deloria came from a family of prominent American Indians. Deloria worked in the mid 1960s for the National Congress of American Indians and brought the organization through a very rough time in its history. After becoming a national figure himself with the publication of his book “Custer Died for your Sins: An Indian Manifesto” in 1969, Deloria continued his education with a law degree and expanded his writings to more than two dozen books before his death. His writings are as diverse as his education with topics including politics, theology and law. Deloria culminated his professional life as a professor working at both Arizona State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Am amazing strong and fun presence. Since his death, Paul and Laura Lee have attended several “Vine Deloria Symposiums” held yearly at the Northwest Indian College located Located on the Lummi Indian Reservation.
Ipupiara – When Dr. Bernardo Peixoto was born into his mother’s tribe, the Uru-e-wau-wau numbered 2,400. Today 43 members are left. Tribal Elders gave him the Shamanic name “Ipupiara” (Ipu for short) and a long apprenticeship as shaman and healer. They then encouraged Ipu to learn the ways of the developed world. Ipu earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology and Biology and is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and eight indigenous dialects. Ipu is a consultant to the Smithsonian Institute and National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and is skilled in the sacred ceremonies and traditional healing practices of several rainforest cultures.
Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, is an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder whose family belongs to the traditional healers from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland [[Inuit|Inuk]. His engagement for the Environment and Indigenous issues brought him to more than 60 countries in the world. He has represented the Arctic peoples in the United Nations General Assembly, and frequently speaks before governments and universities. Angaangaq was raised in a remote village in Greenland. “ The greatest distance in the existence of man is not from here to there, nor there to here. Nay, the greatest distance in the existence of man is from his mind to his heart. Unless he conquers this distance, he can never learn to soar like an eagle and realize the immensity within.”
Nadyezdeh “Nadia” Duvan of Siberia (Ulchi Shamanism.) Nadia Duvan, last shaman of the Ulchi people of Siberia. The Shamanic traditions of the Ulchi people date back to ancient neolithic times from the Amur River Region of Southeastern Siberia. Brought to the U.S. by Jan Van Ysslestyne – Ms. Van Ysslestyne is the only native speaker of the Ulchi language and has been hosting visits from the last remaining shamans since 1994 and is dedicated in preserving the teachings and culture of these unique peoples. Misha’s traditional Ulchi culture was based largely on hunting. These Siberians lived close to nature, their survival depending upon their knowledge of, and relationship with, all of its aspects. Their personal stories are full of the details of nature. They involve bears, tigers, the forest, the sea, seal hunting, fishing, snowstorms, dog sleds, cold winds, and frigid temperatures.
Contact Paul at: paulrobear@cuyamungueinstitute.com
