At the age of 17, a near-death experience with spontaneous lung collapse revealed the fragile threads which tether us to this body as well as the love which binds souls beyond space and time. This experience propelled me towards experiences of the Transpersonal, which motivated travel abroad and an exploration of Visionary and MythoPoetic States thru surreal photography, spontaneous poesy and prose, and tribal starsong compositions on guitar and Indian sarod akin to Tool, Sigur Ros, and post rock avant garde masters Godspeed You Black Emperor and Mono.

Out of the stripmall dystopias of San Jose, CA, I emerged and discovered my soul first in the giant sequioas of the California redwoods and seaweed of the Pacific Ocean, before traveling thru over 20 countries in the next eight years. From picking avocados and working in an oil barrel factory in an Israeli kibbutz to studying massage in Thailand, from teaching english at the Cambodian LandMines museum and working with the dying in Calcutta, India, from playing music with sufis in Kashmir to treedancing with giant Ceiba trees while studying the mysteries of the year 2012 with Mayan elders in Guatemala, as poet, musician, photographer, and videographer I have been blessed to receive and reflect the tender, aching soul of the world.

A few years ago, a two day workshop with Mayan expert Carl Calleman on Mayan calendrics began a series of intense synchronicities regarding astrological studies which has led directly up the spiral staircase thru time and space into archaeoastronomy, 2012 investigations, and a burgeoning career as an experiential astrologer and bodyworker.

In May of 2006 and 2007 I attended NORWAC - Northwest Astrology Conference - Seattle, WA, and in 2007 I attended the Blast Astrology Conference - Sedona, AZ, as well as the Vedic Astrology Symposium in Pheonix. In the Summer of 2007, I lectured at the Village Building Convergence, Burning Man, DreamTime Festival, and Symbiosis Gathering. VerDarLuz will be helping to coordinate an Astro-Shamanic Healing Retreat in Peru near the Spring Equinox 2008 and is currently researching the astrology of death and the paranormal as well as the outer planet psychodynamics leading into 2012 and beyond. This spring, I would like to begin the longtime dream of forming an AstroShamanic multimedia rock band to heal the planet and guide us into the Waking Dreamtime.