Shamanism and Plant Medicine Legalization

Yesterday I saw a post from @therafterlifecoach (Instagram), Kat Courtney, an amazing, experienced medicine woman, trained in indigenous traditions, and who I cherish for her integrity and open mindedness. She simply asked what our thoughts are whether doctors should be able to prescribe psychedelic plants and synthetics and if we should live a in a world where we all have access to there medicines without regulations.

As this stroked a chord in my heart, I am opening the sacred space, inviting in our Presence and Essence, to cleanse our palate of perception and stand in our truth. With the support of Mapacho and Rose, let’s build a bridge together.

Plant Medicine (Ayahuasca, San Pedro, Peyote, Bufo, Cannabis, Salvia Divinorum and many other) is just a part of Shamanism. I would say a small part of what Shamanism means.

The Shaman was chosen by the village, and it was a bridge between the Skies and Earth, between the people from communities and Spirit. They would be involved in all aspects of community from planting seeds to harvesting, officiating ceremonies with different intentions (from paying to celebration, from life to death). The Shaman had a profound connection with nature and could read the signs, offering support and advice on how the community can evolve, grow in harmony with Mother Nature. There is so much information nowadays about shamanism and we can all use a little bit of curiosity of discovering more about it. Communities had a deeply respect for everything, including ancestors. There were initiations that each person from community would go through (from child to pre-adolescent, to adolescent, to youngster to adult, to elder). There were transitions, changes, cycles of death and rebirth that were honored and wisdom was passed to next generations in a sacred way. I remember I read somewhere that a certain age, the youngsters from an indigenous tribe would be blessed by their parents and left to be independent (having their own place within community) as now, their mother was Mother Earth, and their father was Father Sky. A beautiful way of honoring and stepping into the next stage of life. Of course, they would visit their biological parents if they wanted to, but they would not have any obligations towards them. Imagine that!

The Shaman was the healer and wise person of the village. He or She would undergo different initiations and would study with the Elders before coming into their own power and taken over the role of a Shaman.

The Shamans.

They would be the ones traveling in between worlds to find the answers for the people in need. Healing was an Art. They would do soul retrieval (retrieving fragments of soul and integrating the parts within the individual), they would do extraction healing sessions, craft power objects, practice divination, protection for themselves and the village, they would know how to transmute energy and release it, they were the ones talking to the plants and animals, communing in spirit with them in order to gain powerful allies in their journeys. They would know about entities and how to break curses, deal with spirit shadows. They would drum calling in blessing to people when born or when within the village important ceremonies would take place. They would help people navigate Death and Life. And yes, they would also have Plant Medicine Ceremonies.

In those ceremonies, they would drink the brew for the person in need of healing. They would travel withier allies and the plants (in this case Ayahuasca) will give the shaman an Icaro (a song) that would heal the person.

These people knew the local plants and how each plant can heal or become a poison. Their lives were in service for the community and the community would take care of them and their needs.

Nowadays…

After all the blood that was shed by indigenous communities, we come back to the Elders that are still alive, asking for forgiveness and asking them to heal us, to share with us their wisdom. And they are doing that, because they embody the infinite well of compassion. And this births both the healing so much needed in the world and shadow of consumerism and ignorance that comes with it. We ask to for the sacred knowledge, wisdom and healing but we do not want to take responsibility.

I bow and I honor the medicine people who work from a place of integrity and dedicate their lives to plants and Mother Earth, yet… coming back to Kat’s question I do not think the plant medicine ceremonies are for everybody or that everybody should have access to it. Prescribing psychedelic medicine by doctors it defeats the purpose of their usage. We must go back and ask why and how these plants have been used by our ancestors and how each place on Earth holds this type of medicine and had its own way of being offered to communities. Taking these medicines is as sacred as taking the Eucharist in the church served by a priest. Remove the sacredness of it and it just becomes a ticking bomb. As long we are not educated to have a deep reverence and respect towards Life and Death, Nature, Plants, Animals and between us, this will just amplify our shadows.

Shadow work is so necessary. As a future-Elder (@thecreatorcole Instagram) said: you do not need more medicine, you need more shadow work. Shamanism can support us in doing this, in getting to know our shadows using Soul Retrieval, Shamanic Journeys, storytelling and many more practices that do not involve plant medicine. They require presence and openness.

There is a reason why people went to great lengths to receive the wisdom of the jungle, doing diets and making sacrifices on their path. There was a reason why not anybody can serve the medicine and why integrity, being trained within indigenous communities are necessary to serve plant medicine.

Yes, it is beautiful that people have now access to ceremonies more easily than in the past, it is beautiful that we can travel, that there is so much information about the benefits of the healing received through plant medicine ceremonies AND there is also the other side of the coin. In many cases it has become a business. Don’t get me wrong, people should live and have what they need to continue the work of the plant medicine, but this is just A PART OF SHAMANISM. Just taking the “plant medicine” from shamanism is another form of colonization and it moves away from its purpose.

Another perspective

At a subtle level we are all shamans as we are responsible for our own healing. We are the ones choosing where to go, to whom we go and in which ceremonies we sit. But not everybody will follow the shamanic path, which will require a lot of courage and sacrifice. If you want to go to a plant medicine ceremony because is cool and you get cool visuals, buckle up, cause the Plants will show you exactly who you are, and your ignorance will be replaced with humbleness. Your moral compass needs to be working accordingly.

As I said before, healing is an ART itself. Shamanic practices are a state of art and allopathic doctors are far away from this. While I respect their academic intelligence and knowledge, I also urge us to respect the sacred ancestral ways of shamanism. We need a bridge between them. We need doctors who understand the medicines, that have been in ceremonies, that can redirect people to centers that are built on integrity, we need specialist in integration that can offer support because they are trauma informed, trained and they also sat in ceremonies. Plant medicine over counter? It’s a big no for me.

Everybody having access to the medicine? It’s a big no for me. There is a code of conduit for medicine people as there is for doctors. And within this code of conduct, plant medicine is taken under the supervision of the ceremony guide or Maestro/Maestra. You don’t take Ayahuasca at home alone just because you can. And if you do that, it would be a totally different experience and you are fully responsible for your safety. Imagine taking Ayahuasca at home and meeting an entity that scares you or is attached to you and you do not know what to do? So, I’m asking you where is the respect towards plants and ancestral ways in this? Where is the self-respect in this? Where would you like to take the medicine? In a government facility or in nature, in a safe space with experienced people?

Intention before action.

Sure, there is a need to have a legal framework for these ceremonies. And you know what, the Elders, the Maestros, the Maestras need to have a say in this. We need to go back to them and ask them how they see things. They’ve been in communion with plants more than we have been, they are generational healers, curanderos. Their wisdom is now more needed that anything. We can have designated places within the whole world for ceremonies with medicine people who KNOW what they are doing, who practice shamanism and these places can be protected by the government. Because we need to protect our ancestral ways and have reverence for the plants and their spirits. We can do much with our allies, our ancestors and ourselves.

So, tell me now, how do you see the world? What is the intention behind the changes that we are asking? Why do we need to put our hopes solely on plant medicine for healing and pass the responsibility to them to heal us quicker? Let’s not get lost chasing flying dragons and visions just for the sake of having an extraordinary experience, when WE ARE THE EXPERIENCE and LIFE itself. These are also open questions for me.

How can you and I be a better bridge between the Divine and Human Experience right now? Can we also be mindful, respectful and enthusiast about the possibility of healing from a place of honor and integrity? Why we want what we want? Let’s not stop at the first why and dig deeper. Because there are parts, fragments of our soul that need to be seen and integrated in this process. Is it the savior? Is it the martyr? Plant Medicine does not save us, because there is nothing to be saved from. It just removes the veils of illusion that we’ve put on. Plant medicine is about presence, awareness, the observer in us. Plant medicine is about here and now.

Thank you, Mapachito for your endless love and integrity!

Thank you, Rose for your beautiful unfolding wisdom!

Thank you, for listening to my heart’s song.

Let it be an art our healing. T

he sacred space is closed now.

In service to the journey,

Alexandra, Guardian of Ianara